Reflective Prac.ppt

Teachers as Reflective Practitioners Course No.: PGDT 422 UNIT ONE: MEANINGS AND THE BASIC CONCEPTS OF REFLECTION  Unit learning outcomes Upon completion of this unit the candidates will be able to: – Identify the basic concept of reflection – Distinguish...

Teachers as Reflective Practitioners Course No.: PGDT 422 UNIT ONE: MEANINGS AND THE BASIC CONCEPTS OF REFLECTION  Unit learning outcomes Upon completion of this unit the candidates will be able to: – Identify the basic concept of reflection – Distinguish the levels of reflective practice to their daily teaching and learning process – value the benefits of reflection  Meanings and natures of reflection What does ‘reflection’ mean to you?  What is ‘reflection’ to you? Its derivation is the Latin refectere, meaning “to bend back.” It has applications in physics, and psychology. – In physics, reflection is the return of light, heat, or sound after striking a surface. – In psychological terms, reflection refers to a mental image or representation.  Scholars define reflection as follows According to Dewey, Reflection “an active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge”. Dewey further argued that reflective thinking moved people away from routine thinking/action (guided by tradition or external authority) towards reflective action (involving careful, critical consideration of taken-for- granted knowledge). This way of conceptualizing reflection crucially starts with experience and stresses how we learn from ‘doing’, i.e. practice.  Scholars define reflection as follows Reflection means thinking about what one is doing. It entails a process of contemplation (inspection) with openness to being changed, a willingness to learn, and a sense of responsibility for doing one’s best. Reflection is an important human activity in which people recapture their experience, think about it, mull over & evaluate it in order to gain new understandings and so improve future practice  In general, reflective practice is understood as the process of learning through and from experience towards gaining new insights of self and/or practice. This often involves examining assumptions of everyday practice. It also tends to involve the individual practitioner in being self- aware and critically evaluating their own responses to practice situations. It is understood as part of the process of life- long learning. Reflective thinking Reflective thinking is the processes of analyzing and making judgments about what has happened. It is an active, persistent, and careful consideration of a belief or supposed form of knowledge, of the grounds that support that knowledge, and the further conclusions to which that knowledge leads. When students are faced with a difficult problem, reflective thinking helps them to become more aware of their learning progress, choose appropriate ways to explore a problem, and to build the knowledge they need to solve the problem.  Reflective thinking Thus, in the classroom, the teacher has to be aware of the following features of reflective thinking that enable students engage in reflective thinking: Perplexity/puzzle, confusion, doubt. – The teacher has to provide a problem or scenario Conjectural (Hypothetical) anticipation/guessing the reasons behind. – The teacher provides many opportunities to engage students in gathering information to look for possible causes and solutions for a problem given. Careful survey (examination, inspection, exploration, analysis) – The teacher will give activity sheets to help students evaluate the evidence they gather and questions that prompt them to consider alternatives and implications of their ideas  Consequent elaboration of the tentative hypothesis/suggest solutions. – The teacher will prepare questions and activities that prompt students to draw conclusions from the evidence they gathered and pose solutions Taking one stand upon the projected hypothesis as a plan of action, doing something overtly to bring about the anticipated result and thereby testing the hypothesis/evaluate and monitor the implementation of the solution. – The teacher will provide opportunities for students to choose and implement the best alternative and encourage them to monitor and reevaluate their results and findings throughout the entire unit. Reflective thinking  To create conducive environment for reflective thinking in the classroom, the teacher can provide enough wait-time for students to reflect when responding to investigation. provide emotionally supportive environments in the classroom encouraging re-examination of conclusions. prompt reviews of the learning situation, what is known, what is not yet known, and what has been learned. Teacher as reflective thinker choose to be Active:-Voluntarily and willingly taking responsibility for personal actions. Reflective:-Searching for information and solutions to problems that arise in the classroom; identifying the strengths and needs of individual students. Persistent:-Being committed to thinking through difficult issues in depth; consistently and continually modifying teaching approaches.  Cont’d Relational:-Striving for quality interactions in the classroom to set the tone for learning. Evidence seeking:-Trying new approaches while documenting their effectiveness and making adaptations based on evidence in the form of student learning. Although persistent and careful thinking is important to the reflective teacher, such thinking does not automatically lead to change and improvement. But, it is also important for teachers to translate their thoughts into reflective practices or actions.  