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Strategies for Reflective Practice
IATE Conference:October 17, 2015
Presented By Kristen Strom
[email protected] State University
How My Research Began
Spring 2015:
Illinois State University, PhD English Studies Student focusing on English Education:
ENG 409- Major Figures in the Teaching of Writing
Semester-long Teacher Research Project
Bradley University, University Supervisor:
My first experience supervising Novice Teachers
junior/senior teacher candidates; 1st or 2nd time in a classroom
I would conduct 3+ classroom observations and Mid-term/Final Evaluations & Conferences, hold weekly seminar meetings, and assign weekly reflections for them to complete.
I was responsible for looking at their edTPA Tasks, providing feedback on drafts, and then grading final drafts using edTPA rubrics.
Reflected on my role as a Graduate Student/Researcher, a past Cooperating Teacher, and a current University Supervisor
Why My Research Began
As a cooperating teacher in the past, I realized that while I informally reflected upon our experiences and spoke to candidates about classroom management choices, curricula, planning, and assessment, I did not formally reflect.
3 limitations to not having formally reflecting:
1) While I learned about mentoring teacher candidates, I have no record of my growth as a teacher educator to look back upon as I continue to mentor them.
2) Serving as a cooperating teacher made me reflect upon and modify my teaching practices because I wanted to make sure that I was modeling best practices, but there is no record detailing how and why I changed my teaching practices to model effective teaching strategies.
3) By not formally reflecting upon my experiences, I did not model the importance of classroom reflection for the teacher candidates - a missed teaching opportunity.
Addressing Limitations
Considering the limitations of not formally reflecting about my experiences mentoring teacher candidates lead me to want to formally reflect as I served as a university supervisor.
My formal written reflections served to address the 3 limitations of not having done so in the past:
1) They are a record of what I experienced as a teacher educator.
2) They detail pedagogical choices I made as I supervised teacher candidates and why I made those choices.
3) By sharing my reflections with teacher candidates, I modeled the importance of being a reflective practitioner.
Research Questions
Main Research Question:
What reoccurring themes appear when a university supervisor to teacher candidates writes reflections?
Secondary Questions:
What key themes characterize the reflection of a university supervisor?
What key themes characterize the reflection of teacher candidates?
What reactions do the teacher candidates have in response to the university supervisor sharing her reflections?
My Reading/Research
Yancey’s (1998) Reflection in the Writing Classroom
I used this text to explore the multiple uses of reflection for teachers and students
“Teachers are also reflective practitioners; for them reflection is key to understanding performance” (p. 15).
Emphasizes the importance of teachers reflecting on their own practices in order to understand performance
My reflections helped me to understand my performance and experiences as a university supervisor.
“One way to know how a student, a class, and a curriculum work (together, that is) is to see our own teaching and learning practices as a source of knowledge, a metaphorical text that can be systematically observed, questioned, understood, generalized about, refuted—in a phrase, reflected upon” (p. 126).
I could observe, question, understand, generalize, and refute not only my teaching practices but also what the teacher candidates were experiencing throughout their teaching placements.
Through reflection, teachers can become a “casual inquirer” working to find understanding (p. 126).
My Reading/Research
Schön’s (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action.
I read this text in order to understand my role as a reflective practitioner.
Individuals make innumerable judgements and decisions as they go through their everyday tasks, and our knowing is “implicit in our patterns of action and in our feel for the stuff with which we are dealing” (p. 49). In the midst of activity, teachers constantly reflect, a practice Schön calls “reflection-in-action” (p. 49).
By reflecting-in-action, I make decisions about my teaching practices based on the criteria I am presented during a teaching situation, my professional experiences, and pedagogical beliefs.
These are not decisions I consciously think about before I act, rather they are decisions “implicit in the patterns” of my actions as a teacher.
By writing down my decisions and actions, I engaged in “reflection-on-action” by creating a record of my “reflection-in-action” in order to see what themes developed throughout my experiences serving teacher candidates (p. 278).
I was consciously thinking about what I was experiencing and the decisions I was making.
I could work to understand my experiences, emotions, and decisions I made supervising teacher candidates.
