Do teachers think on their feet? The awareness and practice of reflective approach among secondary school teachers in Ethiopia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the awareness and practice of Secondary School teachers about employing reflective approach. It was a qualitative study involving two government secondary schools, namely, Biftu Secondary School and Shashemene Secondary School which were selected purposively. Likewise, a total of 12 teachers were selected using a purposive sampling technique. The primary data was gathered using interviews and focus group discussions, whereas secondary data was obtained from different documents like classroom reflection reports and instructional lesson plans. The findings showed that the teachers have some awareness about reflective practices. However, they have not successfully implemented it as they lacked practice based in-depth understanding of the approach. In addition, it was disclosed that some teachers even do not have awareness about reflective practice at all. Similarly, it was discovered that reflection-in-action is the common type of reflection being practiced. And, reflection-for-action is hardly applied in the teaching learning process. This entails that the failure to employ reflective practice in a balanced way has been affecting the quality of education in the schools. Therefore, concerned stakeholders should work on enhancing teachers’ awareness and practice skills in employing reflective approach.