Complete Handouts Topic Wise Corrected

Critical Thinking and Reflective Practices (EDU 406) VU
Critical Thinking and Reflective Practices (EDU 406)
Topic 1
What is Reflective Practice?
 Teaching should value reflection and evaluation of their own practice and their
continuing professional teachers.
 There is one quality above all that makes a good teacher-the ability to reflect on
what, why and how we do things and to adopt and develop our practice.
 Most teachers spend time thinking about what they did in class but they don’t
always take it a step on their actions and make plans to do things differently.
 What is the implication of this for reflective practice?
 In a professional setting, reflection is:
 Deliberate
 Purposeful
 Structured
 A process which links theory to practice
 Deep learning.
 John Moon says:
 “Reflection is a form of mental processing that we use to fulfill a purpose or
achieve some anticipated outcome”.
 applied to gain a better understanding of relatively complicated or unstructured
ideas and is largely based on the reprocessing of knowledge, understanding and
possibly, emotions that we already possess.” (Moon, 2005:1)
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Topic 2
Why the interest in Reflective Practice?
In encourages us to understand our learners and their needs and abilities
Stephen Brookfield (1995:92) believes that of all the pedagogic tasks teachers face,
getting inside students’ heads is one of the trickiest. It is also the most crucial.
Reflective teachers are more likely to develop reflective learners
Why the interests in Reflective practice?
 Finally and most importantly, reflective practice is the key to improvement.
Why Reflect?
 Reflective practice leads to:
 Higher quality practice and better outcome for learners
 Awareness of value and beliefs
 More likely to challenge and change practices
 Leads to inclusive environment
Why Reflect?
Reflective practice leads to:
 Leads to seeking research, resources and advice
 Promotes collaboration between professionals
 Why is Reflective practice so important?
 Research shows that reflective practice is a crucial way of learning and extending
professional understanding.
Why reflect?
Reflection and critical reflection are highly personal processes that require the
professional to take daily experiences, internalize them, turn them over in their mind and
filter these new thoughts through previous lived experiences and personal values and
biases before deciding how best to proceed.
Why is Reflective Practice so important?
Research also shows that teacher who regularly reflect on what they do, why they do it
and how this new knowledge can b used to improve their practice achieve the best
outcomes for students.
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The Place or Reflective practice in Teaching

Consider this task to help you understand the place or reflective practice in teaching:
a) Make a list of teaching strategies that you have used over the last 2-3 weeks(e/.g
small group work, lecture, demonstration). Consider this task to help you
understand the place of reflective practice in teaching:
b) Analyze each teaching strategy: what is your role, what is the role of the learners,
what tasks are used? Consider this task to help you understand the place of
reflective practice in teaching:
c) Examine one teaching occasion which went ‘badly’, list the unexpected factors
and try to explain them. Discuss with a colleague- how could you changed your
practice?
A culture of Reflective practice is essential. Further research demonstrates that in
order to provide high quality teaching there must be a commitment to on-going
learning, professional development and reflective practice (Comer, 2008: Howard,
2003).
This is not necessarily tied to specific training or in-service courses but instead can
begin with looking at daily practice and being able to say, “that hasn’t gone well, why
might that be?
Reflective practice is a process by which you stop and think about your practice,
consciously analyze your decision making and draw on theory and relate it to what
you do in practices.
Critical analysis and evaluation refocuses your thinking on your existing knowledge
and helps general new knowledge and ideas.
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Topic 3
What is to be Gained from Reflected Practice
It provides a real shift in power over who determines what counts as knowledge what
counts knowledge.
The move is from a deterministic or even patriarchal mentality to one where there is
considerable cope for genuine dialogue about the nature of our work.
Achieving Best Practice:
 From David Halberstam’s novel “The Reckoning”
 Hal Sperlich, an executive of ford Motors, on one of his visits to Japan in the
early 1070s, notices that there were no repair bays for defective cars:
 “ Where do you repair you cars? Sperlich asked the engineer with him.
 “ We don’t have to repair our cars,” the engineer answered.
 “ Well, then Sperlich asked “ where are you inspectors?
 “ The workers are the inspectors,” his guide answered.
(Halberstam, 1986: 716)
During the last two decades, the slogan of reflective teaching has been embraced by
teachers, teacher educators and educational researchers all over the world.
The move toward seeing teachers a reflective practitioners is also a rejection of top-down
forms of educational reform that involve teachers only as conduits for implementing
programmed, curricula and ideas formulated elsewhere.
On the surface the reflected practice movement involves a recognition that teachers
should be active in formulating the purposes and ends of their work. And that they need
to play leadership roles in curriculum development and school reforms.
Most importantly, reflection helps us to develop our own learning and teaching
framework.
Stephen Brookfield (1995) proposed the following framework:
What is to be gained from reflected practice?
Stephen Brokfield (1995) purposed the following framework:
 RP allow us to consciously develop our own repertoire of strategies and
techniques to draw upon in our teaching which are relevant to our particular
context and discipline.
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 RO helps us take informed actions that can be justified and explained to others
and that we can use to generate answers to teaching problems.
 RP allows us to adjust and respond to issues and problems. For instance, rather
than being upset by a poor teaching evaluation. It allow us to investigate and
understand what underlies these evaluations and to take appropriate action, which
might be to adjust our teaching.
 RP helps us to become aware of our underlying beliefs and assumptions about
learning and teaching so we understand why we do what do and what might need
to change.
 RP helps to promote a positive learning environment. Through reflection, our
teaching becomes responsive to student feedback and needs which can serve to
build trust in students when they see their feedback is valued and taken seriously
through changes to teaching.
 RP helps us to locate our teaching in the broader institutional and social context
and to appreciate the many factors that influence student learning. IN this way
reflection helps us to keep our perspectives and to avoid blaming ourselves for
every problem that arises in our classrooms.
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Topic 4
Advantages and Drawback of Reflective Practice
Critique of Reflective Practice
Schon (1983) coined the term reflective practice in his book “ The Reflective
Practitioner”.
Reflective practice has been adopted in a wide range of professional group.
A number of critiques of the theory of reflective practice have been articulated.
Lack of conceptual clarity
Too much foucs on the individual
Failure to acknowledge on going discourses in practice
Failure to understand the complexities of practice
We shall look at each of these in turn.
Lack of Conceptual Clarity
What do we mean by reflective practice and indeed what is reflection?
Van Manen (1995) says the nation of reflection is changing and may refer to a
complex array of cognitively and philosophically distinct approaches and attitudes.
Bleakley 91999) says that reflective practice is becoming a chatch-all term for an ill-
defined process.
 Different authors frame reflective practice and its applications differently,
emphasizing one aspect of the theory and ignoring others.
 Similarly in practice the theory is interpreted and applied in many ways, with
different institutions and by various professions.
 This all leads to confusion.
 Consequently the concept remains elusive
 -Ill-defined.
 It is open to multiple interpretations
 .It is applied in a wide variety of ways in practice environments.
Focus on the Individual
The theory places to much emphsis on the individual
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Sandwell (1996) discusses the limits of reflection saying that the other (I e the wier
educatianl community , including students) is excluded in every aspect of reflection (p
240).
 In Sandwell’s views, an emphasis on individual reflection fails to consider the
accounts of other within the community within which reflection occurs.
 Taaylor and White (2000) note that reflective practice opens up uncertain
ambiguous and complex world and tends to close much of this down again by
obscuring student perspectives and freezing as true representations of what
happens.
 Schon’s theory does not acknowledge the problematic nature of language an
discourse within practice environment.
 Practitioner accounts are non-problematically viewed as true and no effort is
made to foster reflection on language use or on the manner in which discourse
construct means for us to name, describe and depict and manage our perceptions.
Discourses in Practice
Lather (1991) draws attention to the language which we use to frame our thinking.
When such an understanding of language is applied to practice this raises the question
of who frames account is put forward
Where is the other?
There is a danger of treating those with whom we are reflecting (out students or
colleagues) as objects or things.
Without a proper consideration of human encounters we are in danger of confronting
others as a thing …… to be objectified and manipulated (Gardiner 1999: 64).
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Topic 5
Why is Reflective Practice Important?
Reflecting critically allows us to synthesis different perspectives (from others or
literature) to help explain, justify or challenge what we have encountered in our practice.
It may provide evidence to support our views or practices or it may explicitly challenge
them.
Critically reflection also allows us to analyze what we have learned and how we have
learned to enable us to take control of our own development. It is in light of these two
functions that a great deal of importance is placed on critical reflection in the professional
development of teachers.
Many teachers already think about their teaching and talk to colleagues about it too.
You might think or tell someone that “my lesson went well” or “my students didn’t seem
to understand” or “my students were so badly behaved today.”
Why it is important?
However without more time spent focusing on or discussing what has happened, we may
tend to jump to conclusions about why things are happening.
We may only notice reactions of the louder students for example reflective teaching
therefore implies a more systematic process of collecting, recording and analyzing our
thoughts and observations as well as those of our students and then going on to making
changes. If a lesson went well we can describe it and think about why it was successful.
If the students didn’t understand a learning point we introduced, we need to think and
why it may have been unclear.
If students are misbehaving-what were they doing when and why?
Working in this reflective way allows us to take control of our learning and development
and to make changes in our practice that will develop our overall competence.
This preparation allows us to be prepared should the same events or others similar occur
in future.
How RP can develop your work further
Addressing students’ needs
 By thinking about the way you have responded to your students individual needs,
you can develop new/better strategies.
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Working with colleague

 Reflecting on the way you interact with colleagues can help you to create better
relationship
 This can help you to enjoy your work more
Your role with your students
 By thinking about the effectiveness of the way you work with student, you can
tailor your approach to suit their needs and interests
Planning students learning
 By considering the effectiveness of your plans, you can help to develop new
systems of planning and recording that are faster and more effective.
Working with external agencies/parents
 By thinking through how you work with external agencies or parents, you may be
able to develop strong working relationships and lines of communication.
Over to you
 Consider how you have used reflective practice previously and how the reflection
changed your outcomes.
 Think about how your practice improved and any impact this ad on others around
you.
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Topic 6
How can reflection be used for practice
Principles of RP
1. RP is problem oriented: problem posing as well as problem solving.
2. RP is based on action research. Action research is a powerful tool for change and
improvement.
3. RP ensures that teaching and learning are research-led.
4. RP is date-driven ownership of the data is central to professional development.
If reflection is thinking – How is the thinking done?
It is important to consider how the thinking is done (the cognitive process), why it has
occurred and what it involves (the stimulus) as well as learning and changes in practice
(the outcomes).
How is the thinking done?
Hatton and smithe (1995) say that three specific types of reflection can develop.
3 specific types of reflection can develop:
Technical rationality (behavior and skills)
Reflection on action (involving descriptive reflection, description and justification,
exploration multiple perspectives and factors.
Reflection-in-action (thinking in the moment).
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Topic 7
Definition
The term :reflective practice derives from the work of Dewey (1910,p6) wrote that
reflective practices is “the active persistent and careful consideration of any belief or
supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it”.
This means you will have a questioning approach you will consider why things are as
they are and how they may be.
Dewey went on to say that being reflective enables us to direct our actions with
foresight… it enables us to know what we are about when we act. This is important in
teaching.
What you do in the classroom and how you behave should have been carefully planned,
informed by theory and experience and be purposeful.
Schon (1983) presents a slightly different view. He regards reflection as having two
aspects: reflection in action and reflection on action.
Reflection in action refers to the quick thinking and reaction that occurs as you are doing,
for example in the classroom you may be teaching a topic which you can see the pupils
are not understanding.
Your reflection in action allows you to see this consider why it is happening and respond
by doing it differently.
Reflection on action is what occurs outside is what occurs outside the classroom when
you consider the situation again. You may think more deeply about why the pupils did
not understand, what caused the situation what options were open to you, why you chose
one option and not another.
Your responses will depend on you existing level of knowledge and experience you
understanding of theories and your values.
In reflective practice practitioners engage in a continuous cycle of self-observation and
self-evaluation in order to understand their own actions and the reactions they prompt in
themselves and in learners. (Brookfield, 1995: Thiel, 1999).
The goal is not necessarily to address a specific problem or question defined at the outset
as I practitioner research but to observe and refine practice in general on an ongoing
basis. (Curriculum, 2001).
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“Practitioners frame the problem of the situation they determine the features to which
they will attend the order they will attempt to impose on the situation, the directions in
which they will try to change it.
In this process, they identify both the end to be sought and the means to be employed.”
(Schon, 1983).
Consider these questions:
 Which definition do you prefer and why?
 Based on these definitions which elements do you think are most important for
reflection?
 Is there something missing that you think should be included in a definition of
reflection?
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Topic 8
Types of Reflection
Hatton and Smith (1995) distinguish between dialogic reflection and critical reflection
and the level of engagement associated with each.
Dialogic Reflection
Dialogic reflection refers to a less intensive approach that involves discourse with the self
to explore a given event or incident.
It involves considering the decision and judgments made and possible reasons for these.
An example of dialogic reflection is the basic model proposed by Brockbank and McGill
(2000).
The individual thinks about what they are going to do in their teaching about th
information they`d like to convey, the methods they intends to use the level of
engagement and so on in advance of the delivery of the class.
Afterwards they then consider how well they achieved their intended goals and which
aspects require further attention.
As with all forms of reflection this approach is based in constructivism and required the
individual to re-evaluate their own personal view of education, teaching and learning.
Have I been innovative and creative to engage and sustain student’s interest?
While this is an important first step and may lead to increased confidence or sense of
pride awareness alone doesn’t necessarily result in an improvement of the situation
(Moon, 2004).
Critical Reflection
This refers to efforts accounting for the broader historic, cultural and political values in
framing practical problems to arrive at a solution (Hatton an Smith, 19995). This
processes has been described by Boyd and Fales (1983) as :
“the core difference between whether a person repeats the same experience several times
becoming highly proficient at one behavior or learns from experience in such a way to be
cognitively or affectively changed. (1983 p, 100)
Therefore critical reflection facilities transformational learning that can happen either
gradually or from a sudden or critical incident and alter the way people see themselves
and their world.
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What do these consideration means for RP

 RP is non-judgmental collaborative
 Should allow for flexibility open mindedness
 To be an effective reflective practitioner you must recognize that learning from
what does not work is on the same path as learning what does work. There must
be room for failure in the reflective process.
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Topic 9
Critiques of Reflective Practice
 There are cultural and personal risks involved in RP and not everyone
ends up feeling empowered (Brookfield 1994, 1995).
 Moreover busy over stretched professianls are likely to find reflective
proactive taxing and difficulty. Bland mechanical routinized and
unthinking ways of doing reflective practice are too often the result.
 Ash (2202) agrees that teacher can “choose not to reflect on their practice
constructively and critically preferring to fall back on preconceived
understanding of how they and their pupils should conduct themselves in
the classroom. (cited Hbbs, 2007, 0. 406).
 Similarly, Bond and Walker (1998) say that reflection can be turned into a
recipe –following checklists which they work through in a mechanical
fashion without regard to their own uncertainties questions and meaning
(1998, p. 193).
 Ethical concerns
 The teaching and application of reflective practice have generated a range
of ethical concerns.
 These relate to confidentiality right to privacy informed consent and
professional relationships.
 Practitioners who are engaging in reflective practice need to be aware of
the risks and also of the potential for conflicts of interests.
 A further problem to do with the impact on the individual reflector is the
way reflection can involve constant striving for self-improvement. It can
lead to feelings of self-disapproval and self- rejection (Quinn, 1988/2000).
Further, if an individual understands the word critical to mean negative, they can end up
in an unduly negative frame of mind.
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Professional Concerns
Professional concerns come to the fore when reflective practice is done badly,
ineffectively or inappropriately. In such cases, the point of RP is missed and its value
goes unrecognized. Then RP may simply rationalize existing practice.
If applied uncritically, reflections can reinforce prejudices and bad practice, leading
practitioners unwittingly to collude with dominant cultural assumptions.
Reflective practice at the level of the individual practitioner can also be a means by
which organizations divest themselves of responsibility.
Fostering good practice here becomes matter for the individual rather than the
organization.
Pedagogical concerns
Reflective teaching raises two main pedagogic concerns
Developmental readiness and
The extent to which forcing teachers to reflect may prove counter-productive.
Developmental readiness
Teachers need to be developmentally ready to engage in critical reflection and that some
individual may be incapable of doing so. The respective abilities of novices and experts
are relevant here.
There is evidence that novices by definition lacking practical mastery are inclined to
follow models mechanically and also that such reliance on models lessons with
experience.
Forced RP
Teacher reflection can end up being superficial strategic and guarded if teachers are
forced to undertake RP rather than making a personal choice. Where appraisal follows,
any genuine honest, critical self-examination may well be discouraged.
Conceptual concerns
A problem is posed by the way practitioners appropriate an dembrace models of
RP in uncritical piecemeal and reductionist ways. Often ideas are transplanted
without sufficient care across philosophical disciplinary and cultural boundaries
in the process becoming distorted or diminished.
Conceptual concerns
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It can be understood in multiplicity of ways, according to the aims and functions

of the exercise at stake and the theoretical /methodological traditions engaged
(Finlay, 2003).
Conceptual concerns
Some may see it primarily as a personal confessional account while for others it is
a means to deconstruct socially situated action.
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Topic 10
Formal and informal Reflection
Informal Reflection
 Involved self-questioning
 Develop our awareness our own assumption
Formal Reflection
 Draws on research & theory
 Provides guidance & framework for practice
This relies on experiential learning.
Such an approach is:
 Often dysfunctional, always incomplete
 Reliant on using present experience to test our beliefs, correcting the
misinterpretations we have made.
 Often manipulated to fit our beliefs
 Biased as we usually see and hear selectively
 Can be planned or unplanned but usually conscious awareness that
learning is taking place
 A by-product of some other activity usually unintentional, unexamined
and embedded in closely held systems
 Requires becoming aware of conscious learning in a non-routine situation
as people reflect on experience
 Requires an awareness of learning to surface which make tacit
assumptions explicit. This is call mindfulness.
Learning from formal reflection:
Formal reflection requires models or framework which provide a specific and structured
approach
All formal models rely on the following parameters
Formal Reflection
Learning
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Behavior Visible behavior

Function: teaching, maintaining professional relationships
Reasoning/ Students oriented understanding
Judgment Function: problem solving
Professional Critical appraise of literature and own practice
thinking Function: optimizing teaching based on experience
Personal Awareness, exploring
reflection Function: balance
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Topic 11
What do professionals reflect on?
1. Philosophy
2. Value and beliefs
3. Practice
4. Practice that are taken granted
5. Reflecting on your
Reflecting on your philosophy
 Your perceptions of children, parents and families and yourself as a
professional
 Children’s rights and the extent to which children’s views are taken into
account in practice
 Professional roles in children’s and families lives
 Professionals influence in children and families lives\
 Your perceptions of children, parents and families and the extent to which
your practices reflect cultural competence: that is your understanding of
and respect for families and children’s cultures and communities
 How to give children opportunities to express their own thoughts and
feeling and support their sense of agency
 Your own prejudices and biases
 Your beliefs and values
 Yourself e.g. I am student-oriented, I see myself as providing a service, I
have professional expertise
 Families e.g Families e.g Families are the most important people in
children’s lives, families are the problem’
 Reflecting on beliefs
 Children e.g . children are capable: children are interested learners from
birth, children are needy and vulnerable
Reflecting on values
Inform decisions
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 Come from life experiences, especially early ones within the family and
community
 Come from professional study and experience
 Can be shared values and belief in every setting e.g. How children learn
and develop
Professionals reflecting
It is important to be aware of your own assumptions, values and beliefs and their
impact on your practice.
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Topic 12
Assumptions
Assumptions 1:
The reflection takes place in the classroom, conducted by and for the teacher.
Research is contextualized and private.
Assumption 2:
Teachers reflect and act on what they observe
Considered as research PLUS action.
Assumption 3:
Understanding requires dialogue (Kemmis and MC Taggart, 1992: Wells 1999,
Vygotsky, 1999)
A social constructivist model of learning
Assumptions
A social constructivist model of learning:
The mind is mediated by language
Understanding is jointly constructed through dialogue
Knowledge is socially derived
Learning occurs through collaborative effort.
Assumptions and reflective practice
RP is therefore about becoming aware of our own assumptions, how these
assumptions govern our practice, how these assumptions must shift to embrace
change.
Understanding resistance to assumption shift and finally to change assumptions to
support a better state of affairs.
Assumption
The Reflective practitioner is therefore someone who lives reflection in everyday
practice.
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Becoming a Reflective Practitioner takes time commitment, responsibility and

discipline.
Key points about our assumptions
Reflective teaching involves discovering and researching own assumptions.
Our assumptions can be revealed and explored through four lenses.
Autobiographical writing
Student feedback
Discussion with colleagues
The literature
Stephen Brookfield identifies these lenses:
Teaching in a critically reflective way involves teachers trying to discover the
assumptions that frame how they teach. Teachers have four complementary lenses
through which they view their practice.
The lens of their own autobiographies as learners, the lens of student eyes, the
lens of colleagues perceptions and the lens of educational literature. Brookfield
(2002:32)
Why these lenses are important?
Reviewing practice through these lenses helps surface the assumptions we hold
about pedagogic methods, techniques and approaches and the assumptions we
make concerning the conditions that best foster student learning.
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Topic 13
Achieving best practice
Why best practice?
The 21 st century is different from the one in which we were educated
To survive in a new globally competitive world, children will need creativity
problem-solving abilities a passion for learning , a passion for learning, a
dedicated work ethic and lifelong learning attributes.
Through RP the teacher can provide the required opportunities and achieve best
practice.
What does best practice?
Look like for the reflective practitioner?
Students are engaged and focused on their work
Teacher use collaborative and authentic tasks which place students at the center of
learning.
There is a joyful feeling of purposeful movement, industrious thinking and a vital
and vibrant atmosphere and environment.
Core Best Practices
 The teacher:
 Educates the whole child
 Teaches based on knowledge of how children develop and learn
 Prepares children for success in school and for life
 Provides an enriched environment
 Creates active participants rather than passive observers.
 Provides challenge.
 Employs rigorous assessment of learning.
Core Worst Practices
 The teacher:
 Plans and teaches in isolation
 Teaches to the test
 One size fits all
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 Teaches without assessing student needs

 Teaches the text.
 Stays within a comfort zone of subjects.
 Applies student-centered/ activity-based approaches in name only.
Operationalizing best practice
 How might we summaries our understanding of those honored with the
title and status of teacher as a skill reflective practitioner?
 Be concerned with the consequences of education, as well as what might
be called technical proficiency.
 How might we summaries our understanding of those honored with title
and status of teacher as a skill reflective practitioner?
 Be prepared to experiment with the unfamiliar and learn from their
experiences
 Be committed to professional dialogue in collaboration with colleagues in
school and beyond.
 Have working patterns characterizes by a process of action evaluation and
revision.
 Assume as life long learners, responsibility for their ongoing professional
development.
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Topic 14
Implications for achieving best practice
To achieve best outcomes for children teachers need to reflect in practice as well
as on practice
The evidence demonstrates the importance of reflection in practice (thinking on
your feet and reflection on practice (thinking after the event) if teachers are to
achieve the best outcomes for children.
Implications for achieving best practice
Reflecting on one’s own values and attitudes must accompany reflection on wider
issues of practice such as the effect of child-adult relationship on children’s
overall learning outcomes.
Teachers need guidance and structure if RP is to bring about positive change.
To make changes teachers need to deepen their understanding of their own and
others value base. For this to happen formal guidance and structure should be in
place.
Studies indicate that without structured tools e.g. recording formats guided
questions or example of others reflections and how they linked to improvements
in practice- there can be a lack of commitment to reflective practice from staff.
Reflection also needs to be embedded as part of normal day-to day practice.
Collaboration with others.
Evidence suggests that while guidance and structure are important factors in
engaging a professionals long term commitment to reflect practice, reflection is
substantially more effective when the process involves others. Another
professional can bring a different perspective to the reflection and encourage a
teacher to think about what values they hold, why they hold them and what works
best for children and their learning
Regular Learning Networks
Reflecting regularly with other professional comfortable and predictable world
has been proven to create reflective teaching hubs.
Such hubs focus on policy development learning and pedagogy sharing best
practice and challenging taken-for- granted practices.
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Time and Space for Reflection

Research emphasizes that without tangible leadership commitment to reflective/
practice and time regularly set aside for staff to reflect, met or attend local
learning
Network, reflection is viewed as little more than a time-consuming exercise.
Research tells us that effective reflective practice is regular and included both
reflection in practice and reflection on practice.
Informed by contemporary research
The one off in service training calendar which training calendar which dominates
many professional development opportunities required refocusing moving away
from single, isolated workshop towards more strategic and collaborative suite of
longer term inter-related professional development programs.
Comparison with traditional models of teacher learning
The traditional model of teacher learning focuses on giving and receiving public
knowledge that is available to all and that is not personal or based on individual
experience.
The primary assumption is that acquisition of shared knowledge will lead to
behavioral change.
Theory, thoroughly understood and carefully applied, means good practice.
The traditional approach to professional development then reflects an underlying
assumption that information is a stimulus for behavioral change. That individual
receiving knowledge will use it to improve performance.
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Topic 15
The Reflection Process
Modern teachers can use to support reflection all follow the same basic remises:
 Reflection is cyclical
 Reflection is iterative
The Reflection process
The Cyclical Nature of Reflection
Collecting Information
 Talking to children colleagues, parents others
 Observing colleagues as they teach
 A colleague observes your teaching and gives feedback
 Observing your own teaching (Video recording)
 Reviewing lesson plans (yours and others)
 Review your lesson evaluations
Question/Analysis
 Looking for a solution to correct a problem (single-loop learning)
 Examination of assumptions and theories –in use (double-loop learning)
 View things from different perspectives
 Asking why?
Plan
 Develop hypotheses
 Reflective practice strategies: Reflective journals or diaries; meeting with
mentor or critical friend; reflective practice blog; Action research; video or
observation
 Theory to practice
 Asking so what?
Act/Do
 Testing assumptions
 Engaging in behavioral experiments
 Asking now what?
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Review
 Asking what happened?
 Van Manen, process three major
 Hierarchical levels at which reflection:
Review
Technical Reflection is the most basic level of reflection. It focuses on what
works in the classroom.
At this level, teachers are concerned with applying knowledge to achieve
instructional outcomes and actions taken are evaluated on the basis of their
success or failure in the classroom.
Practical Reflection is the next level of reflection. It focuses on the learning
experience of the student.
It goes beyond technical-rationality into investing, questioning and clarifying the
end objectives and the assumptions behind teaching activities designed to achieve
those objectives.
Critical Reflection is the highest level of reflection. It focuses on what knowledge
is of value and to whom.
At this level, teachers are not simply concerned about the goals, the activities and
the assumptions behind them but they reflect upon the larger context of education
and question and question their practices critically, particularly in connection with
ethical and moral issues.
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Topic 16
Reflexivity
Reflexivity for professionals means engaging in both personal reflection and
broader social critique
What are the skills which underpin teacher’s reflexivity?
The Reflective Teacher
Skills underpinning Reflexivity
Critical thinking having roots in skepticism and critical theory-identifying and
challenging assumptions, challenging the importance of context to imagine and
explore to imagine and explore alternatives which leads to reflective skepticism.
Types of Reflexivity
 Where reflexivity is seen as introspection we can consider:
 Hyper- reflexivity that is the deconstruction of praxis
 Systematic reflexivity, that is looking at our suppositions theories and
methods
Types of Reflexivity
Where reflexivity is seen as introspection we can consider:
Epistemic reflexivity that is the exploration of our belief and assumptions
Consequently reflexivity situates reflective practice into our day-to-day
experience in the classroom
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Topic 17
Topics for critical reflection
Pedagogy and how it connects with the practice principles and learning and
development outcomes, how practices and the physical environment acknowledge
and encourage children’s sense of agency.
Topics for critical reflection
Induction and orientation for families who are new to the setting and the extent to
which they set the stage for partnerships. The variety and effectiveness of
communication with families sense of agency who is not attending?
Why? What strategies might change that? The physical environment and possible
improvements. The extent to which the environment reflects the cultures,
communities and lives of the families and children. Practices that are taken for
granted.
30 critical Questions
Modeling reflection with students:
1.Was this activity successful …why or why not?
2. If we do this again what can I do differently to help you learn more?
3.Did this activity help you learn more than other we have done? Why?
Classroom culture questions to ask about your rules an relationship:
4. Are the relationships that I have with my students helping or hindering their
ability to learn?
Classroom culture questions to ask about your rules and relationships:
5. Could the problems I solved by pre-teaching my expectations or developing
rules/procedures to deal with these issues?
6. Was my demeanor and attitude towards my class today effective for student
learning?
7. Am I excited to go to work today?
8. Are my students excited to come to my class today? (How much does #6 I
mpact#7?)
9. What choices have I given my students lately?
10. Can I explain at least some thing about each of my student personal lives?
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11. Does my assessment accurately reflect student learning?

