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Reflective Practice: A WaytoTeacher Development

Laxman GnawaliAssistant ProfessorSchool of Edcation

!athmand "niversity

One of the aims of education is to help learners to understandthemselves as persons and as learners. This aim can be achieved onlyif the teacher can create a situation in which learners can inquire tounderstand themselves. I agree with the argument put forward byJersild (199!1"# that if the teacher is not involved in the endeavour tounderstand herself$ can neither she do much in understanding others

nor in helping others to understand themselves. %he will continue tosee the learners through her own unrecognised impulses. &ow thequestions arise! 'ow can teachers learn to understand themselves)ho and what can help them in this process The professionalliterature answers through *reflection+ (,ewey 19"-$ %chon 1991$)allace 1991# teachers can help themselves. )hen teachers carry outsystematic enquiry into themselves$ they will understand themselves$their practices and their learners.

iller (199/!0# says learning becomes a maor process in teachingwhen the teacher becomes reflective$ focused and conscious inteaching$ when she starts inquiring to understand the processes going

on around her$ and when she ta2es herself into account as the obectof inquiry. Teachers normally wor2 on *auto3pilot+ (Tripp 19-# andbecome ritualised in their behaviour. The training programmes need tohelp teachers to develop the habits of reflection so that they ta2einformed actions.

4very teacher has her personal theory of teaching and learning which5elly (19# calls personal *constructs+. They ma2e their own sense of$and have understandings of$ people and events based on theseconstructs. They ma2e decisions to act on the basis of this sense andunderstanding. In order for teachers to transform$ they need to adapt

their constructs which will help fit or map the old understanding withthe new ones and to reach a common understanding together withothers ()illiams and 6urden 1997!8-#. s 'olly (199"!9# says *adultlearning is a comple: transformation which can benefit from focusedawareness+. ;eflection is the 2ey to raising focused awareness and apre3requisite for any altering of personal constructs.

%imilar to 5elly+s (19# theory of altering mental constructs$ 6artletttal2s of behaviour modification. 'e says$

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*modification of our behaviour ... requires deliberation andanalysis of our ideas about teaching as a form of actionbased on our changed understandings+.6artlett (199/!8/"#

%uch deliberation requires loo2ing bac2 on the past actions ande:periences and learning from them. In order to e:plore whether they

are teachers acting in accordance with their beliefs$ whether what theythin2 they are doing and what they are actually doing are in harmony$teachers need to follow reflective practice. ;eflection which is toassess *the origins$ purposes and consequences of his or her wor2 atall levels+ ( 6urden 1997!0#

)hereas )illiams and 6urden emphasise reflection to ma2e underlyingtheories e:plicit$ ;uddoc2 (19-0!0# regards it as matter of professionalresponsibility.

&ot to e:amine one+s practice is irresponsible$ to regardteaching as an e:periment and to monitor one+sperformance is a responsible act.

)hat teacher educators need to understand is that teacherpreparation means developing in teachers low3inference s2ills such asgiving instructions or as2ing questions as well as high inference s2illssuch as planning and decision ma2ing ()anryb 1998!1/$ ;ichards and&unan 199/!0#. ?rabhu (19-7 as quoted in )anryb 1998! 11#conceptualises this idea as #e$ippin%&which means providingteachers with pedagogical 2nowledge and s2ills for immediate use$ and#ena'lin%&meaning helping teachers to develop ability toindependently handle professional affairs. Training can *equip+teachers with low inference s2ills but to *enable+ them with highinference s2ills teachers need to be involved in reflective practice.

6artlett (199/!8/9# presents a five step reflective cycle! mapping$informing$ contesting$ appraising and acting. t mapping step$ teacherobserves and collects evidence about her own teaching. 6y usingdiary$ ournals$ audio or video means$ the teacher ta2es the first stepin reflecting on and about practice. In the second step$ which isinforming$ the teacher having mapped her images in relation to

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teaching$ tries to loo2 for meaning behind the maps. This can be betterdone by sharing

The process of reflective teaching. Adapted from Bartlett (1990:209)

maps with colleagues. In the third step$ the teacher tries to find theunderlying reasons and bac2ground for the behaviour. @ontestinginvolves loo2ing for inconsistencies and contradictions in one+s ownthin2ing and doing. 'aving established the contradictions in principlesand behaviour$ at appraising step the teacher goes on to find outalternative ways of her teaching which are consistent to herunderstanding. Then at the fifth step$ which is acting$ the teacher actsin the way envisioned in the appraising. If this acting does not bringabout e:pected results$ the second cycle of reflective teaching begins.

This five stage reflective cycle is a generic concept because thisreflection process can be realised simply as described above orthrough different activities. ?rofessionals involved in teacherdevelopment need to *enable+ teachers to underta2e reflective practiceas an integral part of their classroom teaching.

References

6artlett$ =. (199/# Teacher ,evelopment through ;eflective Teaching.In J. @. ;ichards and ,. &unan (4ds.# %econd =anguage Teacher4ducation. @ambridge! @ambridge Aniversity ?ress.

(appin%What do ) doas a teacher*

)nformin%

What is themeanin% of myteachin%*What did )

intend*

+ontestin%,ow did ) come thisway*

Actin%

What andhow shall )teach now*

Appraisin%,ow mi%ht )teachdifferently*

REFLECTIVE

PRACTICE

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,ewey$ J. (19"-# 4ducation and 4:perience. &ew Bor2! @ollieracmillan.

'olly$ . =. (199"# ?ersonal and ?rofessional =earning! On Teachingand %elf35nowledge. In C. ?lummer and C. 4dwards (4ds# @;&@ritical @onversationsD Triology 6oo2 8 3 ,imensions of ction

;esearch! ?eople$ ?ractice and ?ower. 6ournmouth! 'yde.Jersild$ . (19# )hen Teachers Eace Themselves. &ew Bor2! Teachers@ollege ?ress.

5elly$ C. (19# The ?sychology of ?ersonal @onstructs! a theory ofpersonality. (Fol. 1# &ew Bor2! &orton.

iller$ . ((199/# 6anished 5nowledge! Eacing @hildhood Inuries. &ewBor2! ,oubleday.

;ichards$ J. @. and ,. &unan (199/# Issues and pproaches in Teacher4ducation. In J. @. ;ichards and ,. &unan (4ds.# %econd =anguageTeacher 4ducation. @ambridge! @ambridge Aniversity ?ress.

;udduc2$ J. (1991# Innovation and @hange. 6uc2ingham! Open

Aniversity ?ress.%chon$ ,. . (19-"# The ;eflective ?ractitioner! 'ow ?rofessionals

Thin2 in ction. ldershot! shgate ?ublishing.Tripp$ ,. (19-# *Erom autopilot to critical conscious! problematising

successful teaching.+ ?aper presented at the %i:th @onference on@urriculum and @lassroom ?ractice. ,ayton$ Ohio.

)anryb$ ;. (1998# @lassroom Observation Tas2s. @ambridge!@ambridge Aniversity ?ress.

)allace$ . J. (1991# Training Eoreign =anguage Teachers. @ambridge!@ambridge Aniversity ?ress.

)allace$ . J. (199-# ction ;esearch for =anguage Teachers.@ambridge! @ambridge Aniversity ?ress.

)illiams$ . and ;. =. 6urden (1997# ?sychology for =anguageTeachers! %ocial @onstructive pproach. @ambridge! @ambridgeAniversity ?ress.