Reflective Teaching Impact Upon Pre-Service English Teachers’ Professional Development: A Systematic Review

Abstract

This systematic review aims to document, analyze and synthesize the latest research related to reflective teaching and professional development in pre-service English teachers. The reasoning behind this review is to substantiate that acquiring a reflective teaching practice can be the best alternative for novice teachers to open their minds, renovate their teaching methodologies and knowledge, and adapt their teaching practice to be able to become outstanding language educators. Thirteen articles have been systematically reviewed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline and five exploration issues emerged: (a) the relation between reflective teaching and professional development, (b) reflective teaching benefits, (c) the efficacy of reflective teaching, (d) the continuity of reflective teaching and (e) reflective teaching strategies. The obtained results show different advantageous benefits such as learning from peers by sharing similar experiences, structure and restructure of new teaching knowledge, and the development of continuous resilience to deal with and overcome difficulties in the professional practice. This review suggests that future research should concentrate on programs addressing the importance of being reflective by introducing the topic before teaching practicum which is key for faster integrated professional development.