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D1 - Ruth Heilbronn & Liz Wright (University of London IOE ): Developing articulation of critical reflection in ITE – writing at Master’s level
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Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University of London.
Developing, articulating, accrediting professional learning
Ruth Heilbronn - Principles for outcomesLiz Wright - Reading into writing
Institute of Education, University of London
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University of London.
Developing, articulating, accrediting professional learning
Ruth Heilbronn - Principles for outcomesLiz Wright - Reading into writing
Institute of Education, University of London
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University of London.
Developing, articulating, accrediting professional learning
Ruth Heilbronn - Principles for outcomesLiz Wright - Reading into writing
Institute of Education, University of London
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University of London.
Learning Journey,
Portfolio of written pieces,
Masters Module
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University of London.
Professional Learning Portfolio
Assessment is through module components amounting to 5000 words:
(Secondary 3 /Primary 4)
Philosophical statement
A piece of reflective writing on a secondary subject specific topic
A piece of reflective writing on a school policy - wider educational topic)
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University of London.
Module aims and learning outcomes
To promote an understanding of the process of learning, by reflecting on own professional learning; To encourage a critical, research and enquiry-led approach to teaching and learning, which explores the relationship between practice, policy, theory and academic debate; To support student teachers to articulate their learning;
To promote collegial relationships which enable professional dialogue;
SO WRITING SHOULD HAVE INDIVIDUAL VOICE - REFLECT THE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING JOURNEY….
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University of London.
Briefing student teachers
Learning through the moduleis about developing critical reflection on the practice of teaching
.. Critical reflection….
goes beyond accepted ways of thinking and behaving ..invites alternative ways of understanding (Scott p126 2000)considers personal experiences within wider socio-historical and politico-cultural contexts (Hatton & Smith p35 1995)
Critical reflection at M level is long & wide:
goes beyond selfdraws on others, academic literature, research sees the wider context links theory & practice is long-termmight be transformational (Barnett 1997 p7)..being
critical to critical beingacknowledges that teaching is fundamentally value
laden
Wider perspectives than own classroom Some of the wider issues considered through tutor
group discussions and readings take you beyond our classroom, your subject specialism, your age phase .
Beyond an instrumental way of teaching to understanding underlying values - which means:
Wider perspectives: from the literature
Scott 2000 p4Teacher as technician …. whose primary
function is to develop the skills to put into practice a set of behaviours determined by policy-makers……………or……….
Educationally literate teacher ….who understands that policy documents, press & research reports as constructed and ideologically embedded artifacts
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University of London.
Wider perspectives: from the literature
Moore 2000 p 129, 133Competent craftsperson ……reflexive practitionerNot just what and when but why & how….
How did my past and current experience of life and work influence me in behaving in the particular way I did?
reflexivity: locating reflection within widerpersonal, social and cultural contexts p112 2004
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University of London.
In reflection we are:
Surfacing tacit understandings so that they can be examined, critiqued, developed and re-framed (Elliot, 1991).
Developing understanding to inform future action ‘There is no stock response that can fit individual
circumstances. Critical reflection on practice, interrogating aims, purposes, outcomes of particular choices in particular teaching situations, can be a fruitful source of knowledge and understanding and support the development of practical judgement - the ability to respond
flexibly, expertly, in the moment’. (RH)
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University of London.
Through critical reflection, developing one’s own ..
‘practical theories’ (Handal and Lauvas, 1987)
‘strategic knowledge’ (Schulman, 1986) ‘professional artistry’- ‘the kinds of professional competence practitioners display in unique, uncertain and conflicted situations of practice’(Schon, 1987, p. 22).
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University of London.
Discourse community...
The importance of participation - sharing critical understandings with one’s‘situated learning discourse community’
Reflection as a social endeavour, and reflection as a distributed process - in which dialogue is central. Hoffman-Kipp, Artiles & Lopez-Torres (2003)
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University of London.
Centrality of dialogue. The process of working through one’s understandings
with another person is an important way of learning. It may be possible for some people to come to these kinds of understanding on their own. A new teacher may learn to teach through trial and error or through watching others, without any professional discussion of the meaning of what has been observed. However, the impact of interaction with a more experienced and skilled person, can help the new teacher to understand her experience and to develop her capacities as a teacher, and it mirrors the paradigmatic examples of learning
noted above, in which relationships are fundamental. (Heilbronn, 2008, p. 116)
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University of London.