Does my assessment is really reflecting learning or merely task completion or
memorization skills?
13. Why did I really choose this particular lesson to cover this objective?
14: What evidence do I have my students are learning?
15. What new strategies have tried lately that might benefits student I am
struggling with?
16. In what ways am I challenging students who are clearly being in my
classroom?
17. What do I do when students aren’t learning in my classroom?
18. Which students benefited from this activity?
19. Which students did not benefit from this activity?
20: IN what area can I still improve professional?
What’ s areas can I still improve professionally?
21. What’s stopping me from improving in these areas?
22. In what ways can I support my colleagues in their student’s learning?
23. Do my actions as a teacher show my belief that all students can learn at a high
level?
24: D0 my actions as a teacher show that I take pride in my work?
25. Are the relationships I have my colleagues conductive to creating a
collaborative culture focuses on learning?
26. Are the relationship I have with my student’s parents conducive to improving?
27. What new ideas have I tried n my classroom lately to keep myself energized
about teaching?
28. What have I done lately to relieve stress and focus on my own health, to
ensure I remain an effective teacher?
29. What thing am I currently doing that I could realistically make less of a
priority in my professional?
30. How much time have I spent with my friends and family in the last two
weeks?
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Topic 18
Learning from Reflection
Reflection as a learning to gain further understanding and add meaning to our
daily lives.
Reflection is associated with learning that has occurred through experience and is
an activity that helps you make sense of and learn from situations.
Reflection therefore is a means of assisting us to think to explore our thoughts and
feelings and to work through an experience,
It is the active consideration of and learning from our thoughts and actions
together with the further use of these thoughts and actions As a means of
developing reflective thinking.
The most important aspect of engaging in reflection for your on-going personal
and professional learning is that you are able to demonstrate your profession
towards achievement of standards of proficiency.
The process of reflective writing leads to more than just a gain in our knowledge,
it should also challenge the concepts and theories by which you make sense of
knowledge when you reflect on a situation, you do not simply see more you see
differently.
This different way of viewing a situation is reflected in statements about a
commitment to action. Action is the final stage of reflection.
What do you know about and how confident are you about:
The roles and responsibilities of a teacher
 Learning styles
 Planning a course
 Planning a lesson
 How people learn
 What do you know about and how confident are you about:
 Lifelong learning
 Communication skills
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 Presentation skills
 Demonstration skills
 Questioning and explaining
 Using a range of teaching methods
 Designing and uses resources
 Using ICT
 Assessing learning
 Reflection
 Subject knowledge and skills
Reflective practice assumes a holistic approach to learning beginning with
individual behavior, anything related to it becomes part of the process. At the very
least, this includes the individual’s background and cultural context.
The concept of cognition also expand from a narrow emphasis on information
gathering or recall to the development of analytic and conceptual skills that enable
the individual to create knowledge needed to respond to the diverse demands of
practice.
This means that in reflective practice learning is cooperatively based.
Collaboration extends beyond the learner- facilitator relationship to include all of
the individuals in an interdependent learning process.
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Topic 19
Method of Reflection
Reflecting in and on practice
Dewey was among the first to identify reflection as a specialized form of thinking.
He considered reflection to stem from doubt, hesitation or perplexity related to a
directly experienced situation.
Dewey argued that we think the problem through in order to formulate hypotheses
in trial an error reflective situations and then use these to plan action and to test
out our ideas.
Dewey’s ideas provided the basis for the concept of reflective practice which
gained influence with Schon’s work on “The Reflective Practitioner: How
Professionals Think in Action” (1983)
His main concern was to facilitate the development of reflective practitioners.
One of the most important and enduring contributions from this was to identify
two types of reflection:
Reflection-on-action
After-the event thinking
Reflecting-in-action
Thinking while doing
Reflection-on-action
Teachers consciously review, describe, analyze and evaluate their past practice
with a view to gaining insight to improve future
Teachers examine their experiences and responses as they occur
Reflective in and on action
In both types of reflection, teachers aim to connect with their feelings and attend
to relevant theory.
Teachers seek to build new understandings to shape their action in the unfolding
situation.
The Core of Reflection
For Schon, reflection-in-action was the core of professional artistry
He contrasted this with the ‘technical rationality’ favored by positivist theorists.
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In Schon’s view technical rationality failed to resolve the dilemma of rigor versus
relevance which teachers face.
Schon explained this by saying that teachers have to do morethan follow set
procedures
Teachers need to draw on both practical experiences and theory as they think on
their feet and improvise.
Teachers act intuitively and creatively
Reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action allows teachers to revise , modify
and refine their expertise.
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Topic 20
Level of Reflecting
Grushka, Hinde- McLeod and Reynolds (2005)
Distinguish between ‘reflection for action’ ‘reflection on action’ and ‘reflection in
action’.
They offer a serious of technical, practical and critical questions for teachers to
engage with, for example: under ‘reflection for action’ teachers are advised to
consider their resources and how long the lesson will take (i.e technical)
For example: how to make the resources relevant to different learning styles (i.e
practical)
Teachers questioning why they are teaching in a particular way (i.e critical)
Zeichner and Liston (1996)
Differentiate between five different levels at which reflection can take place
during teaching. For example
Rapid Reflection
 Immediate
 On-going
 Automatic action by the teacher
Repair
In which a thoughtful teacher makes decisions to alter their behavior in response
to student’s cues
Review
When a teacher think about discusses or writes about some element of their
teaching
Research
When a teacher engages in more systematic and sustained thinking over time,
perhaps by collecting data or reading research.
R-theorizing and reformulating
The process by which a teacher critically examines their own practice and theories
in the light of academic theories
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Topic 21
Guided Reflection
Johns (1994) developed the concept of guided reflection.
This involves engaging with a serious of questions that help the teacher to explore
and reconsider their motivation or rationale for actions.
These can be designed by the teacher or by another (e.g school directorate or
principal)
These cab be designed to form a reflective diary with one side of the page
consisting of the descriptive material and the other consisting of the reflection and
exploration.
Examples of questions that guide reflection
1. Maughan and Webb (2014)
2. What is most important/ interesting/useful/relevant about the object, event
or idea?
3. How can it be explained (e. with theory)?
4. How is it similar to and different from other issues/events?
5. What does this mean for my future teaching?
6. Biggs and Tang (2007)
7. What was the problem? What went wrong? What is the evidence for the
problem? How did you deal with the problem then?
8. Biggs and Tang (2007)
9. How did your solution to the problem relate to your theory of teaching and
learning?
Guided Reflection and Bloom’s Taxonomy
Questions which support guided reflection can be structured to parallel Bloom’s
taxonomy.
What questions might teachers ask themselves as they move from lower order
reflection to higher order reflection?
First, let’s reflect on Bloom’s taxonomy of reflection:
A Taxonomy of Reflection
Bloom’s remembering :
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What did I do?

Teacher Reflection
What was the lesson? Did it address all the content? Was it completed on time?
How did students “score” on the assessment?
Bloom’s understanding: what was important about what I did? Did I meet my
goals?
Teacher reflection: Can I explain the major components of the lesson? Do I
understand how they connect with the previous/ next lesson?
Where does this fit into the curriculum? What instructional strategies were used?
Did I follow best practices
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Topic 22
Action Research
 Reflective practice can be more formally encouraged and directed as
action research. Action research involves systematically changing your
teaching using on the ground evidence that suggest the changes you make
are in the right direction and enhancing student learning.
 The target of action research is the teacher not the change that is being
implemented.
 Educational Action Research as a Critical Social Science- carr and
Kemmis
 Carr and Kemmis say action research is a form of research carried out by
practitioners into their own practices.
 Action research is a participatory, democratic form of educational research
for educational improvement.
 Action research emphasizes practices a committed action or praxis
 Action research expresses a commitment to the improvement of practices
not to argue for or against a theory.
 Action research is seen as a form of practical enquiry characteristised by a
self- reflecting spiral of cycles of planning, acting, observing and
reflecting.
 Some Suggestions for thinking about practice
 Bryant states that there are many themes and aspects of practice to
question about action research before even looking at any theories.
 They are:
 Setting (where the activities are taking place)
 Play (looking at ideas in terms of a game where there are rules: these rules
can be both enabling and constraining).
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Topic 23
The Critical Friend
The critical friend’s process focuses on developing collegial relationship and
encouraging reflective practice.
This process is based in cooperative adult learning.
It also addresses a situation in which many teachers find themselves working as
Independent units certified as knowing all that is needed to know: feeling like the
continuation of professional learning is not essential to the creation of an exciting
rich, learning environment.
It is currently in use by an estimated 35000 teachers, principals and professors in
over 1500 schools and universities.
Providing an effective balance between informal supportive friendship and critical
analysis.
Asking ‘why’ things are being done in particular way seeding to gain a sense of
the context within which the teacher works and challenge assumptions.
Thinking creatively and encouraging others to do so.
Key contribution from the critical friend
 Facilitating friendly, honest and critical analysis, shared professional
reflections and horizon scanning.
 Using their skills to ask ‘naive’ questions which promote reflection and
self-evaluation.
 Providing advice and practical suggestions
Critical Friend Ethos
 Maintaining a “close distance”.
 Critical friends help others to be reflective but do not hold the role of
evaluator.
 Critical friends must be knowledgeable about the subject the teacher
teaches.
 Critical friends identify challenges but have no responsibility for
overcoming them instead; they support objective and reflective debate to
find solutions
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 Critical friends maintain confidentiality frankness, sensitivity and

independence.
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Topic 24
Participatory Methods for Reflection
 Putting aside time regularly for focused discussion about practice with
colleagues helps to ensure that reflection becomes regular practice.
 Important to have a facilitator who uses critical questions to stimulate
discussion and deep thinking and to record the discussion and the action
that arise.
 Conversation and debate with
 Colleague
 Other professionals working in the same setting
 Professionals working in another setting
 A professional network
 Families and children
Method
 Careful description
 Thoughtful listening
 Questioning feedback
Types of questioning feedback
 Warm feedback consists of supportive appreciative statements
 Cool feedback offers different ways to think about teaching and raises
questions
 Hard feedback challenges and extends thinking and raises concerns.
The participatory process
Participating with others in RP allows colleagues and others to share issues and
seek suggestions for positively overcoming them
Best in small groups where teachers feel comfortable sharing complex issues
Hard feedback challenges and extends thinking and raises concerns
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Topic 25
John Dewey
What is reflective practice?
 It is ongoing, dynamic process of thinking honestly, deeply and critically
about all aspects of professional practice
 What is reflective practice?
 It occurs spontaneously as well as in planned reflection activities
 Reflective practice leads to action
Routine action Vs Reflection Action
Dewey’s models is based on the fundamental difference that he sees between
routine action-guided primarily by tradition, instruction and imitation (quoted in
Furlong and Maynard: 31)
Which action amount to prejudices that is pre-judgments proper that rest upon a
survey of evidence”. (Dewey 1910: 4-5), and Reflection action.
Reflective action is instead based on active, persistent and careful consideration
(1910: 6), based on the need to solve a problem. For Dewey, it is in problem
solving that we find “the steadying and guiding factor in the entire process of
reflection and without which the course of suggestions flows on at fandom.
Reflection as Rationality
Teacher John Dewey, saw reflection as a further dimension of thought, and as
such in need of education: while we cannot learn or be taught to think, we do have
to learn to think well, especially acquire the general habit of reflection” (Dewey,
1933).
For Dewey, reflection is a rational and purposeful act, an active persistent and
careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of
the grounds that support it and further conclusions to which it leads it includes a
conscious and voluntary effort to establish belief upon a firm basis of evidence
and rationality (Dewey 1933)
Reflection as rationality
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Interestingly, from a modern educational perspective, Dewey’s reference to

different forms of belief and knowledge may reveal his willingness to apply
objective rationality to m ore affective and emotional concerns.
Dewey’s 5 Stage Model
1. We identify a problem that is perplexing and felt
2.We observe and refine the identified problem to create a fuller understanding
3.We develop a hypothesis or an understanding about the problem, its origins and
possible solutions.
We subject the hypothesis to scrutiny and reasoning, we test the hypothesis or
understanding in practice
4. Dewey placed great emphasis on reflective thought and saw it as an important
part of a cycle that enabled us to learn from experience.
5.He believed that reflective thought began when we found ourselves having an
experience that raised some difficulties or dilemmas.
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Topic 26
Donald Schon, 1983
Reflecting in and on practice
As we have seen, Schon developed the notions of reflecting in action and
reflecting on action
This can be represented in the following way:
First step
Teaching and learning session
 Reflection in action
 Observation yourself
 Monitoring
 Writing notes immediately on completion of the session
Second step
Planning the next session
 What can I incorporate from my reflections?
 Shall I try something new?
 What works with these learners on this course?
Third step
Reelection an action
 Time to ponder mull over what happened why things happened: how does
it relates to theory, what have I learned, what can i use in future planning?
Forth Step
Teaching and learning session
 Reflection in action
 Observing yourself
 Monitor
 Writing notes immediately on completion of the session
Development of Schon ‘s Model
Schon believed that reflection begins in working practice with confusing
situations. Teachers may have the theoretical knowledge (technical rationality) on
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their subject or the practice of teaching, it but this does not explain how their
practice actually is.
From teachers real life experience in the classroom, teachers can develop tacit
knowledge a synthesis of theory and practice which they have developed for
themselves.
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Topic 27
Kolb’s Reflective Cycle (1984)
This model is based directly on Kolb’s experiential learning cycle where active
experimentation leads to a transfer of learning from current cycle to a new cycle
Components of Kolb’s Modle Applied to RP
The experiential learning cycle can be detailed for RP:
1.concrete experience
Doing having an experience
(what happened)
2.Reflective observation
Reviewing , reflecting on the experience
(why did it happen that way includes taking feedback)
3.Abstract conceptualism
Concluding,learning from experience
(what can I learn from this?)
4.Active experimentation
Planning, trying out what you have learned
(How I plan to improve
Components of Kolb’s Model Applied to RP
Concrete experience
This relates to the incident or event prompting the reflection and involves the
physical act of being involved in or having hands-on experience.
Although in theory you can enter the model at any stage this tends to be the main
point of entry.
Reflective Observation
After the event comes the initial reflection. This entails stepping back and
viewing the event or incident from an objective perspective.
This should provide some insight into what you did and why you did it.
Abstract conceptualization
The initial reflections are then explored in greater detail.
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Conceptualization involves interpreting events and actions looking for

connections between these and the process of applying some theoretical.
Active Experimentation
Once this deeper understanding has been established, the individual translates it
into predictions about what is likely to happen next or what actions should be
taken to refine the way similar events may be handled I future.
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Topic 28
Greenaway’s 3-Stage Model (1995)
Greenaway outlined three simple steps to help learn from experience- these are
plan-do-review and are seen as reflective cycle:
Do: Have an experience
Review: Review what happened and what can be learned
PLAN: Plan a way to approach the next round of experience
Benefits of Greenaway’s 3-Stage Model
Easy to apply
Being experiential it is grounded teachers everyday practice
Not time- consuming.
Can be the foundation for more complex models.
Can be easily applied to many aspects of the teacher’s role in school.
When to use ‘Plan-Do-Review’
 As a model for continuous improvement
 When starting a new class
 When developing a new or improved approach
 When defining a repetitive work process
 When planning data collection and analysis in order to verify and
priorities problems or root causes.
 When implementing any change.
The Plan-Do-review procedure
Plan: recognize an opportunity and plan a change.
Review: Analyze the results and identify what you’ve learned.
The test into wider changes. Use what you learned to plan new improvements
beginning the cycle again.
Questions to ask for planning
 What data indicates a change is required?
 What changes is to be made?
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 How do you know the planned change is appropriate? What other

alternatives are there?
 What sequence of steps is needed to implement this change?
 Who will be responsible for carrying our each step?
 Who will need to be consulted?
 Who will be the change affect?
 How long will the change take?
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Topic 29
Roth (1989)
Roth (1989) summarizes reflective practice processes as follows:
Questioning what, why and how one does things and asking what, why and how
other do things
 Seeking alternatives
 Keeping an open mind
 Comparing and contrasting
 Seeking the framework, theoretical basis and or underlying rationale
 Viewing from various perspectives
 Asking what if?
 Asking for others ideas and view points
 Using prescriptive models only when adapted to the situation
 Considering consequences
 Hypothesizing
 Synthesizing and testing
 Seeking and resolving problems
Roth describes 24 procedures 24of a reflective practitioner. The procedure range from
those that correspond to cognitive models of reflection and teaching techniques to an
embracing of uncertainty like adapt and adjust to instability and change to more formal
procedure like “hypothesize”, synthesize and test”
The Griffith and Tans (1992) provide a very comprehensive way of categorizing
reflective processes that considers both time frame and purposes.
They identity the dimensions of rapid reflection, repair, review, research and theorizing,
contending that all are cognitive accomplishment.
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Topic 30
Peter (1991)
Peters (1991) described a four-step process called DATA:
 Describe
 Analysis
 Theorize
 Act
1.Describe
In the first step the critical aspect of practice is described. This is a
detailed and honest account. This involves paying attention to what
happened, who was involved and their thoughts feeling and emotions as
they related to the incident.
2. Analyze
The second step includes the identification of assumptions that support
practitioners. Current approaches and underlying beliefs, rules and
motives, governing teaching and learning. Here the teacher explores why
this practice operates as it does examines the underlying values, beliefs
and assumptions that maintain the practice and consider what sources of
information they draw on to make sense of situation.
3.Theories:
In the third step, practitioners theories about alternative ways to approach
learning , taking theory developed from the previous step and creating a
new theory.
This requires teachers to think about new or additional sources of
knowledge that may be helpful to make sense of what happened.
4. Act
In the fourth step, the practitioner tests the new theory. Success occurs
only through additional thought an reflection. In the final stage of this
model, the teacher put their new way of thinking into practice by trying
out a new or a different way of doing things in order to enhance and I
improve their practice.
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Teachers can use this model as part of a cycle of on-going learning and
continuous improvement.
Goal: To integrate scientific and practical theory (or application of
theory), one must reflect on one’s practical theory.
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Topic 31
Brookfield’s Critical Lenses
Brookfield (1995) suggests that we employ four “critical lenses” through
which to view and reflect upon our practice. These are:
1. Our own view (autography)
2. That of our students:
3. That of our fellow professionals:
4. The various theoretical perspectives found in educational literature.
Brookfield’s critical Lenses:
 Self-lens
Student lens
Peer lens
Theory lens
Despite the fact that teachers personal experience might be dismissed as anecdotal
Brookfield asserts that our autobiographies are on of the most important sources of
insight into teaching to which we have access (1995 p.31).
Teachers should consider whether the learning experience was inclusive and
motivational: This is why…. The most fundamental meta-criterion for judging whether or
not good teaching is happening is the extent to which teachers deliberately systematically
try to get inside students head and see classrooms and learning from their point of view
(Brookfield, 1995).
Reflection becomes critical when teachers consider:
a) How power supports and also distorts the educational process
b) How to challenge our own untested assumptions to uncover practices that appear
to make teaching easier but actually work against our own long-term interests.
Applying the four Lenses
Among the strategies suggested by Brookfield which enable teachers to engage in
critically reflective practice:
A) The critical incident questionnaire (CIQ)
B) Critical Practice Audit (CPA)
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C) Brookfield’s CIO which guide journal writing as reflective practice

Critical incident questionnaire
A) At what moment in class did you feel most engaged with what was
happening?
B) At what moment in class were you most distanced from what was
happening?
C) What action that anyone (teacher or student) took did you find most
affirming or helpful?
D) What action that anyone took did you find most puzzling or confusing?
E) What surprised you the most? (This could be about your own reaction to
what went on, something that did, or anything else that occurs).
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Topic 32
Johns Model for Structured Reflection (2000)
The model requires looking in on the situation which includes focusing on
your and paying attention to your thought and emotions.
It then advises looking out of the situation and writing description of the
situation based on five sources of knowledge, each of which has a number of
cues:
Look in
 Find a space to focus on self
 Pay attention to your thoughts and emotions
 Write down thoughts and emotions that are significant in realizing
desirable work.
Look out
Write a description of the surrounding your thoughts and emotions
What issues seem significant?
The description can be focused in the following ways:
 Aesthetics
What was I trying to achieve?
Why did I respond as I did?
 Personal
Why did I feel the way I did within this situation?
 Ethics
Did I act for the best?
What factors were influencing me?
 Empirics
What knowledge did or could have informed me?
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Topic 33
Rolfe, Freshwater and Jasper (2001): The What Model
They advocate using three simple questions to reflect on a situation
 What?
 SO what?
 Now What?
The Levels
In the first level the individual reflects on the situation in order to describe it.
In the second level they construct their own personal theory of understanding about the
event incident in order to learn form it.
In the final level they reflect on action, about what can be done to improve the incident
and about the consequences of such action.
The Descriptive Level of Reflection
What….
 ….is the problem /reason for being stuck etc.?
 ….was my role in the situation
 …. Action did I take?
 ….were the consequences for m e? For the students?
So what….
 …does this tell me/imply about my teaching etc.?
 …..did I base my action on?
 …..should I have done?
 …is my new understanding of this incident?
Now what…
 ….do I need to do to improve situation/prevent recurrence?
 …are the broader issues?
 …..are the consequences?
 ….. can I do to transfer this learning from other contexts?
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Topic 34
Rodgers (2002)
The reflective cycle by Rodgers encompasses Dewey’s conception of reflective
thought.
Rodgers illustrates reflection as a cyclical process comprised of four phases:
1. Presence in experience: learning to see
2. Description of experience: learning to describe and differentiate
3. Analysis of experience: learning to think from multiple perspectives and form
multiple explanations
4. Experimentation: learning to take intelligent action
According to Rodgers teachers move forward and backward through the
reflective cycle, especially between description and analysis.
Presence in Experience
The more a teacher is present , the more he can perceive, the greater the
potential for an intelligent response. Presence as inclusive of several acts that
together comprise the whole process of reflection seeing, differentiating its
parts giving it meaning and responding intelligently in the moment and from
moment to moment.
Description of experience
It is the differentiation and naming of an experience’s diverse and complex
elements so that it can be looked at, seen and told from as many different
perspectives as possible. It should be clear from the discussion of presence
that what a teacher is able to describe is largely dependent upon what he has
been able to apprehend in the experience.
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Topic 35
Gore and Zeichner (1991)
They propose that each of the following four types of reflection is important.
They indicate four major aspects of your professional work. You need to ask
and reflect on pertinent questions about each of these aspects in order to
develop a deep understanding of your classroom interactions. The purpose is
to gain a holistic understanding of your professional work and your role in
supporting successful learning by your students.
Academic Reflection
Do I know my content really well? Am I using appropriate pedagogical
strategies for my students needs? Am I well-organized and resourced in
readiness to each? Have I sequenced the content suitably for my student’s
needs and the defining characteristics of my discipline? Have I completed the
planning cycle with suitable, relevant assessment strategies to evaluate student
learning? Have I been innovative and creative?
Developmental Reflection
Am I providing teaching and learning contexts, tasks and instruction that are
suitable and appropriate for my students from a developmental perspective?
Have I evaluated my students skills and thinking to determine the stages at
which each of them is able to engage in different learning contexts?
Have I planned suitable instructional and task modification to accommodate
the difference in the students’ thinking, emotional and physical capacities?
Have I designed teaching and learning activities that are interesting for diverse
groups of students? Have I taken into account and effectively utilized students
various interests to design lessons and curriculum?
Social Reconstructionist (Critical) Reflection
What do I believe to be the purpose of education? Do I have specific
philosophical beliefs or viewpoints about the values, purposes and function of
education?
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Topic 36
Gibbs reflective cycle (1988)
This model encourages the teacher to think about different aspects of a given
situation or event to evaluate it , and establish an action plan for dealing with
such a scenario should it arise again.
It helps the teacher to consider how they think and respond within a given
situation and provides insight into self and practice.
Model of Gibbs Reflective Cycle
Description: What happened?
Describe in detail the event you are reflecting on.
Include: Where were you: who else was there: why were you there; what were
you doing; what were other people doing; what was the context of the event;
What was you part in this: what parts did the other people play; what the
result.
Feeling: What were you thinking and feeling?
 Try to recall and explore those things that were going on inside you
head;
 Include: How you were feeling when the event started; what you were
thinking about at the time; how did it make you feel;
 How did you feel about the outcome of the event; what do you think
about it now?
Evaluation: What was good and bad about the experience?
Try to evaluate or make a judgment about what has happened.
Analysis: What sense can you make of the situation?
Break the event down into its components parts so that can be explored separately.
Analysis: What sense can you make of the situation?
 Include: what went well; what did you do well; what did others do well; what
went wrong or did not turn out how it should have done.
Conclusion: what else could you have done?
 Different from the evaluation stage in that you have explored the issue from
different angles and have a lot of information to base your judgment.
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 Detailed analysis and exploration in the earlier stages means valuable