Teacher as Reflective Practitioner A reflective practitioner builds and examines knowledge about learners, the culture and curricula of schooling, and the context in which teaching and learning occur; such a practice assists an educator to simultaneously renew, invigorate, and maximize the teaching process. An empowered teacher is a reflective decision maker who finds joy in learning and in investigating the teaching/learning process  Reflective practice Reflective practice is: a dialogue of thinking and doing through which one becomes more skilled (Schön, 1987). a process that helps teachers think about what happened, why it happened, and what else could have been done to reach their goals (Cruickshank & Applegate, 1981). an inquiry approach that involves a personal commitment to continuous learning and improvement (York-Barr, Sommers, Ghere, & Montie, 2001).  Cont’d a systematic and comprehensive data-gathering process enriched by dialogue and collaborative effort (Osterman & Kottkamp, 2004). The capacity to think creatively, imaginatively and, eventually, self-critically about classroom practice (Lasley, 1992). an ongoing process of examining and refining practice, variously focused on the personal, pedagogical, curricular, intellectual, societal, and/or ethical contexts associated with professional work (Cole & Knowles, 2000). Nature of reflection Nature of reflection is either of the three types: – Returning to experience – Connections – Evaluation  Returning to experience It refers to recollection / recalling of memory situations, events and activities that happened in the past. – description of what you did or plan to do (and why) – description of how you approached something or how it worked and how it did not.  Connections Teachers connect a particular aspect of their teaching experience with plans for instruction, moving from experience to reflection to action. The teacher may back to his/her experience as student and ask questions to connect his/her past experience to his/her present.For instance: – What was the feeling back there as a student? Did I feel good or bad when I think of my experience as a student? Why? – Which teacher was my favorite? Why? – Am I teaching my students the same way that I loved to be learned as student?  Evaluation It refers to evaluation of experiences and development of a teacher. The subcategories of evaluation are: giving an opinion examining what you have learned drawing conclusions about your own development evaluating your knowledge or functioning investigating whether you have achieved your learning objective examining what you found difficult and progressing  Cont’d Reflection-in-action (thinking while doing) – It takes place in the midst of action – We test our new way of seeing the situation, and also try to change that situation at instant for the better.  Cont’d Reflection-on-action (retrospective thinking/thinking back or after-the-event thinking) – It involves looking back to your practice or experience after it is accomplished to see how it went – what went well, what did not, what could be changed for the next time.  Cont’d In the case of reflection-on- action, professionals consciously review, describe, analyze and evaluate their past practice with a view to gaining insight to improve future practice. With reflection-in-action, professionals are seen as examining their experiences and responses as they occur.  Levels of reflection practice They indicate in what level an individual is practicing reflection. There are three major levels of reflective practice (from simple to complex levels). These are: – Technical Reflection(initial level) – Contextual Reflection(more advanced level) – Critical Reflection (higher order level)  Technical Reflection Teachers’ reflections focus on strategies and methods used to reach predetermined goals. It is the lowest level of reflection. Typical questions the teacher asks at the level of technical reflection are: – did I spend too much time on group work today? – how can I keep students on-task? – did I have enough (too many) activities? – how can I get students to pay better attention?  Contextual Reflection At this level teachers attempt to understand the theoretical basis for classroom practice and to foster consistency between supported theory (what they say they do and believe) and theory- in-use (what they actually do in the classroom). Teachers reflecting at this level can determine when there is conflict between what they practice and what they preach (e.g., seeing themselves as humanistic yet belittling students when they persist in disobeying rules).  Cont’d Typical questions the teacher asks at this level of reflection are: – how can I improve learning for all my students? – how can I build in better accountability for cooperative learning tasks? – am I giving my students the opportunity to develop decision- making skills? – what else can I do to help students make connections to prior knowledge? – is there a better way to accomplish this goal?  