The Learning conversation
a form of dialogue about a learning experience in which the learner reflects on some event or activity in the past. Ultimately, it is intended that people will internalise such conversations so that they are able to review learning experiences systematically for themselves, but at the beginning, the learning conversations is carried out with the assistance of a teacher or tutor…it is a dialogue on the process of learning; the learner reflects on his or her learning with the assistance of a teacher or tutor (Boud et al., 1985, p. 92).
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University of London.
References:Barnett R (1997): Higher Education: A Critical Business.
Buckingham: SRHE/Open University PressBoud, D., Keogh, R., Walker, D. (1985), Reflection: Turning
Experience Into Learning. London and New York: Kogan Page and Nicols Publishing Company.
Carr, D. (2003), ‘Rival conceptions of practice in education Furlong J, Barton L, Smiles S, Whiting C, Whitty G (2000): Teacher Education in Transition. Re-forming professionalism? Buckingham: OUP
Handal, G. & Lauvas, P. (1987) Promoting Reflective Teaching. Milton Keynes: OUP
Hatton N & Smith D (1995): Reflection in Teacher Education: Towards definition & implementation. Teaching & Teacher Education Vol11 No1
Heilbronn, R. (2008): Teacher Education and the Development of Practical Judgement, London: Continuum
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University of London.
References (cont…)
Hoffman-Kipp, P., Artiles, A. & Lopez-Torres, L. (2003) Beyond Reflection: teacher learning as praxis, Theory into Practice, 42 (3)
Moore A (2000): Teaching and Learning. Pedagogy, Curriculum and Culture London: RoutledgeFalmer
Moore A (2004): The Good Teacher.Oxon: RoutledgeSchon D A (1983): The reflective practitioner: how
professionals think in action. New York: Basic BooksScott D (2000): Reading Educational Research and Policy
London: RoutledgeFalmer Schצn, D. (1987) Educating the Reflective Practitioner. San
Francisco: Jossey BassSchulman, L. (1986) Those who understand: knowledge
growth in teaching, Educational Researcher, 15(2), 4-14
.
Liz Wright
Reading into writing
Mueller (2006): reading students’ assignments can help us to understand more about their experiences of learning to teach - they provide a ‘rich understanding’.
Often I did not leave my classroom except to go to the toilet or to go to the staffroom. I had my lunch there. I did my work there and occasionally I would cry there. It was a refuge from prying eyes but also it was my ball and chain…my weaknesses were played on and my strength of character was really tested.
HN, student teacher 2009
What kind of writing is this? What does it tell us about the student? Does writing like this belong on a PGCE course?
Learner stance
I think doubt is hugely important both morally and intellectually – it is important to know that one doesn’t know it all. HC student teacher, 2009
H came onto the course valuing an intellectual approach to teaching. She became frustrated by the ‘lack of freedom to take control over [her] learning’. The PGCE course felt ‘intellectually unsatisfying’.
I want to develop a robust professional narrative and define my own developing professional philosophy.
RA, student teacher, 2009
R’s theme in her portfolio was ‘learning to learn again’. She had withdrawn from the PGCE course and then reapplied the following year.
Learner stance: Between a rock and a hard place
I find myself caught between the desire to question what I am learning and the necessity to just learn what I am told in order to pass.
Trainees are forced to try and bleed their creativity into increasingly small gaps. SD, student teacher, 2009
S’s stance as a learner was a place of contradictions. S felt demoralised by school experience where he felt ‘a hindrance’ - during planning meetings his suggestions were met with ‘dismissive gestures’.