opportunities for learning are not missed. What else could you have done?
 Ask what you could have done differently.
Action Plan: If arose again what would you do?
During this stage you should think yourself forward into encountering the event again
to plan what you would do. Would you act differently or would you do the same
thing?
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Topic 37
Boud’s Triangular Representation
There are many different models of reflection as we have seen. Using models or at
least being aware of their similarities and differences, can help you to deconstruct
experiences, ensuring you are accessing the deeper level reflective questions and
issues and ultimately providing a way to structure your learning from situations.
David Boud (1987) has defined reflection as:
 “ A conscious activity in which we engage to explore our experiences and
develop new understanding and conceptualizations.”
 (Boud, 1987)
 Dvid Boud (1987) has defined reflection as:
 Learning from experience is one of the most fundamental forms of learning.
 Many models ar cyclical in nature representing the idea that reflection leads
to learning. Cyclical learning is never completed nor transferable without
reflecting further in different contexts.
 The simplest model can be seen in Boud’s Trangular Representation
Boud’s Trangular Representation
Learning + Reflection = Experience
 This model, although capturing the essentials (that experience and reflection leads
to learning), has limitations.
 It doesn’t\t guide us as to what reflection might consist of or how the learning
might translate back into experience.
1. Return to an event incident or experience and record it
2. Consider it in detail at an emotional and cognitive level
3. Re- evaluate the event in the light of experience, knowledge and experimentation.
Seek to understand the meaning of the experience
4. Plan for what you might change.
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Topic 38
Atkins and Murphy Model
Atkins and Murphy (1993) address many of the criticisms identified by Boud
with their own cyclical model:
Stage 1:
Awareness of uncomfortable feelings (usually due to new unfamiliar or
negative situations)
Stage 2:
Examination of components of the situation
Stage 3:
Analysis of the components of the situation
Stage 4:
Summary of outcomes of reflection
 This model explicitly supports the deeper level reflection that was
described previously. This is not to say that the other models aren’t
useful but it is important to remain alert to the potential to provide
superficial responses as the critical, questioning and challenging
elements of critical reflection are not as explicit as they are here.
 Atkins and Murphy suggest that for reflection to make a real
difference to practice, we need to follow reflection with a commitment
to action.
 The problem with such models of reflection is that they do not take
account of the importance of reflection before action.
 This is when the teacher plans out before acting what s/she wants to do
Self-awareness (mindfulness)
 Insight into personal sensations, emotions, thoughts and actions
 Acceptance/ownership of responses
 Recognition/ acceptance of emotions sensations, thoughts in others involved
 Involved honest examination of how the situation has affected the individual and
how the individual has affected the situation
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Description
 Comprehensive account of the situation either verbally or in writing
 Involve the ability to recognize and recollect accurately salient events and key
features of an experience
Critical analysis
 Involve examining the components of a situation
 Identity personal cognitive and emotional schema
 Identify existing knowledge
 Identify biases and assumptions
 Imagine/explore alternatives
Synthesis
 Integrating new understanding
 Predict likely consequences of actions
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Topic 39
John Smyth’s Framework for Reflection on action (1993)
Smyth’s framework takes the teacher through a number of phases
 A descriptive Phase
 A Reflective Phase
 An emancipator Phase
The Descriptive Phase
 Descriptive accounts and narrative
The Reflective Phase
 Reflective analysis against adopted theories
 Reflective analysis of the situation
 Reflective analysis of intentions
The Emancipator Phase
 Critique of practice regarding conflicts distortion an inconsistencies
 Engagement in emancipatory and change processes
 Self-critique and emancipation
Smyth operationalizes these phases of reflection for teachers as a set of activities
developed from question cues:
Activity: describe
Cue: What did I do?
Smyth proposes reflection for teachers as a set of activities developed from question
cues:
Activity: Inform (analysis)
Cue: What does this mean?
Smyth proposes reflection for teachers reflection for teachers as a set of activities
developed from question cues:
Activity: confront (self-awareness)
Cure: How did I come t be like this?
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Topic 40
Agyris and Schon 1978
Agyris and Schon pioneered the idea of single loop and double loop learning. The theory
is built around the recognition and amendment of a perceived fault or error. Single loop
learning is when practitioner or when a practitioner or organization, even after an error
has occurred and a correction is made, continues to rely on current strategies, techniques
or policies when a situation again comes to light.
In contrast, double loop learning involves the modification of personal objectives,
strategies or policies so that when a similar situation arise a new framing system is
employed (i.e. new approaches are used to solve it).
 From Theory to Practice
i. Single Loop learning
Involve connecting a strategy for action with a result. For example, if an action we take
yields results that are different to what we expected through single-loop learning, we will
observe the results, automatically take in feedback and try a different approach.
ii. Double Loop Learning
The cyclical process of applying a new strategy applying a new strategy to achieve an
outcome may occur several times and we may never succeed. Running out of strategies
may push us re-evaluate the deeper governing variables that make us behavior the way
we do. Re-evaluating and reframing our goals, values and beliefs is a more complex way
of processing information and involves a more sophisticated way of engaging with an
experience. This is called double-loop learning and looks at consequences from a wider
perspective. In situation where teachers employ double loop learning, not only will we
evaluate our own goals and beliefs but also those of the people we interact with. To have
a constructive outcome, we may need to modify and adapt some of these variables to
create an attitude that is open to many cultural values and application methods.
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Topic 41
Mezirow (2000)
Mezirow (2000) argues that reflection only leads to learning if it leads to learning if it
leads to transformation. Merizow suggests that transformation occurs where the original
starting point causes a dilemma that needs to be addressed and then suggests that there
are a series of possible phases which may be gone through:
Mezirow’s Transformational Learning
 A disorienting dilemma loss of job, divorce, marriage , back to school or moving
to a new culture
 Self-examination with feeling or fear, anger, guilt or shame
 A critical assessment of assumptions
 Recognition that one’s discontent and the process of transformation are shared
 Exploration of options for new roles relationships and action
 Implementing one’s plans
 Provisional testing of new roles
 Building competence and self-confidence in new roles an relationships
 A reintegration into one’s life on the basis of conditions dictated by one’s new
perspective
 What is particularly striking about Merizow’s ideas is the emphasis on conscious,
self-managed learning.
Learning is not a direct result of the experience, it happens because the individual
takes charge of their critical reflection and explicitly plans and carries out steps to
learn from it.
The following is a sequence for reflectivity draw from Mezirow’s model:
 A disorientating dilemma
 Picture the event
 Critical assessment of assumptions
 What does it mean to you to feel this?
 What advice are you giving yourself in the picture
 How do you interpret what is happening
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Critical assessment of assumptions

 What is your intention?
Exploration of new roles
 How would you prefer this to be different?
 When this begins to occur for you, what will be different about you?
 How do you interpret what is happening?
 What is your intention?
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Topic 42
Criticisms of Reflective Practice
 A number of writers discuss key concerns of RP in terms of its
problematic side:
 Brookfield (1994, 1995) explains the cultural and personal risks involved
 Ash and Moore (2002) say that new teachers can choose not to reflect
constructively and critically, falling back on pre-conceived understandings
There are four areas of concern about reflective practice:
 Ethical
 Professional
 Pedagogic
 Conceptual
Ethical criticisms of RP
Concerns relate to confidentiality, rights to privacy, informed consent and professional
relationships
 Practitioners
Engaging in RP need to be aware of the risks and the potential for conflicts of interest
A further problem is the way reflection can involve constant striving for self-
improvement
It can lead to feelings of incompetence and self-disapproval
When an individual understands the word critical to mean negative, they can develop a
negative frame of mind.
Professional Concerns
 Relevant when RP is done badly or inappropriately In this case the value of RP is
missed and it simply rationalizes existing practice
 It can reinforce prejudices and bad practice
 The inappropriate use of RP may devalue teachers professional work instead of
promoting it
 Where teachers follow RP models in mechanical, routinized or instrumental ways
they fall into the trap of engaging neither critical analysis or their emotions
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 At the level of the individual teacher it can be means for organizations to ignore
their responsibilities so that fostering good practice is a matter for the teacher
rather than the organization
 2 key concerns relate to developmental readiness and the extent to which forcing
student teachers to reflect may prove counter productive
Pedagogic Concern: Developmental Readiness
 Teachers need to be developmentally ready to engage in critical reflection and
some individual may not be capable (ready) for reflection.
 The respective abilities of novice and expert are relevant here novices tends to
follow models mechanically and experts tend not to rely on models.
 As compulsory element of teacher education courses or of organizational
requirements, RP ends up being superficial, strategic and guarded.
Conceptual concerns
 Problems are posed with the way teachers embrace RP in uncritical and
reductionist ways
 Often ideas are transplanted without sufficient care across philosophical,
disciplinary and cultural boundaries
 Reflexivity is concept which is easily miscommunicated: it can be understood
in many different ways according to the aims and function of the RP activity
Criticism of |RP
Regarding these issues therefore, care needs to be taken to recognize complexity and
problematic what is involved in RP rather than accepting it as fact or as self-evident.
The ethical professional pedagogic and conceptual concerns presented here neither
condemn RP nor suggest that it should not be used.
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Topic 43
Introduction to critical thinking 1
Ii this lecturer we will explore the following question-
 What is critical thinking?
 How do you know when you are thinking critically?
 What are the characteristics of teachers who are good at critical thinking?
Critical thinking involves:
 Analyzing
 Conceptualizing
 |Defining
 Examining
 Inferring
 Listing
 Questioning
 Reasoning
 Synthesizing
What is Critical reflection?
With a purpose to evaluate information in a disciplined way to help us evaluate and refine
our thinking.
As reflective practitioners we must want to be better at thinking, to seek out and be
guided by knowledge and evidence that fits with reality:
1. Belief
2. If shown to be unfounded
3. Leads to a change of position and an appropriate response
Critical thinking involves reasoning:

Based on sound, consistent logic not on emotions or social pressure, truth is not
determined by the emotions that accompany them nor on the beliefs of social
groups
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Topic 44
Introduction to critical thinking 2
In this lecture we will explore the following question-
What are the major mechanisms involved in critical thinning?
The thinking process is as followed
1. Biological process
2. Psychological process
3. Cognitive process
4. Communication process
Other types of thinking, or non-critical thinking:
 Habitual thinking
 Brainstorming
 Creative thinking
 Prejudicial thinking
 Emotive thinking
Other types of thinking, or non-critical thinking:
 Thinking based on past practices without consideration of current data
 Saying what comes to mind without edit, judgment or evaluation
 Putting facts, concepts, ideas and principles together in new and original ways
 Responding to the emotion of a message rather than the actual information
presented.
WE are thinking critically when we are:
 Rely on reason rather than emotion
 Require evidence ignore no known evidence and follow evidence where it
leads and are concerned more with finding the best explanation than being
right
 Are analyzing apparent confusion and asking questions.
 Self-aware so that we Weigh the influences of motives and bias and recognize our
own assumptions, prejudices biases and point of view.
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 Honest so that we recognize emotional impulses, selfish motives, immoral

purposes or other modes of self- deception.
 Being open-minded so that we evaluate all reasonable inferences.
 Consider a variety of possible viewpoints or perspectives, remain open to
alternative interpretations.
 Being open-minded so that we accept new priorities in response to a re-evaluaion
of the evidence or re-assessment of our real interests and do not reject unpopular
views out of hand.
 Disciplined so that we are precise, meticulous, comprehensive and exhaustive
 Resist manipulation and irrational appeals and avoid snap judgments.
 Able to make good judgment so that recognize the relevance and merit of
alternative assumptions and perspectives
 Recognize the extent and weight of evidence
A non-critical thinker:
 See things in black and white
 Sees questions as yes or no with no subtleties.
 Fails to see linkages and complexities in information and situations.
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Topic 45
Core Ideas about Thinking Skills
Critical thinking skills are extremely important in developing as a successful
reflective practitioner
What are the major mechanisms involved in critical thinking for the reflective
practitioner?
Core Critical Thinking Skills
1. Analysis
2. Inference
3. Explanation
4. Interpretation
5. Self-regulation
6. Evaluation
1. Interpretation
What it means: Having the ability to understand the information you are being presented
with and being able to communicate the meaning of that information to others. As a
teacher you will be presented with a variety of information in many different types of
situations. Interpretation skills will enable you to better decode information and add
clarity to what you have discovered which in turn will help you better understand your
students.
2. Analysis
What it means: Having the ability to connect pieces of information together in order to
determine what the intended meaning of the information was meant to represent. Having
this skill will better provide you with the ability to read between the lines and help you do
will impact on your students and your organization.
3. Inference
What it means: Having the ability to understand and recognize what elements you will
need in order to determine an accurate conclusion or hypothesis from the information you
have at your disposal.
Core Ideas about Thinking Skills
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It’s important for you to be able to understand what additional information you may need
in order to determine what happens. The ability to understand the information or already
have and determine what you may still need to find is an important skill.
4. Evaluation
What it mean: Being able to evaluate the credibility of statements or description of a
person’s experience, judgment or opinion in order to measure the validity of the
information being presented. You will need this skill to evaluate your students responses,
so you can determine if the information you receive is valid and whether or not it needs
to be further looked into.
Your ability to clearly explain your ideas while keeping in mind who you interact with is
important for making sure the information is understood and well received.
Topic 46
Critical Thinking Development: A Stage Theory
The developing critical thinker goes through a sequence of stages:
 Stage 1- The unreflective thinker
 Stage 2- The Challenged thinker
 Stage 3- The beginning thinker
 Stage 4- The practicing thinker
 Stage 5- The advanced thinker
 Stage 6- The accomplished thinker
Stage 1
Unreflective thinkers are largely unaware of the determining role that thinking is playing
in their lives and of the many ways that problems in thinking are causing problems in
their lives, implications, points of views etc.
Stage 2
Thinkers move to the challenged stage when they become initially aware of the
determining role that thinking is playing in their lives and of he fact that problems in their
thinking are causing them serious and significant problems, requires deliberate reflective
thinking about thinking (in order to improve thinking).
Stage 3
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Those who move to the beginning thinker stage are actively taking up the challenge to
begin to take explicit to begin to take explicit command of their thinking across multiple
domains of their lives. Thinkers at this stage recognize that they have basic problems in
their thinking and make initial attempts to better understand how they can take charge of
and improve it.
Based on this initial understanding, beginning thinkers begin to modify some of their
thinking, but have limited insight into deeper levels of the trouble inherent in their
thinking. Most importantly, they lack a systematic plan for improving their thinking,
hence their efforts are hit and miss.
Stage 4
Thinkers at this stage have a sense of the habits they need to develop to take charge of
their thinking. They not only recognize that problems exist in their thinking, but they also
recognize the need to attack these problems globally and systematically. Based on their
need to practice regularly they are actively analyzing their thinking. However, since
practicing thinkers are only beginnings to approach the improvement of their thinking in
a systematic way, they still have limited insight into deeper levels of thought, practicing
thinkers unlike beginning thinkers are becoming knowledgeable of what it would take to
systematically monitor the role in their thinking of concept, assumptions, inferences,
implications, points of view, etc. Practicing thinkers recognize the need for systematicity
of critical thinking and deep internalization into habits. They clearly recognize the natural
tendency of the human mind to engage in egocentric thinking and self-deception.
Stage 5
Thinkers at this stage have now establishes good habits of thought which are “paying off”
based on these habits, advanced thinkers not only actively analyses, their thinking in all
the significant domains of their lives but also have significant insight into problems at
deeper levels of thoughts. Advanced thinkers have good general command over their
egocentric nature. They continually strive to be fair-minded. Of course, they sometimes
lapse into egocentrism and reason in a one-sided way. Advanced thinkers have keen
insight into the role of egocentrism and sociocentrism in thinking.
Stage 6
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Accomplished thinkers not only have systematically taken charge of their thinking but
also continually monitoring, revising and rethinking, strategies for continual
improvement of their thinking. They have deeply internalized the basic skills of thoughts
so that critical thinking is, for them, both conscious and highly intuitive.
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Topic 47
Importance of Critical thinking
Critical thinking
 Is the ability to think clearly and rationally?
 Includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking.
 Is not a matter of accumulating knowledge- a person with a good memory and
who knows a lot of facts is not necessarily good at critical thinking.
 Is being able to deduce consequences from what is known to solve problems.
 Understanding the logical connections between ideas, identify, construct and
evaluate arguments.
 Detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning
 Solve problems systematically
 Identify the importance and relevance of ideas
 Reflect on the justification of one’s own beliefs and values
 Is very important in the new global knowledge economy
 The teacher has to be able to deal with changes quickly and effectively, the
modern era places demands on flexible intellectual skills and integrate diverse
sources of knowledge.
 Enhance language and presentation skills
 Thinking clearly and systematically can improve the way we express our ideas
 Promote creativity
 To come up with a ne solution to a problem involves not just having new ideas
 Critical thinking plays a crucial role in evaluating new ideas, selecting the best
ones and modifying them if necessary
 Is crucial for self-reflection
 Teacher need to justify and reflect on their values and decision.
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Topic 48
A Schema for critical Thinking and Reflective Practice
Venn Diagrams and the reflective Practitioner
It is possible for the reflective practitioner to frame Venn Diagrams as a tool for thinking
about practice. A simple Venn Diagram for RP only has 2 circles. This represents the
structure of professional learning. The diagram presents a concrete experience and the
teacher conceptualizing the meaning of that experience.
The circle on the left represent “self structure”. We can more easily understand this as
the learning already held by the teacher from previous experience and even perhaps
from formal professional learning. This areas represents the entire perceptual
experience of the teacher.
Venn Diagrams and the reflective practitioner including the self-concept that the
teachers has, as well as the teacher’s individual characteristics and relationships. It
represents the individual value, beliefs and assumptions that the teacher has about
self- other and society. In this field, we can see that, for this example there are three
elements of internal understanding-labeled here as1, 2 and 3. Of course in realty ,
there would be more than 3-and for any specific aspects of critical thinking and
reflective activity, these would be very focused on only certain aspects of the
individual teacher’s self-concept. For example, if we imagine that a teacher is taking
a class in elementary level mathematics-perhaps on introductory algebra- elements 1
may be the teacher’s own competence with algebra, element 2 could be the teacher’s
own feelings of low self-confidence doing algebra and element 3 may be the teacher’s
ability to communicate simply the ideas and mechanics of algebra.
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Topic 49
Bloom’s Taxonomy and critical Thinking
How does critical thinking fit into Bloom’s taxonomy (unrevised)?
The cognitive domain comprises
 Knowledge
 Comprehension
 Application
 Analysis
 Synthesis
 Evaluation
Knowledge
 Knowledge of specifics
 Knowledge of terminology
 Knowledge of specific facts
 Knowledge of ways and means of dealing with specifics
 Knowledge of conventions
 Knowledge of trends and sequences
 Knowledge of classification and categories
 Knowledge of criteria
 Knowledge of methodology
 Knowledge of principles and generalizations
 Knowledge of theories and structures
Comprehension
 Translation
 Interpretation
 Extrapolation
Application
 The use of abstractions I particular and concrete situations
 The abstractions may be in the form of general ideas, rules or methods
Analysis
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 Analysis of elements
 Analysis of relationships
 Analysis of organizational principles
Synthesis
 Production of a unique Communication
 Production of a plan or proposed set of objectives
 Derivation of a set of abstract relations
Using Bloom’s Taxonomy for Critical Thinking
The cognitive processes characterized as essential to higher-order thinking (that is
analysis, synthesis and evaluation in the unrevised taxonomy) are integrative of the basic
critical thinking concepts: assumption, fact, concept, value, conclusion, premise,
evidence, relevance, irrelevance, consistency, inconsistency, implication, fallacy,
argument, inference, opinion, bias, prejudice and hypothesis.
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Topic 50
Techniques for Critical Thinking
Here are 16 basic techniques of critical thinking:
1. Clarify:
2. State one point at a time. Elaborate, give examples, ask others to clarify or give
examples.
Unclear. “How can we fix education?”
Clear. How can teachers better prepare students for the future?
3. Be accurate:
 Check your facts.
Inaccurate: “Most students don’t know how to learn”.
4. Be precise:
Ensure you are able to check accuracy. Avoid generalizations and other ambiguities.
Imprecise: “Maliha is problem student”.
Precise: “Maliha has an attention deficit problem”.
5. Be Relevant:
Stick to the main point. Pay attention to how each idea is connected to the main idea.
Math is an important skill. I like to teach math’s because it’s an important skill for my
student”.
6. Know your purpose
What are you trying to accomplish? What’s the most important thing here? Distinguish
your purpose from related purposes.
7. Identify assumptions:
All thinking is based on assumptions.
Assumptions not identified: “Girls are no good at science”.
“ science is only a subject like any other.
If my female students are not succeeding in my science class than there must be
something in the way I teach which is not working for them”.
8. Check your emotions:
Emotions only confuse critical thinking. Notice how your emotions my be pushing your
thinking in a certain direction.
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9. Empathize:
Try to see things from others perspective. Other imagine how they feel. Imagine how
you sound to them.
10. Know your own ignorance
Each person knows less than 0.0001% of the available in the world., even if you
know more about relevant issues than your students or a colleague, you still might be
wrong. Educate yourself as much as possible but still be humble.
11. Be independent:
Think critically about important issues for yourself. Don’t believe everything you read.
Don’t conform to the priorities, values and perspectives of others.
12. Think through implications:
Consider the consequences of your viewpoint.
Not thinking through implication: Not planning my lessons is wrong.
“If my lessons are unplanned then I cannot be sure of the jouney my students are
taking in their learning. I need to consider planning as my road maps to help them
reach their destination”.
13. Suspend Judgment:
Don’t make a decision and then use critical thinking to back it up.
We are here to promote the school plan for curriculum reform. What arguments can
we construct in its favor?
Suspend judgment:
“What do we want from our curriculum? Let’s use critical thinking to find the best
ways to do this”.
14. Consider others Points of view:
Listen to other viewpoints. Seriously consider their most persuasive arguments.
Narrow-minded: Reading some research and letting it persuade you.
Open-minded: Reading the research, then reading other research that argues the opposite
point.
15. Recognize cultural assumptions:
People from different cultures think much differently than you do.
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Why is your perspective better than that do everyone else in the world today and
throughout history?
16. Be fair, not selfish:
Each person’s most basic bias is for themselves.
Selfish: “ I can know everything. It’s not my fault I made mistake”.
Fair. “ I can’t know everything, but I could easily have done some basic research before
attempting that strategy in my teaching.”
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Topic 51
The 5- Step Model of Critical Thinking
Step 1:
Determine goals/ objectives
Define behavior/skills you need to exhibit
Target those behaviors
Step 2:
Learn through seeking answer to specific questions
Develop appropriate questions
Engage in discussion with colleagues
Step 3:
Practice before you assess
Choose activities that promote active learning
Utilize all components of active learning.
Step 4:
Review, refine and improve
Monitor activities in the classroom
Collect feedback from students/others
Step 5:
Gather and review feedback and assessment of learning
Review feedback
Create opportunities for self-assessment
Utilize feedback to improve instruction
The 5- Step Model of Critical Thinking
Implementing critical thinking through this framework clearly requires a commitment to
active learning which at least initially may be somewhat unfamiliar and uncomfortable to
teachers.
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Topic 52
Halpern’s Framework for Critical Thinking
Halpern process a framework based on different kinds of critical thinking:
Thinking and Language
Argument Analysis
Hypothesis Testing
Halpern proposes a framework based on different kinds of critical thinking:
Dealing with probability and uncertainty
 Decision-making
 Problem-solving
 Creative thinking
 Memory Skills
Thinking and Language
 Recognizing persuasive language
 Mis-use of definitions
 Leading questions
 Paraphrasing
 Using Multiple representations
Argument analysis:
 Identifying premises, counter-arguments and conclusions
 Judging credibility of information
 Difference between opinion, judgment and fact
 Avoiding common fallacies
Creative Thinking:
 Re-defining a problem
 Generating possibilities
 Seeing multiple perspectives
 Taking risks
Hypothesis Testing
Predicting and confirming hypotheses
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 Operational definitions
 Controlling variables
 Sampling and generalizations
 Limits of correlational reasoning
Dealing with probability and Uncertainty:
Estimating probabilities
 Risk assessments
 Using baseline data
 Decision-making
 Framing a decision
 Generating options
 Predicting Consequences
 Weighing pros and cons
 Recognizing bias
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Topic 53
Critical Incident Analysis
CIA helps teachers focus on the extent to which critical analysis is evident in their
practice. The term critical incident refers to any work teachers do that involves analyzing
situations, reflecting on past experience making judgment and decision and taking actions
without the benefit of a standard protocol or uniform response that takes care of each and
every problem they encounter.
The following are the steps needed for a teacher to undertake a critical incident analysis
(CIA).
As a teacher you should ideally do a weekly audit to understand more about your
practice.
In particular, it will help you to understand the assumptions that underpin how you
analyses situations, make decision and take actions.
Think back over the last week
 Identify the critical incident that have happened during that time.
 A critical incident is an event that can be called to mind easily and quickly
because you remember it vividly.
 We usually consider events to be critical when they are unexpected- a surprise
 They can be positive high or demoralizing lows
Choose the most memorable 2 or 3 critical incidents
For each incident do the following
1.Write a brief description of the incident, including details of what happened who was
involved, where and when it took place and what made the incident critical to you.
2. List the assumptions you have as a practitioner that were confirmed by this incident.
What was it about happened that led you to think that the assumptions you uncovered
were accurate and valid?
3. List the assumptions you have as a practitioner that were challenged by this incident.
What was it about what happened that led you to think the assumptions you uncovered
might be inaccurate or invalid?
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4. How did you try to check the accuracy of your assumptions that were challenged? If
you were not able to check them out at the time, how could you check them in the future?
What sources of evidence could you consult?
What different perspectives could be taken on the incident? As you think about it through
the eyes of the other people involved, are there different ways the situation could be seen
or that your behavior could be interpreted?
Topic 54
Examining Your Personal Filtering System
This screening process leads to differing perceptions of circumstances and events
resulting in different interpretations and subsequently in different responses.
When we critically examine our screens, we can become more aware of how our screens
may be filtering out potentially more effective responses to classroom situations.
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Topic 55
Learning Through Conceptual Innovation
Learning through conceptual innovation Involves:
 Seeing farther
 Understanding deeper
 Making the right decision
It is not about
Working harder
Getting more resources
Increasing our collection of methods and tools
Conceptual Leaning
It is more about the reflective practitioner:
Re-Thinking: What is already known.
Renewing the concepts: We use for understanding.
Getting Wiser.
Learning through conceptual Innovation
Benefits of a concept- based Model:
 Facilitates synergistic thinking- the interplay between factual and conceptual
levels of thinking.
 Requires deeper intellectual processing as students relate the facts to key concepts
and principles.
 Develops conceptual structures I the brain to relate new knowledge to prior
knowledge and to illuminate the patterns and connections of knowledge.
 Facilitates the transfer of knowledge at the conceptual level.
 Provides opportunities for personal meaning making through processes of
thinking, creating and reflecting.
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Topic 56
Technical and conceptual Learning
 We are more trained in learning new methods and techniques than for learning
new concepts.
 One reason for this is that new methods impact on productivity almost
immediately.
 But by limiting our learning to technical issues:
 We are not flexible enough when we are confronted by complex situations
But by limiting our learning to technical issues:
We are not flexible enough when we are confronted by complex situations
We, and our techniques get out of date in a short period of time
We get over learned in a few years, our curiosity decreases.
According to Dewey Schon and others concepts are cognitive tools for coping with
the world and for solving problems.
 We are not flexible enough when we are confronted by complex situations
 We and our techniques get out of date in a short period of time
 We get over – learned in a few years, our curiosity decreases
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Topic 57
Concept and Frames
We are more trained in learning new methods and techniques than for learning
new concepts.
One reason for this is that new methods impact on productivity almost
immediately.
Concepts determine the way a situation is perceived and framed.
Donald Schon says, “ while a given situation can be conceived in a variety on
ways, it is always a concept- structured situation.
 Concepts enable Perception and understanding
Concepts and Frames
With only a small number of concepts to draw on the reflective practitioner sees
only a small part of what is actually being looked at:
Reality leads to sense making, the elements of reality that are not perceived and
elements of reality that are perceived.
The process of concept formation has three important phases:
1: Perception: Experience or learning in any form is the starting point of the
proves of concept formation.
2.Abstration: The mind analyses the perceived images an synthesizes what is
common to all, neglecting what is not needed.
3.Generalization: After making such observation in the form of abstraction for a
number of times we are able to form a general idea about common properties
because of these we will develop a concept.
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Topic 58
New Realities
Once we detect that something is new, we try to make sense of it by making analogies
with others thinks we already know. We do that using old concepts and brining back our
past experiences.
Gradually we go through the process of extending and changing the old concepts and in
some moment a new concepts emerges.
The interaction with new concepts triggers learning processes:
 The assimilation/incorporation of new concepts disturbs and transforms the
knowledge we have about the world and ourselves.
 The emergence of new concepts changes the way we perceive and understand the
world.
 New concepts emerge as new questions are made.
 Conceptual innovation is like reframing but deeper.
Reframing is a way of:
 Improving our understanding of a situation
 Solving conflicts and inventing new strategies
 Conceptual innovation enables you to rethink a whole group of situations
 It brings up a new set of possibilities
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Topic 59
Paradigm Shift
A paradigm shift brings a new set of concepts:
 From things to people
 From product to process
 A paradigm shift brings a new set of concept:
 From teacher to student
 From standardizing to managing diversity
 From replication to inspiration
 From controlling to managing change and uncertainty
We represent the paradigm shift for the reflective practitioner in the following
diagram:
New understanding lead to paradigm shift and emergent knowing
Paradigm shift= different kinds of learning
Single loop learning (Following the rules)
 Rigid strategies
 Spend time detecting and correcting deviations from the rules
Double –loop learning (changing the rules)
 Reflect on whether the rules themselves need to change
 Requires thinking outside the box
Triple-loop learning (learning about learning)
 Learning how to learn
 Searching for meaning and understanding
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Topic 60
Theories-in-Use or Espoused theories
Action is not always consistent with formal beliefs.
 Theory-in-use is embedded in the logic of the action, it is the theory that
commands the thinking of the action.
 Action is not always consistent with formal beliefs.
 Espoused theory is that theory used for arguing about the actions, it is the theory
used for explaining the action to others but not necessarily for conducting the
action.
 Frequently the theory –in-use and the espoused theory have important differences
between them.
 Espoused theories are explicit but most theories in use are tacit.
 How to combine the espoused theories and experience for creating solutions?
 Reflective practice is about ownership of knowledge
 Reflective practice is about awareness of the knowledge we use, how we use it
and how we can improve our action in real time.
 Reflective practice is about how our minds work and how we use and create
theories in practical situations.
 It is about invisible and visible, tacit and explicit, blindness and sight.
 Reflective practice is about flexibility adaptation and effectiveness.
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Topic 61
What is reflective writing?
Reflective writing is evidence of reflective thinking:
 Looking back at something (something that happened or an idea or a project)
Reflecting writing is evidence of reflective thinking:
 Analyzing what happened (thinking in depth and from different perspectives)
 Thinking carefully about what it means for you as a professional
Reflecting writing is more personal than other kinds of academic writing.
We all think reflectively in everyday life but not to the same depth as that expected in
good reflective writing for a reflective practitioner.
We already know that reflective writing:
 Describes
 Links theory to practice
 Questions experience
 Has a focus on improvement
Let’s take a look at an example of reflective writing:
Example of basic reflective writing
Specific tasks were shared out amongst members of my team. Initially, however the tasks
were not seen as equally difficult by all team members. Cooperation between group
members was at risk because of this perception of unfairness. Social interdependence
theory recognizes a type of group interaction called ‘positive interdependence’ meaning
cooperation (Johnson and Johnson 1993).
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Topic 62
A Structure for Reflective Writing
A structure for reflective wring
Reflective thinking especially if done in discussion with others can be very free and
unstructured and still very useful.
Even reflective writing can be unstructured for example when it is done in a personal
diary.
Reflective writing however is normally carefully structured.
Description
 What happened?
 What is being examined?
 Keep this part short
Interpretation
 What is most important/useful/relevant about the object/event/idea?
 How can it be explained? From literature on the subject?
 How is it similar to and different from others?
Outcome
 What have I learned from this?
 What does this mean for my future?
Remember the following 4 key points
Reflection is an exploration and an explanation of events not just a description of them.
Genuinely reflective writing often involves revealing anxieties errors and weaknesses as
well as strengths and successes. This is fine, as lone as you show some understanding of
possible causes and explain how you plan to improve.
It is necessary to select only the most significant parts of the event or idea on which you
are reflecting.
Do not try to tell the whole story, this would be description rather than interpretation.
It is often useful to reflect forward to the future as well as reflecting back on the past.
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Topic 63
Vocabulary for Reflective Writing 1
The following are a few suggestions for worlds and phrases that might be useful in
reflective writing.
 Description:
 Because the range of events, ideas and objects can be so great it is not possible to
suggest specific vocabulary to help you reflect.
 Remember
 We tend to talk of events using the past tense
 We tend to discuss theories or models using the present tense
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Topic 64
Vocabulary for Reflective Writing 2
Reflective writing involves an exploration and explanation of an event. It may feel
particularly difficult and more challenging than other forms of academic writing as it
involves thinking and writing about anxieties and errors as well as successes in your
interactions with an individual or when carrying out a practical task. Try to stand back
from the situation and be as objective as possible. Although you are writing about your
own experiences and feelings, you need to be as rigorous and thorough as you would be
for any other assignment.
Key Features of Reflective Writing

