Characteristics of Reflective Teachers - Nine Dimensions of Reflective Practice PDF

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This is my personal notes on the definition of reflective practice, the characteristics of Reflective Teachers and the nine Dimensions of Reflective Practice....

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Characteristics of Reflective Teachers   

How open are you to scrutiny and change? How often do you examine the effectiveness of your teaching practices? How do you demonstrate enthusiasm for continuous learning?

Teachers who ask searching questions about educational practice that arise from their own contexts and professional concerns demonstrate a commitment to continuous learning by seeking new ideas, evaluating and reflecting on their impact, and trying out new ways of working to improve their effectiveness. This approach to professional development underpins concepts of the teacher as a reflective practitioner, a researcher and an extended professional. Definition of Reflective Practice: A disposition to enquiry incorporating the process through which student, early career and experienced teachers structure or restructure actions, beliefs, knowledge and theories that inform teaching for the purpose of professional development.

Reflective Practice as a Disposition to Enquiry 1.

Reflective Attitudes 

Open-mindedness refers to the willingness to consider more than one side of an argument and fully embrace and attend to alternative possibilities, which requires an active desire to listen to more than one side and recognize that formerly held views and beliefs could be misconceived.  Responsibility refers to the disposition to carefully consider the consequences of actions and willingness to accept those consequences.  Wholeheartedness refers to the way in which open-mindedness and responsibility come together, through an interest in and enthusiasm for some situation or event.  Reflective teacher: ‘when embracing the concept of reflective teaching, there is often a commitment by teachers to internalize the disposition and skills to study their teaching and become better at teaching over time, a commitment to take responsibility for their own professional development’.

2.

Extended Professionals        

High level of skill in classroom practice; An ability to understand, establish and enjoy positive working relationships with children by adopting a child-centered approach; The use of personal perceptions of change in pupil behavior and achievement to evaluate performance; Short-term practical course attendance; Contextualizing classroom practice by relating it to the wider contexts of school, community and society; Participating in a wide range of professional development activities such as conferences, subject panels and in-service educational training; An active concern to link theory and practice; Engagement in peer observation and small-scale collaborative research studies have a commitment to question their practice as the basis for teacher development;

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Reflect critically and systematically on their own practice; Have a concern to question and test theory in practice; Appreciate the benefit of having their teaching observed by others and discussing their teaching with others in an open and honest manner;  Have the commitment and skills to study their own teaching and in so doing develop the art of self-study.

3.

Teacher as a Professional: accountability is exemplified when professionals demonstrate: a moral commitment to serve the interests of pupils by reflecting on their well-being and progress and deciding how best it can be fostered or promoted;  a professional obligation to review periodically the nature and effectiveness of one’s practice to improve the quality of one’s management, pedagogy and decision-making;  a professional obligation to continue to develop one’s practical knowledge both by personal reflection and through interaction with others  knowledge, autonomy and responsibility as central concepts in defining the teacher as a professional. It is because professionals face complex and unpredictable situations that they need a specialized form of knowledge; if they are to apply that knowledge, it is argued that they need the autonomy to make their own judgements. Given that they have that autonomy, it is essential that they act with responsibility – collectively they need to develop appropriate professional values.  

Ni neDi me n s i o nso f Re fle c t i v ePr a c t i c e 1. Study your teaching for personal improvement: Reflection helps you learn from your experiences and develop as an expert practitioner. Decide on a definition of reflection and choose a preferred model or framework to guide you. Recording your reflections helps you deepen your reflection and revisit your experiences until you have gained insights into your practice. Ask yourself questions and, where possible, enter into a dialogue with a critical friend who can prompt the direction of your reflections thus contributing to the reflective process. 2. Evaluate your teaching using research: Action research (or action inquiry) generally begins with a problem you want to solve in your classroom and your intention to find solutions. Ideally, students and other teachers become the participants. It is a cyclical process requiring an analysis of the problem and solutions. More than one cycle can occur. 3. Link theory with practice: Teachers generally have fabulous content knowledge about their discipline but little theoretical understanding of teaching. Barriers to the application of theoretical knowledge include teachers' preconceptions about teaching and their students, the timing of exposure to theoretical knowledge, and irrelevant information for solving immediate or complex situations in the classroom. Therefore, teachers need access to theoretical knowledge and research from the literature that makes sense in their context and can provide practical solutions. 4. Question your personal theories and beliefs: When engaging in the scholarship of teaching, personal theories, beliefs, and assumptions need to be challenged. This requires critical analysis--interrogation and questioning of your assumptions, values, and beliefs about teaching. 5. Consider alternative perspectives and possibilities: Conversations with yourself and examination of your thoughts are useful during the reflective process. However, even more useful are discussions with others, as these will expose you to a variety of viewpoints and ideas. Such discussions can help you develop your knowledge in real-world contexts, that is, participate