Critical Reflection A higher order thinking, where teachers examine the ethical, social and political consequences of their teaching, grappling with the ultimate purposes of schooling. Acknowledge that classroom and school practices cannot be separated from the larger social and political realities, critical reflective teachers strive to become fully conscious of the range of consequences of their actions  Cont’d Critical reflection is mostly considered as a higher-order level of reflection. It adds the following dimensions: – questioning of underlying assumptions, biases, and values one brings to bear on their teaching. – conscious consideration of the ethical implications and consequences of practices on students and their learning. – examination of how instructional and other classroom practices contribute to social equity and to the establishment of a just society. – extended awareness beyond immediate instructional circumstances to include caring about democratic foundations and encouraging socially responsible actions.  What is reflective practitioner? Reflective: Characterized by deep careful thought Practitioner: somebody who practice his/her repertoire of knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and skills in specific areas of performance. For teachers, these areas include managing the classroom, designing instruction, establishing assessment strategies, and interacting with students, colleagues, and parents.  Reflective Practitioner: person who uses deep, careful thought in his/her practice of knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and skills on specific profession. A “reflective practitioner” is person who could both reflect-in- action (to reshape what you are working on while working on it) and reflect-on-action (to consider what has been done in order to evaluate one’s own process). Reflective practitioners are those who perpetually consider alternatives, taking action to continually improve practice throughout their professional career. Reflective Practitioners ask questions like: What am I observing? What would I like to see? How might things be different? What am I learning? What possibilities are there for the future?  Benefits and Issues of Reflection Why reflection? Reflection: – aims to improve practice by learning directly from experience – is engaged in a process of examining the fundamental assumptions implicit in practice and experience and; – is planning to change thinking and practices based on new awareness  Benefits of Reflection The benefits of reflection for learners Reflection helps learners to: – understand what they already know (at individual level).They improve their basic academic skills. – identify what they need to know in order to advance understanding of the subject (at contextual level). They develop a deeper understanding of subject matter – make sense of new information and feedback in the context of their own experience (at relational level). Students start to relate the subject matter to the non-academic world and to their own experience. – guide choices for further learning (at developmental level). Students develop personally by enhancing their self-awareness, their sense of community, and their sense of their own capacities. They also develop higher level thinking and problem solving skills  Cont’d The benefits of reflection for teachers Reflection enables teachers to: – be conscious of their potential for bias & discrimination. – make the best use of the knowledge available. – avoid past mistakes. – solve a problem or address an issue in the classroom – to reduce confusion or frustration. – maximise our own opportunities for learning. – feel pleasure and self-satisfaction  Issues of reflection Possible Barriers of reflection – lack of awareness about the purpose of reflection – lack of time – fear of judgement and criticism – being closed to feedback and defensiveness  Solutions for the Barriers Mentors or teachers should: – be a role model, e.g. a mentor or teachers who reflects on their own practice – give time for reflection. To reflect effectively on your experience, you should actively set a time from your each working day to reflect & analyse – provide Non-judgemental support to your colleague or your mentee. – create as many opportunities as possible for engaging in reflection, e.g. pairs, groups reviews and discussion  Unit Two: Teaching and Reflection This unit discusses how a teacher can learn and change and become lifelong learner. At the end of this unit, you will be able to: – understand the challenges and dilemmas of teaching – appreciate the different identity of teachers – become a lifelong learner  The Nature of Teaching, Complexity and SuccessDilemma for a teacher depends heavily on the active cooperation of the student. The student must be willing to learn what the teacher is teaching. Cooperation of students is usually problematic: – The problem of compulsory students – The problem of emotion management – The problem of structural isolation – The problem of chronic uncertainty about the effectiveness of teaching  Problem of compulsory students Students are likely to feel the pressure for school attendance as result of: – their parents (who want school to take care of children during the day, to help them get ahead, and even to educate them), – the market (which makes school credentials mandatory for access to a good job), – their own social desires (school is where their friends are). Nature of teaching dilemma A dilemma implies a situation where there is no clear and easy choice or answer. Dilemma can arise from different reasons: – a genuine clash of values – uncertainty about the facts of the case – a failure to be unaccepted, a deficiency in courage, a misdirected desire to be popular, and