The Purposes, Practices, and Professionalism of Teacher Reflectivity


Book Description

Very little information about the impact of reflection on teacher performance, teacher retention, and student learning is available in teacher preparation programs. This book provides practical and research-based chapters that offer greater clarity about the particular kinds of reflection that matter and avoids talking about teacher reflection generically, which implies that all kinds of reflection are of equal value. This book addresses five very pertinent concepts: (1) teacher reflectivity in theory and research, (2) teacher reflectivity in teacher education programs, (3) teacher reflectivity with teacher candidates, (4) teacher reflectivity in schools and classrooms, and (5) teacher reflectivity and international perspectives.




Reflective Theory and Practice in Teacher Education


Book Description

This book offers a detailed examination of reflective practice in teacher education. In the current educational context, where reflective practice has been mandated in professional standards for teachers in many countries, it analyses research-based evidence for the power of reflective practice to shape better educational outcomes. The book presents multiple theoretical and practical views of this often taken-for-granted practice, so that readers are challenged to consider how factors such as gender and race shape understandings of reflective practice. Documenting approaches that enhance learning, the contributions discuss reflective practice across the globe, with a focus on pre-service, in-service and university teachers. At a time when there is pressure to measure teachers’ work through standardised tests, the book highlights the professional thinking that is integral to teaching and demonstrates ways it can be encouraged in beginning teachers. Aimed at the international community of teacher educators in schools and universities, it also includes a critical examination of methodological issues in analysing and evaluating reflective practice and showcases the kind of reflective practice that empowers teachers and pre-service teachers to make a difference to students.




Conceptualising Reflection In Teacher Development


Book Description

Reflection has become widely recognised as a crucial element in the professional growth of teachers. Terms such as 'reflective teaching', 'enquiry orientated teacher education', 'teachers as researchers' and 'reflective practitioner' have become quite prolific in discussions of classroom practice and professional development. It is frequently presumed that reflection is an intrinsically good and desirable aspect of teaching and teacher education and that teachers, in becoming more reflective, will in some sense be better teachers, though such claims have been rarely subject to detailed scrutiny. Each of the chapters in this book is concerned with exploring the concept of reflection and considering its contributions to teacher education. The papers range across different stages of professional development, some focusing in particular on pre-service education, others on in-service or professional development generally. Some of the papers are concerned with particular strategies for promoting reflection and how they might operate in a teacher education context, others dwell more upon a theoretical appreciation of how reflection facilitates in the processes of professional development, and how it relates to issues of quality in teacher education.




Rethinking Reflection and Ethics for Teachers


Book Description

This book reexamines reflection and ethics for teachers, and argues the case for ensuring teaching practices are educational and professional rather than simply technical or clinical. Demonstrating that theory is indispensable when it comes to professional deliberation and educational practice, the authors draw on their experience to provide insights for teachers that will enable them to become better professional educators. This collection of research chapters, written by established researchers and educators in the field who are familiar with a variety of teaching contexts and are conversant with the current teaching standards and policies relating to teaching and teacher education, is a valuable resource for practicing teachers, researchers, policy-makers as well as for final-year student-teachers in Initial Teacher Education programs. Further, it enables early career teachers to meet their professional responsibilities in a more critically informed and capable manner.




An Educator's Guide to Teacher Reflection


Book Description

This guide explains the importance of developing the habit and skills of reflective practice in order to meet student needs and grow continuously as a professional teacher.




Teacher Reflection


Book Description

This edited book has been compiled in honor of Thomas S.C. Farrell, one of the most distinguished scholars in theorizing and researching language teacher reflection. It examines teacher reflection in three main areas: policies, practices and the impact of teacher reflection on teachers’ practices and professional development. The data-driven chapters shed light on concerns and challenges experienced by teachers in diverse international contexts and institutions, and discuss the practical implications of their findings across a variety of policy settings. The book addresses aspects of reflective practice including macro and micro policies and constraints, as well as opportunities in the engagement of reflective practice. In addition, it explores teachers’ identity, cognition, emotion and motivation, areas which are relevant but often not discussed in the literature on reflective practice.




Examining and Facilitating Reflection to Improve Professional Practice


Book Description

Closely aligned with the reflections standards set by INTASC, NCATE, and NBPST, this book is essential as universities and colleges seek to have reflection as a standard skill set for classroom teachers and educational administrators. Using this text as an easily accessible resource, a discussion and activities guide, and a support for professional development, Education Departments' reflection goals and objectives are met and students enter the classroom confidant in their ability to think in diverse ways, meet the challenges of the classroom, and respond to changing educational environments.




Becoming a Reflective Teacher


Book Description

Just as successful athletes must identify strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and engage in focused practice to meet their goals, so must teachers. Learn how to combine a model of effective instruction with goal setting, focused practice, focused feedback, and observations to improve your instructional practices. Included are 280 strategies related to the 41 elements of effective teaching shown to enhance student achievement.




Reflective Practice as Professional Development


Book Description

This book presents a researcher’s work on reflective practice with a group of high school teachers of English in Japan. Beginning with a series of uncomfortable teacher training sessions delivered to unwilling participants, the book charts the author’s development of new methods of engaging her participants and making use of their own experiences and knowledge. Both an in-depth examination of reflective practice in the context of Japanese cultural conventions and a narrative account of the researcher’s reflexivity in her engagement with the study, the book introduces the concept of ‘the reflective continuum’ – a non-linear journey that mirrors the way reflection develops in unpredictable and individual ways.




Video Reflection in Literacy Teacher Education and Development


Book Description

Within education there is a growing body of research focused on the use of video as a mediational tool for reflection. The purpose of this volume is to bring together research and research-based practices from a wide array of literacy scholars and practitioners who are using video in educational research and teaching.