Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
This article was downloaded by: [Moskow State Univ Bibliote]On: 24 August 2013, At: 01:47Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
Reflective Practice: International andMultidisciplinary PerspectivesPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/crep20
‘Just thinking about stuff’: reflectivelearning: Jane’s storyMary McAteer a & Jane Dewhurst aa Edge Hill University, Faculty of Education, Woodlands Centre,Southport Road, Chorley, PR7 1QR, UKPublished online: 29 Jan 2010.
To cite this article: Mary McAteer & Jane Dewhurst (2010) ‘Just thinking about stuff’: reflectivelearning: Jane’s story, Reflective Practice: International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 11:1,33-43, DOI: 10.1080/14623940903519317
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14623940903519317
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE
Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as tothe accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors,and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Contentshould not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims,proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoeveror howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to orarising out of the use of the Content.
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions
Reflective PracticeVol. 11, No. 1, February 2010, 33–43
ISSN 1462-3943 print/ISSN 1470-1103 online© 2010 Taylor & FrancisDOI: 10.1080/14623940903519317http://www.informaworld.com
‘Just thinking about stuff’: reflective learning: Jane’s story
Mary McAteer* and Jane Dewhurst
Edge Hill University, Faculty of Education, Woodlands Centre, Southport Road, Chorley PR7 1QR, UKTaylor and FrancisCREP_A_452395.sgm(Received 15 June 2009; final version received 31 December 2009)10.1080/14623940903519317Reflective Practice1462-3943 (print)/1470-1103 (online)Original Article2010Taylor & Francis111000000February [email protected]
Reflection as a practice development strategy is an integral part of manyprofessional development programmes. This paper documents and explores thereflection occurring at a range of levels as part of an action research study for anMA Education final dissertation. Triggered by reflective discussions that tookplace between Jane (the teacher and MA student) and her pupils, and Jane andMary (the MA tutor), the paper explores and articulates the potency of reflectionas a shared and collaborative activity. Drawing on the Ghaye and Ghaye typologyfor reflection, analysis of the challenges and benefits of helping her students toreflect on their own learning was to show unexpected outcomes on theirachievement. As Jane articulated, ‘In order to learn, there is more at play thanthe transference of subject based knowledge. Good teaching involves helpingstudents to recognise how they can learn and make sense of their experiences.’
Keywords: reflective practice; models of reflective learning; collaborativereflection; action research
Introduction
Jane initially encountered action research during her MA Education, and had come torealise that it allowed her both the professional freedom to address issues in her ownpractice in context, and also, the academic structure and rigour which validate herclaim on professional learning and development. In choosing a focus for her finaldissertation, she was drawn to further engage with action research, believing that theprocesses involved would significantly enhance her understanding and practice. Inparticular, the potency of reflective learning, her first step on the action research cycle,was something which she believed would enhance not only her own professionallearning and development, but also the learning of her pupils. This paper is drawnfrom her MA study and my later reflections on it, in my capacity as her dissertationsupervisor. Where Jane’s voice is used, the font is italicised.
Jane has been trained as a chemistry teacher, but is now mainly teaching physics,up to and including A-level. She confesses to having been a poor A-level physicsstudent herself, and brings this background to her study of teaching A-level physics toa class of two girls and five boys. In an effort to improve her physics teaching, she hasundertaken various subject based courses, and although she is now happy and confi-dent about her subject knowledge, she still has a specific concern about her teaching
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Mos
kow
Sta
te U
niv
Bib
liote
] at
01:
47 2
4 A
ugus
t 201
3
34 M. McAteer and J. Dewhurst
and asks herself: ‘how can I make sure that my teaching is interesting, relevant andeffective for THIS class?’
Action research has been a key mechanism through which teachers and otherprofessionals have addressed concerns about their professional practice since the early1970s. It has a very specific purpose, enabling professionals to understand their prac-tice better, and use that enhanced understanding in order to effect changes in practice.As Elliott (1993, p. 49) says, ‘the fundamental aim of action research is to improvepractice’.