so on – uncertainty about our position, our perceptions – the merits of our decisions, and concerns about how they will be received and what their results will be  What is teaching dilemmas? Teaching dilemma is when the teacher put into the two competing situations Some dilemmas of teaching: – How to balance the needs and interests of some students over the needs and interests of others. Eg. Students with special needs and girls and other normal students in my classroom? – What happens if there is a clash between the needs of individual teachers and those of institutions? – Staying within your comfort zone or being prepared to take risks/become vulnerable. (Eg. changing teacher – centred method that one familiar with to student-centred method)  The Professionalism of Teaching: Teacher Thinking, Creativity and Teachers’ learning What is teacher thinking? Teacher thinking is defined as “the set of cognitions, of mental representations that operates as a lens through which teachers look at their job, give meaning to it and act in it”. There are different kinds of knowledge, attitudes and beliefs the teacher have: content knowledge refers to the depth of knowledge that a teacher has about the subject itself pedagogical content knowledge is the knowledge teachers have about the ways student learn particular topics  Cont’d Pedagogical knowledge is the knowledge a teachers have about classroom management and the characteristics of his/her students. Teachers have knowledge about the context of schooling, from knowledge of the school in which he/she works, to the district, to the larger school system  Cont’d Teachers hold personal value orientations and will have particular beliefs about the purposes of education and even the nature of knowledge. They have also beliefs about what it means to be a teacher – about the roles that teachers should and do play, what the act of teaching requires, what makes for quality teaching. Teachers also have different attitudes and expectations for different students, say, for female and male students, minorities and students with special needs.  Teacher Learning and Change Teachers learn in: – pre service teacher education; – in- service program: teaching practice – reflective practice.  Pre-service teacher education It is provided in educational institutions Different area of knowledge such as – Content – Personal development – Pedagogical knowledge Research confirmed that reflective practice, interpersonal and communication skills, interdisciplinary approaches, dialogue, teamwork are not given due attention. Indeed, effectiveness of pre-service teacher education on changing teachers’ thinking before they begin teaching is limited.  Cont’d In pre-service education, some of the attributes that have been proposed include: a strong, clear and shared vision of education; a solid basis in multiple areas of knowledge; opportunities to link learning and practice; and multiple opportunities for inquiry and reflection, so that the process of reflection on practice can begin during pre-service education.  In service program: The practicing teacher Learning and change continues throughout a teacher’s career. Teacher learning and change comes from studies of particular in- service or professional development programs, which are designed to provide teachers with additional skills that they may need for teaching practice.  Cont’d These learning areas can be: Health promotion, HIV/AIDS prevention, sex education, and life skills training, different approaches to teaching, learning based on strong human relations and interpersonal skills and computer skills. In general, the demands of the “new teaching profession” require the acquisition of skills that are much larger in scope than those necessary to simply transmit knowledge.  Reflective practice Teachers need to be reflective in order to deal with the inevitable uncertainties and dilemma involved in everyday decisions that affect the lives of students. A teacher has to accommodate and adjust to the greater range of differences in ethnicity, socioeconomic status, developmental levels, motivation to learn, and achievement.  Teaching Roles, Change in Society and Reflection The role of teachers in the society Teachers play various roles to ensure that the education system and the society as a whole move along side by side. The roles of teachers in the society are classified into three main areas: – Knowledge and skill – Social inclusion and – Professional development of the teacher’s role.  Knowledge and Skills – a local issue Teacher has a distinctive fund of knowledge and skills that are ‘transmitted’ to learners. Literacy ability of children; for example, is strongly associated with the educational provision of teachers and schools in which they can work. Social inclusion – a societal issue Developing an understanding of children, so as to make teaching and learning developmentally appropriate, has long been part of the teacher’s role. A growing awareness of the range of students’ special needs, and recognition of the implications of population migration, has led to national policy initiatives driven by social justice and harmonization agenda. Teaching has become more diversified not only to address different learning needs but also different first languages among the teacher’s students.  