Reflection From The Perspective Of New Reflectors

Hunter, Duncan

Abstract

This paper aims to understand the experience of reflective activity from the perspective of Teacher Learners (TLs) encountering reflective ideas for the first time. By identifying elements of a pedagogic reflective task they found most valuable and plausible, the study seeks to provide insights to improve educators’ presentation of reflective ideas. It investigates the experiences of twenty language teachers writing reflections on classroom teaching during a programme of formal instruction. Writers’ decisions are examined intensively to identify which phases/elements of an idealized cycle they chose to extend while engaged in a reflective task. Writers’ commentaries on their writing, collected after the period of their instruction, were also analysed to discover the elements they found plausible and valuable beyond their utility for their course. The study found that writers looking back at their accounts tended to locate most value in practical, ‘descriptive’ sections of their writing rather than those linking to academic theory, or more ‘critical’ modes of reflection. Nevertheless, interviewee responses indicated that many had a nuanced sense that such higher-level modes of reflection might have value outside the formal circumstances of the programme. The results suggest that learners might benefit from presentations and tasks that acknowledge the complexity of reflective practice for new learners, accepting more explicitly the limitations of reflection generated as a performance within a formal programme.

Citation

Hunter, D. (2021). Reflection From The Perspective Of New Reflectors. Reflective practice, 22(2), 278-291. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2021.1875207

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 8, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jan 29, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021
• Deposit Date: Jan 28, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 30, 2022
• Journal: Reflective practice
• Print ISSN: 1462-3943
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 278-291
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2021.1875207
• Keywords: writing; written reflection; critical reflection; teacher education; language teaching
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3703239