Jane explains her rationale for using action research as follows:
I decided to undertake the study using an action research approach. Having previouslyundertaken some action research, I have become quite a convert. Not only is theresearch very personal, shaped by myself to fit my own personal circumstances, but theimpact is upon my own pedagogy and practice. There is no remote application ofsomeone else’s ideas as the research is tailored to one’s own personal research area.This high degree of personalisation does not mean though, that the research is ad hocnor that it has no wider relevance.
In using Elliott’s (1993) model of action research, Jane was conscious that the initialreconnaissance phase provided her with an opportunity to start formally recording herreflections on the situation through the use of a reflective journal. It is this phasewhich provides the focus for our paper.
Starting the project
She started the project by deciding that she would keep a reflective journal, and herinitial step in engaging her pupils in dialogue was to ask that they too would keepreflective diaries. In this way she felt that in sharing their reflections, they could beginto enter a ‘learning conversation’, which should ultimately help her understand, andhence improve her practice.
Her own reflective diary became a rich source of data for her during her project.As Mason (2002) notes:
As a professional, you are sensitised to notice certain things in professional situations.To develop your practice means to increase the range and decrease the grain size ofrelevant things you notice, all in order to make informed choices as to how to act in themoment, how to respond to situations as they arise. (Mason, 2002, p. xi)
Jane had indeed become sensitised to her practice, and used her diary to capture thethings she noticed, and their relevance. As Moon (2006) suggests:
● Journals slow the pace of learning.● Journals increase the sense of ownership of learning.● Journals acknowledge the role of emotion in learning.● Journals give learners an experience of dealing with ill-structured material.● Journals encourage metacognition (learning about one’s own process of learning).● Journals encourage learning through the process of writing. (Moon, 2006,
pp. 26–36)
She believed that by taking time to capture, and later reflect on her own thoughts, shewould come to a deeper understanding of it, and felt that perhaps a similar benefit
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Mos
kow
Sta
te U
niv
Bib
liote
] at
01:
47 2
4 A
ugus
t 201
3
Reflective Practice 35
might also pertain for her pupils. She had previously undertaken some informalinquiry with her pupils, but had not formalised it in this way before, and in onerespect, while she was wary of asking them to keep a journal, she did believe that itwould help them feel more involved in the project, and as Moon (2006) suggests, thatit would both give ownership and promote metacognition. We (Jane and I) discussedthe impact her pupils’ reflections might have on her own learning and understanding.We talked of the potential for her own learning through her project, and consideredways in which her pupils’ reflections could also significantly enrich and enhance herown reflections, and indeed felt that her own noticing, no matter how sensitive, wasan incomplete account of events, and in and of itself could not be sufficient to supportany claims to knowledge she might make about her practice; hence her request topupils to keep reflective diaries. In this way, her pupils’ journals would serve to bothenhance her own reflections, and hopefully would also support their own learning.
Holly (1989, p. 7) suggests that reflective journals include ‘deliberative thoughtand analysis related to practice’. Bolton (2005, p.166) articulates further, saying thatthose who write learning journals ‘take responsibility for discovering personal learn-ing needs’, ‘learn by examining vulnerable areas’ and ‘question, explore, analysepersonal experience’.
Ghaye and Ghaye (1998, p. 24) provide a five-part typology of reflection onpractice:
● Descriptive – personal and retrospective.● Perceptive – has an emotional aspect.● Receptive – relates personal views to those of others.● Interactive – links learning to future action.● Critical – places the individual teacher within a broader ‘system’.
These categories can be seen as a mechanism for enabling progressively deeper andmore meaningful reflection, each being presented with clear descriptors as to whatmight identify and delineate each form. However, we used this more as an analyticthan a developmental framework, revisiting the captured reflections and viewing themthrough this lens.
The challenges of writing and sharing
The first challenge Jane faced is that of developing the culture in which the keepingand open sharing of reflective journals can take place. In the hierarchical structure ofschools and classrooms, this type of culture can be difficult to develop, and indeedcould be seen to run counter to the ‘normal’ order of things. Even with a desire todevelop such a culture, it is clearly not something that can happen at will. Janedescribed how she introduced the concept of reflective journals to her pupils.