The professional development of the teacher’s role – a continuing issue Teachers are increasingly called upon to help young people become fully autonomous learners by acquiring key skills, rather than memorising information: teachers are asked to develop more collaborative and constructive approaches to learning and are expected to be facilitators and classroom managers rather than ex-cathedra trainers.  Cont’d To equip the teaching body with skills and competences for its new roles, it is necessary to have both high-quality initial teacher education and a coherent process of continuous professional development, keeping teachers up-to-date with the skills required in the knowledge-based society throughout their careers. Evidence has consistently shown that investing in teachers is the most productive investment for increasing school effectiveness and improvement  Teaching and Change in society The challenges of the coming century to eliminate poverty and ensure sustainable development and lasting peace will fall to today’s young people. Educating the young to meet these challenges has become a priority objective for every society.  What will be the teacher roles in the changing world? It is often viewed that a societal change that has great impact on the teacher’s work centered mainly on its technological side. The development of ICT has bigger effect on a teacher’s work compared to that of the changes in political, economical, and environmental side. Teachers who intensively used information technology emphasise more on students’ participation in progressive inquiry, collaborative learning, the learners’ active engagement in knowledge formation process, and learn ability of intelligence  What are the challenges of the teachers in the changing world? When a social change takes place, challenges for teachers will increase and vary The change in economics, politics, technology, cultures and others in a community will increase the type of challenges that a teacher may be facing.  Relationships in teaching: How are we getting on together? Teachers link together to students, other teachers, school administrators, families, and community members to foster the learning success and healthy development of their students. Now let us review the four major relationships the teachers have with: – students – school Staff – parents – community  Professional identity: Knowing oneself as a teacher What is professional identity? Professional identity refers to the set of attitudes, beliefs, experiences, ideals and principles that define a person in their professional career. Generally, they tend to determine who we interact with in our professional lives. These interactions and professional experiences proceed to define one's professional identity.  Cont’d A teacher's disposition can be divided into four main areas as follow: – Able/Unable – Identified/Unidentified – Larger/Smaller – People/Things  Able/Unable The able teacher sees students as having the capacities to deal with their problems. The teacher believes students or other people in the school community are able to find adequate solutions to events in their own lives. The unable teacher sees students as lacking the necessary capacities to deal effectively with their problems. The teacher doubts students’ abilities to make their own decisions and run their own lives. If the teacher believes a student is able, the student will try to do his/her job to the best of his/her ability. If the teacher believes a student is unable, the student will often avoid responsibility.  Identified/ Unidentified The identified teacher relates easily with people, especially with people from diverse backgrounds. The unidentified teacher feels oneness only with those of similar belief and feels apart from all others. If the teacher feels a student can learn, then he/she will employ the most effective methods, as opposed to the teacher who makes materials for a general few and ignores the necessary adaptations that guarantee all students have access to the general education curriculum.  Larger/Smaller The teacher identified as being larger has a global or broad perspective beyond immediate context. The smaller teacher has a very narrow focus on specific goals. The effective teacher understands the purpose of education is to have a long term, positive impact on a child’s growth and development.  People/Things The people teacher is concerned with the human aspects of day-to- day life. The attitudes, feelings, beliefs, and welfare of students and fellow community members are prime considerations in his/her thinking. The things teacher is preoccupied with all the impersonal, detail-oriented management aspects of education. The effective teacher is not a concrete thinker concerned with what is right in the school setting but instead focuses on what is appropriate for the individual or situation. The teacher focused on things as a first priority will put schedules and rules ahead of looking for the cause of the problem.  Teachers as lifelong learners What is lifelong learning? Lifelong learning for teacher becomes an individualistic enterprise, its purpose to consume skills while turning teaching into an endless human resource development project. One way for a teacher to be lifelong learner is by continuously developing his/her profession.  