Reflective writing is a way of processing your practice-based experience to produce
learning. It has two key features:
1) It integrates theory and practice. Identify important aspects of your reflections and
write these using the appropriate theories and academic context to explain and interpret
your reflections. Use your experiences to evaluate the theories - can the theories be
adapted or modified to be more helpful for your situation?
2) It identifies the learning outcomes of your experience. So you might include a plan
for next time identifying what you would do differently, your new understandings or
values and unexpected things you have learnt about yourself.
Using academic evidence in reflective writing:
You are aiming to draw out the links between theory and practice. So you will need to
keep comparing the two and exploring the relationship between them.
Analyse the event and think about it with reference to a particular theory or academic
evidence. Are your observations consistent with the theory, models or published
academic evidence? How can the theories help you to interpret your experience? Also
consider how your experience in practice helps you to understand the theories. Does it
seem to bear out what the theories have predicted? Or is it quite different? If so, can you
identify why it's different?
- Be selective: Identify challenging or successful parts of the encounter. Reflect deeply
on a few significant aspects and learning points.
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- Discuss your reflections with others to deepen your insight, improve your ability to
express your ideas and help to explore a range of perspectives.
- Collect evidence - There are two sources of evidence which need to be used in
reflective writing assignments:
1) Your reflections form essential evidence of your experiences. Keep notes on your
reflections and the developments that have occurred during the process.
2) Academic evidence from published case studies and theories to show how your ideas
and practices have developed in the context of the relevant academic literature.
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Topic 65
Limitation of Self-Reflection
Habermas (1974) suggested that reflection requires a level of detachment and objectivity
which can be confused by self-deception.
Look at the example which explores this:
Dr. Brown is worried about his class. He knows that if he does not stick to the time
allocated for each section he will run out of time and the material at the end won’t be
covered.
Perception Reality
Problem Poor time management Can’t relinquish control
Reflection Questions reduce time to Time management because
cover material the problem and the
disguise
Solution Better lesson plans: don’t Not discovered via
allow question reflection
This concern is then that there may be much that you keep from yourself (consciously or
otherwise) and some of the thinking about your own process may remain unknown and
unexplored.
A future concern relates to memory bias.
We tend to remember disturbing/ bad incidents more readily than the good ones.
This means that more weight is given to reflection on what the teachers perceives as bad
and this can impact on the accuracy of perceiving what happens in the classroom.
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Topic 66
Strategies for Overcoming Barriers
There are always barriers before, during and after any reflective practice.
Some of these barriers are self-imposed. Others originate within an institution. We look
at common barrier and what can be done to overcome them.
Lack of Time and Space to Reflect:
Using the journey to and from your workplace is a chance to reflect
Using the first 20 minutes after you learner have left for the day while events are still
fresh I you mind.
Jotting down notes in a journal to reflect on when you have time later.
Talking with a trusted and honest colleague over lunch
A group discussion with several colleagues at the beginning or end of the week-perhaps
this could be scheduled into the timetable?
Negative ideas about reflection:
It is common to find negative
Preconceptions about reflective practice.
This is because it can be a difficult and time-consuming process.
If you have negative3 preconception, discuss them with colleague who use reflective
practice
Also consider trying it for yourself for a period of time, such as a term and see whether
you can identify changes to your own practice.
Organizational culture
 Some organizations are supportive of reflective practice and your management
might model reflective behavior. Others may not.
 At the level of the individual practitioner the aim of RP is not about changing the
culture of your organization but about changing your own practice and skills. Do
not be put off by a culture which does not embrace this.
 Be resilient
Fear:
RP can be an intimidating idea as it requires a critical honest and open view of
yourself. This can be difficult.
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If you find it difficult to be honest with yourself, see whether you can find a trusted
and honest colleagues who can become your critical friend and help you identify
situations or skills which could be improved.
Lack of knowledge and experience of RP
This can be a problem for new and experienced practitioner alike.
You need practice to be able to do it well.
Re-read about some of the theories discussed about RP and use some of the
techniques to practice
See what works for you.
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Topic 67
Professional competences 1
Professional competence can be categorized into three broad headings.
1. Professional values and practice
2. Professional knowledge and understanding
3. Professional skills and application
1. Professional values and practices
The reflective practitioner should demonstrate a commitment to a personal code of values
What would you consider to be core values for the teaching professional?
 Trust
 Respect
 Integrity
 Honesty
 Fairness
 Tolerance
 Commitment
 Equality
 Service
Developing competences
 A commitment to serve lies at the heart of professional behavior.
 Teachers need to exemplify these values in their relationships with their students.
Profession competences
In applying their values in a commitment to learners, reflective practitioners must
exemplify these values in their relationships with their students.
Motivate and inspire students with a view to helping each realize his or her potential.
Developing Competences
Work with colleagues to create a professional community
Ensure that relationships with parents are characterized by trust and respect.
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Topic 68
Professional Competences 2
Professional knowledge and understanding
 The reflective practitioner must ensure knowledge and understanding of the
subjects they teach.
 Develop an understanding and knowledge of social and policy contexts for
education.
 Develop knowledge and understanding of a range of strategies to promote and
maintain positive behavior.
 The reflective practitioner must enhance skills for communicating effectively with
students and colleagues.
 Develop knowledge and understanding and understanding of how to use
technology to support student learning.
 Develop a knowledge and understanding of students social and community
contexts and address the implications for learning arising from these.
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Topic 69
 Professional skills and application
 In planning and leading the reflective practitioner must
 Set appropriate learning objectives/outcomes intentions, taking account of what
students know, understand and can do.
 Plan and evaluate lessons that enables students to meet learning objectives
/outcome/ intentions
Professional skills and application
 In planning and leading the reflective practitioner must manage workloads
effectively and efficiently and maintain a work/ life balance.
 In teaching and learning the reflective practitioner must create and maintain a safe
interactive and challenging learning environment.
Developing Competences
Use a range of teaching strategies and resources which maintain pace within lessons.
Employ strategies that motivate and meet the needs of students.
Secure and promote a standard of behavior that enables all students to learn, dealing
with poor behavior in the context of school policies and best practice.
In teaching and learning the reflective practitioner must contribute to the life and
development of the school.
Monitoring student’s progress, giving constructive feedback to help students reflect
on and improve their learning.
Select from a range of assessment strategies and use this information in their planning
to make their teaching more effective.
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Topic 70
 Professional competences 4
 Dimensions of Development:
 Developing Competences
As reflective practitioners progress in their careers they will encourage different
challenges and expectations. This means
 Their condition grows
 They learn from experience
 As a consequence of this progression-
 The reflective practitioner becomes a more sophisticated teacher
 What is the framework for this reflection?
Dimensions of Development and developing competences
o Greater complexity in teaching (e.g handling a large degree of diversity in
the classroom).
o Use of a wider range of teaching strategies.
o Basing teaching on a wider range of evidence, reading and research.
Dimension of Development
Extending impact beyond the classroom and fuller participation in the life on the school.
 The capacity to exercise autonomy, to innovate and to improvise.
 A clear capacity for self-criticism and self-improvement.
 The ability to impact on colleagues through mentoring and coaching .
 Modeling good practice.
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Topic 71
The Provisional Model 1
This model attempt to combine the strengths of the various approaches to reflective
practice.
At the heart of the model are 4 core components
 Knowledge/ cognitive competence (i.e work-related knowledge and the ability to
put this into use)
 Fundamental competence
 Personal/behavior (adopting appropriate behavior in work related situations)
 Values/ethical competence (making sound judgments in work-related situations)
The provisional Model 1
The core components are brought together in a coherent framework by an over-riding
principle:
1. Meta-competences which include
2. Communication
3. Self-development
4. Creativity
5. Analysis
6. Problem-solving
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Topic 72
The Provisional Model 2
Each of the 4 components is made up of
Let’s look at each of these in turn:
a number of constituents, these are group of individual competences.
Knowledge/
Cognitive
competence
Tacit/practical this Technical Procedeure- this Contextual- this is
is knowledge linked theoretical , this consists of the how general background
closely to relates to underlying what, when etc of knowledge about
functional/ personal knowledge bases the more routine educational/
competences, linked including their tasks of teachers teaching.
closely to schon’s application, transfer,
reflection –in- synthesis etc
action
Functional
Competence
Occupation specific- Organizational/ Cerebral- these are Psychomotor these
these are the process- these mental activities are physical in
teaching specific planning, like thinking nature like dexterity
tasks organizing,
managing,
monitoring
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Personal/ Behoove competence

Social/ vocational these are things like Intreprofessioanl- these are behavior that
self- confidence, task focus, stamina etc are behavior that relate to interaction with
other professions.
Values/ ethical competence
Persoanl- these include such things as Professional – including being directed
being directed by personal moral/ by professional codes. Student-
religious codes etc centeredness etc.
Outcomes
The metacompetences and the 4 core components (and their constituents) produce a
range of outcomes:
Micro- Outcomes
 These are the broad overall results of professional activity
 These are the outcomes of very specific activities under any of the core
components.
 These are the result of a partially completed activity.
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Topic 73
Right Mental Attitude
The reflective practitioner must have the right mental attitude.
An analysis of Dewey’s paradigm of reflective thought reveals that 3 attitudes are
required in the process of reflective thinking. These are:
 Open- mindedness
 Responsibility
 Whole-Heatedness
 Open-mindedness is the most significant
 It refers to the ability to remain open to multiple, alternative possibilities.
 This means that the open minded teacher continuously question routine and
practices their validity and value.
 In order for reflection, the teacher must have certain values and beliefs about
learning that will lead to reflection.
 Therefore the reflective practitioner does not believe in one single truth or in
one right way to teach and develops ways of knowing and patterns of
reasoning.
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Topic 74
The Professional Development Journal (PDJ) 1
 This is a written record of your experiences or and feeling about
planning, preparing and delivering lessons.
 It wills certain general accounts of learning and will identify critical
incidents.
 The PDJ is subjective – it is written by you and for you, So it provides
a dialogue with yourself.
 The PDJ is also a place where you relate theory to practice.
 One of the most valuable functions of the PDJ is to help you identify
development points for action planning.
 You should review your journal regularly for recurring themes
 It is important to get into the habit of written and to do it as soon as
possible after the event.
 When you start writing, don’t think too hard. Lets the writing flow
and try to capture the experience and some critical incidents.
 Little and often is a good rule.
 Share your reflections with colleagues- it can be very helpful to find
that colleague is experiencing the same uncertainties or difficulties.
 You can include diagram and drawings.
 To the description (what happened?) you need to add analysis (how,
why?) evaluation (how effective was it?) and conclusion (suggestions
for future practice).
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Topic 75
The professional Development Journal (PDJ) 2
Driscoll and Teh (2001) provide a simple but very useful framework for reflection based
on three questions:
 What?
Description of the event
 So what?
 Analysis of the event
Now What?
 Proposed actions following the event
 They also provide a list of trigger questions
What?
 What happened?
 What did I see/do?
So what?
How did I feel at the time?
What were the effects of what I did (or did not) do?
Now what?
What are the implications of what I have described and analysed?
How can I modify my practices?
Layout:
 You can design your own template for your PDJ
 Using the following categories (headings) can help
 Description
 Analysis and evaluation
 Conclusion for future practice
 Use split page or two page approach (LHS to record description and RHS for
reflection)
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Topic 76
Critically Incidents
 These are specific occurrences within teaching and learning which you
consider significant or important
 Critical incident may be positive or negative
 They could be described as light bulb moments a sudden realization
Examples:
 Being faced with behavior difficulties with learners
 A refusal by a student to engage in an activity
 You might realize that you have been talking for too long
How can Critical Incidents be used?
 Reflecting on critical incidents is a process to aid analysis and increase the
potential for positive outcomes
 Analysis of a critical incident can take place at any point
 Congratulations and affirmations
 Immediate action
 Not resolved
 No action but the you feel better for talking about it
 Can be used in different ways to produce narratives based on the recall of an
experience
 For example, critical incident reflection can be of a one-off event/ experiences
about the same issue/focus.
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Topic 77
Reflective action planning
This involves being helped to:
 Select a specific target (effective rules ad routines or widening our range of
strategies)
 Plan a program of discussion and observation over a fixed period
 Evaluate your effectiveness
This involves being helped to:
 Plan a program of discussion and observation over a fixed period
This is about
 Identifying opportunities to discuss, reinforce and develop practice
 Deciding what evidence of planning and practice goes into professional
development
An effective action plan is one that:
 Build on your career entry profile
 Has been discussed and agreed with your manager
 Is precise
An effective action plan is one that:
Answer the following questions-
 What is my priority and what do I want to achieve?
 What am I going to do and when?
 Who/what will help me?
 How will I collect evidence
 How will I know if I have been successful?
 This is the area for development
 What do I want to do with greater confidence and more effectively?
What am I going to do and when?
 This is action
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 For example, “ I will discuss school expectations with my head of

department”.
 Support arrangement
 I will lesson planning with my colleagues
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Topic 78
Indicators of Reflective Practitioner
 There are key learning and teaching practices which contribute to effective
pedagogies
 These identify the key attributes of he effective reflective practitioner
 Intellectual quality
 Higher order thinking
 Deep understanding
 Substantial conversation
 Meta-language
These can be operationalized with the following questions:
 Intellectual Quality
How do I use student prior understanding and experiences to support new understanding
and experiences?
How do I encourage my student to be agents of their own learning?
How do I move students higher order thinking?
 Supportive classroom environment
 Student direction
 Social support
 Active
 Engagement
 Co-construction of learning
 Self-regulation
How do I collaboratively plan aspects of the curriculum with my students?
How do I motivate learning?
Engagement with different
Cultural/ contextual knowledge
Group identity
Narrative
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How do I acknowledge respect and value student diverse and complex identities?
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Topic 79
5-Key Features of Reflection
Teaching is a complex activity, in which decision are made in complex contexts.
In addition, there are theoretical perspectives to consider and the process of
reflection brings all these aspects together.
There are some key features of reflection that are widely considered
1. Reflection results in learning- through changing ideas and your understanding
of the situation.
2. Reflection is an active process and is more than thinking or thoughtful action
3. Reflection involves problematizing that practice is not without dilemmas and
issues.
4. Reflection is not a linear process but a cyclical one where reflection leads to
the development of new ideas which are then used to plan the next stages of
learning.
5. Reflection encourages looking at issues from different perspectives, which
helps you to understand the issue an scrutinize your own values, assumptions
and perspectives.
Therefore when the term critical reflection is used, it refers to a combination of
the analytical, questioning (0or critical thinking) and reflective approaches.
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Topic 80
Ensuring Reflection Leads to Learning
There is a distinction between surface level reflection (routinized) bland and
unthinking and a deeper level (conscious control, self-analysis metacognition).
Many theories make a distinction between common sense thinkers and those who
are pedagogical thinkers. This distinction gets to the heart of how to ensure
reflection is an effective learning tool.
Laboskey defines common sense thinkers as those who reflect in an unconscious
way, suggesting they are happy to use a trial and error approach to learning to
address short term issues that are context specific.
Pedagogical thinkers are more conscious of their action asking the questions what
is my intuitive response to this and why am I feeling or action this way? Labosky
suggests that it is by taking conscious control that pedagogical thinkers take a
long term view of how to solve problems .. remaining open to learning …
recognize there are no simple answer and the conclusion they reach are likely to
be tentative ) Laboskey in Cartwright, 2010).
4 principals for learning
 Continuous reflection
 Connected reflection
 Challenged reflection
 Contextualized reflection
Continuous reflection
 This ensure that reflection is an on going component in learning. Often
short-term experiences can leads to more complex long term involvement
which gives the teacher extensive material for observation, reflection and
experimentation.
Connected Reflection
 This is essentially the component that links experimental learning to
formal training
Challenging Reflection
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 .This is the teacher being prepared to pose questions and propose

unfamiliar or even uncomfortable ideas for making changes
Contextualized Reflection
 .This ensures that the reflection activities or topic are appropriate and
meaningful in relation to the experiences of the teacher.
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Topic 81
Tools for Reflection
Reflective Journals
 Most frequently used
 Involves teachers in self-assessment, collaborative critique,
self-reflection and goal setting
 May become a shared dialogue with a colleague
 May be an individual journey of professional self-reflection
 May be supported by a framework (list of questions/checklist
etc)
Tools for Reflective Journals
 Reading response Journal
 Teachers reads recommended content and then record
responses in the journal
Double entry Journal
 Involve a statement of context on the left hand side and
reflections and proposed actions on the right hand side.
 Based on Smith’s ( 1989) 4 phase model of describe, inform,
content, confront and reconstruct.
Interactive Journal
 The teacher share the journal writings with an audience
 Provides encouragement and deepening reflection
 Dialogue Journal
 Supports the process of deconstructing and reconstructing
experience.
 Helps teachers make sense fo the conceptual and theoretical
understandings about teaching
 Narrative journal
 The teacher reflects on the various and beliefs which form the
essence of teaching
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 Teachers can draw inferences from experience

 Practicum Journal
 Provides guiding questions about teaching
 Enables teachers to critique and modify their teaching
 Self- assessment framework help to develop reflective skills
 There are many different self- models which teachers can use
Portfolio
 A collection of structured professional artifacts that
demonstrate accumulated knowledge, skills and practice
 Paper-based or electronic
 Teachers can portray higher level cognitive thinking and self-
reflective growth
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Topic 82
Social Criticality
 Being socially critical means starting with reality, with seeing injustices
and contradictions and beginning to overturn reality by reasserting the
importance of learning.
 Only when teachers take an active reflective stance are they able to
challenge the dominant “factory” metaphor of the way many schools are
conceived, organized and enacted.
 In theorizing practice and practicing theory, teachers are able to see
reflection as embedded deeply in our teaching, rather than something that
we do to it afterwards
 Social development is based on:
(a) Received knowledge- the intellectual content of the profession
(b) Experiential knowledge classroom experience PLUS reflection
 Dialogue and discussion are central to development
 Articulation of ideas is crucial to shaping pedagogical thinking.
 Cooperative development involves another
 Self-development is based on social constructivism:
(a) The mind is mediated by language
(b) Understanding is jointly constructed through dialogue
(c) Teachers are guided to higher planes of understanding through
dialogues they have with other professionals
(c) Knowledge is socially derived
Self –development is based on social constructivism:
E)Learning takes place in ZPD) zone of proximal development)
 The process of reflection allows reflective practitioners to develop
an “inquiry stance” on their practice and construct their own
knowledge base and their own professional skills.
 Teachers advance their effectiveness through reflective practice
by challenging uncritically accepted assumptions.
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Topic 83
Hegarty’s Reflective Framework
 The framework consists of a template that you can follow t structure your
reflective writing in three steps. This encourages you to move beyond
basic description about your experience to analyze your actions, learning
and emotional reactions an thus examine your practice more critically and
from different perspectives
 Take notice an describe the experience- pay attention and record what
happened: What did you do , know , feel, think, need? What decisions
were made?
 Analyze the experience- what were the actions and decisions and why
these actions and decision? What was your reaction?
 Reflect, take action- what did you learn? How will you use this learning?
Plan how you will apply this learning
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Topic 84
Personal Practical Theory (PPT)
 Researchers exploring the relationship between teacher beliefs and their
classroom practices found that teachers experiences impact what they
believe teaching should be like and that teachers form their own theories
in teaching.
 PPT is the systematic set of beliefs (theories) guiding teachers practices
(practical) that are based on their prior life experience (personal).
 What does this mean for the reflective practitioner?
 Surfacing their PPT enables teachers to be more aware of their rationale
for on-going decision making and empowers them to become reflective
practitioners.
 Develop your own PPT
 You can use the following chart
 There are no right or wrong answers
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Topic 85
Professional Identity
 What is it?
 A more or less conscious apprehension of what constitutes good and
professional teaching and learning (Huggen 2005)
 Develop through participation in professional communities in cooperation
with others on concrete tasks (Wenger 1998)
 Knowledge and skills are transmitted through language an communication
Vygosky 1978)
 Theoretical perspectives and the habit to reflect must be experienced by
teachers as normal teaching activities.
 Reflection in Teacher Development
 Practice oriented reflection (practice as training)
 Based on experiences and what works
 Theory is not important
 Professional reflection (practice as education)
 Critical reflection, self-reflection
 Theory is an important tool.
 Professional reflection is necessary to educate authoritative independent
teachers
 Reflection in advance
 Central to intellectual and professional growth
 Reflection is mostly instrumental/practice oriented, focusing on
“technical”
Aspects and what the students could have done better.
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Topic 86
Developing Professional Identity
 Meaning is constructed through communication and cooperation in
concrete situations
 By participating in normal teacher activities together with competent
others as legitimate peripheral members
 Mentors are competent teachers serving as models for the reflective
practitioner.
 Professional growth, thus implies that reflective practitioners meet
mentors who focus on professional aspects of teachers work
 Experience critical reflection / thinking and pedagogical
argumentation as part of professional teaching practice
 Assumption are verbalized and challenged.
 Experiences with theory based practice will inform the reflective
practitioner that critical reflection and theoretical perspectives are
normal parts of professional competence.
 Such experiences will, thus be expressions of competence and good
teaching (professional identity)
 The construction of a professional identity and its development are
individual maturation processes
 It begin when one enters training for the professional as a novice and
these processes evolve through many development stages, Until finally
one perceives one’s professional identity
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Topic 87
Multiple Intelligence Theory and the Reflective Practitioner 1
The benefits of utilizing (MI) theory in educator professional are multifold
1. It emphases the process of learning in delivering desired outcomes
2. It promotes thoughtful consideration of learning experienced in a
variety of diverse modalities
3. It generates a broad survey of experiences across levels and disciplines
4. It encourages development of strategies beyond the strengths and
interests of the teacher
5. It provides a varied pacing of activities throughout the development
experience
6. It fosters authentic, real-world experiences that promote deeper
understanding
7. We can represent the multiple intelligences diagrammatically.
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Topic 88
Multiple Intelligence Theory and the Reflective Practitioner
2
 There are now nine Mls
Multiple
Intelligence
Theory and the reflective practitioner
 How does the reflective practitioner’s approach their professional
identity growth when applying MI theory?
 Let’s Consider each path to Growing professional identity
 Path to growing professional identity
 Visual/Spatial: Learning visually and organizing ideas spatially.
Seeing concepts in action in order to understand them.
The ability to “see” things in one’s mind in planning to create a
product or solve a problem.
Verbal/Linguistic
 Learning through the spoken and written word. This
intelligence was always valued in the traditional classroom and
in traditional assessment of intelligence and achievement.
 Mathematical/Logical
 Learning through reasoning an problem solving. Also highly
valued in the traditional classroom where students were asked
to adapted to logically sequenced delivery of instruction.
 Bodily/kinaesthetic learning through interaction with one’s
environment. This intelligence in not the domain of overly
active learners. It promotes understanding through concrete
experience.
 Musical/rhythmic learning through patterns, rhythms and
music. This includes not only auditory learning but also the
identification of patterns through all the senses.
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 Intrapersonal learning through feeling, values and attitudes.