At the start of the school year, I discussed my research project with my AS Physicsgroup. I asked the group if they would be willing to help me to undertake my researchand I asked for volunteers, making it as clear as possible that this was an entirely volun-tary act on their part.
I had decided to start with a journal approach as, although it would be harder to analysethe data collected, for each journal keeper the data would be completely personalisedand would not be influenced by leading questions and would allow each person toexpress themselves fully.
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Mos
kow
Sta
te U
niv
Bib
liote
] at
01:
47 2
4 A
ugus
t 201
3
36 M. McAteer and J. Dewhurst
However, as Boud (2002, pp. 9–17) asserts, she was acutely aware that students oftenfind a need to present themselves in the ‘best light’, and that revealing their shortcom-ings is not an easy thing for them to do. In addition, it was also possible that theirjournal entries might reveal what they perceived to be shortcomings in Jane herself,and once again, they would have significant difficulty in doing this. Engaging in thesharing of reflective journals requires trust, both in order to get the process started, andalso, and perhaps more importantly in continuing the process when it can exposeparticipants to learning ‘by examining vulnerable areas’ (Bolton, 2005, p. 166). Thefact that Jane had already introduced her pupils to reflective practice in a previoussituation probably helped both parties reach, establish and maintain this level of trust.My own previous relationship with Jane through teaching her on a previous modulewas probably helpful in establishing trust between the two of us.
At the start of the project she tried to reassure her pupils on two fronts:
(1) The journal entries were unlike other school ‘work’, and were not assessed orused as evidence of their engagement (or otherwise) with their study.
(2) Honest reflections were really important, given the focus of her research tofind a way of improving her practice. If they did not tell her, she would notknow.
She hoped that in giving them these reassurances that they would engage openly andhonestly, saying that, ‘the more trust they have in me, their teacher, in terms of lackof judgement on their comments, the more truthful and insightful those comments maybecome’ (Walker, 2006, pp. 216–221) and hoped that, ‘over the 4 weeks of the journalthat comments (would) become more frank and open, and therefore more revealingabout the student experience’.
Jane’s account of the early stages of the research indicated an initial resistance tothe idea of a reflective journal from the boys in her class, and a rather superficial engage-ment from the girls, despite their willingness to participate. Comments from them werealong the lines of ‘good lesson’, and ‘helpful for homework task’. She continued fora period of four weeks however with just the girls in the class, noting the developmentof depth in their reflections at the end of that period. During this period the girls becamemore engaged in journal writing, and analysis of their comments indicated that theywere becoming much more aware of their own learning processes.
During the first term, [of AS study] they indicated that they found the reflective journaluseful, and as a teacher, I became aware of their increasing maturity in terms of theirthoughtful engagement with their learning. They had both become more confident withinlessons about critiquing certain pedagogical aspects, usually with a discourse abouttheir utility or lack of it for learning purposes, and this in turn led to many minor adjust-ments in lessons. These were often not planned for in advance but were the product ofinput from the girls in relation to their own difficulties in class, thus learning wasbecoming more personalised for these two students.
At this stage, as Jane reflected on the progress of her project, she became concernedthat if she did not manage to encourage the boys in the class to also participate, thenher practice could in effect become biased in favour of the girls, and in addition, theboys would not benefit from the learning that occurs during reflection.
I felt that the girls had benefited from the process of reflection during the initial recon-naissance and so the act of reflection had changed from a fact-finding technique to the
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Mos
kow
Sta
te U
niv
Bib
liote
] at
01:
47 2
4 A
ugus
t 201
3
Reflective Practice 37
action itself. I wanted to investigate whether the act of reflection on learning in itselfwould be a useful pedagogical tool that would enhance the learning experience of thestudents.