What is Continuous Professional Development (CPD)? CPD: indicates that learning for the sake of improving professional practice consists of any educational activity which helps to maintain, develop or increase knowledge, problem- solving skills, technical skills or professional performance standards, all with the goal to provide a better students’ learning (www.en.wikipedia.org). is the means by which professionals maintain and enhance their knowledge and skills. CPD is all about upgrading knowledge, skills and capabilities to remain effective and competent. In short CPD is: “Anything that makes me a better professional  Approach to CPD Continuous professional development has employed in schools or higher institution in different ways as follows: Teacher career development in schools including: – whole-college training days the induction, – mentoring and assessment of individual teachers – peer observation – Collaborative planning and evaluation, and self-evaluation.  Rational and purposes of CPD The rationale and the purpose of CPD can be summarized in the following categories: – Greater authenticity and commitment to learning – Increased focus and personal accountability in learning – Teachers’ self-affirmation through learning Unit Three: The Notion of Reflective Teaching  Meanings of reflective teaching In reflection in teaching a teacher is required to glimpse/preview ones own imperfections and strengths, and both odd and inspiring oneself from another point of view. Such are the dualities of seeing your own reflection Reflective teachers face the challenge of truly seeing themselves and their teaching.  Cont’d Unlike non-reflective teachers, reflective teachers approach their practice with openness, wholeheartedness, and responsibility, looking for the better path to take, the edges that need to be smoothed, and the changes they need to make in their practice to improve learning for students. As teachers, we can reflect on classroom decisions and events, but reflection also involves the emotional, passionate, and intuitive (innate) side of teaching.  Routine action Vs Reflection action Routine action is guided primarily by tradition, external authority and circumstance. In reflective teaching, teachers engage in active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and its consequences. Reflective teachers consistently assess the origins, purposes and consequences of their work.  Cont’d Today’s professional knowledge requires that teachers employ the reflective approach which is-‘plan, act, reflect, evaluate’-rather than the traditional application approach: ’plan, implement, evaluate’  Becoming a reflective teachers How can we become reflective teacher? The three essential attitudes or habits of mind first described by Dewey are still considered the foundation of reflective practice. They are: – open-mindedness, – responsibility, and – wholeheartedness Open-mindedness Open-mindedness is a willingness to consider new evidence as it occurs and to admit the possibility of error. Open-mindedness means being open to other points of view, appreciating that there are many ways to view a particular situation or event, and staying open to changing your own viewpoint. Part of open-mindedness is also letting go of needing to be right or wanting to win.  Cont’d Open-minded teachers continually seek new information that might challenge their taken-for- granted assumptions about teaching, thus enabling them to envision a broad range of potential solutions and making it more likely that dilemmas will be resolved.  Responsibility Responsibility is the careful consideration of the consequences of one’s actions, especially as they affect students. Reflective thinking leads to responsible action. Responsibility refers to a teacher’s willingness to examine all decision making (e.g., decisions about curriculum, instruction, evaluation, organization, management) from a coherent philosophical framework of teaching and learning. Demonstrating responsibility means owning the many positive and negative ways your actions might influence others, regardless of how things turn out. Wholeheartedness Dewey believed that when people are thoroughly interested in a cause, they throw themselves into it with a wholeheart. Teachers who are wholehearted approach all situations with the attitude that they can learn something new. The “need-to-know” is the driving force for their learning. Wholeheartedness is characterized as “a commitment to seek every opportunity to learn.”  Three essential practices for becoming a reflective Whilepractitioner it’s not possible to prescribe a step-by-step procedure, there are actions and practices that are fundamental to developing as a reflective practitioner. The following three practices are essential: – Solitary reflection, – Ongoing inquiry, and – Perpetual problem-solving.  Solitary reflection It’s important to engage in systematic reflection by making it an integral part of your daily practice. Keeping a reflective journal is one vehicle for ensuring time is set aside for daily reflection. Teachers also need reflective time to consider the inevitable tradeoffs involved in everyday decisions that affect students.  Ongoing inquiry This practice involves unending questioning of the status quo and conventional wisdom by seeking your own truth. Being a fearless truth- seeker means examining the assumptions that underlie both classroom and school practices.  