Learning journey: questions satisfied with answers…
Before starting the course, I had always considered myself as a plumber might before taking his apprenticeship. I was waiting to be tooled out in everything I would need to enter my first classroom… I imagined seminars where teachers would play the part of unruly children and we would be given a series of routine techniques for dealing with them; in short my questions satisfied with answers... I had envisaged encountering a library full of books, but expecting them to be teaching aids, learning materials, children’s books and subject knowledge development tomes…
Initial memories of my first week at the institute are of the size of the section of the library dedicated to reflections on teaching. I had never before considered that teaching would be such an introspective past-time, with so many questions that people would need to address. RO, student teacher, 2009
To…an acceptance that answers will come
The reality is that we have been asked to ‘zoom out’ from what we know about education and view the entire landscape of teaching and learning from a much more academic standpoint…
I begin to realise that I am constructing a personal philosophy; just as questions in the classroom can help children to develop their meta-cognitive abilities and therefore learn new skills… not just knowledge. Questions can lead me to a reflective attitude…
This doesn’t mean that I now have the answers. But it does mean that I shouldn’t be worried about not having them, and that the answers will come as my personal (and therefore individual) philosophy as a teacher develops.
RO, student teacher, 2009
Learning to be a learner
A big barrier to my learning is my confidence and fear of failing… when I relax about my learning it becomes easier for me I am learning to be a learner without fear of failure. I am finding the PLP module a source of strength and validity – it is giving me confidence to be a learner and the confidence to value my own views. My personal thoughts are being validated by academic writings. I think that PLP will be the making of me and of my future pupils….. True learning takes the external on board but is rooted within the personal…. RA, student teacher, 2009
Pedagogical framing (Siraj-Blatchford and Sylva,
2004)
Texts position us as particular kinds of readers and sometimes the texts that are given to student teachers are written solely for an academic audience positioning student teachers as outsiders. Burke (2008) has written about the ways in which particular authorial voices in higher education are privileged. LW, 2009
Pedagogical framing (Siraj-Blatchford and Sylva,
2004)
Texts resonate with student experiencesWriterly texts that invite discussionTexts that invite meta-cognitionTexts that problematise teacher educationA concern with authorshipA choice of textsMake selection of course articles a more
transparent process - whose texts are not made available?
Articles as pedagogic framing
Alexander (2004) Critical questioning would not have occurred to me if I hadn’t read this article. SD, student teacher, 2009
Attard and Armour (2005) I would have been feeling just as lost as Attard if I hadn’t had a writing community to support me. MG, student teacher, 2009
Calderhead (1987) This article on reflection was easy to understand because Calderhead presents examples which illustrate his points. TE. student teacher, 2009
Maynard (2001) This article highlights the critical relationships and the fact that one’s social context is important as a student teacher. I gained comfort from reading Maynard’s article which confronts my fears of teaching being a lonely profession. HN, student teacher, 2009
Pearce (2004) I feel the article speaks to the profession in a way that many academic articles do not. JW, student teacher, 2008
Alexander: wider cultural contexts
The article highlighted for me the danger of reading any policy document in isolation and without setting it within a an overall political and social context… The article also provided me with a better understanding of the pressure on teachers to comply with government policies and initiatives in the current climate of testing, targets and performance tables, and it helped me to appreciate some of the factors contributing to the apparent gap between the pedagogical theory promoted at university and what I have observed on school experience…
Cont. His article has supported me in realising the importance of
analysing policy and adopting an enquiring stance about why it has arisen and what the underpinning arguments and evidence are. It has made me realise that I need to take responsibility for my own professional learning and for developing my professional knowledge if I want to respond in an intellectual way to policies . This will enable me to take a wider perspective within teaching, to move from being a technicist to a professional who recognises the social and political issues that surround teaching and which affect children in school…
NB, student teacher, 2009
Attard and Armour: reflection
Attard (2005) is on a mission here to get his readers to see that this type of writing is a way to achieve professional development… I believe that writing is a beneficial and effective way of developing personally and professionally… I commend Attard for his bravery in expressing his emotions in such a public manner… The article presents reflection as a possible solution to reducing the theory-to-practice dilemma, to better understand oneself and gradually develop professionally…
cont.
Throughout the year I have written about my personal experiences in the teaching environment, shared them with colleagues both in and out of class and received their feedback, from which I am able to draw and elaborate on ideas beyond my own… I know I would be feeling just as lost and frustrated as Attard feels had I not had the opportunity of being in a community where writing, sharing and hearing others’experiences is accepted and encouraged.