In discussions with other MA students and tutors, Jane decided that she should, in linewith the recommendations of Noble and Bradford (2002), use a plenary activity at theend of teaching sessions which would force the boys to participate in reflecting on thelesson. Citing their claim that ‘it is the encouragement/coercion to reflect upon theirwork and the process of learning which really helps boys’ (Noble & Bradford, 2002,p. 28), and their suggestion that the weakness for boys is their inability to reflect ontheir work and how they have learnt, she suggests that a mandatory reflection duringlessons will improve both boys’ learning and achievement. In order to make this moremanageable for them (and in particular for the boys, who she did not feel would wishto write a journal), she used a system of post-it notes, each pupil being asked tocomplete two, one to note the ‘good’ things about the lesson, and the other to note‘could have been better’ aspects. All comments were then collated on a class chart forlater analysis.
The initial impact of this was that the boys happily completed, and shared the post-its, and for a further four-week period, Jane was able to collect post-it comments fromher entire class. Despite an appearance of success however, she was concerned aboutthe quality of the reflections.
Many of the comments, as described earlier, were flippant, especially from the perceivedweaker students in the set, and my analysis of the girls’ comments indicated that theirlevel of reflection seemed to have regressed. That is not to say that they were not intro-spective of the lessons in their own heads but the written comments did not indicate thedepth of reflection that had been noted in their journals. Within their journals, they hadreflected on the whole lesson, on individual aspects of a lesson, and of their feelingsabout the lesson. This showed an emotional and cognitive engagement with both lessonand reflection. Now comments were very limited. I was unsure of the reasoning for this:perhaps it was because they were following the comments made by the boys; perhaps itwas the instruction to say as much or as little as you wish or perhaps they needed thetime away from the lesson in order to contemplate their learning. In any case, apart froma few individual issues relating to preferences within the lesson, I did not feel that thestudents had gained anything from the post-it note reflection. Certainly I felt that fromthe point of view of the research I had gained very little: I had found out a little aboutvarious likes and dislikes of my students, but unlike the feedback from the journals, I didnot feel that this stage of the research had given anything either to the students’ learningor to my understanding of their learning.
This issue was clearly important in terms not only of the operation of Jane’s project,but also in terms of her later analysis of the data. At the end of the AS year, with allthe examinations over, she felt that a further period of reflection would help her makesense of what had happened, and she asked the pupils in the class if they would bewilling to be interviewed about their experiences of recording reflections, and theyagreed. This process allowed for a more developed discussion around not just thepupils’ engagement with the reflective processes, but for an articulation of both thelevels of engagement and its perceived worth.
Later reflections on writing and sharing
There were clear differences between the girls’ and the boys’ responses in the inter-views. In particular, the girls seems to have an emotional engagement with the process
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Mos
kow
Sta
te U
niv
Bib
liote
] at
01:
47 2
4 A
ugus
t 201
3
38 M. McAteer and J. Dewhurst
of journal writing, and found the writing, rather than direct saying, a rather enablingexperience.
One girl said she liked the fact that the journal ‘allowed her to put down what she wasthinking without having to say it out loud’, and another ‘that if you were frustratedbecause you didn’t get something it allowed you to get it out so you weren’t stressed’.
They had both been aware of the fact that the journals had been an emotional releaseafter the lesson and this was one of the reasons that they had engaged with keeping thelogs. However, they also were aware of the learning implications from their reflections:‘it made me realise that I like to see things written down rather than being shown Power-points’ and ‘it helped you to know for other lessons as well’. As well as indicating certainareas of preferences which they became more aware of, they had stated that this reflec-tion helped not just in Physics but also in other subjects.
In this respect, it seemed clear that the journals, which had started off as mainlydescriptive, had become perceptive and indeed were moving towards the interactiveand the critical, in that the girls were now able to see their learning as a process outsidethe physics classroom, and use their own understanding of their learning to relate toother contexts. Jane felt that the girls were benefiting significantly from becomingreflective in their learning, and that the sharing of this was also helping her understandher practice as a teacher.
The boys in the class, having declined to keep reflective journals indicated in theirinterviews that they saw this as an additional burden in class. Jane writes about oneboy’s response as follows.
