Engaging Student Teachers in Reflective Thinking

Abstract

Self-reflection is an essential element of personal change (Dewey, 1991), and teachers should participate consciously and creatively in their own growth and development through reflection (Schon, 1987; Zeichner, 1999). Recently, there has been a gradual shift from the traditional transmission-based view of learning to a constructivist, process-oriented view of learning in teacher education (Candall, 2000). In the latter view, teachers modify and develop their personal theories with constant reflection on their own practice (Hacker & Barkhuizen, 2008; Williams, 2001). In Japan, the transmission-based view is still dominant in teacher education, and the importance of teacher reflection is not recognized. This paper explores the role of reflection and the views of student teachers on reflective practice in teacher education in Japan. The study was conducted in an MA program in English Education at a national university. The participants were eight first-year students enrolled in a teaching methodology course. The class met once a week for two semesters over a year. In order to enhance students’ reflection, the author asked students to submit a reflection journal every week. In these journals, the students reflected on what they learned in each class. In addition, they were expected to integrate theory and practice by reflecting on their own past experiences as a teacher and a learner. The author made comments on each journal to further enhance reflection. The students were also asked to submit a reflection report on their own micro-teaching they conducted twice during the second semester. They reviewed and analyzed videotaped micro-teaching. At the end of the course, an interview was conducted to determine how reflection journals and the reflection report helped the students to realize the importance of reflection and to engage in refection. Discussion is based on the analysis of the interview data, written journals and reflection papers.