Perpetual problem-solving Perpetual problem-solvers are never satisfied that they have all the answers and constantly seek new information. Problems present opportunities to find better solutions, build relationships, and to teach students new coping strategies. The classroom serves as a laboratory for purposeful experimentation. A practice or procedure is never permanent. New insights, understandings and perspectives can bring previous decisions up for reevaluation at any time. Some Tips you may want to use for facilitating reflection teaching in the classroom: prepare a framework for guiding the discussion. lead the group by actively engaging each student. set the tone by establishing norms of behavior such as: anyone in the group may speak at any time — no hand-raising is required, but the rules of polite conversation are followed. no profanity (blasphemy) or sexual innuendoes (inferences) are necessary to make a point.  Cont’d speakers should be respectful, open-minded, and not aim to put anyone down. insist that responses are clear, coherent sentences, not just a few words. clarify students' responsibilities and expectations (write them down and copy for all). arouse interest and commitment to the service learning. assess the values, knowledge, and skills that each student brings to the project.  Cont’d develop background information about the people and problems the students will encounter in the service situations to sensitize them and help to revise any misconceptions. develop and practice any skills that will be required, including being active observers and questioners of experience. get closure on emotional/affective issues by the end of each reflective session. leave some cognitive/topical issues open until the next session to give group members an opportunity to think more about them.  Strategies (opportunities) for reflection Strategies/ Opportunities for reflection that have been found to be useful in promoting reflection include – journal writing, – teacher narratives, – autobiography, – metaphor, – critical incidents, – support groups, – critical friends, and – action research. Merging these task structures in creative ways and utilizing them individually, collaboratively, and with facilitated coaching is likely to have the greatest potential for promoting higher-order reflection.  Teacher narratives (autobiography and metaphor) Teacher narratives are stories written by and about teachers and can be used as the source of narrative inquiry (Cole, 2000). Either keen observers or teachers themselves write real stories about teaching that illuminate the realities, dilemmas and rewards of teaching. Reflecting on teacher narratives can yield insights about motivations for teacher actions, the complexities of teaching, and about teachers. Teacher narratives can also be specifically designed to be used as case studies with the explicit purpose of reflecting on a specific problem.  Cont’d Metaphors bear the images teachers have of themselves as teachers, their professional identity. The practical theories of teachers are often expressed as metaphors as opposed to the more logical forms of expression. The following metaphors written by beginning teachers offer a glimpse (indication) of the images teachers have of themselves as teachers: – A teacher is like a song creating memories and bringing comfort when you hear it. – A teacher is like a candle melts itself and gives light for another  Critical incident Though generally conceived as a self-generated incident, a critical incident could also be a carefully chosen real-world example or case study of a teaching dilemma intended to serve as a springboard for reflection. Descriptions of high and low moments in their practice, or details of significant incidents that stand out in their lives as teachers, provide the impetus (drive) to grapple with problems and dilemmas becoming the basis for critical investigation.  Portfolios Portfolios are designed to encourage novice teachers to reflect about important areas such as state and/or national teaching standards and to document evidence of their knowledge and experience of each. Portfolios can be developed over the course of an entire teacher education program to demonstrate growth in knowledge and skill and can provide evidence of achievements.  Cont’d Portfolios can promote reflective thinking at various levels of deliberation on practical teaching matters as well as at higher levels of questioning institutional goals. The routine of reflecting on practice through portfolios can provide the novice teacher with a cognitive link between past experiences and newly encountered challenges. Discovering ways to understand present circumstances through previously acquired knowledge can help to generate new problem-solving abilities.  Case study analysis Case study analysis can be a valuable method for stimulating teacher reflection. Teaching through case study requires pre- service teachers to review unique and challenging situations and to reflect on potential solutions Case studies can present complex situations that require difficult analysis and depend on both instructor expertise and high levels of student comprehension. Case study written reflections could be shared and discussed with peers in an effort to learn about alternative ways of approaching problems.  Student input Some studies indicated that college teacher use student input, in its varied forms, as a reflective tool. Faculty believes that student comments are very important; they learn a great deal from student evaluations as well as direct comments from the students. Additional forms include but are not limited to students’ products, course evaluations, and informal student feedback. Unit Four: Action Research as a strategy for Reflection  Action research Action research is: an inquiry-based research that follows a process of examining existing practices, implementing new practices, and evaluating the results, leading to an improvement cycle. a powerful tool for change and improvement at the local level. To do action research is to plan, act, observe and reflect more carefully, more systematically, and more rigorously than one usually does in everyday life.  