He had seen it as ‘extra work’ and felt that as Physics was his ‘hardest subject’ hedidn’t want to put any more pressure on himself. When I asked for his impression ofreflection (at the end of his AS year) and what he currently thought of being reflective,he was more positive. He thought it would help him with his learning because it wouldgive him an opportunity to think about what he could and could not do, and think aboutways of solving the things he could not do. He acknowledged the fact that it appeared tohave helped the girls because in class they were ‘more clued up about what things theylearned well from’. He also stated that if he was ‘made to do something, like if it was setfor us to do’ that he would have undertaken the reflective journal because it would makeit seem like it was ‘worth doing’. I had not considered that by asking pupils to undertakethe research on a voluntary basis had in fact diminished its value in the eyes of at leastone pupil.
He also stated that ‘just thinking about stuff’ didn’t feel like work. We discussed thedifferences between ‘learning’ – the processing of actions and experiences and the actof making sense of these and ‘working’ – methodological working through of problemsand questions. This student felt that only ‘work’ was a valid use of his time for the learn-ing process. Once we discussed how reflection and analysis of his experiences mightlead to improved learning he could see how that might lead to improvements as it wouldencourage greater dialogue between himself and me, and himself and his peers.
Another of the boys, one who had initially wanted to continue his study of physics toA-Level, but who had not been achieving as highly in it as in other subjects, haddecided to drop the subject after AS. However, he said that he had enjoyed it duringthe AS year. When asked about reflecting on his learning and the value of reflecting,he provided Jane with a very deep insight into the barriers that can face practitionersin developing a culture and community of reflection.
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Mos
kow
Sta
te U
niv
Bib
liote
] at
01:
47 2
4 A
ugus
t 201
3
Reflective Practice 39
I asked him firstly about the post-it notes plenary and whether it had helped him toreflect. He did not think that it had to any real extent as it was a very short activity atthe end of the lesson and the most important thing seemed to him to be ‘something towrite… so that I sometimes put down anything, just the first thing in my head … just toput something on the paper’. When asked if he ever reflected on the lessons afterwardsand in particular how he had learned, he answered that he ‘went over the things I’dlearned in the lesson, but when I got stuck I stopped because I didn’t know what to door how to do it’. This comment implied to me that he focused on content of the lesson andasked about whether or not he ever thought about the ways in which he was learning orhow he was learning the content. He answered negatively: ‘it doesn’t seem importantbecause we won’t get asked that in an exam’. His focus was on getting a good grade andhe felt that this was dependent only on content. When asked about the reflective journalsand reasons for not participating, like the other students, he indicated that he thoughtthat his AS year would be busy and he didn’t want to be doing any extra work.
Reflecting on these interviews, we began to consider their implications. Jane’s initialintention of starting a ‘learning conversation’ in her classroom was one which causedus both to consider again whether simply having a spirit of openness and trust in theclassroom was sufficient to encourage this reflecting and sharing. It seemed that shemight have to do something more to enable it. In addition, in terms of future actions,it seemed morally indefensible to now know things about her practice and not changeit. For both of us, it raised issues around the importance of reflection, and themessages and support we give to our students.
An obligation to change
As a result of analysing and comparing pupils’ diaries with her own, Jane alsobecame conscious of a degree of mismatch between her own reflections and thoseof her pupils. On this particular occasion, she had noted what she thought was a‘good lesson’ and commented that ‘all the class had got the point’, only to find thatpupils had noted that the lesson ‘jumped about a lot’, and commented that they‘couldn’t always work out what to do next’. This exposition of her practice to criti-cal scrutiny by her pupils was something that despite previous more informal sharedenquiries with them, she had not been so conscious of before. This had a majorimpact on her understanding of the dynamic in her classroom. ‘I had reached therealisation that although the research was personal to me the outcome of myresearch actually was the effect on others’. In this way, it challenged her to ‘dosomething’ about her classroom practice, both in terms of her teaching, and also insupporting further reflection in her classroom. In essence, when her reflectionsbecame ‘receptive’ to other constructions of her classroom practice, she realises ‘anobligation to change’. This change was not simply in her own practice, but alsoconstituted a change in the classroom dynamic. Jane’s pupils had now not onlybecome co-researchers with her, but also were co-constructing how learning occursin her classroom.
