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Teacher
as Learner and Reflector
The
life which is unexamined is not worth living - Plato
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"I
wonder as I wander out under the sky . . ."
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The teacher as learner and reflector is a magical and fulfilling role.
It involves a scientific perspective with respect to problem solving
and an artistic sense of creativity and sensitivity. It has been difficult
for many teachers because:
It presumes
a certain humility - the ability to admit that current practice can
be improved -which comes from a sense of security, personal peace
and a desire to grow and change
Learning and reflecting are individualized skills which are not easily
quantified or taught
Many bright people think intuitively and have not been taught to question
their insights nor given skills to reflect in different ways
There is a great deal of complexity involved in teaching and it is
difficult to separate variables for intense study
Deliberating on current practice occurs best when time is intentionally
set aside for that purpose, something which harried teachers may not
choose Reflection works best when tied to a basic philosophy about
human nature and the purpose of education, something which many teachers
have not formalized
There is a subtle undercurrent which whispers that novice teachers
cannot be expected to review the nuances of their teaching performances
and that more experienced teachers donāt want to if it will require
change
Teacher
as Learner and Reflector
When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone,
"it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less."
"The question is, said Alice, "whether you can make words
mean so many different things." ---- Lewis Carroll
Linda chuckled to herself as she read the old journal entry from her
first year of teaching. "I have finally arrived. No wonder I like
teaching so much. Iām good at it. Why today I've only had one student
go to the office and Iām writing in this journal now because every student
is seated and doing their assignments."
"How did I even survive those days," she thought. "There
I was writing in my journal and I hadn't even talked with half the students
in the class. Not only that, but I was so naive I thought they were
working productively because they were quiet. It must have been my third
year of teaching before I began to succeed enough to begin looking at
my students as individuals and realizing that teaching was more than
"telling a lesson" giving tests and keeping the peace.
Linda completed the last essay on her "teacher of the Year"
packet. She was delighted that she had been nominated, and she was certainly
putting in plenty of time getting the materials prepared for the competition.
As she sealed the envelope she asked herself about the teachers around
her. Were any of them worthy to be nominated for the honor? As her thought
went from classroom to classroom she began to tally up the strengths
of the other teachers in the building. Yes, she still had a lot to learn.
Nearly every teacher had strengths she admired and hoped to include
in her classroom in the future. "Well, Iāve come a long way in
five yearsā" she thought. "Who knows how I will be reviewing
my teaching journal as I look back five years from now?"
General Guidelines:
A commitment
to reflection should include a consistent time and place
Reflection will be more effective if it is viewed as an active role,
a prerogative for dynamic change rather than as a passive experience
Good teaching is a continuous process rather than a static happening,
so even the best practice of today can be exulted about - and then
improved
Lessons can be thought about with respect to effectiveness, personal
performance and overall competence
Reflection demands a second person perspective, so observation of
teacher behaviors is only one component; student reaction, interaction
and performance are crucial factors as well
Viewing self-as-teacher is the doing component in reflection and must
be balanced with the being component, personhood which includes needs,
goals, and feeling of confidence and control
Reflection is not identical with judging; tolerance and avenues for
improvement are the watchword rather than a tendency to "telling
off" or "fixing up"
Reflection ultimately enhances effectiveness and improves sense of
self; when the reverse is occurring, reflection is not the process
being used
Typical areas for reflection might include:
competencies
scripts of teaching
reliability check
skill analysis
process skills
attitude
norms
organization
need for creativity |
communications
student behaviors
instructional strategies
conferencing
discipline skills
roles
parent feed-back
personal growth
need for flexibility |
observations
evaluations
praxis
needed training
self management
responsibilities
student energy
lesson analysis
need for support |
Steps
to enhance a practice of reflective teaching
- Assess
commitment to reflect and the desire to participate in genuine reflection,
and then implement
- Frame
reflection as a needs assessment and self-monitoring process which
addresses both satisfaction and effectiveness
- Work
to explicate and consider belief systems, current practice with
best practice, best ways to compliment current knowledge about teaching
- Choose
a specific time for reflection when energy is at a high level
- Find
a trustworthy cohort or mentor as a sounding board and share insights
- Set
up specific rules or practices for sharing, for exchanging potentially
painful insights, for maintaining confidentiality, for energizing,
for learning new methods
- Recording
progress is helpful for most teachers - such as a journal
- Develop
insights with protocols or observation sheets - - the creation of
those recording devises may be as meaningful as utilization
- Use
student comments as a source of feed-back about the learning environment
Sample
of Reflection Questions:
- Is
there a perfect teaching personality?