I could think about future pedagogical decisions I needed to make before I actually made them and document those choices in writing.
My Reading/Research
Shandomo’s (2010) article, “The Role of Critical Reflection in Teacher Education.”
Suggested that “teachers must maintain curiosity and develop the habits of inquiry and reflection that will continuously move them forward....teachers must continually examine and evaluate their attitudes, practices, effectiveness, and accomplishments” (p. 103). He calls this process of ongoing examination and evaluation “reflective teaching” (p. 103).
In the past when I informally reflected, I remained curious to my role as a mentor. This “reflective teaching” lead me to formally reflect in order to “examine and evaluate [my] attitudes, practices, effectiveness, and accomplishments,” and how I could “move forward” and improve my teaching practices; thus, leading me to “reflection-on-action.”
Belanoff’s (2001) article, “Silence: Reflection, Literacy, Learning, and Teaching.”
Defines reflection, turning to the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of “reflect” to include “re ‘back’ and flect ‘bend’” and further explains that, “to reflect is ‘to bend back,’ certainly not just a complicated rendering of a duplicate image, but a bending in some way of the original image” (p. 405).
Defines “reflection” by citing the earliest definition from 1605: “to turn one’s thoughts (back) on, to fix the mind or attention on or upon a subject, to ponder, meditate” (p. 405).
The act of reflection allows one to look back at what was experienced in order to make new meaning.
I took time to sit and meditate on my experiences and then looked back at them. By doing so, I was able to “bend back” the experiences that I documented and look at them in a different way in order to make future decisions, set goals, and move forward in my teaching practices.
My Reading/Research
hooks’ (2010) Teaching Critical Thinking
“One of the most nurturing and generous benefits that comes when we engage in critical thinking is an intensification of mindful awareness which heightens our capacity to live fully and well. When we make a commitment to become critical thinkers, we are already making a choice that places us in opposition to any system of education or culture that would have us be passive recipients of new ways of knowing. As critical thinkers we are to think for ourselves and be able to take action on behalf of ourselves” (p. 185).
We need to think about new knowledge in order to be mindfully aware of the systems of education or culture we engage in.
hooks challenges us to disrupt hegemonic practices that tell us how to think and act; rather, we need to critically think for ourselves in order to disrupt what we are told is accepted knowledge or experience.
“When we accept that everyone has the ability to use the power of mind and integrate thinking and practice we acknowledge that critical thinking is a profoundly democratic way of knowing. Inviting us to critically examine our world, our lives, practical wisdom shows us that all genuine learning requires of us a constant open approach, a willingness to engage invention and reinvention, so that we might discover those places of radical transparency where knowledge can empower” (p. 187).
By having an “open approach, a willingness to engage invention and reinvention” as I wrote my reflections, I discovered opportunities “where knowledge empower[ed]” myself as a teacher educator because I could challenge the hegemonic practices that guided my actions in this role. I could question and challenge systems that guided my own understandings and actions. My actions and beliefs became transparent and allowed me to move forward with my pedagogical choices based on what I learned from my discoveries.
My Reading/Research
Coombs and Ostenson’s (2014) article, “Pulling Back the Curtain: Engaging Preservice Teachers in Expert Practices of Evaluation and Reflection.”
This study made me realize the importance of modeling reflective teaching for the teacher candidates I served.
Empirical study conducted in their English methods course for teacher candidates. Students were asked to reflect upon Coombs and Ostenson’s teaching practices.
They found that by opening up their teaching practices to critique by their students “showed students that continuous reflection about our practice exists as a critical part of teaching” (p. 47).
They concluded that “allowing students to see their professors as models of active learners exemplifies reflective practices, allowing them to see all teachers—whether preservice, veteran, or in between—as in the process of becoming” (p. 50).
Coombs and Ostenson modeled their own reflections of their teaching because they “hoped witnessing [their] explicit, ongoing reflections might convince students of the importance of reflection in their own development and even initiate them into the process” (p 46).
“...our students benefit when we model ongoing reflection on our own practices and when we invite them to share in our journey as we engage in our own process of becoming” (p. 51).