This is a decidedly affective component of learning through
which we place value on what we learn and take ownership for
our learning
 Interpersonal learning through interaction with others. Not
being simply talkative or overly social. This intelligence
promotes collaboration and working cooperative with others.
 Naturalistic learning through classification categories. The
naturalist intelligence picks up on subtle differences in
meaning. It is not simply the study of nature. It can be used in
all areas of study.
 Existential learning by seeing the big picture. Why are we
here? What is my place in my family, school and community?
This intelligence seeks connections to real world understanding
and application of new learning.
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Topic 89
Multiple Intelligence Theory and the Reflective
Practitioner 3
 How does multiple intelligence translate into
activities/actions for the reflective practitioner?
Verbal
Lecture, reading, writing, reporting, presenting, reciting,
discussing, online discussion
Logical
Problem-solving, brainstorming, hypothesizing, investigating,
experimenting, Socratic method, online searching.
Visual
Observing, symbolizing, drawing, outlining, conceiving,
imagining, visualizing, video.
Kinesthetic
Building, imitating, performing.
Musical
Listening, patterning, mirroring, repeating
Intrapersonal
Supporting, advising, advocating, characterizing, defending,
evaluating, judging, challenging
Interpersonal
Sharing, leading, helping, managing, collaborating, influencing,
team-building
Naturalistic
Categorizing, contrasting, classifying, organizing,
semantic/concept mapping, graphing
 For any sort of identity-building activity, you should focus
on at least there intelligence but no more than five
intelligence.
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Topic 90
Making professional identities through a Mentor
 Finding a mentor in your work place can have a significant effect on both the
mentor and mentee regarding professional identity and development
 Under a formal mentoring process the mentee not only reaches the competency
level of the mentor but grows beyond the established baseline along with the
mentor.
 The mentor may share materials but also goes beyond the sharing and moves into
the development of materials within a collaborative relationship. This requires
reflective practice and collaborative planning coupled with a joint action plan by
the mentor and mentee.
 Through this process both mentor and mentee (the reflective practitioner) can
soar to new heights of professional growth and competence.
Seeking a Mentor? Know the functions of Mentoring
 Teaching
Teaching the skills that teachers practice on a daily
 Sponsoring someone who can identity your strengths and advise as to what
activities would be most successful. Sponsoring then requires the mentor to
support you when you attempt a new practice.
 Encouraging
Encouraging is a key mentor function. By helping you see the positive side of your
teaching practice and building on those reflections, the mentor is supporting and
encouraging your growth.
 Counseling
Counseling is the fourth function of mentoring. You need sound advice regarding
teaching practice, professional conduct and the culture of the school and community.
 Briefing
The fifth function of mentoring is befriending, you need someone to whom you can
speak freely.
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Topic 91
How does Reflective Practice support professional practice?
 Consider the conscious competence model
 1. Unconscious Incompetence
Not aware of the skill (and lack of skills) and its relevance
The Conscious Competence Model
2. Conscious Incompetence
(awareness of the existence and relevance of the skill)
3. Conscious competence
Can perform a skill at will
4. Unconscious Competence
The skill is so practiced that it becomes second nature
The Competence Model
1.Demonstrates how the teacher moves through different levels of awareness
2. The teacher can repeat any stage of the model given the right circumstances
e.g. Teaching a new subject = unconscious incompetence.
The model highlights two factors that affect our thinking as we learn a new
skill: Consciousness (awareness) and skill level (competence).
According to the model we move through the following levels as we build
competence in a new skill:
Unconsciously unskilled –we don’t know that we don’t have this skill or that
we need to learn it.
Unconsciously unskilled we know that we don’t have this skill. We know that
we have this skill.
Unconsciously skilled- we don’t know that we have this skill (it just seems
easy).
This creates the ladder of learning:
Referring t the model either as a matrix or as a ladder helps the reflective
practitioner in a number of ways.
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Topic 92
Applying the conscious competence Model of Level 1-
Unsconsciously Unskilled
 At this level , you are blissfully ignorant, you have a complete lack of
knowledge and skills in a specific area and you’ re unaware of this.
Your confidence therefore far exceeds your abilities.
 To remove out of level 1, use tools like a personal SWOT analysis
Training Needs Assessment to identify your strengths and weakness
and to understand which skills you need to learn.
 As part of this , ask other people for their input, so that you can
uncover weaknesses and skill needs that you might otherwise miss.
 Also make sure that you understand your learning objectives there’s
no point learning skills in areas that don’t align with your personal or
work goals.
Level 2- Consciously Unskilled
 By this stage, you have discovered that you need to learn new skills.
You realize that others are much more competent than you are, and
that they can easily do things that you are struggling with.
 This level can be demoralizing, causing you to lose confidence or even
give up on your learning efforts. Therefore, its important to stay
positive at this stage.
Level 3. Consciously Skilled
 At this level, you know that you have acquired the skills and
knowledge you need. You put your learning into practice regularly and
you gain even more confidence as you use your new skills.
 You still need to concentrate when you perform these activities but as
you get more practice and experience these activities become
increasingly automatic,
Level 4. Consciously Skilled
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 At this level, you use your new skills effortlessly and you perform
tasks without conscious effort. You are completely confident of
success.
 Once you master one set of skills, its importance to learn more if you
want to continue to grow.
 A good way to do this is to teach these new skills to others in your
organization.
 This will keep information fresh in you mind, deepen your
understanding and give you a rewarding way to pass this knowledge
on to others.
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Topic 93
Learning to Learn
 Ability to pursue and persist in learning
 To organize one’s own learning
 Effective management of time and information, both individually and in groups
 Awareness of one’s learning process and needs.
 Identifying available opportunities
 Ability to overcome obstacles in order to learn successfully.
 Grouping, processing and assimilating new knowledge and skills as well as
seeking and making use of guidance.
 To build on prior leaning and life experience in order to use and apply knowledge
skills in a variety of contexts
 Motivation and confidence are crucial to an individual’s competence
Learning Perspectives
 Learning orientations
1. Individual
2. Group or team
3. Organizational
Learning Approaches
 Causes of situations
 Not subjects
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Topic 94
The Jo-Hari Window (Self- Evaluation in Practice)
 The Johari Window is a communication model that is used to improve
understanding
 For individuals
 Between individuals
 The work “Johari” is taken from the names of Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham,
who developed the model in 1955.
 That you can build trust with others by disclosing information about yourself.
 There are two key ideas behind the tool:
 That, with the help of feedback from others you can learn about yourself and
come to terms with issues.
Explaining The Jo-Hari Window
 The Johari Window is shown as a four quadrant grid, which you can see in the
following diagram.
 1. Open area (quadran 1). This area represents the things that you know about
yourself and the things that other know about you. This includes your behavior
knowledge, skills, attitudes and public history.
 Blind area (quadrant 2). This area represent the things that you aren’t aware of but
are known by others. This can involve simple information that you do not know
or it can include deeper issues.
 Hiddem Area (quadrant 3) This area represents the things that you know about
yourself but that others don’t know.
 Unknown area (Quadrant 4) This area represents the things that are unknown by
you and are unknown by others.
 The ultimate goal of the Johari Window is to enlarge the open area.
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Topic 95
Using The Jo- Hari Window
 The Johari Window is a communication model that is used to improve
understanding
 For individual
 Between individuals
The process of enlarging your open area involves self-disclosure. Put
simply, the more you open up your thoughts, feelings, dreams and goals,
the greater will be your self-awareness. There will also be greater trust
within the team.
An importance aspect of enlarging your open area is accepting feedback
from others.
This feedback helps you learn things about yourself that others can see but
that you can’t.
This is important for professional growth.
Self-assessment is an integral part of a teacher’s professional growth and
development. It encourages the teacher to identify his or her own strengths
and weakness.
Prepares teachers for a discussion on performance and improvement.
Could lead the teacher to collaborative planning of goals for continued
professional growth.
The objectives of teacher self- evaluation are teacher’s satisfaction an
excellence in education.
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Topic 96
The Jo-Hari Window in the Team Context
 You have to keep in mind that established team members will have
larger open areas than new team members.
 New Team Members start smaller open areas because they haven’t
yet had the opportunity to share much information about
themselves.
Feedback
 The main importance of feedback in this process can’t be
overstated. It’s only by receiving feedback from others that your
Blind area will be reduced and your open area will be expanded.
 Group members should strive to help other team members to
expand their open area by offering constructive feedback.
 The size of the open area can also be expanded vertically
downwards into the Hidden area, as people disclose information
and feelings to the group.
 You open area is expanded vertically with self-disclosure and
horizontally with feedback from others on your team.
 By encouraging healthy self-disclosure and sensitive feedback, you
can become part of a stronger and more effective team.
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Topic 97
Theory, Pedagogy and Reflection
 Research shows us that critically reflective teaching practices
encourage teachers to:
 Regularly evaluate their approaches to teaching
 Understand more about the positive impacts of high-qualify
effective pedagogies on children’s learning.
 Draw on alternative teaching strategies to help children to learn
when familiar methods fail.
 Co-construct learning with children and other partners so it is
responsive to the child family and community.
 It involves analyzing your own learning and teaching practices that
contribute to effective pedagogies.
 These are:
 Understanding children
 Building relationships
 Establishing flexible learning environments
 Creating contexts for learning
 Exploring what children learn
 This means that teachers hold roles and view children through
various lenses and recognize that their personal and professional
identities are continually evolving
 This raises questions for how you link theory, pedagogy and
reflection.
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Topic 98
Application
 Common sense tells us that
 Reflection is about questioning the given to bring about clarity in
unclear situations
 A difficult process especially when it support changes in behavior
and it is something that needs to be taught
 Often linked with criteria associated with wisdom.
Unconscious incompetence
 Not knowing what you don’t know
Conscious incompetence
 Recognizing the gap in your knowledge
Conscious competence
 Being able to do things that you couldn’t do before but needing to
think these things through carefully
Unconscious competence
 Being able to do something skillfully without having to consider
everything closely
 Teaching is a complex profession. It is never static and the work
which practitioners undertake is by no means mechanistic.
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Topic 99
Reflective Practice and Professionalism
 What constitutes professionalism
 Autonomy
 There is a conflict between the unpredictable nature of the contexts
we teach in and centralization of control in education.
Professional Knowledge
 Subject specialist knowledge
 Pedagogic knowledge
Responsibility
 Accountability
 Professional values
RP and Professionalism
Rigor and Relevance
The most relevant problems for students and for society are in messy and
swampy situations where the research –based theories do not apply.
(because of a new problem or problems are not well defined, there is no
theory or contradictory theories).
It professionals remain in the high grounds where they can apply their
research based theories then their work will be non- relevant.
Most of the important problems our society is facing are new and not well-
defined.
To tackle these problems professionals will need a lot of artistry
They will need to apply a set of skills that go far beyond their theoretical
base.
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Topic 100
Good Professional Standing
 Commitment to Learners
 Teachers will:
Maintain professional relationships with those learners entrusted to
those learners which respect the learner as a person as a person and
encourage growth and development
Acknowledge and respect the uniqueness, individuality and
specific needs of each student and thus provide appropriate
learning experiences.
Aims to motivate and inspire students with a view to helping each
realize their potential.
Wok with colleagues and others to create a professional
community that supports the social, intellectual, spiritual/moral
emotional and physical development of students.
Promote collegiality among colleague by respecting their
professional standing and opinions and in that spirit be prepared to
offer advice and share professional practice with colleagues.
Cooperate where appropriate with professionals from other
agencies in the interest of students.
Ensure that relationships with the parents, in their capacity as
partners I the educational process are characterized by respect and
trust.
Respect confidential information relating to students or colleagues
gained in the course of professional practice, unless the well-being
of an individual requires disclosure.
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Topic 101
Personal Challenges to Effective Relative Practice
Personal Challenges to Effective Relative Practice
 Misplaced experiences
 Pre-conceived notions
 Misconceptions
 Personal preferences
 Egotism
 Pride
 Educational Philosophy
 Life
Over-coming Personal challenges to Effective Reflective Practice
Misplaced Expectations
 Be honest with yourself
 Ask colleagues as critical friends
 Pre-conceived notions
 Refer to the literature
 Refer to a mentor experience colleague
 Misconceptions
 Use checklists
 Develop checklist with colleagues
 Use colleagues as critical friends
 Personal Preferences
 Be honest
 Learn to learn from failure
 Be flexible – watch colleagues to see how they teach
 Egotism
 Try to be realistic- you can’t be perfect
 Observe other teachers
 Ask teachers to observe you and feedback
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 Pride
 Identify and confide in a critical friend at work
 Educational Philosophy
 Always take time to discuss with others you beliefs and
assumptions about teaching and learning
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Topic 102
Questioning
 It is useful to explore some key questions to help you move from
theory and discussion t practice and application.
 Be backward-looking
 How much did you know about the subject before?
 What process did you go through to plan your lesson?
 Have you done a similar kind of work in the past?
 In what ways have you become better at teaching?
 In what ways do you think you need to improve?
 What problems did you encounter while you were working on this
piece?
 How do you feel about your work? What parts of it do you
particularly like?
 Dislike? Why? What did/do you enjoy about it?
 What were your beliefs that informed your teaching?
 Did you meet your standards
 What were your goals for the lesson? Did your goals change as you
taught?
Be Outward-looking
 Did you teach in the way other people teach?
 In what ways did you do it differently.
 In what ways your approach similar?
 If you were manger, what comments would you make about your
teaching?
 What grade would you give it? Why?
 One thing I would like to improve upon is
 What would you change if you had a chance to teach over again?
 What will you change in the next lesson?
 What’s one goal you would like to set for yourself for next time?
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 What would you like to spend more time on in school?

 What might you advise a new teachers to do?
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Topic 103
What are Frames
 Frames help us perceive, understanding and describe situations.
What are Frames?
 Frames are particular ways of making meaning of the complexity
of situations
 Frames are structures of beliefs, perceptions, values and
appreciations about a situation, most of them underlying
conscience..
 From the multiple components of a situation we select a particular
set with which we try to understand the situation and to transform
it.
The Process of Framing
 The starting point is a vague image of a reality named by Jon
Dewey as a “ problematic Situation”/
 This situation is named and framed selecting a few salient /features
and relations multiple elements of the complex reality
 These elements receive a coherent organization, and are used for
describing what is correct and what is wrong with the situation or
what is the problem
 The direction for the transformation of the situation will come
from the elements established in the frame.
 Rhetorical and Action
 Rhetorical frames are related with espoused belief and are used for
arguing about a situation
Action frames are related to policies in use. They are used for
dealing with the situation.
Frames and Metaphors
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 Frames frequently use metaphors as a way to develop and or to

communicate their particular logic. Metaphors are of great utility
for explaining and for thinking with a particular frame.
 Based on a metaphors, the action look more familiar and
consistent with the requirements of change of the situation.
 There is a double-sided interaction between frames and interests.
 The teacher’s interests influence the way they frame the situation
 But the frames of the teachers also shape the way they perceive
their interests
 These both relation tend t be tacit and invisible for the teachers.
 Circularity of Frames
 In conflicting frames there is no way of falsifying a frame with
valid data.
 When we arrive to situations where different frames are resistant to
critique we are in a situation that is not normal.
 Frames are mostly tacit
 “ The frames that shape policies are usually tacit, which means that
we tend to argue from our tacit frames to our explicit policy”
 “ We are usually unaware of their roles (of the frames) in
organizing our actions, thoughts and perceptions”
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Topic 104
Frames 2
 In most cases, we are not working with problems but with messy
situations
 The process of going from the messy situation to the problem is the
process of framing
 The names we give things are important – they determine how we
will work with them in our mind
 Then we organize them and we describe what the problem is
 Frames 2
 In the same way that Schon talks about espoused theories and
theories in use , he talks about rhetorical frames (espoused polices)
and action frames (policies in USA)
 Rhetorical frames are weapons used to attach other frames and
convince people that our frame is a good one
 The frame that wins is the one that can expose the weaknesses in
other frames, while hiding its own weaknesses.
 Frames work with metaphors
 When we create a frame for a situation, we always use a metaphor
 Frames are not things that emerge from scratch, they are always
connected to a metaphor
 Changing the metaphor is a very powerful way of changing the
frame.
 The way we frame a problem affects how we perceive our
interests.
 It s difficult to discover the limits of our thinking – we always
believes our framing is consistent. It usually is not possible to
convince someone that their frame is inconsistent by giving them
more information, since that information will be processed into the
existing frame.
_______________________________________________________________________
 Frame 2
 The frame is able to digest information
 So basically more data won’t ever change frames and we need to
engage people at the level of their assumption.
 The frame gives meaning t the information by its own logic. Most
frames are tacit we are not aware of the way we frame situation or
of the way other people are framing the same situation
 The way to solve this difficulty is to try to make the frames
explicit
 Finally, when we are discussing other frames, we need to bring
their meaning to own frame.
Frame 2: Try this activity in framing a problem
 1.Define the problem? (
 2. Why is it a problem? (this is about your reasoning in defining
the problem)
 3. What are the factors that contribute to problem? We can talk
here about causes, context, conditions that allow the problem to
exist
 4. What do you see as the impact of the problem
 5. Analyze for consistency and completeness.
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Topic 105
Analyzing Frames 1: Discovering underlying assumptions and values in
frames
 Look at the following example Barrier
 No Licensure: We need to remove the inconsistencies between
different education providers
 Quality of Teachers Education: We need to ensure that teachers are
being prepared according to uniform standards
 Common Inspection Framework: We need to have a system of
checking the quality of education across al providers
 Assumptions
 Assumptions are belief about the world
 90% of students are happy in our school
 Education improves the quality of life
 The first type of assumption is situational
 The second type of assumption is theoretical
 If a belief is tacit in our thinking we name it as “ assumption”,
once it is made explicit it becomes a hypothesis.
 What are values
 Values are criteria that we use for deciding if a situation is
desirable or undesirable or if an idea is a good one or a bad one:
 Being secure or insecure (security)
 Being treated fairly or unfairly (justice)
 Every time we frame or evaluate situation we apply values.
Frequently values are tacit.
What are Values?
 In the example quality of Teachers Education: We need to ensure
that teachers are being prepared according to uniform standard” the
quality of teaching is a value
_______________________________________________________________________
 In the example “ common inspection Framework: We need to have

system of checking the quality of education across all providers,
how schools provide education is a value.
Frames, Assumption and the Thinking Box
 Every time we frame a situation we base elements of our frame in
belief about the world, but we are not aware of them
 The discovery of assumption is easier when we are out of box.
People who disagree with our frames are more acute for
identifying our assumptions.
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Topic 106
Analyzing frames 2: Discovering Assumptions
 Assumptions are beliefs that are behind the causal relation of our
frames
 If “assumption A” then B generates C.
 A possibility for discovering assumption is to go through the
components and the causal relations of the frame asking :why”
they are stated in that particular way.
 The assumptions should be falsifiable . It means that it should be
possible to get information for verifying if an assumption is real or
not.
 Exploring assumptions
 If a situation is framed as a problem generated by a group of
factors and a scenario that is resulted from the problem then the
exploration of assumptions may go back through the causal
relations of the frame.
 Let’s look at this in diagram form
 Why___ Problem, ____ Future Scenario
Questions for Exploration
 Why the scenario or one component of it is generated by the
problem or a component of it?
 Why the factor A contributes to the problem?
 Which condition is required for the work of causal relations?
Values
 Why do you think it is a problem?
 Which values are threatened by the problem or by the scenario?
 Which motivations are behind the way the situation were framed?
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Topic 107
Interpolating Concepts and Ideas
Theories –in-use- are means
 For exploring concepts
 Developing ideas
Schema of Theory and Action
 A theory of a action is a set of interconnected propositions
that have the same referent ( the subject of the theory)
 For example if you want to achieve consequence c, under
assumptions a1, a2, aa3, an , do action a
 Theories are vehicles for explanation, prediction or
control.
 Theory- in-use
 Agyns an Schon say that theory-in-use is.
 Existing theories people have that already determine
practice. We call these operational theories of action
theories in –use to distinguish them from the espoused
theories that are used to describe and justify behavior.
 Agries and Schon say that theorie in-use
 Help teachers remain blind to the actual degree of their
ineffectiveness.
 There is a theory –in-use of building design (for architects)
 There is a theory in –use for diagnosis and treatment of
disease (for physicians)
 Theories in-use are means for getting what we want.
How to Make Theory in- use- visible
 We can construct someone’s theory in-use from
observations of behavior
 This includes recognizing general characteristics.
 The governing variable
_______________________________________________________________________
 The action strategies

 The principal assumptions
Interpolating concepts the Theory and Ideas
 Clues for discovering the Theory-In-Use
 Reconstruct the espoused theory and /or the action strategy
 Look for the assumptions through the “ Cahin of Whys”
 Look for the relations among the assumptions.
 Discover the governing variables of Espoused theory and
/or the action
 Construct the theory in-use based on these elements
Requirements for Discovering the theory-in-use
Internal commitment to discovery
 Public testing of theory assumptions and data
 Clear distinction between the self and assumption (non-
defensiveness)
 Look for valid information
 Aptitude for reframing
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Topic 108
Promoting reflective practice through inductive action planning
 As a teacher you will be learning every day.
 Knowing what you have learned or what you want to learn
from practice and experience needs some planning
 This will be helped by inductive action planning
Essentially this involves:
 Selecting a specific target (e.g. effective rules and
routines in class, widening your range of strategies,
effective use of ICT etc)
 Plan a program of discussion, observation and training
over a fixed period
 Reflect on your own development and select further
targets.
Inductive action planning is therefore about
 Identifying opportunities for you to discuss, reinforce
and develop your practice
 Helping you decide what information/data of your
planning and practice you can use as evidence of your
development
Promoting RP through Inductive Action Planning
An inductive Action Plan will be one that
 Builds on your career profile is precise
 Answer the following questions
 What is my priority and what do I want to achieve?
 What am I going t do and when?
 Who what will help me?
 How will I know whether what I have done has been
worthwhile?
_______________________________________________________________________
 How will I collect information?

 In detail, an inductive action plan will
 Identify your priorities
 At this stage of the year what precisely do I want to be
able to do with greater confidence and more
effectively?
 Eg. Motivate the class?
 Plan, mangage and evaluate the teaching or reading
 Identify what you will do and when
 E.g I shall discuss school policy and expectation with
my principal, I can attend a course which I will help me
think more deeply about my practice: I shall see school
policy in practice by observing colleagues and
discussing issues with them.
 Identify who can support you
 E.g I shall enlist the support of my head of department ,
I shall engage in some background research.
 Identify Success Criteria by identifying
 What has been worthwhile
 My planning now demonstrates
 Through being observed and discussing the lesson I am
clearer about my strengths and priority areas for
development in
 Identify how you can demonstrate your development
 I have exampies of the new lesson planning that I am
doing
 I have examples of the resources I m using
 A copy of my appraisal report
 Responds to and support your day to day teaching
activity
_______________________________________________________________________
 It is directed by you.
_______________________________________________________________________
Topic 109
The Reframing Matrix 1
 Things look different when you change the perspective
 When you are stuck on a problem it helps to look at it from another perspective
 This can be all that you need to do to come up with a great solution.
 However, it is sometimes difficult to think what these perspectives might be.
 Using a reframing matrix relies on the fact that different people with different
experience are likely to approach problems in different ways.
 Reframing helps to put you in the minds of different people- imagine how they
would face these problems and explore their solutions.
 Step 1: Draw the Grid
 Start by drawing a simple four-square grid
 Leave a space in the middle to describe your problem
 The boxes are for your different perspectives.
 Step 2: Decide on perspectives
 Decide on 4 different perspectives to use in your matrix.
 Use the 4ps approach:
 The 4P;s
 The product perspective
 Is there something wrong with your teaching?
 Does it respond to the needs of your learners?
 Do you adapt your teaching to the circumstances in the classroom?
 How would you improve the learning outcome?
 Is the students grades were to go up how would that affect the problem?
 How are others doing the same work as you?
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Topic 110
Reframing 2: Professions Approach
 This approach helps you to look viewpoint of different specialists, or
stakeholders
 For example, the way a medical doctor is different to what a civic engineer
might use.
 This approach is particularly useful when you are trying to solve a
problem which involves many different types of people.
 It is useful when you need to step away from you usual way of thinking so
that you can be more creative.
 Step 1 Brainstorm Factors
 Brainstorm the factors related to your problems from the four perspectives
viewpoint
 Product perspective
 Planning Perspective
 Potential perspective
 People perspective
 Example of Reframing
 IN the following example you will see how a teacher has used th 4ps
approach to explore problems in class.
1. Product perspective
The subject is complex
2. Planning perspective
The students are very comfortable with technology
3. Planning perspective
My planning follow a rigid pattern
4. People perspective
5. Students generally bored in school, student don’t see the
need to study.
_______________________________________________________________________
Topic 111
Problems Statements
 The first step is to define the problem statement
 At which level should we formulate the problem, and
how widely?
 If we go too deeply and try to look for final causes of
everything, we may reach conclusion that are not
useful for the problem.
 Select a level where you have enough knowledge about
the problem and then act in a timely way
 As reflective practitioner we should always be working
with unsatisfactory understanding of the problem
 The reflective practitioner works with unsatisfactory
because s/he has to combine the action with improving
understanding
 What method you actually use depends on the
knowledge you have, the condition and other factors
 You need to design your own cognitive strategy in each
case.
 The reflective practitioner has two levels.
 The action level
 The cognitive level
 Consequently, we need to combine knowledge from our
own experience with knowledge from other people’s
experience.
 Conceptual innovation
 The connections we have in our brains are related to the
concepts we use
 When we change our concepts, we create new areas of
relations in our brains.
_______________________________________________________________________
 Concepts are abstractions of situations – the patterns