However, acting on the new knowledge about her practice was somewhat morecomplex than she had imagined. Initially, her intention in developing a learningconversation in her classroom was to develop her own understanding of her contextu-alised practice, and in doing so, decide how best she might improved it. The title ofher dissertation speaks clearly of the desire to teacher her subject better ‘I just wantedto find out how to teach A-Level Physics a bit better’. However, in undertaking sharedreflections with her pupils, and in exploring the ways in which her pupils engaged, or
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Mos
kow
Sta
te U
niv
Bib
liote
] at
01:
47 2
4 A
ugus
t 201
3
40 M. McAteer and J. Dewhurst
did not engage in the process, she also developed a more sophisticated understandingof the process of reflection itself, and its significance in supporting learning, and thesignificant role that played in her teaching. She began to realise that her pedagogy wason the one hand about supporting her pupils to understand the content she wasteaching, but on the other hand, she was also beginning to understand the importancein all this of changing her practice in a way that enabled her pupils to learn about theirown learning. From Jane’s perspective, this confirmed something that she had begunto believe in strongly. From my perspective however, the realisation of this was,perhaps paradoxically, more significant. Having been both an advocate and teacher ofaction research for over 10 years, it struck me that my own levels of engagement withreflective practice had somewhat taken a back seat, while I encouraged others toforefront it in their own professional learning. In this respect, Jane’s project, whichgave me an opportunity to reflect on Jane’s reflections, and on those of her pupils,reawakened my own reflective practice.
While Day in his 1993 paper suggests that reflection is ‘necessary, but notsufficient condition for professional development’, he goes on to elaborate models ofreflection which in essence move past the professional learning approaches, to anapproach of professional development through the ‘confrontation’ of that learning ina way that links the outcomes to future action. Other such models such as those ofGhaye and Ghaye (1998), Smyth (1991), Griffiths and Tann (1990) and Rolfe (2001)provide similar frameworks and approaches, and likewise provide an imperative toaction. Jane had arrived at a position where she had to confront the implications of herreflections, and those of her pupils. It seemed clear to her that on the one hand,elements of her pedagogy needed to change in order to support the most effectiveteaching of physics in her classroom, while on the other hand, she needed to changehow she enabled her pupils to learn.
She was beginning to see the reflective process as one which was not only acommentary on learning, but an essential part of it.
If we can bring the process of thinking and learning to a conscious level, and helpstudents to become more reflective, then we can help them to gain control or masteryover the organisation of their learning. In this view effective learning is not just themanipulation of information so that it is integrated into an existing knowledge base,but also involves directing one’s attention to what has been assimilated, understandingthe relationship between the new information and what is already known, understand-ing the processes which facilitated this, and being aware when something new hasactually been learned. It involves not only thinking, but also a metacognitive process:thinking about thinking (Fisher, 1998, p. 14, in Georghiades, 2004).
She comments on Fisher’s words, as follows:
Fisher firmly believes that the reflection on learning is not only an integral part of thelearning but is an essential part of the learning process. If the student has an awarenessnot only of what they have learned in terms of content but also of how they have learnedthat content and what processes they have utilised then that is a tool for learning thatthey can also use in the future. With the age group involved in my research, they aregetting closer to the stages of learning (such as degree level study or tertiary vocationalcourses) where their own independent input into learning is vital as teaching becomesless structured so that, more and more, the student is in charge of their own learning.My lessons must help them to prepare mentally for the challenge of structuring theirlearning at least as much as for the act of committing content knowledge and practicalskills to memory. I now need to plan for future actions to enable this environment tobe built successfully for these students.
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Mos
kow
Sta
te U
niv
Bib
liote
] at
01:
47 2
4 A
ugus
t 201
3
Reflective Practice 41
Planning for reflection
In having reached the realisation that perhaps the most potent way in which she couldimprove what was happening in her classroom was to enable her students to becomemore reflective learners, Jane began to further explore the concept of reflection as alearning process. Having previously viewed it as a part of the action research cycle,she now began to explore it as a full and developed process in its own right.