Yancey (1998) also discussed the importance of teachers sharing reflections with their students:
“If we want students to be reflective, we will have to invite them to be so, [we] may need to reflect with them. Reflection, like language itself, is social as well as individual. Through reflection, we tell our stories of learning….This story-making involves our taking a given story, and our lived stories, and making them anew” (p. 53).
My Teaching/Reflections
Bradley University, University Supervisor to Novice Teachers:
Teacher candidates wrote weekly reflections, as per the master course syllabi.
As they wrote reflections based on prompts I created each week, I wrote reflections as well based on what I was experiencing.
My writing started before my formal literature review
No formal schedule of when I would write reflections or what they would be about.
I used my laptop, word document, and typed reflections when I felt it necessary.
Due to time constraints, I wrote a reflection every 1-2 weeks, with one reflection written after 4 days.
8 total reflections- no specific length in mind (varied from 1/2 page to 3 pages in length)
Themes of Research Questions
I reread my reflections keeping my research questions in mind and looked for inducted codes of themes that characterized my reflections and reflections of teacher candidates.
I wrote code words in margins and color coded themes pertaining to each research question.
3 major themes appeared for the 1st secondary research question of, what key themes characterize the reflection of a university supervisor?
1) Emotions I felt during my university supervision placement
Majority were positive emotions: “anxious,” “happy,” “encouraged,” “excited,” “comfortable,” “hopeful,” “curious,” and “looking forward”
Negative emotions: “overwhelmed,” “upset”
2) Pedagogical ideas and beliefs
My own teaching, the teaching of teacher candidates, and the assessment of teacher candidates through the use of edTPA and the university’s mid-term and final evaluation tool
3) References to edTPA
Regarding my planning and preparation to use edTPA, my own assessment of edTPA as a teacher candidate assessment tool, and how I assessed teacher candidates’ edTPA Tasks (university supervisors for novice teachers were required to read Tasks, provide feedback, and allow for revision before using rubrics to give final scores)
Coding for Themes
3 major themes emerged from coding the 2nd secondary research question of, what key themes characterize the reflection of teacher candidates?
1) Their dispositions
Majority of their dispositions were the emotions I perceived them having during seminar meetings, through reading their journal entries, and while I observed them teaching in their classroom placements. The majority of these dispositions were positive.
2) Their experience with edTPA
All of my reflections about their experiences were negative. Code words of “stressed” and “overwhelmed” characterized their experiences with preparing, planning, writing, and carrying out all of the edTPA Tasks
3) Mid-term conference and evaluation of their performance
Three of the four teacher candidates had a positive experience. One of the teacher candidates had a negative mid-term conference and evaluation experience and because of this experience that I had conducting the conference, one entire reflection is written about it.
Themes of Research Questions
3rd secondary research question of, what reactions do the teacher candidates have in response to the university supervisor sharing her reflections?
I shared 3 of my reflections, they wrote down their thoughts, and then I recorded their verbal responses which I later coded for themes.
These 3 reflections concerned mid-term evaluations/conferences and my planning, preparation, and evaluation of their edTPA Tasks.
4 key themes emerged from the teacher candidates responses to sharing my reflections with them:
1) All 4 teacher candidates liked that I had similar feelings to theirs concerning edTPA
2) 3 of the 4 expressed that they liked that I provided feedback on their edTPA Tasks
3) 3 of the 4 discussed the use of the mid-term evaluation tool for the novice teaching placement
4) 2 of the 4 expressed that they liked having an opportunity to reflect over the mid-term conference and evaluation experience (I had assigned this as one of their reflections)
I opened up the discussion and asked them if there was “anything about me sharing my reflections with you that you wanted to share? Is it helpful or not helpful?”
2 responses were as follows: “You are definitely on the same page as us” (TC #3) and, “It’s helpful to hear where you are and then back to our thinking of our reflections and our teaching and how it relates....just knowing that you are reflecting on that too and thinking about the same things we are when we are going through it, it is helpful” (TC #1).
