1.0 INTRODUCTION

Teaching is a dynamic process. Brennen and Noffke (as cited in McKernan, 1997) stated that

teaching is not only a knowledge-bounded set of competencies, but it should reflectively

supports teacher growth and professionalism through the questioning of policies, problems

and the consequences of actions. As a result, an effective teacher should carry out continuous

reflective practice to avoid from becoming a routine educator who only rely on current

knowledge and experience.

What is reflective practice? Reflective practice is viewed as means by which practitioners

can develop a greater level of self-awareness about the nature and impact of their

performance, an awareness that creates opportunities for professional growth and

development (Osterman & Kottkamp,1993). It is a cyclical process which requires educators,

whether pre-service or in-service, to evaluate how their personal belief and attitudes impact

their decisions and actions in the classroom. This conscious recall and examination of the

experience will be used as a basis for decision making in choosing suitable actions for future

lessons.

Reflective practise usually involves three main components, which are problem

identification, recollection and analysis of the event, and finally, response to the event.

Through this process, educators gain more understanding on their own practical performance.

Then, it will encourage them to apply other alternative teaching approaches in the classroom.

This continuous self-examination also improve their self-esteem and rekindle their interest in

teaching profession. In fact, reflective practice helps educators to perceive their profession as

an art which includes creative manipulation of various teaching approaches and methods.

This paper discusses three ways to promote the professional growth of a teacher through

reflective practice. These three reflective methods are general writing, peer observation and

recording lessons. Then, further discussion on the potential findings from each method are

given and supported with appropriate examples. Finally, this paper will suggest suitable

actions that can be taken by the educators to improve their professional qualities and skills.

2.0 GENERAL WRITING

Since teachers are the agents of their own change, they should take proactive steps to start the

process of self-evaluation and self-improvement through general writing. It is a type of

personal creative writing that encourage the teachers to reflect on a significant experience,

connect and think critically about new ideas. Due to its simplicity and effectiveness, general

writing is often viewed as an indispensable way in facilitating reflective process in the

teaching profession. It provides written records of productive thoughts which serve as useful

directions for teachers to clarify their thinking and enable them to take proper actions to

improve their future instruction.

As an evidence of reflective thinking, the written account starts with short descriptions of

certain significant events written shortly after each lesson. It can be in written or electronic

format such as reflective diaries, communal journals, field journals and even blogs. In order

to increase its effectiveness, general writing should be done in regular intervals, whether

daily, weekly or monthly, to avoid leaving out important observations. Good entries should

provide continuous records of classroom activities from various points of view.

According to Hampton (2010), genuinely reflective writing often involves revealing

anxieties, errors and weaknesses, as well as strengths and successes. Normally, it is written

in certain structured formats. Firstly, it can be written in an essay form. The description of

events is written in three parts, which includes a short description of events, interpretation of

observations and suggestions for improvement. Secondly, the accounts can be recorded in

table form. McKernan (1997) suggested a three by two classification matrix which sets out to

describe affect vs objectives, content and teaching method.

Table 1: The diary matrix: affect and process

Type of affect Intentions Transactions Outcomes

Positive/successful

Negative/frustrating

Source: McKernan (1997: 85)

A good piece of reflective writing shows evidence of in-depth reflections after the descriptive

part. The reflection process can be done personally or as a collaborative effort between the

writer and a facilitator, colleague or small groups. By rereading the entries, the rewarding

moments where positive developments are achieved can be identified. Besides, these written

records will also highlight the problems or constraints faced in the efforts to achieve the

intended objective such as unexpected obstacles in the teaching process. Questions can be

used as guidance to help focus on significant aspects on the teaching practices. Then, critical

analysis has to be done from various perspectives of the events to enable the writer to reach

reasonable explanations.

Finally, the writer should consider the suitable actions which can overcome the problems or

weaknesses identified earlier. It enables him/her to perform better when facing similar

situations in the future. The writer also needs to think about ways to capitalise on his or her

own strengths. To further illustrate how reflective writing helps teachers to promote their

professional qualities, excerpts from two journal entries of a trainee teacher is given below.

Day 1: Introductions--September 16th, 2008

Today, I met …. 6th grade class at Mary Hogan. I was immediately struck by how much older

these students seemed. …. I have to admit that I was nervous.

Journal #4: Unexpected Challenges--November 4th, 2008

…. lesson was disturbed by an impromptu fire drill. I think it was very beneficial to

experience the unexpected challenges that go along with teaching. …..  I think the best way

to approach these situations is to be flexible and to understand that no amount of planning can

get rid of these things.

(Source: https://segue.middlebury.edu/view/html/site/aharris/node/80429)

These two entries contain description of events and feelings during her practical at Mary

Hogan. The first entry explains her anxiety in teaching an older group of students. The

second entry clearly shows evaluation on a classroom experience and suggestions for future

actions. Through reflecting on her experience in Journal 4, she realised that unexpected

events are normal in the teaching process. So, she suggested flexibility in executing lessons

as a practical solution in handling similar situations.

3.0 PEER OBSERVATION As the saying goes “two heads are better than one”, the power of dialogue is more effective in

generating deep and meaningful reflection than solitary efforts which only involve an

individual educator. This is the main reason behind the popularity of peer observation in

reflective practice. In education, peer observation can be defined as a supportive process in

which two or more educators work together around shared observation of teaching. It

provides a non-threatening environment to conduct classroom research, develop new insights

and share constructive ideas on the classroom issues identified. To maximize the sharing of

best teaching practices among colleagues, a minimum of two peer observation sessions per

academic year are recommended.

