Reflective practise: a foundation for action research and effective teaching

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Reflective practice: a foundation for action research & effective teaching

Reflective practice:a foundation for action research and effective teaching

Matthew Clarke

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Dr Matthew Clarke is Dean of Education at theHigher Colleges of Technology. He began hiscareer in education teaching in pre-school andprimary schools and has taught students in ESL aswell as university settings in the UK and Australia.He has been a leader in teacher education in theUnited Arab Emirates since 1999 and has beencentral to the creation of a thriving andinternationally accredited Bachelor of Educationdegree at the Higher Colleges of Technology. Hisresearch interests combine discourse analysis,teacher formation and cultural studies.

[email protected]

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IntroductionThis paper provides a brief discussion of the key importance of reflective practice as afoundation for action research in particular, and effective teaching practice in general,in the teacher education program at the Higher Colleges of Technology. In particular, Iargue that the fundamental qualities of reasoning, inquiry and reflection that underpinthese two complementary and commensurate approaches are particularly suited toaddressing the pressing needs of education and schooling in the contemporary UAE.These pressing needs are discussed briefly below.

UAE Education and the call for reformThe UAE as a relatively new 'nation-state' has made remarkable strides in a number ofareas. However, one of the areas where considerable scope for further improvementexists is school education. Increasingly, in recent years local commentators have calledfor radical improvements in UAE schools. This call has been echoed in academicdiscussions of the needs of UAE education generally and of UAE government schoolsin particular:

Due to dramatic changes that are taking place in the world, particularly in theUAE, the role of the education system has become the focus of critical analysis.This has resulted in a series of rather severe criticisms of the education systemin the UAE. Some of these criticisms include:

o inappropriate methods of teaching and learningo inflexible curricula and programs

Mograby, Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, 1999

The need for significant improvements has been accepted by the UAE Ministry ofEducation and Youth and led to the development of Vision 2020; an ambitious plan toreform education in the Emirates by embedding continuous quality improvement as a'strategic pillar' in the practices of UAE schools, reflected in increasingly effectiveteaching, appropriate methodologies and rigorous evaluation processes (UAE Ministryof Education and Youth, 2000). More specifically, Vision 2020 states:

Radical change in teaching/learning concepts, practices, means and styles willbe effected…The focus will shift from teaching to learning, from the teacher tothe learner, from memorization to creativity, reflection, imagination andinnovation. To attain this objective, continuous training for teachers andsupervisors will be provided to change the traditional roles they play into moreeffective roles to promote, develop and instill the culture of innovation which isa societal ambition.

UAE Ministry of Education and Youth, 2000: 87

It was this widespread recognition of the need for change and improvement in UAEschools and classrooms that led to the development of the HCT B.Ed. degrees. TheHCT's B.Ed. degrees aim to provide teachers who are able to transcend traditional


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notions of teaching as the routine and mechanistic application of received teachingmethodologies in the classroom. Instead the HCT seek to develop teachers who areable to engage with teaching as a creative, innovative, imaginative and reflectiveprofessional practice. This notion of teaching as reflective professional practice and thesynergistic links between reflective practice and action research are discussed below.

Reflective Practice and Action Research: commensurate constructsZiechner and Liston endorse Dewey's notion of reflection, as “that which involvesactive, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or practice in light of thereasons that support it and the further consequences to which it leads”, and make thepoint that reflection is not so much a series of steps or a procedure but rather, a holisticorientation to teaching; a way of being a teacher that entails open-mindedness,responsibility and wholeheartedness (Zeichner and Liston, 1996: 9-10). With a similaremphasis on broad approach rather than procedure, Roberts sees the Deweyanreflective paradigm as concerned primarily with self-awareness, deliberative thoughtand a problem-solving orientation (Roberts, 1998: 53). Following Roberts (1998) werecognize a Deweyan philosophy as one perspective on reflection that is appropriate tolanguage teacher education (Roberts, 1998: 55).

Such an emphasis on a broad, open-minded stance towards teaching; on reasoning asa key aspect of effective classroom practice; on inquiry into ongoing issues that arisewithin the classroom and into consequences of particular actions related to theseissues, are also key aspects of action research. Indeed action research is particularlysuited both to the needs of beginning teachers and to a classroom culture in need ofpractical improvements. For while not dismissive of theory, action research is ultimatelypractical “in Aristotle's sense of practical reasoning about how to act rightly and properlyin a situation with which one is confronted” (Kemmis and McTaggart, 2000: 569). Withinthis spirit of reasoned inquiry, our student teachers investigate a classroom issue ofparticular interest to them during their teaching practice in their final year of study. Inorder to accomplish this, they follow a cycle of 'plan-act-observe-reflect-revise plan'.This cycle relies and builds upon the awareness of one's own thinking that Vygotsky(1986/1934: 171) cites as one of the key purposes of school learning, and which is alsothe essence of detached reflection:

School instruction induces the generalizing kind of perception and, thus, playsa decisive role in making the child conscious of his own mental processes.Scientific concepts, with their hierarchical system of interrelationships, seem tobe the medium within which awareness and mastery first develop, to betransferred later to other concepts and other areas of thought. Reflectiveconsciousness comes to the child through the portals of scientific concepts.