- Did
learning take place? What was actually learned?
- Did
the teaching role I chose enhance material presentation?
- What
promoted learning and what got in the way?
- How
much of the time did the teacher talk? the students? to whom?
- Were
my behaviors consonant with my belief system?
- Would
students say I was equitable, that I like them, that I value what
I present?
- What
do I do that increases both learner satisfaction and achievement?
- Does
a student learn by reinventing the concepts for self or by accumulating
facts?
- What
characteristics do master teachers seem to have in common?
Sample
of guidelines when reflection is a group process:
- Reflection
is directed toward self
- When
requested, criticism, no matter how constructive, is to be offered
only about initiated points of concern
- Criticism
is be directed toward illuminating principles rather than focusing
on a specific behavior or a specific personality
- Each
member p participates fully and actively in practice and in discussion
- Membership
in groups should be rotated during the year
- Reflection
sessions are not to be led by administrators or used in any way
to determine tenure or worthiness to teach
Sample
of ethical guidelines for reflection as a group process:
- Reflections
are private and that privacy is to be honored by group members
- Teacher
reflections may not be used as weapons to fire or remove teachers
from the district
- Group
meetings are confidential and may not be shared outside of the group
without written permission
- Video
materials are to be held in confidence and may not be viewed by
others without written permission
- Teachers
may not be required to participate in reflective sessions
- When
teaching practices are seen as a potential damage to others the
teacher must be given that information by group process.
- No
teacher may be required to continue with the reflective practices
against personal wishes
General
steps in helping students become reflective
- Give
students time to meditate and reflect
- Study
nature with an eye to interconnections
- Ask
questions which go beyond yes or no answers and which call for depth
of thinking beyond knowledge or comprehension
- Allow
time when questioning, to get students to think beyond superficial
answers
- Use
drama and role playing to involve students in reflection and second
person perspectives
- Pair
students to allow comments about information as it is being shared,
and format the day in such a way that there are many opportunities
through the lesson when students share ideas or answers with each
other, with a group, and then with the class as a whole
- Use
the fine arts, music, art, theater, to involve students in introspective
and reflective time and to establish the habit and methods for fully
utilizing the fine arts for this purpose
- Encourage,
honor and validate use of journaling and story writing
- Read
and study excerpts of great literature and age appropriate writing
to enhance reflection
A hallmark
of this approach to teaching is a recognition of the importance of empowering
students to become deeply involved in learn, to take personal responsibility
for the role of learner, of thinker.
A
New Educational Imperative
If there were one way of describing the paradigm of the past, it would
be easiest to see it as a mechanism for training humanity, for training
students.
It is neither easy to see it as an education nor as the passing on of
a discipline. It is imperative that the first days of education begin
the process of putting the child in the middle of the action, in the
forefront of responsibility along with training the child to learn.
Education is the setting up of a systemic approach which keeps moving
more and more of the responsibility, the thinking, the planning, to
the realm of student. The more powerful the model, the more self sufficient
the students; the greater the distance from decision making, evaluating,
taking responsibility, the more the model is a replica of training rather
than educating. Learner / reflector belongs to the role of teacher,
and to the role of student - student who is participating in education.
Teacher
Power
The role of reflection in teaching is pervasive. However, it is most
closely aligned with connection power. Connection power is built through
loyalty to the educational system and role as well as to peers and administrators
who work within the system. A part of connection power is inherent in
seeing teaching as a profession rather than viewing oneself as an employee.
The following chart describes the distinctions in professional or employee
perception, (Adapted from Corwin, 1965).
Model
of Perception of Teaching
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