Generally, peer observation consists of three main steps, which are pre-observation, the

actual observation and a post-observation. During the first step, the inviting teacher and the

observer meet in an orientation session a few days before the observation. The discussion

focuses on the general details of the session such as date, time, scope and instruments of

observation. During the actual observation, the observer carries out the observation during

the partner’s lesson. To ensure unbiased and reliable information, observation instruments

such as checklists, rating scales and open-ended narratives can be utilised during the

observation process.Finally, the parties involved discuss the findings openly in a face-to-face

meeting, preferably within a week of the observation.

Post-observation discussion will be productive only when undertaken in an atmosphere of

trust and security, and with a developmental intent (Hitchins and Pashley, as cited in Race,

2009). So, a safe enviroment is needed to encourage the exchange of a rich source of ideas

and talents between both parties. It is mutually beneficial for both the observed and observer.

Useful findings on various aspects of teachers’ classroom practices such as questioning

techniques, time management, student activities and closure can be obtained through the

perspective of the observer. However, to achieve the optimum input from this reflective

method, the observed teacher has to be open-minded in accepting both positif feedbacks and

constructive criticisms.

Then, the parties work together to brainstorm proper strategies to overcome any weaknesses

identified during the observation. Finally, the inviting teacher should try out these new ideas,

instructional strategies, or different approaches in the next lesson. This step will ensure that

teachers do not only possess relevant discipline specific qualifications or knowledge, but they

are also capable of choosing suitable teaching approach to overcome their weaknesses

identified earlier.

An example of peer observation programme was implemented in a private university college

in Kuala Lumpur from October 2006 to September 2007. The findings from the first round

of peer observations highlighted weaknesses such as poor whiteboard management and slides

reading and repetitive used of certain words. During the second round of observations which

was carried out after 6 months, there were marked improvements in the areas identified

earlier. At the end of this programme, Dr. Fernandez-Chung (2009) agreed that the exercise

benefited all respondents – the most and the least experienced.

4.0 VIDEO RECORDINGS

Video recording is another valuable way to stimulate self-reflection in education. It provides

an objective and permanent source that can be viewed repeatedly to observe various aspects

of classroom practice (Orlova, 2009). Through the process of repeated observation, analysis

and discussion, teachers can identify and respond to strong and weak aspects of their teaching

practice from a director-like perspective.

This method is useful in capturing the moment to moment processes of actual classroom

activities which happen at the same time. According to Richards (1990), the goal of

recording lessons is to capture as much of the interaction of the class as possible, both teacher

to class and student to student. The process of video recording starts with the preparation of

relevant equipment such as video camera with a tripod and clip-on microphone to produce

quality recording. The help of a technician is needed to record the classroom interaction from

a non-obtrusive location to minimize distraction to normal classroom activities. If possible, it

can be done over a period of one or two weeks to give enough time for the teacher and pupils

to get used to the presence of the technician and camera.

After that, the recording should be viewed for a few times. The teacher can use some basic

questions to help direct attention towards certain classroom behaviour. For example, aspects

that can be observed in a language lesson include knowledge of essential language phonology

accuracy and the use of non-verbal gestures. A friend can be invited to view the recording

together to sum up positive aspects and give constructive criticisms on any weaknesses

identified through the recorded lesson. These concrete suggestions can be employed in the

subsequent lessons which will be recorded also to facilitate the teacher to identify whether he

or she have remedied errors or undesirable aspects of own teaching.

Video recording alone does not provide professional development for teachers (LeFevre, as

cited in Derry, 2007). Changes in knowledge of teachers will only occur through active

interaction with the recordings. Four main learning outcomes from it as outlined by Schwartz

and Hartman (as cited in Derry, 2007) are doing, engaging, seeing and saying. Firstly, video

recording shows classroom interactions and activities which serve as new ideas to support the

learning of “doing”. Secondly, it “engages” teachers and motivates them to explore a

particular topic such as how to improve student-teacher interaction during a reading session.

It also trains teachers to “see” the meaningful events in a particular aspect of instruction

recorded in the actual classroom setting. Finally, teachers acquire new ideas and information

and practise “saying” them through producing particular kinds of analysis.

The ability of video recording in illustrating complex teaching dilemmas for further detailed

analysis on the part of the viewers makes it a powerful tool in enhancing reflective practice.

To further promote professional growth of educators, video recordings can be shared among

colleagues through video clubs, problem solving workshops or group lesson study.

5.0 CONCLUSION

Undeniably, teaching involves many highly complex processes. Effective teachers must be

well informed regarding various educational matters. So, they should carry out continuous

reflective practice. It is an essential process in life-long professional development. Teachers,

who engage in reflective practice, show deeper understanding of their roles and practices in

the teaching processes, possess informed decision-making skills and are proactive and

confident in their teaching.

Regular reflection should be followed by proactive actions. It provides the opportunities for

the teachers to achieve self renewal through breaking the chain of fruitless routine activities.

They will be able to make unexpected connections and experiment with fresh ideas in the

teaching process. Due to its numerous benefits, teacher should strive to overcome the

obstacles in the implementation of reflective practice such as time-consuming research and

extra cost. They should realize that the final goal of reflective practice is helping pupils to

achieve their maximum potential in learning.