The purpose of reflection is to analyse the events undertaken by a person and the knowl-edge acquired during these events to make sense of the experience. Reflection is thusused to help construct a new knowledge.
My rationale for encouraging the students to reflect was to develop their learning alonga co-constructivist approach, where, instead of me (as the teacher) imparting my knowl-edge, the students themselves had a more active role in their own learning where thereflective process enabled them to make sense of their experiences and learning in theirown terms.
She makes links to what Schön (1995) calls ‘reflection-on-action’, and notes in particularthe need to take the time to develop deeper reflection, suggesting that:
This form of reflection may often occur at a later date, once the participant hassufficiently distanced themselves time-wise from the events to be reflected upon – forexample, I, as a teacher, may reflect on the drive home from school or later in the eveningwhen relaxing. My issue from the actual research was that the initial review process (i.e.the journals) allowed adequate time for reflection and application – essential parts ofthe learning cycle. However, once the boys were included and the reflection was under-taken in plenary time, this was not allowing enough time for thorough reflection to occurand the comments given to me were really only an initial impression from the students.In this case neither reflections on the content and its application, nor reflections on thelearning process were being adequately addressed. I was also concerned that if thestudents felt that this was a review stage that they might not go away and reflect uponthis in their own time.
Citing Gadamer’s (1989) three principals of understanding, understanding as intellec-tual grasp, as practical know-how, and as agreement, she draws parallels withcommon approaches to teaching whereby teacher often explain that ‘the best way tolearn is to teach someone else – to share your learning to help make these ideasconcrete’, and suggests that collaborative reflection allows the discussion and sharingthat helps strengthen learning.
Jane had thus reached a position where, in having recognised the value of reflec-tion is both her own and in her pupils’ learning, she realised that she needed to do twokey things:
(1) She had to raise the profile of reflection in her teaching, so that students seethat it is a valid part of the learning process in its own right.
(2) She would have to teach her pupils how to engage meaningfully with reflectivelearning.
Therefore, she decided to incorporate a compulsory reflection activity as part of pupilhomework. In order to facilitate the easy sharing of such reflections, and to helpstimulate dialogic sharing, she decided to use the school’s Virtual Learning Environ-ment (VLE) to host a reflective forum through which she would provide support to
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Mos
kow
Sta
te U
niv
Bib
liote
] at
01:
47 2
4 A
ugus
t 201
3
42 M. McAteer and J. Dewhurst
help them develop their reflectivity, and which would also become a collaborativereflective space.g
So I need to train the students in the art of reflection; to give them at least initially aframework of how to construct reflective thought. Much of the research regardingreflective practice is from the point of view of the educator – ‘how does the teacherreflect on how well the learning has gone?’ – but from my own experience I have seenthat this does not always match the student experience. Perhaps that is down to my ownpoor reflective skills, but I think it is because I am not the student and I am not reflectingon my experience when I reflect on the students’ learning. I also know from personalexperience and from starting to teach, that evaluation of my teaching was one of thehardest elements of my teacher training course. It was only with time, and experience,that I became more able to critically analyse in any real depth the events of a lesson.Because of this, I felt that initially the students will benefit from a framework to structuretheir thoughts and reflections, but this should be put in place as guidelines rather thana prescriptive set of questions. I initially intend to also post on the reflective forum, inthe form of questioning and critiquing the students’ posts to show how I would go aboutthe reflective process, and to prompt them to reflect on their experiences.
