The teacher as a reflective practitioner

The teacher is a learner and a professional; as a result, every teacher has a professional responsibility to be reflective and evaluative about their practice. This would enable the teacher identify means of improving their professional activity in order to improve the quality of pupils' learning.  Reflection causes teachers to evaluate what happened and why; it encourages teachers to try out new ideas and promote changes in pupils' learning behaviour.

Reflective thinking is a learned process that requires time.  Generally there is little, if any, time left at the day's end to reflect on previous events, and to design meaningful, creative problem-solving strategies.   However, given the intent of the student teaching experience, time for reflection should be a critical and ongoing practice.  The following are some examples of activities that promote reflection and may be tailored to fit into the school day and beyond. 

Thinking Aloud: This involves the teacher intentionally expressing aloud his thoughts about the days teaching.  This is especially effective when learning how to plan because it uncovers the reasoning behind making decisions.  Another component of the think aloud is describing and analyzing positive and negative experiences as they surface.  This can be a therapeutic and valuable tool that can be accomplished on oneís own or in conjunction with individuals from a mentoring team. 

Reflective Journal:  This is a process of recording and analyzing events in a prescribed manner and it can be a productive strategy to foster reflective thinking.  The journaling process may be formal or informal.  It can be a description of a significant event or an aspect of teaching on which a teacher is asked to focus. 

Competency Continuum:  Think about the areas in teaching identified in the performance standards on the evaluation form.  Select an area and rank yourself on a continuum from most competent to least competent.  Begin to identify the factors that inhibit your ability to be more competent and identify what would be most helpful to gain more competency.  Use this continuum as a tool for discussion and action planning between you and your mentoring team. 

Data Collection/Action Research:  Consider a problem area such as student motivation that  concerns you.  Intentionally design a procedure for collecting information (data) to learn more about the problem.  Use this data to further analyze the situation, to act on the problem, or to reevaluate. 

Video/Audio Tape and Reflective Analysis:  Video or audio tape yourself teaching.  View or listen to  the tape for the purpose of analyzing your instruction and student response.  The video or audio tape may be used as a tool for reflective dialogue between the teacher intern and individuals from the mentoring team.  It could be combined with a journal entry. 

Written Self-Evaluation:  This is a structured self analysis.  It is written at midterm and at the end of the student teaching experience by the teacher intern, as part of the midpoint and final conference.  See page -  for the midpoint evaluation form. 

Use of the Problem Solving Process:  This six step process may be used for any problem situation in or out of the classroom setting.  It is intended as a tool for collaborative or individual problem solving and reflective thinking as well as a design for action.

 1.  Identify the problem
 2.  Generate possible solutions
 3.  Evaluate the solutions
 4.  Design an action plan
 5.  Implement the plan
 6.  Evaluate the results

Coaching and Conferencing Process:  This is a process that occurs on a regular basis during the student teaching experience.  It provides an opportunity to talk about teaching and learning and should be a natural flow of conversation that includes sharing ideas, giving and receiving formative feedback.  This process that may be ongoing and informal, or scheduled and structured. It may or may not include an observation.  The intent of the process is to engage in an activity that promotes dialogue about teaching effectiveness, and encourages reflective thinking about teaching, learning, and performance.

Development of a Professional Portfolio:  The process of creating and selecting documents for inclusion in the portfolio requires a significant amount of reflective thinking about yourself as a teacher and your growth related to the performance standards for student teaching.  It is an opportunity to talk about your experience and performance with the individuals who form your mentoring team.  It can be one of the most intensive processes for reflection.