MG, student teacher, 2009
Critical reflection…educationally literate teacher
Daly et al. argue that currently reflection is ‘all too often…self-referential’ and ‘devoid of conceptual and theoretical frameworks (Daly et al. 2004:101). This is a trap which is very easy to fall into, as demonstrated by Attard’s use of autoethnography (Attard and Armour, 2005: 195)… Attard’s ego-centric approach to reflection undermines the validity of his argument that reflection is essential to teacher learning (Attard and Armour, 2005: 197, 205). Despite the theoretical engagement of the article, Attard’s personal diary extracts do not contain any discussion or application of theory; instead he is reflecting on his emotional journey…
RA,student teacher, 2009
Mok: dangerous discourse
I would argue that articles such as Mok’s should form part of the curriculum for the whole course… so that all students are aware of the research surrounding their activities. [They would then] be aware of the choices that are open to them about what direction their teaching might take and more aware that they are a valuable resource. This would offset the negative impression given before first school experience where of necessity the student teachers are given strict instructions not to be a nuisance…
Cont.
In my opinion current political thinking seems to have come to the conclusion that it is too difficult to train teachers to be ‘expert’ teachers (Mok, 2005) because they are then equipped with enquiring and critical minds but it is preferable to have a group of compliant production staff who can fulfill targets.
HG - student teacher, 2009
Dangerous discourse within critical pedagogy requires courage: moving from rhetoric to action
Without a critical perspective, reality frequently is presented to students as a given, and underlying conflicts and problems are barely mentioned (Nieto, 1999)
Teacher educators, too, will require courage if they are to be activists in supporting the work of teachers… to work together with teachers in more powerful alliances (Day, 2004)
One of the successes of the PLP module has been to encourage primary student teachers to ask deep and at times challenging questions. Teacher education has to equip our students with the courage to think deeply and ask challenging questions; that must be part of professional learning. The university should be a good place to do this (Wright, 2009)
Pedagogical choice
Pedagogical choice enables the students to construct their own learning journey within the context of a range of articles.
Pedagogical choice recognises students as learners each with their own different starting point.
Pedagogical choice respects students as learners. But… students’ educational journeys in the 21st
century have been journeys of compliance - at first students do not want choice - they want answers.
UCET Annual Report 2006- debate not answers
One of the disappointing features of some recent consultation papers is that they call for specific responses to narrowly drawn questions rather than seek to generate debate about a set of proposals. Too often those sponsoring the consultation exercise are concerned to test the extent to which there is support for a policy line already adopted rather than to elicit views on a complex issue.
UCET's practice is to respond discursively to consultation papers and is unwilling to have its responses constrained and reduced to the ticking of boxes. In that way UCET remains true to its mission of contributing an authentic commentary on policy developments.
Gordon Kirk, Academic Secretary to UCET.
References Alexander, R. (2004) Still no pedagogy? Principle, pragmatism and
compliance in primary education. Cambridge Journal of Education 34 (1) 7 - 33
Attard, K. and Armour, K.M. (2005) Learning to become a learning professional: reflections on one year of teaching European Journal of Teacher Education 28 (2)
Burke, J. (2008) ‘Writing, Power and Voice: Access to and Participation in Higher Education’. Changing English, 15 (2)
Calderhead, J. (1987) The Quality of Reflection in Student Teachers’ Professional Learning. Journal of Teacher Education 10 (3) 269 - 278
Daly, C., Pachler, N. and Lambert, D. (2004) Teacher learning: towards a professional academy. Teaching in Higher Education 9(1) 99-111
Day, C. (2004) Change Agendas: The roles of teacher educators Teaching Education 15(2)
References Maynard, T. (2001) The student teacher and the school community of
practice: a consideration of ‘learning as participation’ Cambridge Journal of Education 31(1) 39 - 52
Mok, Y.F. (2005) A Philosophy of Teaching Practicum: construction of a personal theory of teaching and learning Teacher Development 9(1)
Mueller, A. (2006) A Teacher Educator’s Fate: Seeking contexts to engage student teachers in thinking about learning to teach. Studying Teacher Education 2 (2)
Nieto, S. (1999) The Light in Their Eyes: Creating Multicultural Learning Communities Columbia University: Teachers College Press
Pearce, S. (2004) ‘The Development of One Teacher’s Understanding of Practitioner Research in a Multi-ethnic Primary School’. Educational Action Research, 12 (1)
Siraj-Blatchford, I. and Sylva, K. (2004) Researching pedagogy in English pre-schools British Educational Research Journal, 30 (5)
