The Impact of Reflective Inquiry on Professional Development of Student Teachers

Abstract

Adequate guidance, constructive feedback and professional support during teaching practice can significantly change a mediocre student teacher to one who teaches more outstandingly. This study investigates the nature of supervisor support during reflective inquiry sessions, and how the support contributes to student teachers’ professional growth as teachers-to-be. In-depth interviews with five student teachers provided data for the study. The findings revealed that the focus of reflections in the discussions between the student teachers and their supervisors revolved around the direction and implementation of the lesson; professional qualities; expressions of personal feelings, opinions and concerns; achievability of the pre-determined learning outcomes, student teachers’ manifested behaviors; and other professional supports. Reflecting on the research participants’ levels of reflectivity, 45 % interview entries were coded at level one -Technical Rationality (TR), 50 % at level two – Practical Action (PA), and 5 % at level three – Critical Reflection (CR). The findings also showed that the development of student teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs in teaching was due to three contributing factors: the employment of reflective techniques by the supervisors, the value of accepting the strengths and weaknesses in teaching experienced by the trainees, and the applications of the outcomes gained during the reflective inquiry sessions on the upcoming lessons. These findings imply that supervisors must take reflective inquiry conferences more seriously and recognize that productive sessions with their trainees are critical in developing future teachers with sound pedagogical know-how.