Conclusion
Her final comments (below) speak to all reflective practitioners, giving a strongmessage that collaborative reflection strengthens learning by generating understand-ing about and the potential to confront the learning process. While this study relatesto ‘school-based teaching’, the principle of sharing reflection in this way could poten-tially have application in all areas of professional and practice-based learning. Pietroni(1995, p. 48; cited in Bolton, 2005, p. 86) talking of social work education, suggestsa set of the ‘nature and aims of education’, which includes the offering of possible‘partnerships between educators and learners’, the making available a ‘learningenvironment in which the log-jams and messiness of day-to-day practice can be facedand scrutinised’ and the provision of opportunities for the exploration of new ideasand approaches both before and after their use. Collaborative reflection is one way inwhich this might happen. To use the words of one of the boys in Jane’s class ‘justthinking about stuff’ in fact seems to be an essential part of the learning process, andreviewing our learning in terms of both its context and its content, and allowingourselves to become aware of its processes and subject them to critical scrutiny, wouldseem to be a way in which we can enhance our learning. Doing this collaborativelycan open up even richer possibilities.
I have learned a lot about myself during this research. In terms of my own pedagogy, Ihave found I enjoy my teaching much more as a shared process where student feedbackand commentary help to indicate the path of future learning. Within my lessons thestudents are becoming freer to critique the lessons and ask why we have undertaken acertain activity or whether it would be possible to approach the subject matter in adifferent way.
In terms of subject related activities, I have probably learned only a little, as I feel thatwhat I have learned probably transcends subject boundaries. The essence now for me ofteaching is of forming a bond of trust and confidence with my charges, based on anawareness (both mine and theirs) of their learning needs. I can see that my understand-ing of Physics is entirely competent and within the demands of the age range that I teach,but in order to learn, there is more at play than the transference of subject based knowl-edge. Good teaching involves helping students to recognise how they can learn and makesense of their experiences.
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Mos
kow
Sta
te U
niv
Bib
liote
] at
01:
47 2
4 A
ugus
t 201
3
Reflective Practice 43
Notes on contributorsMary McAteer is Postgraduate Programme Leader for a large, multi-strand MA Education ina university in the north west of England. With a background in science education, leadershipand management, her teaching and research interests are now research methodologies, with aspecial focus on action research, reflective practice, autobiographies of learning and the ethicsof practitioner research.
Jane Dewhurst is a science teacher, now in her sixth year of teaching chemistry and physics ina secondary school (11–18) in the north of England. Following the award of her MA, she hasdeveloped an interest and passionate belief in the potency of action research as a means toimprove her practice as a teacher. She has just registered for a PhD.
ReferencesBolton, G. (2005). Reflective practice: Writing and professional development. London: Sage.Boud, D. (2001). Using journal writing to enhance reflective practice. New Directions for
Adult and Continuing Education, 90, 9–17.Day, C. (1993). Reflection: A necessary but not sufficient condition for professional develop-
ment British Educational Research Journal, 19(1), 83–94.Elliott, J. (1993). Action research for educational change. Milton Keynes: Open University
Press.Gadamer, H.G. (1989). Translated by Weinsheimer, J. & Marshall, D.G., Truth and method
(2nd revised ed.). New York: Seabury Press.Georghiades, P. (2004). From the general to the situated: Three decades of metacognition.
International Journal of Science Education, 26(3), 365–383.Ghaye, A., & Ghaye, K. (1998). Teaching and learning through critical reflective practice.
London: David Fulton.Griffiths, M., & Tann, S. (1990). Ripples in the reflection. In P. Lomax (Ed.), BERA
Dialogues No. 5 (pp. 82–101). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Holly, M.L. (1989). Writing to grow: Keeping a personal-professional journal. Portsmouth,
NH: Heinemann.Mason, J., (2002). Researching your own practice: The discipline of noticing. London:
RoutledgeFalmer.Moon, J., (2006). A handbook of reflective and experiential learning: Theory and practice.
London and New York: Routledge.Noble, C. & Bradford, W. (2002). Getting it right for boys and girls. London: Routledge.Rolfe, G. (2001). Knowledge and practice. London: Distance Learning Centre.Schön, D.A. (1995). The new scholarship requires a new epistemology. Change, 27(6), 27–
34.Smyth, J. (1991). Teachers as collaborative learners. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.Walker, S.E. (2006). Journal writing as a teaching technique to promote reflection. Journal of
Athletic Training, 41(2), 216–221.
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Mos
kow
Sta
te U
niv
Bib
liote
] at
01:
47 2
4 A
ugus
t 201
3