in a social learning environment (known as constructivist theory of learning). Using these learning conversations, you can learn to think as an expert teacher might think and examine multiple perspectives about teaching. 6. Try out new strategies and ideas: Learning needs to be fun, authentic (real-world), and relevant. When it is, students are generally more motivated and more likely to engage in meaningful and deeper learning. Teachers usually try to design learning experiences that help students engage with specific content and concepts that students need to understand. Whether these are practical or theoretical experiences does not matter. What is important is to offer sufficient variety and challenge to keep students curious and interested. Modeling specific strategies in your teaching can demonstrate to students how they might do something. 7. Maximize the learning potential of students: Universal design for instruction is an approach that recommends the creation of "environments, objects, and systems that can be used by as many people as possible" (NC State University, 1997). This means that choices must be offered with multiple alternatives for access and use. This is to ensure that people of any age, ability, gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity, or culture can be accommodated. When teachers understand how to offer flexible learning approaches that meet the diverse needs and learning preferences of their students, exciting things can happen. 8. Enhance the quality of your teaching: Many factors have been found to have an impact on the effectiveness of teaching. These include knowledge of and passion for the subject matter, teachers' high expectations of themselves and their students, and a skill for facilitating intellectually challenging and structured learning and for responding to the diverse needs of students. Also considered influential are teachers' selfefficacy and beliefs about teaching and their commitment and desire to help students achieve. Additionally, personal factors such as a good sense of humor and the impact of situations and events that occur outside the classroom have an effect (Zwozdiak-Myers, 2012). Professional growth of teachers is strongly linked to the quality of their teaching. Teachers who systematically reflect on the outcomes of each lesson to examine why learning did or did not occur have an

opportunity to build their knowledge and advance their expertise (ZwozdiakMyers, 2012). Formative assessment and learning activities can be used to inform this dimension because they will signal the success of the teaching and learning strategies. 9. Continue to improve your teaching: Developing teaching skills and knowledge is lifelong. Educators need to be flexible and resilient enough to respond to the rapid changes that occur in society. Continual professional development is essential if teachers are to build their capacity for participating in dynamic educational environments. This requires individuals who are prepared to take risks, be innovative, and work collaboratively with others to share their ideas and knowledge.

F r omUnc o ns c i ousI nc o mpe t e nc et oUnc o ns c i ou s Compe t e nc e 1. Unconscious incompetence – this is where most learners start. They are unaware of their lack of knowledge and skill and, put simply, they do not know what they do not know. 2. Conscious incompetence – as the learner progresses they become much more aware of their limitations and start to recognise what they do not know and cannot do. 3. Conscious competence – as the learner continues to move forward, they become more knowledgeable and skilled and begin to apply their learning. Typically, the learner does this in a deliberate step by step way. 4. Unconscious competence – by this point the learner can perform well in their work with-out much conscious thought, as their knowledge, skills and attitudes become embedded in their practice.

Th ef ou rt h e o r e t i c a l f o und a t i on so fc r i t i c a lr e fle c t i on

1. Analytic Philosophy – as human beings we have the capacity to be logical, to distance ourselves from the way things are usually done and to exert some conscious control over our thoughts and actions. This is often described as reasoning – seeing the different sides of an argument and reaching sound conclusions. 2. Natural Sciences – this is our capacity to look at a phenomenon and to try to explain it. For example, we have a hypothesis that we test by experiment, and through this process our hypothesis is either confirmed or refuted. 3. Critical Theory – power dynamics are present in all situations and critical theory helps us to understand how these manifests themselves. It helps us to recognize hegemony – this is when we are deceived, even manipulated, into accepting the dominant ideology as being in everyone’s best interest, even when this serves to work against certain groups of people, usually those without power and therefore on the margins of society. 4. Pragmatism – this involves having a strong need to be open to constant experimentation, to explore new and better ways of doing things. This results in discovery and change

Si xT i psf o rI n s t i l l i n gaGr o wt hMi n ds e ti nY ou r s e l f 1. Focus on the hard stuff: For example story problems when teaching arithmetic. 2. Try innovative solutions, and if they don’t work, try some more. 3. Seek feedback wherever you can: observation, peer observation, student feedback. 4. Know that you are always developing your skills. 5. Reflect at the end of every day, especially the bad ones. 6. Notice the areas where you have a fixed mindset....