Field-based preservice teacher research: Facilitating reflective professional practice

Preservice teachers enrolled in a middle level endorsement block provided evidence of their professional, affective, and collaborative dispositions as they reflected upon their conception of early adolescents, appropriate instruction practice, and the empowerment of teachers and students. Research indicates that empowering future teachers as reflective professionals requires teacher education programmes to structure learning experiences that model reflective practice and facilitate the development of engaged learning communities. Through case study research this group of preservice teachers was able to gain a contextual understanding of early adolescents that not only impacted their perception and understanding of the target age group but also allowed them to negotiate their preconceptions, the theoretical understanding presented in their course work, and the authentic observations in the middle school classroom.     

行动研究与具有批判精神的反思型中小学英语教师的培养

传统的教师培训模式难以适应当前基础教育改革对中小学英语教师专业发展的要求。"实践+反思"的教师行动研究有效地解决了这一难题,它引导教师对自己的实践行动以及内隐其中的理论、理念进行有意识的思考,并把思考的结果回馈于行动之中,使之得以改善。这对培养具有批评精神的反思性中小学英语教师有着积极的影响,并成为教师专业发展的可持续动力。     

Developing and changing practice in special educational needs through critically reflective action research: a case study

The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate the use of action research as a tool for developing critical reflection which has the potential to lead to change and development in practice in education, in particular, in the area of special educational needs (SEN) and inclusion. In order to support and illustrate the critique, a case study of a group of Dutch practising teachers and education professionals engaged in studying for a master's degree in SEN is used. The three-year programme of study followed by the group was a practice-based programme of professional development, with heavy emphasis on action research throughout. For this particular group action research was an entirely new concept, and indeed many of them expressed considerable scepticism about its validity as an approach to research, or for that matter, professional development, at the beginning of the programme. The whole group were working in areas associated with SEN where the need to change practice was an urgent imperative, due to changes in education policy and the rapid move towards inclusion in The Netherlands. Having been responsible for the development and teaching of the programme for several years, I decided to make a case study of one cohort of students in order to carry out some more structured and detailed evaluation of the impact of the programme on practice. I also wanted to reaffirm the general impression I had gathered from continuing student evaluation and feedback, that their work, and in particular the action research they had carried out, had led to genuine development and, in some cases, fairly radical change in their professional practice.     

Competency-based training and beyond: action research and reflective practice in vocational education and training

This article [1] analyses data from a national research project evaluating the contribution of competency-based training (CBT) to outcomes in vocational education and training (VET) in Australia. In the light of this analysis, it is argued that practitioners have an important and developing role as practitioner-researchers in industry settings, engaging in reflective practice and, indeed, in forms of action research. Moreover, it is argued that CBT provides opportunities for practitioners to develop and incorporate different models of education and training, often alongside the ‘standard’ CBT model for the benefit of trainees and the enterprises in which they work. Some implications for VET policy, practice and practitioner education are explored.     

Understanding our learners and developing reflective practice: Conducting action research with English language learners

This paper examines the ways in which action research projects can be used to socialize teachers to the teaching of English language learners (ELLs) as well as help these teachers develop reflective practice. Drawing on surveys, action research projects conduced with ELLs and reflection papers as data, the study explored the teachers' statements about the impact of the course work and the projects on their teaching and their beliefs about teaching ELLs. Students stated that they felt they had grown as teachers, were more reflective, and more confident about teaching in general, and teaching ELLs in particular.     

Closing the Circle: Action research partnerships towards better learning and teaching in schools

This paper addresses the call for evidence-based practice by describing an initiative in school-university partnership that has led to the establishment of a community of teacher researchers whose investigations provide the evidence upon which they make decisions to improve their teaching. This is a new way of approaching the idea of evidence-based practice, where the evidence comes through personal testimony that 'rings true'. In this mode of research the processes of research are shared so that the outcomes of the research may be disseminated through 'transferability' rather than 'generalisability'. The first part describes the partnership, which involved the adaptation of existing structures in the school (staff development) and the university (accreditation) to create a new more democratic, more productive relationship. The second part of the paper describes the work of one teacher who applied the principles from her own learning within the teacher group to her management of her students' learning in such a way that the excitement of independent learning that had been a feature of the teacher group was transferred to the students. The third part of the paper addresses the politics of such research and makes a case for including teachers' and students' knowledge of their own practice as evidence to inform policy development.     

Assessment rubrics: towards clearer and more replicable design,research and practice

‘Rubric’ is a term with a variety of meanings. As the use of rubrics has increased both in research and practice, the term has come to represent divergent practices. These range from secret scoring sheets held by teachers to holistic student-developed articulations of quality. Rubrics are evaluated, mandated, embraced and resisted based on often imprecise and inconsistent understandings of the term. This paper provides a synthesis of the diversity of rubrics, and a framework for researchers and practitioners to be clearer about what they mean when they say ‘rubric’. Fourteen design elements or decision points are identified that make one rubric different from another. This framework subsumes previous attempts to categorise rubrics, and should provide more precision to rubric discussions and debate, as well as supporting more replicable research and practice.     

Toward a more reflective teaching practice: Revisiting excellence in teaching

Excellence in teaching has always been a demanding and absorbing concern in institutions of higher learning. Earlier studies, which are numerous, have often dealt with the measurement of teacher qualities but have largely failed to explain the phenomenon of excellence in practice. This study focused on the outstanding professional teachers’ candid revelations of their subjective experiences of becoming and being excellent in their craft. Findings of the study indicated that love is the touchstone of excellence in teaching: that is, loving the students, loving knowledge and loving the teaching process.     

Using action research to enhance learning on end-use energy demand: lessons from reflective practice

This paper responds to the need for a greater integration of energy and environment themes in the higher education curriculum. We explore the practical implications of empowering students towards the implementation of individual action research projects focused on investigating and addressing insufficient or wasteful energy consumption among households and businesses. The paper scrutinizes a series of teaching and assessment activities within this domain, undertaken during 6 consecutive academic years – between 2008 and 2013 – within a third-level undergraduate course unit at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. Using questionnaire surveys, assessed projects and interviews with the students, we have found evidence to suggest that the action research projects contributed to the emergence of constructive alignment in the entire teaching process, while opening the space for informal action learning ‘sets’ leading to the generation of new problem-solving skills useful in the job market.     

Capturing complexity: a typology of reflective practice for teacher education

Reflection has become an integral part of teacher education, yet its elusive boundaries make it difficult to define and teach. Examining the various facets of reflection with respect to teaching clarifies the concept, making it more accessible to pre-service teachers learning to reflect on their practice. This article explores those facets and provides a typology designed to guide teacher educators in teaching reflection to pre-service teachers.     

Mathematics pedagogical change: rethinking identity and reflective practice

This article deals with issues that are central to changed mathematics pedagogical practice. It engages general debates about teaching reflexivity and within that, more specific debates in relation to identity. It uses theoretical concepts derived from Lacanian psychoanalysis as a way of understanding what structures a teacher’s narrative about his practice. Thus, the article is both a study of one teacher’s reflections on a sequence of algebra lessons at the secondary school level, and an exploration into a range of theoretical issues about identity construction, about knowing, and about effective practice.