that emerge when we have seen many situations.
 Without concepts we cannot perceive reality
 With concepts we can think more deeply about reality
_______________________________________________________________________
Topic 112
Concept Based Teaching and Learning
 Concept –Based Teaching and Learning
 Enables the ability to transfer knowledge
 Promotes emotional engagement and motivation
 Thinking which draws on critical, creative, reflective
and conceptual abilities.
 Facilitates ‘ synergistic thinking (factual and conceptual
levels of thinking)
 Requires deeper intellectual as you relate facts to key
concepts.
 Develops conceptual structures in the brain to relate
new knowledge and to illuminate the connections and
pattern of knowledge
 Facilitates the transfer of knowledge at the conceptual
level
 Provides opportunities for personal meaning making
through process of thinking , creating and reflecting.
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Topic 113
Benefits of concept based teaching and learning
 The benefits correspond directly with the profile of the
reflective practitioner:
Benefits of concept-based teaching and learning
 The reflective practitioner as enquirer
 A teacher who questions, investigates, explores and
discovers.
 A teacher who has thorough grasp on their subject and a
strong approach of its pedagogy.
 A teacher who ponders potential reasons, causes,
effects and outcomes.
 A teacher who is able and confident enough to express
to others their problems issues and concern and who is
able to listen to feedback, advice and criticism.
 A teacher who holds onto opinion , judgment and
conclusion even with multiple sources of information.
_______________________________________________________________________
Topic 114
Pedagogical Shifts
The reflective practitioner relies on:
 Synergistic thinking
 Is essential to intellectual development
 Is a cognitive interplay between the factual and
cognitive levels of mental processing
 Assumes that thinking our this factual / conceptual
interaction cab be shallow.
 Transfer of knowledge and skills
 Facts do not transfer-they are locked in time, place an
situation
 Knowledge transfer at the conceptual level as concepts ,
generations and principles
 The ability to use the conceptual level of thinking to
related new knowledge to prior knowledge.
 Social constructivism of meaning
 Quality thinking is hard work
 Reflective thinking requires collaboration to enhance
thinking and problem-solving
 Different provide support and generate new ideas and
solutions.
 |Focus in the learner (students learning strategies, their
interests, their developmental readiness).
 Focus on practical aspects (journal writing, surveys and
questionnaires’, observation etc).
_______________________________________________________________________
Topic 115
Reframing in 4-Step
 Reframing in 4 steps
 The approach to reframing is a four step process
 Step 1:
 Determine your core belief
 Step 2
 Map your supporting beliefs
 3.
 Find opposites for each of your supporting belief
 Step 4
 Construct a reframed core belief, based on your new
supporting beliefs
 Reframing uncovers, challenges an overturns
assumptions
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Topic 116
3-Dimentional Instruction
 The goal of reflective practice is 3- dimensional instruction.
 This includes:
 Increasing conceptual understanding supported by factual
knowledge and skills and the transfer of knowledge across
multiple contexts.
 Facilitating student enquiry into important interdisciplinary
and issues using one or two key concepts.
 Instruction and learning experiences that use concepts
along with factual content to ensure synergistic thinking.
 The teacher encouraging group work to facilities shared
enquiry collaboration, synergistic thinking and problem –
solving across contexts.
 The teacher uses inductive teaching to draw the statement
of conceptual understanding from students.
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Topic 117
Conceptual Learning
What is conceptual learning?
 Conceptual learning is a process by which the reflective practitioner learns
how to organize information in logical mental structures.
 Conceptual learning focuses on learning organizing principles the pockets
in which the mind organizes facts into ideas.
 Conceptual learning is a catalyst for challenging the reflective practitioner
to think at more advance levels.
 Focuses on broad categories of problems
 Fosters systematic observations
 Fosters understanding of relationship among events or conditions that
impact situation
 Focus on teaching actions
Teacher model of reason
 Noticing
 Interpreting
 Responding
 Reflecting
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Topic 118
Epistemic Stances
These are ways of knowing and reflection
 These processes are developmental
 The quality of reflection changes as we mature and new epistemic stances
emerge
Epistemic stances cab be categories into 4 stages
 Absolute knowing
 Transitional knowing
 Independent knowing
 Contextual knowing
 Absolute knowing
 The teacher who seeks to learn by receiving knowledge from others
(experts)
 Transitional knowing and independent knowing
 These are intermediates stages
 Contextual knowing
 The teacher judges all information on the basis of evidence within context
 Highly critical in pursuing understanding
 Examine both data and own perceptions and values
 Absolute knowers only find and accept information from some authority.
_______________________________________________________________________
Topic 119
Taxonomy of Reflective Thought
 To examine reflective thinking, researchers and theorists have developed
taxonomies to explain qualitative aspects of reflection and have identified
critical reflection as the deepest level of reflectivity.
 For teachers critical reflection is the type of reflective thought most
closely associated with Dewey’s definition, explained earlier and involves
reflection on the teaching practices as they relate to moral and ethical
issues in society.
 The taxonomy categorizes thinking into levels explaining the different
qualitative aspects of the process.
 Three levels of reflective thought:
 Non-reflective action
 Reflective action
 Premise reflection
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Topic 120
The Ripples Model
 The Ripples model can be used by the reflective practitioner to consider
how to consider how their teaching addresses certain questions:
 How do you enhance your learner desire to learn?
 How do you help learner develop ownership of the need to learn?
 Do you help learner learn by techniques such as practical activities, trial
and error tasks and repetitive activities?
 Do you ensure learners receive quick and useful feedback, both from you
and from their peers?
 What activities do you provide where learners can make sense of what
they have learned?
 True learning and understanding states from the center and radiates
outwards like ripple on water encompassing other aspects of learning.
_______________________________________________________________________
Topic 121
Reflective Teaching Practices: Criticality
 Framing reflection in external constraints
 RP does not take place in a vacuum
 It occurs complicated social field with competing habits and constraints
that naturally affect teachers in the school environment.
 There will be certain rules of being a teacher both written and unwritten ,
they will constrain or bias the reflective that occurs.
 Teacher do not exist in a vacuum: all their experiences are different
because of the school environment they exist in the colleagues they work
with and their own habits they bring to their education are all different.
 To understand teachers reflective practice there must be an understanding
of the social environment they exist in.
_______________________________________________________________________
Topic 122
Critical Reflection= Critical Thinking
 Models of thinking and reflection involve three fundamental processes
 Retrospection
 Thinking back about a situation or experience
 Models of thinking and reflection involve three fundamental processes
Self- evaluation
 Critically analyzing and evaluating the actions and feeling associated with
the experience, using theoretical perspectives.
 Reorientation
 Using the results of self-evaluation to influence future approaches to
similar situations and experience.
 Part of critically is to transform problems into constructive ideas
 Try to translate the processes of reflection into questions that challenging
you further.
 Did the analysis look broadly enough?
 Is the recognized by students?
 Does the improvement proposal address the original issue?
_______________________________________________________________________
Topic 123
Critical Reflective Enquiry: Critically Philosophy
 From the critical philosophy perspective teaching practice is viewed as a
form of social life in which different forms of domination, distortions an
misunderstanding are possible.
 Hence any study of practice needs to incorporate an emancipatory focus
through which social life can be freed from domination and distortions.
 Critical reflective enquiry consists of three phases
 Descriptive
 Reflective
 Critical/Emancipatory
 Critical/ Emancipatory phase in detail:
 This phase, moving from the reflective phases, is oriented to correcting
and changing and changing less- than good or ineffective practice or
moving forward to future assimilation of new innovations emerging from
practice.
 It involves discourses about the nature and sources of distortions,
inconsistencies between
(a) Values/ Belief and practice
(b) Intentions and actions.
(c) Students needs and teachers actions, which have been identified in the
reflective phases.
_______________________________________________________________________
Topic 124
Critical Analysis 1
 One way of deepening your ability to engage in critical reflection is to
engage in complex analysis of incidents
 There are different levels of analysis
 Ethno- methodological analysis
 Examining taken-for granted assumptions and rules of everyday social
behavior.
 Hermeneutic Phenomenological analysis
 Reflecting on interpreting of both the learner’s experience and the
phenomena being experienced so as to move beyond the partiality of
previous understanding.
 Discursive Analysis
 Probing how speech and texts construct social truths.
 Where models are presented, they should be offered in context an it should
be emphasized that each is simply one of a range of tools.
 Models should be used to trigger broader reflection rather than an ends in
themselves.
 We should not be presented with just one model, the implication being
that this is the way reflective practice is done.
 Teachers need to grasp that different models engage different levels of
complexity and therefore need to be used selectively and carefully.
 Students should also be helped to see something of the strengths offered
by the different models and methods of reflection
_______________________________________________________________________
Topic 125
Critical Analysis 2 Part One
 Analysis involves breaking down information into its components parts an
examining the relationship within these parts and with the whole.
 By doing this teacher shows the ability to differentiate and distinguish
between components or elements of their experience.
 All critical analysis is formed around one basic assumption
Applying theory to practice
Theory and Practice
The information need cycle
Need, map, formulate question, source, find, evaluate, apply then again it comes to need.
Need: Determined by learning outcomes/information
c) “I have an assignment for which I need to find research”.
Map: Map all the possible conceptual pathways to developing a question which will
provide an answer. This is a keyword generation, critical creative thinking and
language skills.
Formulate questions (the ability to give focus to questions):
I need something on group work becomes : I need information on the teacher role in
effective group work.
Source: Which information sources will provide the answer t my question?
Involve critically choosing the appropriate information sources.
Find:
Require the development of a search strategy.
Strategies will vary according to the information source but developed in line with a
standard framework.
Evaluate.
Does the information found answer the question?
Apply
How can the information be used to answer my question?
What conclusion can I draw?
_______________________________________________________________________
Topic 126
Critical Analysis 2 Part 2
- Analysis involves breaking down information into its component parts and
examining the relationships within these parts and with the whole.
- By doing this the teacher shows the ability to differentiate and distinguish
between components and elements of their experience.
- All critical analysis is formed around one basic assumption:
“Applying theory to Practice”.
The information-need cycle
Need
Need is determined by learning outcomes/ information. For example:
a) I need something on smoking.
b) I have an assignment for which I need to find the best evidence to support an
intervention.
c) I have an assignment for which I need to find research.
Map
Map all the possible/potential conceptual pathways to developing a question which will
provide an answer.
This is a keyword generator and uses reflection, critical creative thinking and language
skills.
a) I need something on group work becomes
I need information on the teacher’s role in effective group work.
Source:
Which information sources will provide the answer to this question?
It involves critically choosing the appropriate information sources.
Find:
It requires the development of a search strategy.
standard framework.
_______________________________________________________________________
Evaluate:
Apply:
Critical analysis will be influenced by:
- Level of support in the work environment.
- Time of critical analysis.
- Tools available for critical reflection.
Critical Analysis Strategies:
- There are different forms of reflection in different context.
- Busy practitioners might rely on reflection-in-action.
- Work in dialogical team context (to hear different perspective)
- Use critical incidents, case studies, reflective journals, practical exercises
Four Competences that Characterize the Critical Thinker:
- First competency is called “Clarification”. It means to identify the focus, analysis
arguments, ask and answer questions of clarification, define terms, judge
definitions, deal with equivocation and identify unstated assumptions
- Second competency is “Basis”. It means to judge the credibility of a source, make
and judge the observations.
- Third competency is “inference”. It means to deduce, judge deductions, induce,
judge inductions, make and judge value judgements.
- Forth competency is “Metacognition”. It means reason from premises,
assumptions and positions with which one disagrees or doubts without inferring
with one’s thinking and integrating the other abilities in making and defending a
decision.
Critical Thinking and Reflective Practices (EDU 406)
_______________________________________________________________________
Lecture 19
Reflective teaching practices: Criticality (Topic 127 to 132)
Topic: 127
Framing Reflection in External Constraints
The first author who brought reflection into an understanding of what professionals do
was Schon (1983). Schon (1983) defined ‘reflection’ as thinking about what we are
thinking, acting upon rather than reaction to a stimulus. This is viewed as being
interrelated with social constructivist practices and openness to change, and it enables
reflective practices (Schön,1983, 1987). Kolb (1984) also stated, in his influential
argument on experiential learning, that reflection plays an important major role in the
transformation of experience into knowledge. Under this fundamental principle of this
scholar reflection has been placed at the core of the learning process, especially in
relation to learning as a development and not merely the acquisition of information
(Reynolds, 1998). “Reflection is a way of helping practitioners to better understand what
they know and do asthey develop their knowledge of practice through reconsidering what
they learn in practice” (Loughran, 2002:p.). It is within the context of education that the
concept of critical reflection now forms a core part of teachers’ professional role. It is
believed that by thinking more critically about their assumptions and actions,
practitioners can develop more collaborative, responsive and ethical ways of performing
their duties within the context of their work. The term ‘critical’ now broadens the
perspectives of Schon’s (1983) reflection by bringing into focus the socio-structural
context and historical events. This means the historical incidents and events in society
that precipitate the need for critical analysis and reflection. This generates the ability for
us to learn from past events and the problems involved. Solutions to these events are
sorted over the time in which a lesson is learnt. Therefore, critical reflection in itself is a
learning process (Allen, 1992).
Topic 128 critical reflection = critical thinking
 Critically Philosophy
 From the critical philosophy perspective teaching practice is viewed as a
form of social life in which different forms of domination, distortions an
misunderstanding are possible.
_______________________________________________________________________
 Hence any study of practice needs to incorporate an emancipatory focus

through which social life can be freed from domination and distortions.
 Critical reflective enquiry consists of three phases
 Descriptive
 Reflective
 Critical/Emancipatory
 Critical/ Emancipatory phase in detail:
 This phase, moving from the reflective phases, is oriented to correcting
and changing and changing less- than good or ineffective practice or
moving forward to future assimilation of new innovations emerging from
practice.
 It involves discourses about the nature and sources of distortions,
inconsistencies between
(a) Values/ Belief and practice
(b) Intentions and actions.
(c) Students needs and teachers actions, which have been identified in the reflective
phases.
Topic: 129
Critical Reflective Inquiry
 One way of deepening your ability to engage in critical reflection is to
engage in complex analysis of incidents
 There are different levels of analysis
 Ethno- methodological analysis
 Examining taken-for granted assumptions and rules of everyday social
behavior.
 Hermeneutic Phenomenological analysis
 Reflecting on interpreting of both the learner’s experience and the
phenomena being experienced so as to move beyond the partiality of
previous understanding.
 Discursive Analysis
_______________________________________________________________________
 Probing how speech and texts construct social truths.

 Where models are presented, they should be offered in context an it should
be emphasized that each is simply one of a range of tools.
 Models should be used to trigger broader reflection rather than an ends in
themselves.
 We should not be presented with just one model, the implication being
that this is the way reflective practice is done.
 Teachers need to grasp that different models engage different levels of
complexity and therefore need to be used selectively and carefully.
 Students should also be helped to see something of the strengths offered
by the different models and methods of reflection
Topic: 130
Critical Analysis 1
 Analysis involves breaking down information into its components parts an
examining the relationship within these parts and with the whole.
 By doing this teacher shows the ability to differentiate and distinguish
between components or elements of their experience.
 All critical analysis is formed around one basic assumption
Applying theory to practice
Theory and Practice
The information need cycle
Need, map, formulate question, source, find, evaluate, apply then again it comes to need.
Need: Determined by learning outcomes/information
d) “I have an assignment for which I need to find research”.
Map: Map all the possible conceptual pathways to developing a question which will
provide an answer. This is a keyword generation, critical creative thinking and language
skills.
I need something on group work becomes : I need information on the teacher role in
effective group work.
Source: Which information sources will provide the answer t my question?
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Involve critically choosing the appropriate information sources.

Find:
Require the development of a search strategy.
standard framework.
Evaluate.
Apply
Topic 131
Critical Analysis 2
Critical analysis will be influenced by:
- Level of support in the work environment.
- Time of critical analysis.
- Tools available for critical reflection.
Critical Analysis Strategies:
- There are different forms of reflection in different context.
- Busy practitioners might rely on reflection-in-action.
- Work in dialogical team context (to hear different perspective)
- Use critical incidents, case studies, reflective journals, practical exercises
Four Competences that Characterise the Critical Thinker:
- First competency is called “Clarification”. It means to identify the focus, analysis
arguments, ask and answer questions of clarification, define terms, judge
definitions, deal with equivocation and identify unstated assumptions
- Second competency is “Basis”. It means to judge the credibility of a source, make
and judge the observations.
- Third competency is “inference”. It means to deduce, judge deductions, induce,
judge inductions, make and judge value judgements.
- Forth competency is “Metacognition”. It means reason from premises,
assumptions and positions with which one disagrees or doubts without inferring
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with one’s thinking and integrating the other abilities in making and defending a
decision.
Topic 132
Context of Reflection
The context in which reflection (practice or teaching) takes place has a powerful
influence. It might even be “the single most important influence on learning and
reflection” (Boud and Walker, 1998, p.196). Boud and Walker argue that context has
been a “seriously underdeveloped” dimension of discussions on reflection, partly because
it is “so all-pervasive that it is difficult to recognise its influence”. Because it is taken-for-
granted, educators need to make the extra effort to explore the contextual influences
which both foster and inhibit the learning of reflective practice.
While institutions and professions embody the assumptions, practices, rules and values of
wider society, it is helpful to distinguish between two levels of context: the institutional
and/or professional, and the wider political and cultural. At the institutional/professional
level, teachers often work in busy, pressurised schools where space and time are at a
premium. Of crucial importance is the value attached to reflection by an institution or
profession. Within some institutions, resistance to critical reflection may be pervasive.
Boud and Walker
(1998) found it difficult to promote the use of reflective journals in an institutional setting
which emphasised competitive, cognitively-orientated assessments. Morley (2007, p.67)
describes “a complicit embrace of discourses of powerlessness” engaged in by group of
school teachers with whom she was working. They were reluctant to reflect on their own
autonomy and responsibility as they viewed this as “selling out and colluding with an
agenda that disadvantaged the teachers and held them responsible for what they saw were
the structural flaws in the school”.
At a broader political and cultural level, many questions arise. To what extent can
practitioners step outside the dominant ideological context? To what extent can they
avoid colluding with negative stereotypes, assumptions and practices? Are they able to
challenge inequality and oppression, particularly when these are enacted in subtle, unseen
ways? Might not educators sometimes collude with the dominant culture by guiding
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students’ reflection so that they avoid engaging with issues of power and control (Boud
and Walker, 1998)?
A further problem is raised by the Western socio-cultural origins of reflective practice
itself. People who write and talk about reflective practice often assume it to be flexible
enough to work across social and cultural differences, but this assumption needs to be
interrogated further (Gardner, Fook and White, 2006). Sung-Chan and Yuen-Tsang
(2006) write about their variable experience of teaching in China. They saw some
students responding negatively, and only then appreciated the potential incompatibility
between Western ideas of reflective practice and Chinese values. They highlight the need
for educators to be culturally sensitive as they seek to nurture reflective practice.
Lecture 20
The Practice of Reflection (Topic 133- 138)
Topic 133
How to be reflective
At times, it becomes a little difficult for a busy teacher to become reflective. There are a
number of tools available for a teacher to become a reflective practitioner. Some of these
tools are significant and will only take a few minutes of a teachers’ time to make
reflection enrich. There are four approaches that can help a practitioner develop better
reflective skills. These are: • Feedback • Participant observer • Empathy • Reflective
journal The most efficient approach to reflection is feedback. Feedback is central to the
process of reflection. It can be both verbal and written. Feedback can be received on
approaches to teaching and also on beliefs, values, skills and behaviors and the way relate
to others. The key question in terms of reflective feedback is asking others how I have
accurately perceived what I have seen and heard with more clarity. So by asking others to
provide with feedback on the practices is a very effective way to reflect. The question
then comes who should be asked to provide reflective feedback. It can be anyone;
student, colleague, someone more experienced or the line manager but someone who is
trustworthy. It is also advisable to ask for feedback from a range of people rather than
one person. It is also very important to remember that feedback should be very specific
not generic. It is good to ask yourself what I have learned today and then valuing your
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personal strengths and then regularly reviewing them not only gives confidence but
boosts up self- esteem as a teacher. It is important to review experiences from an
objective point of view rather than being subjective. (It means looking at things from
others point of view i.e. how others might perceive or view it. This strategy is called
‘participant observer’ approach. Another important thing is to have a lot of empathy. It
means to see, hear and feel what the other person is experiencing and another useful
strategy is keeping a journal. It is useful to have a record of experience and when you
want to look back at a particular experience after some time.
Topic 134
Types of Reflection for Reflective Practitioner
It is important to consider the process of reflection or the feedback process. It can be
personal or individual and can be shared with colleagues or families of students or
students themselves. Individual feedback: Some critical reflection is deeply personal and
can take some time for the individual to process information and reflect upon it before
sharing it with others. Shared Reflection: Shared reflection is very valuable especially it
is with other professionals and it is always good to share feedback with others. Feedback
and reflection to be productive cannot always be done alone or individual. There are a
number of approaches available to facilitate shared reflection. A very efficient approach
is to engage in dialogue and debate with other professionals and colleagues. This debate
is very valuable because it is very easy to conduct. Reflecting with Students’ families: It
can be of great value because reflecting with families is different. It can be in terms of the
values, culture and traditions that they might have and bring to school. Also, their
understanding of their children’s interests, strengths and abilities, their priorities or
aspirations for their children and their progress all can support teacher or reflective
practitioner to achieve what she/ he wants to achieve in terms of goals for students.
School parent and teacher make a triangle to make students’ learning happen. Therefore,
how parents and other professionals work together to progress towards children’s
learning and development is of great importance for the reflective practitioner.
Opportunities for learning for teachers’ occur in everyday experiences in the school and
classroom environment. A teacher must ask reflective questions to learners which are
open ended can be interpreted and does not require ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers must be asked.
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This can motivate learners to persist as well as encourage them to try new strategies and
experiences. A good way for reflection in classroom after asking questions can be
displaying or documenting children’s work. When children see their work being
displayed; it helps to make children’s reflection visible by including their words about
how they learned…
Topic: 135
Bloom's Taxonomy and Professional Careers
How can reflection be supported for a busy teacher. A useful scaffold for engaging with
reflection is ‘Bloom’s Taxonomy’. Bloom’s Taxonomy is divided into three domains of
learning i.e. • Cognitive domain (knowledge based) • Psychomotor domain (skill based) •
Affective domain (attitudes, feelings) Cognitive Domain: The cognitive domain is
divided into different levels. The lowest level is knowledge which is recalling of data or
information. This is an important part of reflective process because the reflective
practitioner needs to recall and describe experiences and link them to knowledge they
hold. At the highest level we have synthesis and evaluation of knowledge that is being
acquired. Synthesis and evaluation provide a high degree of critique and judgements of
information that is being gathered. At this level values of ideas are being interpreted and
extremely critical. Bloom’s Taxonomy provide a structure for reflection. The reflective
practitioner is a professional working in a highly dynamic environment and bloom’s
taxonomy can be used to develop individual careers. Companies and organizations
looking for reflective practitioners are interested in: • Analytical skills • Interpersonal
skills • Self -development • Practitioners who can reflect on their performance Therefore,
in terms of using Bloom’s Taxonomy to professional careers; some objectives need to be
set in. Objectives for reflection have to be very specific, measurable, action based,
realistic and time bound.
Topic: 136
Professional Development Plan
The practice of reflection can be supported with a professional development plan (PDP).
PDP is a way of recording, reflecting on and writing about the practical outcomes of
experiences and then reflecting on them through a writing process. It’s a very
personalized record of one’s career or experiences and can be used for cataloging of
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career development. It, therefore, becomes a very useful means of updating a curriculum
vitae and as a record can be checked back on the skills and knowledge acquired over the
years. It personalizes learning by encouraging the teacher to own and value their
development and achievements. It enables the individual to demonstrate coherence in
their professional development and plan for the future. A simple format for professional
development is to use a frame work of questions like what am I good at? What am I not
so good at? What practices I want to continue? And what areas I wish to improve in? In
simple words it’s a reflection of one’s experiences. The process of professional
development framework engages the reflective practitioner in a well-defined process
which can be very efficient and supportive.
The process or the cycle of professional development plan is very important for a
reflective practitioner because it deals with the skills that will be developed, the time
frame required and then the feedback on whether the practitioner is good at developing
the skill or not. The PDP demands reflection at every stage which enables the reflective
practitioner to overcome the shortcomings by making changes to the professional/
academic development plan for future reference.
The key thing while reflecting on the PDP is what have you learnt from the process?
What other things have you learnt from the process of maintaining the PDP? What ideas
have you had for developing other areas of your own practice?
Topic: 137
Importance of reflection
The question arises why is there a need to be reflective or to be engaged in activities
outside classroom? The answer is simply because it enables professional development
which is meaningful and keyed into our direct experiences and it helps us in the new
notion of 21st century which is professions being part of knowledge economy where skills
and the experiences are more substantial but at the same time less tangible. So
undertaking professional development is becoming a prime-requisite because we need to
show as teachers that we are highly professionals. It enables us to maintain quality of
what we are doing. We can focus and reflect on why things are going wrong or well.
Reflection then includes hard, logical and detailed systematic thinking and a soft
initiative insight or thinking around issues and attitudes and feelings and these two things
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within a framework with an outcome of action leads to a plan of critical evaluation of all
the available evidence.
We do not reflect on what went well or what went wrong rather we reflect on the whys
and hows of these questions and begin to think about these questions in a bigger context
of quality and improvement. So the reflective practitioner needs to develop self-
awareness and their role as a professional, as a colleague and as an individual within a
team or a group setting. He needs to be very creative in terms of interpretation of
experience and the development of solution to complex problems or issues facing.
Therefore, a good outcome is developing strong set of skills for problem solving and
critical thinking.
Reflective practice is a way to develop skills for synthesis and evaluation of knowledge.
As practitioner in classroom we are learning new things all the time and using higher
level of Bloom’s thinking can help develop abilities to be creative around what we do.
Topic: 138
Ghayle's process of reflection
The practice of reflection can be supported by Ghayle’s process of development. This
process is focused on certain key aspects of experiences a teacher has in class. It’s
essentially looking at ‘Good Evidence’ and what is important in at collecting evidence.
This care and attention helps the reflective practitioner set a standard for their reflection
and practice and this standard can be reflected in professional standard. It therefore, helps
the reflective practitioner to demonstrate their competence and their achievement of
standards.
The important aspect of the process is to make it personally meaningful. It’s not just
engaging in the process because we have to. It’s about engaging to reflect and improve
because it interests us. It needs to be very insightful and relevant to what we do and
ideally connected to our other experiences.
If we look at the Ghayle’s process of reflection it is learning from own experiences-
Ghayle has divided this process into three parts.
First part is called ‘Navel Gazing’ which is looking closely at our own experiences
internally and being honest with ourselves and improving on what has been done. Navel
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Gazing is about finding connections and re-assembling them. It supports reflective

practitioner in finding justifications on what is happening in classroom.
Second level is learning from day to day experiences- which Ghayle calls as ‘Learning
from the day’s chaos’’. This leads reflective practitioner to reason through and become
more aware in finding connections and reason through the experiences and in this way
the reflective practitioner is gaining confidence in work which ultimately leads to
professional growth.
The third level of this process is ‘Talking about you do with others’ which means
learning from collaboration with others. Its seeking constructive feedback from others
and understanding own feelings and letting go of personal prejudice. It means working
hard and dwelling on mistakes.
Ghayle’s process of development sees the reflective practitioner as someone who does
something and is automatically reflective which means that the process of reflection is for
life-time and the practitioner is always reviewing on what happened and asks questions as
to ‘why’, ‘how’, ‘where’ and ‘what’ and the skills which can be taken forward.
The best reflective practitioners are constantly learning, evaluating and refining their
practice, even after years of experience.
Lecture 21
Ways of Knowledge Generation (Topic 139 to 144)
Topic 139
Ways of Knowledge Generation
Experimentation
- The main purpose of the activity is to generate positive results (i.e. to make things
work).
- There may be abstraction but it is functional to the effort of design.
- Most of the technological advancement until the 17th Century was achieved
through experimentation.
Experimentation
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Design
Action
(abstraction)
Evaluation
of Result
Speculation
- When we try to think beyond our current knowledge frontier, we are speculating.
- The theorem is a formal method of speculation developed by the Greeks.
- The core of the theorem is: if A then B; a is a hypothesis and B should be proved.
- Speculation can be very important for generating hypothesis.
Topic 140
Nurturing relationships
- Critically reflective learning is nurtured by relationships between teacher and
learner.
- Powell (2004) identified the optimal relationships above.
These relationships are described as;
- Mutual
- Open
- Challenging
- Contextually aware
- Characterised by dialogue
Picture
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With time, the teacher can move from high levels of support for development to self
directed development. With time the teacher moves to more intuitive processes for
development.
Self- directed learning
- Individual take initiative and responsibility of learning.
- Individual select, manage and assess their own learning.
- Motivation is critical.
- Independence in setting goals and defining what is worthwhile to learn.
- Peers provide mentoring and advice/collaboration.
Topic 141
Scientific Method
- The purpose of the scientific method is to falsify theoretical hypotheses through
experience.
- It is possibly the single most important cognitive innovation in history.
Scientific Method
Hypotheses Design
Evaluation Experiment
Statistical Analysis
- It is a method for establishing the relation among variables, or verifying a model
based on the observation of samples of an universe.
- The data results come from observation of reality without changing it.
_______________________________________________________________________
- Statistical analysis is the key when it is mot possible to experiment with the object
of research, such as human being.
Topic: 142
SECI Cycle
 The cycle SECI was developed by Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi as a
way of generating knowledge by trandforming it, from tacit knowledge to
explicit and vice versa.
 If we have looked at the bottom, Knowledge is generated and internalized

by the reflective practitioner. It just required experience but through
discussions with colleagues and through further experiences within the
context. The knowledge through socialization starts to become much
clearer to us. The reflective practitioner through dialogues and
socialization begins to externalize the knowledge. It becomes explicit
within the context if the work externalizing the knowledge actually make
it more clear and helps us understudied in the right depth and detail and as
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we think more about it and externalize the knowledge through the

socializing process. We began to find out points of comparison and
contract with the knowledge.
Topic: 143 Modelling and Conceptual Innovation
 Modelling can be used for two main purpose:
1. Theory validation
It is a practical way of working that helps reduce stress, enhance dignity
and increase happiness. Validation is built on an empathetic attitude and a
holistic view of individuals. When one can "step into the shoes" of another
human being and "see through their eyes," one can step into the world of
disoriented very old people and understand the meaning of their
sometimes bizarre behavior.
2. Forecasting:
Forecasting is the process of making predictions of the future based
on past and present data and analysis of trends. A commonplace
example might be estimation of some variable of interest at some
specified future date. Prediction is a similar, but more general term.
Both might refer to formal statistical methods employing time series,
cross-sectional or longitudinal data, or alternatively to less formal
judgmental methods. Usage can differ between areas of application:
for example, in hydrology, the terms "forecast" and "forecasting" are
sometimes reserved for estimates of values at certain specific future
times, while the term "prediction" is used for more general estimates,
such as the number of times floods will occur over a long period.
Modelling and Concept Mapping
 In ‘’A New Kind of Science’’ and ‘’Mathematic’’ uses Wolfram uses
modelling for exploring in nature.
 The importance of modelling will increase in the future of education.
 By modelling practitioner will built theories of practice whose foundations
will be in the theories of teaching and learning.
Using Concept Maps
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 Concept maps are a graphic representation of knowledge.