Themes of Research Questions
Conclusions
3 conclusions were drawn from emerged themes in my reflections as a university supervisor and in the reactions of teacher candidates to the sharing of my reflections:
1) All participants expressed emotions and dispositions regarding the overall experiences they had
2) All participants expressed challenges with edTPA planning, preparation, and assessment
3) All participants reflected on pedagogy that takes place during their placement/teaching experiences and during seminar meetings
These 3 conclusions reveal an overall theme to a university supervisor reflecting-on-action and sharing reflections with teacher candidates:
Reflections allowed the university supervisor and teacher candidates opportunities to critically think about hegemonic systems that govern our actions and experiences as teachers.
Considering the Overall Theme
My reflections allowed me to think about edTPA as a teacher candidate assessment tool and how I would be evaluating teacher candidates performances on their edTPA Tasks.
My reflections were a record of my pedagogical choices that I examined as I wrote them and at a later time in order to think about those choices and how to move forward as a university supervisor.
Example: After I conducted mid-term evaluations and conferences, I wrote a reflection and realized that teacher candidates should also get an opportunity to reflect on their experiences of the mid-term. Because of this realization, I decided to assign this for their next journal entry and commit a seminar class to discussing their thoughts. My reflections allowed us all to challenge the current tool and procedure in order to come to a new understanding of what a mid-term tool and conference should look like based on all of our experiences and assessment beliefs.
The discussion also allowed us to examine cooperating teachers’ pedagogical decisions that affected the teacher candidates teaching experiences (sometimes guided by mandated curricula) which were reflected on mid-term evaluations and conferences.
The act of reflecting-on-action and modeling reflection helped us all become mindfully aware of our experiences as we critically thought about the systems that dictated our actions and beliefs about teaching practices, teacher evaluation, and assessment.
My reflections made my experiences as a university supervisor to teacher candidates transparent.
We practiced and learned the importance of being reflective practitioners.
Applying this Research
If you are a Cooperating Teacher:
Reflect before/at the beginning of the placement to prepare yourself to be a Cooperating Teacher:
What were your experiences as a Student Teacher? What went well? What didn’t? What did you expect? What helped you to be most successful?
What do you feel is most important of his/her overall experience?
Who you want to be as a mentor?
How you can be a model for “best practice” in the classroom?
How you can help him/her develop as a reflective practitioner?
What do you anticipate to be challenges/successes throughout the placement?
Reflect during your experiences with your student teacher:
How are you changing as a teacher?
How are you changing as a mentor?
What are you realizing about yourself as a teacher/mentor/reflective practitioner?
How can you help your Student Teacher be more successful?
Share these reflections with your Student Teacher and reflect together on how to move forward/set goals/continue reflecting.
Applying this Research
If you serve as a University Supervisor:
Reflect along with students
Share reflections as a whole group, discuss the reflections and the act of reflection, and seek to make hegemonic systems/practices “transparent” in order to move forward
Assign reflections that ask them:
About their successes and challenges with edTPA
Questions concerning themselves as learners (presently and when they were the age they are now teaching), who their students are outside the classroom and who they are as learners inside the classroom (Context for Learning)
How they plan and organize units/lessons and coursework/research/experiences that has prepared them (Task 1)
How they create a positive/respectful learning environment, how they know students are engaged in learning, how they provide feedback to students during class to promote learning and critical thinking (Task 2)
About their assessment beliefs and practices along with coursework/research that has helped them have these beliefs (Task 3)
References
Belanoff, P. (2001). Silence: Reflection, literacy, learning, and teaching. College Composition and Communication, 52(3), 399-428.
Coombs, D., & Ostenson, J. (2014). Pulling back the curtain: Engaging preservice teachers in expert practices of evaluation and reflection. English Journal, 103(6), 45-51.
hooks, b. (2010). Teaching critical thinking: Practical wisdom. New York: Routledge.
Schön, D. A. (2003). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. New York: Basic Books, Inc.
Shandomo, H. M. (2010). The role of critical reflection in teacher education. School- University Partnerships, 4(1), 101-113.
Yancey, K. B. (1998). Reflection in the writing classroom. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press.