One of the key aims of our teacher education programs is to encourage the transfer andextension of this capacity for reflective consciousness to our students' own teachingpractices, so as to continually refine their own understanding of themselves and their

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classroom practice and, ultimately, increase the learning of their own students. Thedevelopment of this reflective capacity among student teachers is facilitated throughboth inter-personal and intra-personal dialogue. A critical component of the latterapproach is to encourage students to infer personal theories from practice for, asBritzman notes, “To theorize about one's experience means to engage one's reflectivecapacities in order to be the author of that experience” (Britzman, 1991: 50).Interpersonal dialogue involves conversations between two or more people and theconstruction, through this dialogic process, of self - what I think; other - what she thinks;and shared meanings, knowledge or understanding.

The purpose of this publication is to share examples of student teachers' actionresearch studies, which mark the culmination (at least during the official 'student' phaseof their development) of the knowledge and understanding that has been developedthrough this process of reflective dialogue with self, peers and teachers. The remainderof this chapter explores this notion of student teachers engaging in reflective dialogue,using examples drawn from Web CT online discussion forums. Through theseexamples I hope to demonstrate the suitability of reflective inquiry for the educationalchallenges facing the contemporary UAE.

Student teachers engaging in reflective practiceThe Web CT discussion forums were created by HCT Education faculty as a platformfor inter-college student discussions to enable students to reflect on their teachingexperiences with peers in other Emirates and, thus, to co-construct further teachingknowledge together. What follows are examples from these Web CT discussions, inwhich student teachers discuss and share experiences in classrooms and schools andreflect on their growth and development as teachers over the four years of their degree.The students here embrace reflective practice, as well as critical thinking, self-awareness and the capacity for growth, development and change, all of which are keyingredients to educational improvement in the UAE:

Teaching made me realize that I have qualities I never thought I have anddeveloped others. I became a critical thinker and a reflective one. I learnt howto reflect on my teaching and the methods I use. I loved being able to use my imagination in teaching because I thought that I would not be able to. I alsorealized that children are different, with different abilities and different ways of thinking. I used to think that children are children, yes they are funny and youcan laugh with them but they also think about things you never give a secondlook. After all what I've gone through these four years, I learnt that no matterhow long I learn I will never get enough. I will always be a student. I will alwaysbe a learner.

Fakhra, Year 4 student,

This student's emphasis on the links between critical thinking and reflective practicewas echoed by another student in the online posting below:


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Teaching enhanced my critical thinking skills. It made me a reflective personwho reflects constantly on everything, not only on the incidents that take placein school but also on every article I read or programme I watch. I just feel thatreflection deepens my understanding of certain things and strengthens mybeliefs about teaching. I know that what I am going to say might seem odd tosome of you, but I feel that reflection, somehow, makes me a better person!Yes, teaching has changed my life and when I look back on the things I havelearned in the last four years, I realize it's been a positive change.

Nada, Year 4 student

The students in the above postings not only recognize the value of reflection but linkthis to their overall development as effective teachers. The real test of theirappropriation of reflective practice, however, is their ability to not just talk about, but to'do' reflection. Below, are some sample entries from student teachers' journals, whichare one element of their teaching practice portfolios. In the first excerpt below a studentteacher is engaging in what Schön (1983, 1987) calls 'reflection-on-action'. That is, thestudent is reflecting after the event about what worked, what didn't work and why itdidn't work.

'Zoo Animals' was the third lesson in the unit. Materials were clear andsupported the aims and content of the lesson. Despite the fact that the lessonmet its objectives, the pair work did not work well. The task was complicatedand students did not understand what they had to do. Even though I gave themexample, it didn't suit the learners' level. The content was appropriate for GradeOne students and the stages were well timed. The sequence of activitiesworked well, but the pair work too long time, hence I didn't have time to do thereflection stage.

Roweya, Year 4 student

The student teacher is working with her class using a 'teaching-learning cycle' (Love,Pigdon and Baker, 2000) that includes stages of 'tuning-in', 'knowledge building','transformation', 'presentation', and 'reflection'. In the latter stage the teacherencourages students to consider what they have accomplished during the lesson orunit. Using this cycle as a tool for scaffolding her thinking, the student teacher is able toidentify precisely where the main problem in her lesson arose. She recognizes that herexpectations for the transformation stage - when the students work with the 'knowledge'in order to transform it into personal understanding - was in effect, beyond the students'zone of proximal development. As a result of these difficulties no time was left forstudents and teacher to reflect on the experience. In the excerpt, below, anotherstudent teacher reflects on the critical importance of allowing time and space in theclassroom for constructive, formative feedback:

Now as I become more experienced, I'm more aware of the importance ofproviding the students with constructive feedback. Providing the students withconstructive feedback is an essential aspect of the teaching and learning cycle.It allows the students to have a clear picture of how well they are performingand if they need to put extra effort.

