Reflective
Practice: As the name suggest that practicing to learn something new on the
basis of previous analysis and evaluation of our actions to become extended
professional. Myers (2011, cited from Stenhouse1975, pp. 143-144) identifies
five key attributes to characterize extended professional:
They
- Question their practice.
- Reflect critically and systematically on their practice.
- Put theory into practice
- Ready to be observed by other and discussing openly
- Develop the art of self study
Out of the nine dimensions of reflective practice I am
familiar with “Study your teaching for
personal improvement - Reflect regularly.”
What is reflection and how am I improving
my practice?
It
refers to scrutinize our teaching or learning by ourselves or allowing others
to act as a critique to explore the weaknesses .It is not merely finding the
limitations but to think, modify and change the method of your work. It is a
continuous process.
Reflection
can be done at two levels:
1. Reflection in action
2. Reflection on action
Reflection
in action: - It is way of evaluating one’s work while it is in progress. It is
an important tool in evaluating teaching and learning process while it is in
progress. An educator understands from the situation and behavior of the
students. I try to find whether the development of learning is in the right
direction. Otherwise a remedial action is taken. For example during my teaching
I had come to a situation in which students were getting bored due to less
involvement, I immediately reflected on
that and alter my way of delivering the lesson. Mostly I used to give them a
small activity after a small discussion.
Reflection
on action: - It is a form of scrutinizing our teaching and learning outcomes
after conducting teaching session. How can a teacher come to know about the
success of learning outcomes? Get feedback from the students directly by
assigning some task related to the session or he can take the help of other
colleagues. For instance, after delivering my lesson if some of the students
were not able to apply that knowledge or they didn't get good grades. I used to
discuss and take suggestions from my colleagues, talk to the students
individually and do self reflection.
The second dimension that I would like to discuss is
“Continue to improve your teaching -
Professional learning. Mizell (2010)
states when people use the term “professional development,” they usually mean a
formal process such as a conference, seminar, or workshop; collaborative
learning among members of a work team; or a course at a college or university.
However, professional development can also occur in informal contexts such as
discussions among work colleagues, independent reading and research,
observations of a colleague’s work, or other learning from a peer.
Potential use of the dimension: Learning is a continuous process.
It begins from cradle and ends with our last breath. Teaching and learning are
the two sides of the same coin which are inseparable. But In some cases
educators forget learning aspect. I am aware of the dynamic nature of
education, the methods of instruction, and the use of rapidly changing
technology, the changing method of delivery from traditional classrooms to
blended or purely online. Every educator like me requires a continuous learning
to meet the challenges of teaching and learning in the 21st century. Sachs (n.d. Cited from Grundy and Robison, 2004) identify three interconnected purposes of
CPD: extension, growth and renewal. Extension refers to learning new skills.
Growth can be considered as achieving higher level of expertise. Renewal means
transformation of knowledge and practice.
To improve my teaching I will keep up learning about
the emerging technologies required for the achieving the objectives of the
teaching. The modern classrooms are open classrooms in which I need to become a
facilitator, flexible and adapt to context which remains dynamic. There are
different ways for professional learning like talking to the experts in the
field, attending workshops and seminars, joining online discussion communities,
reading, research, peer observation, talking informally with the colleagues,
joining a formal course. Among all I would prefer to learn in the context. During
teaching there will be challenges and problems which can be analyzed
accordingly finding the solution self or by discussion will be most engaging
method for development and deep learning.
References:
Mizell,
H. (2010). Why professional development matters. http://www.learningforward.org/docs/pdf/why_pd_matters_web.pdf
Myers,
P.Z. (2011). The teachers reflective practice handbook. http://books.google.co.nz/books?hl=en&lr=&id=XZnPKlpTfx0C&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=dimensions+of+reflective+practice+zwozdiak-myers&ots=YJEGZHodGE&sig=Mo6-eqfII0-uILcwAb11R-E6V-Y#v=onepage&q=dimensions%20of%20reflective%20practice%20zwozdiak-myers&f=false
Sachs, J. (n.d.). Learning
to improve or improving learning: the dilemma of teacher continuing professional
development http://www.fm-kp.si/zalozba/ISBN/978-961-6573-65-8/009-020.pdf
Good choice of the nine dimensions Avtar. I will respond to each dimension separately. Dimension 1: Study your teaching for personal improvement - Reflect regularly.
ReplyDeleteIt is excellent to see that you are already reflecting-in-action. This is regarded as the most challenging stage of reflection and is a skill that develops as a practitioner becomes more expert as it is not always intuitive when at the novice stage of teaching. It is great that you have given examples of how you reflect - in-action and on-action. It would be good to also see information about what these terms and the processes actually mean and some reference to some of the theorists you have been reading and whose work you use to guide your reflective practice.
Have you also heard about reflection-for-action?
Another effective method for reflecting on teaching as well as gathering student and peer feedback, and reflecting on it is to video a lesson and critique your techniques, then reflect on them with a mentor - as dialogue is also very important during the process of reflection. Do you use reflective writing regularly in the form of a journal or blog, and is this something you might do in the future to assist your practice?
Also remember that reflection about teaching can be at different levels - description, dialogic and critical reflection. The latter two forms of reflection are most challenging and many teachers remain at the stage of technical rationality - behaviour and skills.
Did you consider the resources on the wiki?
You are so right - professional learning and development can most certainly occur informally as well as formally. In fact, informal learning and 'play' for example on the internet, is regarded as essential for developing digital information capability and self-efficacy.
ReplyDeleteSee: : Link
: Link
To be an effective teacher, you will most certainly need to keep current, and to keep learning. A great post. Do you have a definition for professional learning from the literature? See: : Link