 Creating concept maps can provide you with insight into how to organise
and represent knowledge.
 Concept maps include concepts, usually enclosed in circle or boxes, and
relationships between concepts, indicate by a connecting line, Words on
the line words and…..
 Using Concept Maps specify the relationship between concepts.
Topic: 144
Design
 Designs are artefacts that contain great amounts of knowledge embedded
in them.
 Designs are generated in a dialogue with the situation and with
stakeholders.
 The design process is an interaction between an idea (with values
imbedded in it), the characteristics of the situation and the expectations of
stakeholders.
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 The knowledge contained in Designs is more visible for the ‘’expert’’ in

the same discipline.
 The capacity of reframing is decisive for the process of design.
Lecture 22
Theories, Knowledge and Practice (RP in School) (Topic 145 to 150)
Topic: 145
Teacher Professionalism
 Is good teaching a consequence of reflective practice?
 ‘’Reflective practice is the habit of inquiring and investigating a problem
situation in order to understand how to frame a solution’’ (Donald Schon,
1983)
 Reflective practice is a way of studying your own experiences to improve
the way you work. It is very useful for health professionals who want to
carry on learning throughout their lives. The act of reflection is a great
way to increase confidence and become a more proactive and qualified
professional.
Assertion; Reflective Practice Boosts Teacher Professionalism:
 Calibre: We need to think reflective practice from some certain
viewpoints in term of professionalism. For example we need to think
about high reflective practice can boosts teachers professionalism can
improve and sustain teacher professionalism. One quality we need to look
at here is caliber.
 To challenge assumptions of pedagogical practice, be current with
established…
 Principle of practice; refine the ‘art’ of teaching.
 Discourse: Teacher professionalism through reflective practice abides
discourse.
 Discourse a dialogue helps us in cultivates professional confidence-articles
professional beliefs; learn from others.
 Knowledge Creation
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 Think and observe critically; frame and challenge theories and models.
3 Levels of Teacher Knowledge and Inquiry (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999)
 Knowledge for Practice
 Knowledge in Practice
 Knowledge of Practice
Topic: 146
The Moral-Ethical Dimension in RP
The following dimensions are very important for reflective practitioner:
 Our Attitudes
 Open-mindedness A reflective practitioner should respect for diversity
Humility Hope in the learner.
 Responsibility A reflective practitioner needs to consider consequences
and make meaning of experiences of teacher and learner.
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 Engagement (Whole-heartedness) Curious about subject and impact of

teaching on learning. The reflective practitioner is somebody who is being
very critical. And asking questions about the role as the teacher.
 Teaching as an Artistry Refines and hones the craft.
Topic: 147
Teacher knowledge and enquiry
Becoming a Reflective Practitioner is then linked with knowledge, theory and practice. It
is easy to think of it in terms of teacher knowledge and inquiry. We know that the process
for teachers is very much reflexive. The purpose for a reflective practitioner is to be
active contributors to the community in which they work. What we need to think about is
where this overcomes together in terms of developing as a professional.
Model for Reflective Practitioner
This model is of reflective practice based on knowledge development:
We as teachers are working in a community, we can think of it as an eco-system. There

are different approaches from which we can build knowledge and therefore
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professionalism. For example, Research defines direction of professional growth. We can

also think of it in terms of training capacity building. This is a very often approach which
is taken by schools in terms of building professionalism in teachers. We can also look at
it in terms of other tools that teachers can use in the infra-structure which schools
provide. Ideas incubation: where ideas are defined and tested. They can think of a school
as eco-system where knowledge creation and sharing occurs, where colleagues are
working together. There is knowledge sharing also in ways of magazines, presentations
etc.
Within this model, we have to think for a while that where does reflective practice fit in
to this knowledge acquisition process. Here we will discuss another model to describe
this:
Reflective practice has two key components:

1. Systematic enquiry: It is enquiry into professionalism in terms of teaching. Its
enquiry into have an individual is not only participating but also contributing to
educational fraternity, to the community as a whole.
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2. Metacognition: Thinking about the process of professionalization and

participation.
When these two things come together within the profession to enhance student learning
and promote teacher growth.
Teacher Growth Model
Teacher Growth Model is therefore, multi-faceted nature of teacher’s work, this implies
that having a repertoire of strategies and content mastery is not sufficient for a teacher to
be a competent professional in the 21st Century. Teachers will have to pursue professional
development through multiple modes of learning, which include reflective practice,
research-based practice, conferencing and monitoring.
Topic: 148
Becoming a Reflective Practitioner: Communities of Practice - 1
“Communities of practice are groups of people who share information, insight,
experience and tools about an area of common interest.” (Etienne Wenger)
- The Community is, its membership, relationships and interactions.
- The ‘Domain or context’ its identity and focus.
- The ‘Practice’, its methods, knowledge and expertise.
- The ‘value’, it bring to its members, the willingness to learn, contribute to
existing knowledge and practice.
Why establish a Community of practice in schools?
- A mechanism to promote rapid sharing of knowledge and expertise across diverse
interest groups.
- Provides a forum to explore and test ideas.
- Opportunity to generate new knowledge and practice.
- Is responsive to emerging issues and opportunities.
Topic: 149
Becoming a Reflective Practitioner: Communities of Practice - 2
Communities of practice are useful for a teacher becoming a reflective practitioner.
- CoPs support professional’s ability to generate and manage acquired knowledge
from experience.
Community of Practice & Knowledge Management:
- Solving known problems with known solutions.
- Sharing & transferring the right ‘know-how’
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- Applying good practices and key learning.

- Building relationships and trust
- Making it easy to find the right people who know
- Leveraging your organization’s collective intellect
Four primary strategic intents for communities of practice:
- Helping: provide a forum for community members to help each other solve every
day work problems.
- Best Practice: develop and disseminate best practices, guidelines and procedures
for their members to use.
- Knowledge stewarding: organise, manage and steward a body of knowledge
from which members can draw.
- Innovation: create breakthrough ideas, knowledge and practice.
Critical success factors of CoPs:
- Reduction in hours needed to solve problems
- Decrease learning curve
- Decrease rework and prevent reinvention
- Increase innovative breakthrough ideas
- Avoidance of costly mistakes
- Improved speed of response
Topic: 150
Becoming a Reflective Practitioner: Practice Episodes
The elements of reflective practice can be simply labelled as:
1. Antecedents
2. Theories of Practice
3. Practice episodes
Practice episodes are comprised of:
- Intentions
- Actions
- Outcomes
These form an interactive cycle of factors providing the substance of each practice
episode.
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Practice episodes as interactive cycles:

A dynamic relationship where:
- Actions reflect intentions
- Realities reflect actions
- Intentions reflect outcomes
The cultural Milieu (Abtecedants):
- Educational background
- Social background
- Religious background
- Economic Background
- Historical Background
The cultural milieu includes all of those elements shaping how an individual looks at and
interprets the world.
Reflective practice introduces a Sound Dynamic
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Reflective practice uses the information gathered from practice episodes to influence the
teacher’s theories of practice:
Theories of Practice Episodes

Practice
But this is not enough …

- While integrating theory to practice and practice episodes is an important
contribution of reflective practice, the antecedents out of which teachers operate
need to be incorporated into decision making.
Reflective practice incorporates the antecedents by introducing a “feedback loop” so that

what teachers learn in practice episodes can directly inform theories of practice as well as
their own antecedents. The development of professional knowledge…
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Lecture 23
The importance of self-awareness
Topic: 151
How does RP support professional practice? The Conscious Competence model
How does RP support professional practice? • Consider the conscious competence model
• 1. Unconscious Incompetence Not aware of the skill (and lack of skills) and its
relevance The Conscious Competence Model
2. Conscious Incompetence (awareness of the existence and relevance of the skill)
3. Conscious competence can perform a skill at will
4. Unconscious Competence The skill is so practiced that it becomes second nature
The Competence Model
1.Demonstrates how the teacher moves through different levels of awareness
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2. The teacher can repeat any stage of the model given the right circumstances e.g.
Teaching a new subject = unconscious incompetence.
The model highlights two factors that affect our thinking as we learn a new skill:
Consciousness (awareness) and skill level (competence). According to the model we
move through the following levels as we build competence in a new skill: Unconsciously
unskilled –we don’t know that we don’t have this skill or that we need to learn it.
Unconsciously unskilled we know that we don’t have this skill. We know that we have
this skill. Unconsciously skilled- we don’t know that we have this skill (it just seems
easy). This creates the ladder of learning: Referring to the model either as a matrix or as a
ladder helps the reflective practitioner in a number of ways.
Topic: 152
The Conscious-Competence model
• At this level, you are blissfully ignorant, you have a complete lack of knowledge and
skills in a specific area and you’re unaware of this. Your confidence therefore far exceeds
your abilities. • To remove out of level 1, use tools like a personal SWOT analysis
Training Needs Assessment to identify your strengths and weakness and to understand
which skills you need to learn. • As part of this, ask other people for their input, so that
you can uncover weaknesses and skill needs that you might otherwise miss. • Also make
sure that you understand your learning objectives there’s no point learning skills in areas
that don’t align with your personal or work goals. Level 2- Consciously Unskilled • by
this stage, you have discovered that you need to learn new skills. You realize that others
are much more competent than you are, and that they can easily do things that you are
struggling with. • This level can be demoralizing, causing you to lose confidence or even
give up on your learning efforts. Therefore, it’s important to stay positive at this stage.
Level 3. Consciously Skilled • at this level, you know that you have acquired the skills
and knowledge you need. You put your learning into practice regularly and you gain even
more confidence as you use your new skills. • You still need to concentrate when you
perform these activities but as you get more practice and experience these activities
become increasingly automatic, Level 4. Consciously Skilled • at this level, you use your
new skills effortlessly and you perform tasks without conscious effort. You are
completely confident of success. • Once you master one set of skills, its importance to
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learn more if you want to continue to grow. • A good way to do this is to teach these new
skills to others in your organization. • This will keep information fresh in your mind,
deepen your understanding and give you a rewarding way to pass this knowledge on to
others.
Topic: 153
Learning to learn
• Ability to pursue and persist in learning
• To organize one’s own learning
• Effective management of time and information, both individually and in groups
• Awareness of one’s learning process and needs.
• Identifying available opportunities
• Ability to overcome obstacles in order to learn successfully
. • Grouping, processing and assimilating new knowledge and skills as well as seeking
and making use of guidance.
• To build on prior leaning and life experience in order to use and apply knowledge skills
in a variety of contexts
• Motivation and confidence are crucial to an individual’s competence Learning
Perspectives
• Learning orientations
1. Individual
2. Group or team
3. Organizational Learning Approaches
• Causes of situations • Not subjects
Topic: 154
The Jo-Hari Window 1 (self-evaluation) 1
The Jo-Hari Window (Self- Evaluation in Practice) • The Johore Window is a
communication model that is used to improve understanding • For individuals • Between
individuals • The work “Johari” is taken from the names of Joseph Luft and Harry
Ingham, who developed the model in 1955. • That you can build trust with others by
disclosing information about yourself. • There are two key ideas behind the tool: • That,
with the help of feedback from others you can learn about yourself and come to terms
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with issues. Explaining The Jo-Hari Window • The Johari Window is shown as a four
quadrant grid, which you can see in the following diagram. • 1. Open area (quadran 1).
This area represents the things that you know about yourself and the things that other
know about you. This includes your behavior knowledge, skills, attitudes and public
history. • Blind area (quadrant 2). This area represents the things that you aren’t aware of
but are known by others. This can involve simple information that you do not know or it
can include deeper issues. • Hide Area (quadrant 3) This area represents the things that
you know about yourself but that others don’t know. • Unknown area (Quadrant 4) This
area represents the things that are unknown by you and are unknown by others. • The
ultimate goal of the Johari Window is to enlarge the open area.
Topic: 155
Using the Jo-Hari Window
Using The Jo- Hari Window • The Johari Window is a communication model that is used
to improve understanding • For individual • Between individuals The process of
enlarging your open area involves self-disclosure. Put simply, the more you open up your
thoughts, feelings, dreams and goals, the greater will be your self-awareness. There will
also be greater trust within the team. An importance aspect of enlarging your open area is
accepting feedback from others. This feedback helps you learn things about yourself that
others can see but that you can’t. This is important for professional growth. Self-
assessment is an integral part of a teacher’s professional growth and development. It
encourages the teacher to identify his or her own strengths and weakness. Prepares
teachers for a discussion on performance and improvement. Could lead the teacher to
collaborative planning of goals for continued professional growth. The objectives of
teacher self- evaluation are teacher’s satisfaction an excellence in education.
Topic: 156
The Jo-Hari Window (team context)
The Jo-Hari Window in the Team Context • you have to keep in mind that established
team members will have larger open areas than new team members. • New Team
Members start smaller open areas because they haven’t yet had the opportunity to share
much information about themselves. Feedback • the main importance of feedback in this
process can’t be overstated. It’s only by receiving feedback from others that your Blind
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area will be reduced and your open area will be expanded. • Group members should
strive to help other team members to expand their open area by offering constructive
feedback. • The size of the open area can also be expanded vertically downwards into the
Hidden area, as people disclose information and feelings to the group. • You open area is
expanded vertically with self-disclosure and horizontally with feedback from others on
your team. • By encouraging healthy self-disclosure and sensitive feedback, you can
become part of a stronger and more effective team.
Lecture 24
Understanding Self and Others(Topic 157 to 162)
Topic: 157
Professional Identity
Professional Identity • What is it? • A more or less conscious apprehension of what
constitutes good and professional teaching and learning (Huggen 2005) • Develop
through participation in professional communities in cooperation with others on concrete
tasks (Wenger 1998) • Knowledge and skills are transmitted through language an
communication Vygosky 1978) • Theoretical perspectives and the habit to reflect must be
experienced by teachers as normal teaching activities. • Reflection in Teacher
Development • Practice oriented reflection (practice as training) • Based on experiences
and what works • Theory is not important • Professional reflection (practice as education)
• Critical reflection, self-reflection • Theory is an important tool. • Professional reflection
is necessary to educate authoritative independent teachers • Reflection in advance •
Central to intellectual and professional growth • Reflection is mostly
instrumental/practice oriented, focusing on “technical” Aspects and what the students
could have done better.
Topic: 158
Developing Professional Identity
Developing Professional Identity • Meaning is constructed through communication and
cooperation in concrete situations • By participating in normal teacher activities together
with competent others as legitimate peripheral members • Mentors are competent
teachers serving as models for the reflective practitioner. • Professional growth, thus
implies that reflective practitioners meet mentors who focus on professional aspects of
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teachers work • Experience critical reflection / thinking and pedagogical argumentation

as part of professional teaching practice • Assumption are verbalized and challenged. •
Experiences with theory based practice will inform the reflective practitioner that critical
reflection and theoretical perspectives are normal parts of professional competence. •
Such experiences will, thus be expressions of competence and good teaching
(professional identity) • The construction of a professional identity and its development
are individual maturation processes • It begin when one enters training for the
professional as a novice and these processes evolve through many development stages,
Until finally one perceives one’s professional identity
Topic: 159
Multiple Intelligence Theory and the Reflective Practitioner
The benefits of utilizing (MI) theory in educator professional are multifold
1. It emphases the process of learning in delivering desired outcomes
2. It promotes thoughtful consideration of learning experienced in a variety of diverse
modalities
3. It generates a broad survey of experiences across levels and disciplines
4. It encourages development of strategies beyond the strengths and interests of the
teacher
5. It provides a varied pacing of activities throughout the development experience
6. It fosters authentic, real-world experiences that promote deeper understanding
7. We can represent the multiple intelligences diagrammatically.
Topic: 160
Multiple Intelligence Theory and the Reflective Practitioner • There are now nine Mls
Multiple Intelligence Theory and the reflective practitioner • How does the reflective
practitioner’s approach their professional identity growth when applying MI theory? •
Let’s Consider each path to Growing professional identity • Path to growing professional
identity
• Visual/Spatial: Learning visually and organizing ideas spatially. Seeing concepts in
action in order to understand them. The ability to “see” things in one’s mind in planning
to create a product or solve a problem.
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Verbal/Linguistic • Learning through the spoken and written word. This intelligence was
always valued in the traditional classroom and in traditional assessment of intelligence
and achievement.
• Mathematical/Logical • Learning through reasoning an problem solving. Also highly
valued in the traditional classroom where students were asked to adapted to logically
sequenced delivery of instruction.
• Bodily/kinaesthetic learning through interaction with one’s environment. This
intelligence in not the domain of overly active learners. It promotes understanding
through concrete experience.
Topic: 161
• Musical/rhythmic learning through patterns, rhythms and music. This includes not only
auditory learning but also the identification of patterns through all the senses.
• Intrapersonal learning through feeling, values and attitudes. This is a decidedly
affective component of learning through which we place value on what we learn and take
ownership for our learning
• Interpersonal learning through interaction with others. Not being simply talkative or
overly social. This intelligence promotes collaboration and working cooperative with
others
. • Naturalistic learning through classification categories. The naturalist intelligence picks
up on subtle differences in meaning. It is not simply the study of nature. It can be used in
all areas of study.
• Existential learning by seeing the big picture. Why are we here? What is my place in
my family, school and community? This intelligence seeks connections to real world
understanding and application of new learning.
Topic: 162
Developing professional identities through relationships
How does multiple intelligence translate into activities/actions for the reflective
practitioner?
Verbal Lecture, reading, writing, reporting, presenting, reciting, discussing, online
discussion Logical Problem-solving, brainstorming, hypothesizing, investigating,
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experimenting, Socratic method, online searching. Visual Observing, symbolizing,

drawing, outlining, conceiving, imagining, visualizing, video. Kinesthetic Building,
imitating, performing. Musical Listening, patterning, mirroring, repeating Intrapersonal
Supporting, advising, advocating, characterizing, defending, evaluating, judging,
challenging Interpersonal Sharing, leading, helping, managing, collaborating,
influencing, team-building Naturalistic Categorizing, contrasting, classifying, organizing,
semantic/concept mapping, graphing • For any sort of identity-building activity, you
should focus on at least there intelligence but no more than five intelligence.
Lecture 25
Reflecting and Connecting with Lifelong Learning (Topic 163 to 168)
Topic: 163 – Becoming a Reflective Practitioner: Teacher identity
Teachers as Life Long Learners
There are domains and proficiencies that the reflective practitioner needs to engage with
as a lifelong learner. There are domains and proficiencies that the reflective practitioner
needs to engage with as a lifelong learner.
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Knowledge
- includes general education courses that cultivate intellectual and practical skills in
written and oral.
- Communication, quantitative literacy, critical thinking and wellness.
- Must be thoroughly versed in subject matter and have sufficient preparation in a
major academic area related to the field of specialization.
- Reflective practitioners must be able to demonstrate the ability to apply content.
- Knowledge, pedagogical competencies and critical thinking in educational
settings.
- Teacher additionally must possess knowledge about the materials available for the
teaching of their subject matter.
Skills:
- Professional knowledge is vast in scope, begins with the pre-service aspect of
teacher preparation and expands.
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- Commensurately with experience

Examples of practical knowledge include:
- An awareness of the climate, issues and politics that affect the role of teaching, a
passion for teaching
- An ongoing curiosity about the world.
- The confidence to become a risk-taker and change agent
- A belief that all students can learn
The teacher as a lifelong learner is always extending practical knowledge.
Dispositions:
- The internal values, beliefs and attitudes that are manifested in patterns of
professional behaviours.
- Teachers demonstrate classroom behaviours that are consistent with the ideal of
fairness and the belief that all students can learn.
Topic: 164
Teacher as lifelong learner
Within the domain there are proficiencies that the reflective practitioner can focus on.
Knowledge Communication
 Appropriate written and verbal communication skills including articulation,
expressive language, voice quality, usage and grammar.
 A teacher must also be aware of the messages relayed via nonverbal
communication additionally, an educator must be able to select and utilized
appropriate communication media.
 Clarity in presentations, feedback =, direction of learning and goal setting
contribute to the educator’s ability to structure and reinforce learning.
 Communication skills allow the educator to accomplish these goals and
communicate enthusiasm to learners both about the subject and about learning.
The teacher as a lifelong learner is continually refining communication skills with
students, parents and colleagues.
Knowledge: Critical thinking
 Teachers must practice critical thinking in all content areas: they must be able to
ask appropriate questions, gather relevant information, efficiently and creativity
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sort through this information , reason logically from this information and come to
reliable and trustworthy conclusions
 Additionally the teacher is bale to model and teach the process of critical thinking
and inspire students to be responsible citizens who contribute to society.
 The capacity for empathy, a belief that every child can learn attention to
individual needs, sensitivity to home and community issues ability to be at ease in
the presence of children or young adults and the ability to provide a positive
caring atmosphere for learning are examples of these skills.
Skills interpersonal skills
 The teacher also must possess interpersonal skills that foster peer collaboration. In
the continual process of learning , the teacher must be willing to seek help advice
or solace from peers. The teacher revises and expands interpersonal skills on a
continual basis
Topic No. 165:
Teacher Identity
Teacher competency framework is important as it enable teachers develop their identity.
The framework is for lifelong learning and is continuous, supportive, stimulating and
empowers teachers. It evolves overtime and lasts for the life span of a teacher. It is not
theoretical in nature and helps develop confidence in the teacher development process.
The competency framework is very useful for a reflective practitioner because it helps
defines not only the components of teacher identity but also the interaction of those
components. The given components are interlinked. In the given framework we can see a
link between all the shown components which are:
 Interpersonal and communication skills
 Professionalism
 Student focus
 Pedagogical knowledge
 Theory based practice
 Practice based learning
It is important to see that how these components work not only individually but
collectively with one another. It is very much active in nature and help to set and
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accomplish certain goals with are SMARTER i.e. specific, measurable, realistic,
timed, energizing and relevant. Since it is about setting goals; some goals are
essential goals, some are problem solving and some are innovative goals.
Topic No. 166
Work based learning:
What is work based learning?
There are many words associated with work- based learning i.e. CPD, work related
learning, professional development, learning through work etc. A spectrum occurs in
terms of work based learning. If we look closely at the continuum, it shows two
perspectives
 Narrow perspective
 Broad perspective
The narrow perspective talks about learning in the work place and is driven by employer
needs and motivations rather than individuals. The broader perspective shows learning
relates to work and is driven by individuals not by employer. So work based learning is
complex in nature and has the ability to extend the knowledge and abilities of teachers.
Work based learning helps teachers become better reflective practitioner and can be
formal or informal in nature. It is about improving performance from a personal
individual perspective. It can be very much about developing skills in a new work setting.
It is very much about investing in learning to bring knowledge to work place.
Topic No. 167:
Work Based learning 2
The model of work based learning shows that certain outcomes needs to be consider
while using this particular model. The flexibility of the model is unique and helps form
the pedagogical features which are outcomes and process driven curriculum. It is learner
centered and incorporates learning contract agreed by learner and school to identify
outcomes. The most important feature, however, is the focus on ‘how to learn’ and the
experiential nature and relates directly to teachers’ practice. It has immediate benefits for
teachers and they get support from other colleagues and mentors. It blends nicely with
evidence based assessment.
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Certain factors affect work based learning. The most significant are accreditation and
assessment which means how is learning in the work place assessed and how is that
assessment valid? And secondly the amount of support provided by employer. These
factors influence a lot to work based learning
Topic No. 168:
Key Issues and Challenges of Work based learning
A number of factors influence work based learning. The biggest is the communication
gap which needs to be overcome by practitioners. Sharing of ideas and discussing issues
at hand always help professionals. It helps in expanding range of pedagogical skills and
encourages good practice. Work based learning needs to be some standards in order to be
successful. Some of the guidelines are given below:
It has to be structured and measurable. It has to be incremental.
Support is very important as it provides proper training and planning
Has to be supported and connected with other activities
Work based learning is highly successful with continuous reflection. Reflection is an
active process and is about contributing professional knowledge to work place. It is
critical process where teachers’ set some goals for themselves and understands the
effective practice. Therefore, the learning is then very focused and diverse.
Lecture 26
The Socratic Method for RP(Topic 169 to 174)
Topic No. 169:
Socratic Method
A useful strategy for developing teacher identity through reflective practice is the
Socratic Method. Socrates developed this approach to questioning reality based on
thorough understanding of skills for questioning and cross examining evidence in order to
arrive at the truth of a situation and a reflective practitioner can use this approach to help
the reflective approach. It is a process of developing thinking skills and the ability to
reason deeply and thoroughly. The focus is on giving students questions, not answers. It
is an effective thinking tool and help promote an inquiring, probing mind by continually
probing into the subject with questions. Fortunately, the abilities we gain by focusing on
the elements of reasoning in a disciplined and self-assessing way, and the logical
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relationships that result from such disciplined thought, prepare us for Socratic
questioning.
The six steps in Socratic Questioning are:
 Which topic to choose to question
 What examples can we find to help us explore the experience?
 Which example suits the topic best?
 Can you explain the examples in detail? (Can be in verbal or written form)
 Examining the underlying principles
 How to make broad understanding from a specific question? This is also known
as regressive abstraction.
It is useful for the reflective practitioner to see that the Socratic Method continuously
relies on questioning and answering back and forth and through question and answer;
the reflective practitioner will begin to understand and interpret situations and
experiences very deeply.
Topic No. 170:
Using the Socratic Method
Using the Socratic Method relies on a systematic way of thinking and questioning. There
are four steps in this process. The true goal of the method is not on finding answers but
on the process itself and engaging in a critical questioning inquiring mode and when the
reflective practitioner engages in the Socratic Method; the individual teacher becomes
independent in terms of professionalism. Hence, leads to a regular process of thinking
and rigorous practice.
The four steps are:
Eliciting- to elicit meaning and detail from a learning situation. The question that
reflective practitioner can ask at this stage is: What do you already think at this point?
Clarify- to get a better appreciation of the components which are creating the learning
situation. So at this stage; the teacher might ask question about their role in the learning
situation- The question for this stage can be: What do you mean by x?
Test- It can be observing, talking to others- How does x account for y? How do you
know? Why should I believe that? Can this be true?
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Decide- deciding whether the proposition is true or not- whether it should be accepted or
rejected- The question for this particular stage can be: Can you form a new proposition
given what you have just learned?
Topic No. 171
Steps of Socratic Method
The steps of Socratic Method are closely linked to Bloom’s Taxonomy which moves
from lower order questions to higher order thinking questions. Socratic Method can very
easily be applied to Bloom’s Taxonomy. The stages of Bloom’s Taxonomy are:
Remembering
Understanding
Applying
Analyzing
Evaluating
Creating
If we look at this taxonomy closely; questions relating to remembering and understanding
can be describing something- an event or an experience. This is the elicitation stage of
Socratic Method. Then questions relating to the middle level of taxonomy i.e. applying
and analyzing. These can be linked with the second and the third stage of Socratic
Method and then relating Bloom’s higher order thinking evaluating and creating. This
can be used and applied in Socratic Method to begin to make decisions and develop a
deeper level of knowledge. It engages the reflective practitioner in a process which is
both deep and powerful
Topic No. 172:
Questions applied to Socratic Method
There are questions that can be applied to the Socratic Method. Questions are a very
powerful tool and can be applied to various levels of cognition i.e. from lower order
thinking to higher order thinking. There are various types of questions that need to be
considered as they provide a strong platform for the reflective practitioner to use when
they are applying the Socratic Method. The various types of questions are:
 Questions of purpose- These force us to define our task.
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 Questions of Information- These force us to look at our sources of information as