Providing the students with positive feedback is considered as a vital tool toincrease students' self-esteem and learning motivation. It also one of the

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important components of social interaction patterns between the teacher andher students. Through this interaction pattern the teacher provides her studentswith the guidance and modelling to help them meet the potentials and movethrough their zone of proximal development (Cameron, 2001: 219), eitherindividually or as a whole class.

Fethiya, Year 4 student

One interesting aspect of this excerpt is that the student teacher is advocating for herown students the very same reflective practices that we, as teacher educators havebeen encouraging and modelling in the college classroom. The student teacher refersto the need for her own students to be able to stand back from their efforts andachievement, in order to “have a clear picture of how well they are performing”. Thestudent's words, here, echo those of Vygotsky, cited above, about the significance ofschool learning for developing the individual's capacity for reflective consciousness. Inthis way, through externalization and deliberation, the students' progress becomes anobject of their consciousness and, hence, more amenable to direction and control.

Theorizing broader principles from one's experience is a form of engaging one'sreflective capacities (Britzman, 1991). Whereas the student in the excerpt above doesthis based on her general beliefs and experiences, the student in the excerpt belowemploys a process of induction to draw a theoretical principle from a specific incident.In this she echoes Dewey's core notion of reflection as 'educative', as opposed to'routine', experience (Zeichner and Liston, 1996):

I feel that I was using a variety of strategies appropriate to children needs. Forexample, the Learning Centres cater to different learning style and multipleintelligences. I was pleased to see students guessing the taste of food, thesound of different things, the smell of items, and the shape of objects. Inaddition, I was delighted to listen to them repeating the sentences related to thefive senses and applying their knowledge to writing by working individually andcompleting the puzzle.... My experience lead me to think that when students areimmersed in discovery learning, they are more engaged and there is a biggerchance for them to remember the concept because they discovered itthemselves.

Afra, Year 4 student

I have depicted reflection as an intellectual and emotional orientation, rather than as aseries of steps. Often reflection will be triggered by an uncomfortable experience or onewhere expectations and reality did not match (Zeichner and Liston, 1996). In the excerptbelow a student's reflection is prompted by just this sort of unease and discomfort:

...I would have also changed other things as I was challenged by theirbehaviour. They needed lots of time to sit on the carpet and become settled.Throughout the story students moved form their places and talked. I shouldhave then asked them to go back to their seats but I was worried that it mightmake things worse. Another solution could be that I could ask them to do TPRin their place, for example stand or breathe in and out. Because I spent a lot oftime on getting students attention while telling the story, students did not get toplay the game, which was when students would be asked to be active and go


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back to their seats. Therefore, students spent a longer time on the carpetlistening to me, which made things worse...

Shaikha, Year 4 student

Here, the student teacher presents the key elements of reflection as we have discussedit. She is clearly self-aware: “…I was challenged by their behaviour.”; she engages indeliberative thought: “…I was worried that it might make things worse.”; and shereframes the situation as part of a problem-solving orientation: “Another solution couldbe that I ask them to do a TPR…” (total physical response activity). She is truly engagedas a reasoning, inquiring and reflective professional.

ConclusionIn the above examples of students engaging in reflective practice, we have evidence ofan open-minded stance towards teaching that utilizes reasoning as a key aspect ofeffective classroom practice. This reasoning stance provides a basis for inquiry intoongoing issues that arise within the classroom and investigation into consequences ofparticular actions related to these issues. Such an approach - which forms theunderlying basis for both reflective practice and action research and which emphasizesqualities of deliberation, self-awareness and a problem solving orientation to theclassroom - is surely a fundamental ingredient for ongoing educational improvement inUAE schools.

ReferencesBritzman, D. (1991) Practice Makes Practice: A Critical Study of Learning to Teach.Albany: SUNY Press.

Kemmis, S. and McTaggart, R. (2000) Participatory Action Research. In N. Denzin andY. Lincoln (eds.) The Handbook of Qualitative Research (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks:Sage

Love, K. Pigdon, K. and Baker, G. (2000) Building Understandings in Literacy andTeaching. Melbourne: University of Melbourne.

Mograby, A (1999) Human Development in the United Arab Emirates. Education andthe Arab World. Abu Dhabi: Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research.

Roberts, J. (1998) Language Teacher Education. London: Arnold Publishing.

Schön, D. A. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner. New York: Basic Books.

Schön, D. A. (1987) Educating the Reflective Practitioner. San Francisco: Jossey BassPublishing.

UAE Ministry of Education and Youth (2000) Vision 2020. Abu Dhabi

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Vygotsky, L.S. (1986) Thought and Language. A. Kozulin (ed. and trans.) Cambridge,MA: MIT Press.

Zeichner, K.M. and Liston, D.P. (1996) Reflective Teaching: An Introduction. Mahwah,New Jersey: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.


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Reflective practise: a foundation for action research and effective teaching