Cont’d The main purpose of action research is to improve the understanding of teaching practice and to influence or change some aspect of whatever is the focus of the research. It is participatory research and usually involves collaboration between researchers. The evidence collected is qualitative and meaningful to those involved.  Meanings and Nature of Action Research In order to undertake an action research project within educational settings, we need to begin by giving some thought to the question: 'What is action research?' This, in turn, raises two further questions: – What is research? – What is educational research? – What is action research?  Cont’d Research: is a 'systematic, critical and self-critical enquiry which aims to contribute to the advancement of knowledge and wisdom'(Bassey, 1999) Educational research: 'is critical enquiry aimed at informing educational judgments and decisions in order to improve educational action' (Bassey, 1999)  Action research: is a process of systematic reflection, enquiry and action carried out by individuals about their own professional practice (Frost, 2002, p. 25). is a term used to describe professionals studying their own practice in order to improve it (GTCW, 2002a, p. 15). is an enquiry which is carried out in order to understand, to evaluate and then to change, in order to improve some educational practice (Bassey, 1998). is usually described as cyclic, with action and critical reflection taking place in turn. The reflection is used to review the previous action and plan the next one' (Dick, 1997). is an approach which has proved to be particularly attractive to educators because of its practical, problem- solving emphasis...' (Bell, 1999, p. 10).  Action research is referred to variously as a process, enquiry, and approach, flexible spiral process and as cyclic. It has a practical, problem- solving emphasis. It is carried out by individuals, professionals and educators. It involves research, systematic, critical reflection and action. It aims to improve educational practice. Action is undertaken to understand, evaluate and change.  Action Research Vs other types of Education Research Parameters used to compare their differences: Areas Formal/ Action applied research research Training needed by the Extensive On own or with researcher consultation Goals of research Knowledge that is Knowledge to apply to generalizable the local situation Methods of identifying Review of pervious Problems currently the problem to be research faced studied Procedure for Extensive More brief literature review Sampling Approach Random or Students or clients with representative sampling whom they work Research design Precise control, long Looser procedures, time frame change during study:  The Rationale for undertaking Action Research Teachers as practitioners should: engage in the study of their own practice; and develop their own educational theories deriving from that practice.  Steps in Action Research Action research usually consists of 9 steps: 1.Identify an issue/a problem/an area of focus, and limit it 2.Learn more about your issue (formal and informal information gathering) 3.Review Related Literature (in formal aspect otherwise it is optional) 4.Plan and develop a strategy for your study 5.Gather data 6. Analyze and interpret the data 7.Develop a plan of action 8.Take appropriate action and share/communicate your results 9.Reflect on the overall process and the results Identifying an issue and limiting it for investigation Your research topic should reflect an issue of importance to you as a teacher. You should make sure that your topic and the emergent questions are interesting and important to you, to your students, to your faculty, to your fellow teachers, to the profession and to the society at large. Your research questions should come from and directly related to the issue or problem that you have chosen to explore.  A simple approach to develop action research proposal Providing brief answer to each of the following “WH” questions will enable you to address the basic action research proposal development steps as detail described in the above section of this module  Cont’d Identification of the focus of your potential researchable issues or subjects within your professional practice; Possible area for Action Research will be, – Aspects of instructional planning Eg. Lesson plan skill – Contents to teach:-Eg. reading skill, electrical design skill – Instructional/teaching methods:-Eg. contribution of group member; participation in classroom – Learning assessments:-Eg. Performance – Classroom management or environment:- Eg. Misbehavior, lateness, missing classes – Instructional materials:- reference books, teaching aids – Gender issues/social inclusion.Eg. Participation, performance; repetition, dismissal  Cont’d Use the following criteria to evaluate your research topic: – Is it interesting? – Is it original? – Is it significant and important? – Is it feasible? – Is it important? – Is it doable? – Is it ethical? – SMART