well as the quality of our information. These demand the reflective practitioner to
look for evidences, look for title in a particular situation
 Questions of Interpretation- force the reflective practitioner to interpret to take the
information and begin to make meaning from that information and view the
situation from various angles and perspectives
 Questions of Assumption- force the reflective practitioner to look at information
understand it and then to reflect internally and what assumptions we assumptions
we have which are affecting the information.
 Questions of Implication means that reflective practitioner needs to follow where
information is leading and begin to predict outcomes and conclusions from the
information.
 Questions of point of view are about the reflective practitioner examining their
own concepts in relation to question so the practitioner is not removed from the
process of reflection and experience but understand the connection and the
interrelationships.
 Questions of Relevance force us to make decisions about how thinking and
evidence is using so we can make better decisions at the questions we are forming
 Questions of Accuracy help reflective practitioner to evaluate and test for truth
and correctness. Means the questions we are asking help us to see the reality of a
situation rather than be blind towards it.
 Questions of Precision force the reflective practitioner to give details and be
specific. Means to be accurate.
 Questions of consistency force the reflective practitioner to consider data and
information over time to see that information is consistent
 Questions of Logic help the reflective practitioner to consider the situation as a
whole and how questions connect in a sequential and logical way leading the
teacher from a starting point to the ending point.
All these question types help reflective practitioner to develop sense from lower order
thinking to higher order thinking.
Topic No. 173:
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Mnemonic
Questions are perhaps the most useful component of applying the Socratic Method to
reflective practice. There is a very simple mnemonic (Mnemonic is a learning technique
that helps to retain information in human memory- for example alphabet and color songs
children sing to remember alphabets, colors, shapes and numbers) Over here, let’s take
the example of paper clip mnemonic it can help move thinking from lower order to
higher order thinking. Three types of questions are often used to develop thinking from
lower to higher order. These questions are:
 Exploratory- initial questions that help us to understand the situation- they show
us how much we know and may be used to explore a new topic or review past
discussions that may relate to the current issue.
 Spontaneous- are a response to a particular situation or a question- They can be
used to explore our beliefs and assumptions and allow us to reflect on the issue at
hand.
 Focused- are questions that help us narrow the discussion from a broad topic and
get more clarity- moving from broad ideas to specific ideas.
So if take the mnemonic paper clip which help guide the questions process. Let’s take
PAPER CLIP in this way:
P Precision questions
Can you be more specific?
A Accuracy questions?
How could we test that?
P Perspective questions
Is there another point of view we could
examine?
E Equity questions
What conflicts of interest exist here?
R Relevance questions
How does this relate to the problem?
C Complexity questions
What makes this a difficult question to
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answer?
L Logic questions
Does this all make sense together?
I Importance questions
What is the most important issue on which to
focus?
P Perspicuity questions
What do you mean?
As a reflective practitioner; you can ask these questions for example how you can be
more specific in a particular situation. How can you test something in a particular
situation etc.? So we can see that the PAPER CLIP mnemonic provides a sand structure;
a list of trigger words that we can use to question a situation from a perspective of
description through to decision for a reflective practitioner.
Topic No. 174:
Socratic Method and Critical Thinking
It’s important for reflective practitioner to see how Socratic Method leads to critical
thinking. In Socratic Method; thinking is driven by questions. No questions means no
understanding. The key distinguishing factor of Socratic Questioning is that it is always
systematic and deep focusing on complex concepts of experiences, principles and
theories. Socrates was more interested in the process of thinking through a problem rather
than arriving at a solution of any given problem. The key is about the quality of reasoning
and the quality of question rather than simply find a solution. So the whole process is the
Process of Learning- the questioning process than in reaching conclusions. The Socratic
Method involves two primary processes:
 The destructive process
 The constructive process
As a destructive process; looking at our questioning or reasoning is illogical or does not
make sense and trying to identify flaws within our reasoning.
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The constructive approach is the complete opposite of the first one. In this process,
reflective practitioner is encouraged to replace the flawed thinking with logical or
justifiable thinking.
In this way critical thinking and Socratic questioning both share a common end. They are
both focused on the process and quality of questioning and learning. Critical thinking
gives a comprehensive view of a situation by looking at it from various perspectives and
essentially the ultimate goal is quality. The goal of critical thinking is to establish an
additional level of thinking to our thinking, a powerful inner voice of reason, to monitor
and assess in order to re-constitute in a very meaningful way and understand our
responses.
The process of dialogue is also very important in critical thinking. It cultivates that inner
voice through an explicit focus on systematic, deep, disciplined questioning. The critical
thinker considers the elements of thoughts which is a sequence of thought and
questioning.
Purpose of
Points of view thinking (Goal,
(frame of objective)
reference
Questions of Issue
assumptions
(Problem)
Concepts
Information
(theories and
(Data, facts)
principles)
Interpretation
and inference
(solutions and
conclusions)
Critical thinking and Socratic Method share very common goals and are essential in the
questioning process.
Lecture 27
Reflecting on professional roles (Topic 175 to 180)
Topic : 175
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The Nature and Purpose of Professionalism
The reflective practitioner needs to engage with one key understanding and that is what is
professionalism and a lot of importance is placed on teachers' meeting standards and
having a commitment to meeting a wide set of professional commitments and obligations
and meeting standards of quality in teaching and learning. Therefore, professionalism is
looking at the values and practices which encompass these standards and which we can
consider as a key foundation stone to professionalism.
For reflection, we need to think about a concept 'Professionalism- in- action'. It is simply
looking at our professional role, attitude and behavior. The skills which we are
developing as professionals and actions in terms to how these relate to students we work
with but also how they relate to other professionals i.e. colleagues, parents and other
significant stake holders.
Teaching happens within a context and part of professionalism-in-action is relating to
their skills and development of professional skills in a school's particular context. The
professional role of teacher is multi-faceted. It is pastoral as well as academic. The
pastoral role is intended to the care and attention that is given to students and the subject
knowledge that teachers possess is academic professionalism and this leads to reflecting
on the reasons behind the poor performance or bad experiences and developing an
understanding on how to use these effectively and to further development and to become
more professional. It also lead the teacher to reflect on planning for specific groups of
students, differentiated instructions and bringing together students who are shy or
withdrawn while focusing on approaches to help those students in the learning process.
Hence, reflection is not only academic but pastoral.
Topic: 176
Reflecting on Professional Roles
The nature and purpose of professionalism is different for different teachers and the way
teachers reflect will be dependent on particular preference for their idea of
professionalism. In addition to academic and pastoral roles which need to be reflected on,
different teachers may also have an underlying tendency towards a preferred mode of
professionalism. The diagram shows the location of two teachers which shows one
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teacher's major focus on pastoral role rather than academic and at the same time; the
other teacher's role may be more on the academic achievement. So teachers can be
located differently within the school and it shows that no teacher is the same. Indeed each
teacher has a unique identity and with identity it shows that there can be professionals
working in a school's environment with different approaches to teaching. However, too
much emphasis on any one area can mislead teachers into thinking about themselves as
best practitioners. The balance between both the roles is vital and leads to high level of
practice for teachers and a high level of identity development. The ability to become
flexible and to adjust to own preferences to circumstances and requirement is an
important skill that the reflective practitioner needs to develop.
The process of professionalism is complex and a subtle skill which is continuous and is
developed more with the professional role of reflective practitioner.
Reflections on a teacher's professional role encompasses contributions to extracurricular
activities, to whole-school initiatives and to the corporate life of a school. The idea of
living out the ethos of a particular school and helping to shape it, is at the heart of rather
special role of being a reflective practitioner. The central to this distinctiveness is the idea
that the reflective practitioner identifies and adheres to a code of professional values and
practice.
Topic: 177
Components of Professionalism
Reflecting on Professional roles means to think for ourselves what we really mean by
professionalism and it’s true to say that professionalism for teachers is not simply a
matter of having expertise of subject that is clearly insufficient. There are other things for
reflective practitioner which are equally important. One of them is the ability to work
with their subject knowledge i.e. the content needs to be imaginative. Another
consideration is the pedagogy of the subject. Professionalism is about to being able to
teach and share knowledge in ways which are varied and very wide ranging because our
students will all learn uniquely and individually. Therefore, we need to use approaches
which can catch every student.
In this regard, a significant notion of professionalism that we need to consider is that we
should have the concern for all students learning rather than making sure we are
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achieving curriculum's objectives on a day to day basis through the content we are
planning in our lesson plans.
The underlying notion of 'Fairness' in terms of professionalism is also very important.
How we are working to support all students and how we see all students is not only
unique but also needs a lot of encouragement. It is the duty of reflective practitioner to
understand how important it is to stay fair for the wellbeing of all students.
If we look at the given diagram, it shows all the components which formulate
professionalism. These components all add together to develop teacher identity.
Professionalism is made up of certain areas that we need to consider in terms of
development. There is intellectual development i.e. knowledge about subject. Functional
development the ability that we have to pass on the knowledge that we have.
Professionalism is made up of values and beliefs of teaching and learning and how these
describe to people and experience by people in classroom. In terms of development, there
are areas of change that we need to look at. Change in terms of the knowledge that we
have and how we rationalize and perceive knowledge and change and the procedure of
change.
Change can also be evaluative i.e. how we go about and think about our work and even
the outcomes can also be looked at from a change perspective. The most significant
change we can look at is the Motivational change and it occurs as teachers develop their
identity. So this becomes a strong mechanism for how teachers motivate themselves
throughout their careers.
Topic: 178
Relationships with students
Reflecting on Professional roles leads teachers to consider their professional

relationships with pupils and what is regarded as 'professional' must therefore be linked
with inaction responsibilities. Reflective practitioners must be seen to treat pupils with
respect and fairness. This underlies the professional relationships that we have. Teachers
need to be consistent with their approaches so they can be viewed as professionals and
this underlies a notion that they have a particular stance which is about 'unconditional
positive regard' for students as learners.
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This notion requires reflective practitioner to operate with a working knowledge of

students' background, their social and cultural backgrounds, their experiences and
interests as they move through school and this is not just the simple knowledge to
acquire. It is complex in nature because our students are always growing and their culture
influences this development and therefore, any relationship that teachers have needs to
reflect this development and change. It is important for a teacher to understand this
because it helps her/ him to interpret a particular situation the student might be facing and
then learning ways to tackle it.
For professionals, these concerns direct their focus and role. One important role, the
teacher needs to play is the role of a mentor. A mentor is somebody who is working
along-side students in the classroom, supporting and encouraging vast challenges and
cheer leading the successes of students.
The teacher also take on the role of parents in classroom. They reflect on their
responsibilities of care, nurture and support. Another role is teacher as professional in
action is to work as a participant observer. In this way, their professionalism can grow
and the objectivity about their professional role can support the professional relationships
they have with students. Teacher as carer in the classroom. The professional relationship
that teachers have with students is that they are not only teaching the subject but needs to
understand their needs and how they learn. Caring for students leads to better learning
process.
Topic: 179
Professional Relations with Colleagues
Reflecting on professional roles leads us to a consideration of reflecting on professional
relationships with colleagues. When a teacher is in the school; he or she is not working in
isolation but work with a group of professionals and a teacher is regarded as a team-
player and whether he/she is an important contributor to the team. The professional
relationships with colleagues provide an opportunity to develop as a professional and
extend your thinking. This is in contrast to solitary reflection. This means that the world
is opened in terms of professional relationships with colleagues. Its not just about saying
what you did, it’s about saying why you did it, what you learned from it and what you
might change because of it in the future. Relationships with colleagues are not in black
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and white. Rather, it influences us over time. This thinking of what and why helps teacher
identity to new level- a level which is reflective and in depth towards professionalism.
The professional relationships that we have with colleagues open up a number of world
full of possibilities or opportunities. These opportunities are varied. We can think of our
professional identity in terms of colleagues through any number of approaches and
relationships. For example Specific Interest Groups- The relationships are always
building on and contributing and sharing with each other.
Reflecting with colleagues is very important because it not only helps us integrate in
school and feel valued with other professionals but it is an opportunity to grow
professionally and with support and encouragement from others.
Topic: 180
Characteristics of high performing schools
Reflecting on professional roles also leads us to the consideration of how we are

contributing to life at school. It is important to contribute in school because it is an
indicator of a vibrant, inclusive school, generating gains for both skills and community.
Reflecting on your contribution to the life of school can be in a number of ways. One of
them is cross-curricular activities rather than simply teaching a subject. In this way
students get a chance to participate in various projects and contribute to the distinctive
presence of school.
School effectiveness becomes important and can be viewed from a number of outcomes
i.e. how well students attending classes, the individual student's attitude towards teachers,
schools and learning. This translates into things like student behavior and also individual
student achievement in relation to being in school and this underpins school effectiveness
and results. The reflective practitioner needs to reflect on their role uncovering what
makes the school more effective. There are nine characteristics of high-performing
schools:
A clear and shared focus
high standards and expectations for all students
effective school leadership- how leadership is improving and sustaining
excellence within the school
high levels of collaboration and communication
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curriculum, instruction and assessments aligned with highly regarded

standards
frequent monitoring of learning and teaching
focused professional development
a supportive learning environment
high levels of family and community involvement
All these characteristics translate into a number of interconnected characteristics that we
can consider from the reflective practitioner's view point. At the center are the students
we are working with. The characteristics which surround these actually lead to high
performing schools and teachers.
Lecture: 28
The Impact of Organizational Dynamics(Topic 181 to 186)
Topic: 181
Organizational Dynamics
For reflective practitioner, there is an impact on reflection due to organizational dynamics

so the reflective practitioner needs to think about how to reflect within the organizational
framework. The first question for reflective practitioner when they are in working
environment is to think about the "Team' that they are a part of. A team is more than just
a group of people. A team is people coming together with a common objective to
achieve. All those who are mutually accountable for work and are seen as a social entity
within the organization. So the reflective practitioner needs to understand the impact of
group and teams and their role within the school. It is true to say that all teams are group
but all groups are not teams. Some groups are people assemble together in the same place
without any common goal or mutual accountability.
Teams, therefore have task interdependence where some members rely on other group
members for the tasks to be done.
Within an organization, we can consider different types of teams. There are teams which
are permanent in an organization for example departmental teams. Teams coming
together for particular tasks or activities within the school environment. There are other
types of teams which can work together for example Total Quality Management team etc.
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Some teams are temporary which tend to be very short-termed and are focused on
achieving a particular goal. We can see the impact of organizational dynamics by looking
at the categories of organizational dynamics. The teams creates its own design. It is
important for reflective practitioner to understand the importance of each category. The
process can affect the functionality of team.
The team elements to reflect on are:
Task Characteristics:
Teams perform better when tasks are clear, relevant and accomplishable for the team.
The reflective practitioner within the organization can see the imposing factors which are:
easy to implement
task interdependence
share common inputs, processes or outcome.
Team Size:
Smaller teams are better but large enough to accomplish tasks
Team Composition:
Who are the team members? Are they specialists, or possess various skills
Some teams are homogeneous teams and some are heterogeneous teams.
Homogeneous teams comprise a group of individuals who have more efficient
coordination, are better at working together, developing an entity in their own right.
There is a higher degree of satisfaction and considerably are less complex.
Whereas, individuals working in a group who are not functioning as team and have more
conflicts and the pace of work is relatively slower are known as Heterogeneous.
Heterogeneous teams are more creative in nature but are more complex.
It is very important for the reflective practitioner to understand the organizational
dynamics in order to be more successful and reflective.
Topic: 182
Impact of Organizational Dynamics
The reflective practitioner needs to understand that a group of people working together
go through different stages of development and functioning and we can represent these
stages diagrammatically. The group dynamics of a team go through different levels of
functioning. The initial stage of functioning is called Forming. This is where the group
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gets together and start to know others in the group. This is the first stage of team building
and sets the tone of how the team will operate.
The second stage is called 'Storming'. This is where conflict can arise in group because
people have different ideas on how work can be done and different people will try to lead
the group towards achieving a certain goal. This can impact on the effectiveness of group.
Once the group gets passed the storming stage; the group is known to move into the
'Norming' stage. This is where the individual roles are clearly defined and people start to
take on those roles within the group efficiently and effectively and they start working as
functioning team moving towards the performing stage where everyone supports each
other and understand how to work towards achieving a common goal.
These four stages are transitions and move both forward and backward. Every time, there
is a change in the functionality of the group; it tends to move backwards. It is a journey
of backward and forward. If it’s a temporary group, the individual members leave the
group after completing a particular task. This stage is known as Adjourning stage. At this
stage, group members leave each other and then there is no need for them to stay
together.
Team norms:
It is looking at how individuals learn from each other and setting roles for group and
identifying commonalities in terms of how they work and expectations of working
together. This stage in the group, people are learning to understand the values and
assumptions they have about teaching and learning.
In order to reflect on team norms; the reflective practitioner needs to look at these aspects
that how members are interrelated to each other and how to work efficiently and
effectively.
The reflective practitioner can look at how the group is supporting itself. How individual
members are rewarding other members to the work they are contributing and how group
is managing conflicts and dysfunctionalities.
The key point for the reflective practitioner is to look at how to move through these
stages and ultimately moving towards working as a team and how they are dealing with
the storming stage and how individuals are maintaining the level of performance.
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The reflective practitioner can observe some forward and backward movement and begin
to unpin the ideas which are supporting the team and help them move forward.
Topic: 183
Team Cohesiveness
A factor which can impact the organizational dynamics for which the reflective
practitioner needs to be aware is team cohesiveness. How individual members are
performing together as a team; where the reflective practitioner fits into team
cohesiveness and in terms of team cohesiveness; we can look at a simple model. Team
cohesiveness is based around a number of factors of team and the way team works.
Whether the individual members of team have similarities, what is the team size, how are
they coping up with external challenges? The interaction between team members is
extremely important. The communication within members shape up team cohesiveness
and with less interaction; the team becomes disjointed. The team size has a significant
impact on team cohesiveness. The smaller teams will be more cohesive than the larger
team. If a new member wants to enter the team and finds it difficult to enter; it reflects
that the team is very strong in terms of cohesiveness.
The reflective practitioner needs to consider the members of cohesive teams. They need
to look at from their own perspective to the extent on how they want to remain within the
team; how willing people are to share information; how strong interpersonal bonds are
within the group members; how they want to support each other; how team members
resolve conflict especially at the storming stage and are certain members more or less
satisfied within the group.
Team Performance:
The impact of the functionality of team performance can be viewed as team norms
supporting or opposing the school goals. Looking at the educational environment; it is
evident that the team norms that support school goals are generally highly cohesive teams
with high task performance and where team norms and intentions are opposed school; the
performance becomes low. The dysfunctionality between team norms has a very negative
impact on team cohesiveness and its performance.
As reflective practitioner, one needs to see how team efforts are supported and work
towards achieving overall school goals and how these dynamics are affecting the
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achievements. It can mean in larger groups, some individuals hide in a way which is
known as Social Loafing where they are in the group but not participating and this
happens when there is less or low team cohesiveness. This happens when the team
connection is low and routines become dull. It introduces a very low performing ideal of
team and does not lead to any sort of excellent performance. These aspects of team are
important for reflective practitioner to consider.
Topic: 184
Task Interdependence
It is an important area to reflect on for reflective practitioner in terms of organizational

dynamics. It is important to reflect on for the teacher to understand where he/she fits in
the team and what is the impact of his/her work. The reflective practitioner can
deconstruct his/ her identity into particular categories. This task interdependence
becomes very important because as teachers depend on each other for the effectiveness of
our and other people's work. The reflective practitioner can consider how their role in the
team is managing their performance.
Levels of Task Interdependence:
Levels can be very high or low. When it is high, the team is able to function very
cohesively. Task interdependence can be viewed as 'Reciprocal'. This is where each
member of team is able to talk and discuss matters with all members of team. This is
known as reciprocal interdependence. Where task interdependence is quite low; this is
where all members interact through some other medium or other resource person. So
there is no direct line of communication between individual members of team.
In the middle ground, we have sequential interdependence. This is where individual
members of group refer to certain other member of team so a chain is formed.
So team composition can have an impact on this interdependence and an effective team is
one where people are not only willing but able to communicate directly with every other
member in group and in this regard reflective practitioner can focus on 5 C's.
Cooperating
Coordinating
Communicating
Comforting
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Conflict resolving
Team interdependence depends on a number of factors. These are:
Interpersonal
knowledge and trust
understanding of roles
appropriate behavior
learning to coordinate with each other
In the team, therefore, reflective practitioner is looking at his/ her role to the extent to
which they are reaching the area of reflection and how effective the team is in terms of
moving forward. Please remember you may be reflecting on yourself and your own work
within the context and with others.
Topic: 185
Behavior in Organizations
Teams in organizations have particular dynamics and the way teams behave within an
educational setting have potentially very positive impact but there can be barriers to
reflective practice caused by the team. Probably, the biggest factor to overcome is 'Group
Thinking'. This is where the individual members of group are so strongly cohesive and so
focused are the tasks and the social identity of the group that individuals will not question
the activities of the group and not question to what extend are they achieving objectives.
This can lead to a number of factors which are barriers to reflection. The barriers prevent
reflective practitioner undertaking any sort of reflection because it would challenge the
group to the extent where it will not cope up. There could be negative feedback and
unquestioning nature in terms of roles they undertake and teaching they are engaged with.
Reflective practice require a very questioning approach.
What group thinking creates is very strong stereotyped views. The individual member of
group become so strongly cohesive that there is no single identity. The reflective
practitioner trying to introduce some sort of questioning or reflection to the process
becomes an enemy and this can block effective reflection. The upshot of this is that its
very difficult to break the illusion that the group has and the goals they are trying to
achieve.
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The symptoms of 'Groupthink' are that people are very conscious of their interaction and
tend to get into personal avoidance of deviation from what appears to be a group
consensus.
People can become so protective of group identity that certain pieces of information
become withheld from the reflective practitioner simply because it would challenge the
group identity. The impact of this on the behavior on the school can be quite significant.
The idea of group think is barrier to reflection within teams and leads people to think in
unique and divided ways from school identity.
How specialized roles and functions are and how they are coordinated within a group are
have a strong impact on the effectiveness of school and how information flows among
people and group is another impacting factor on behavior of school. How the system of
controls (task, measurement, evaluation and change) is to work. Each school with its
structure can be affected to a big extend due to this behavior. Group norms and social
identity of individual members get affected and can be put to risk due to such dynamics.
The reflective practitioner needs to be someone who works within organizational
structures and how teams are working with those structures. So reflective practitioner
needs to reflect on good practice but also needs to reflect on dysfunctions that teams are
exhibiting.
Topic: 186
Reflecting on Motivation
In terms of organizational dynamics, the reflective practitioner can focus on what
motivates individuals within the organization and within the teams they work. The
Hawthorne experiment in America demonstrated how workplaces are essentially social
institutions and as such they affect the quality and outcome of work; what motivates
people to make these achievements. To understand motivation more clearly; we can look
at Maslow Hierarchy which identifies different levels of motivation moving from a very
basic level of the bottom where any member of team focuses on very specific aspects
which are important to the basic needs. This leads to then higher level of functioning of
motivation within the group where individual is looking beyond basic needs and looking
at more fundamental attributes of motivation. What is true is that people will move
through different levels and can also fall back down through levels if anything should go
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wrong within the group or organizational structure. People can be motivated or

demotivated at different times. The reflective practitioner can consider how people are
motivated within the organization moving through these structures. So to reflect on
motivation; there are certain assumptions about behavior that reflective practitioner can
look at. Some public organizations, there are strong philosophies that can be consider. In
motivation, there is a choice which is dependent on the amount of impact of that
motivation. Certain motivation factors are fundamental and they are perceived as being
highly dependent on.
Motivation can be viewed as self-regulation point of view or there is a certain degree to
which an individual can influence the work environment which will impact on
motivation.
Self-regulated teachers are people who are aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Self-
regulated teachers are also able to think about the way they think. They reflect in a
metacognition sense. They also have certain attributes around success and failure and this
effects on how much control they feel they have. Self-regulation is a cyclical process and
not a linear one way process and teachers can move through different levels of self-
regulation in terms of their motivation.
This means that self-regulated teacher is always working towards achieving goals. It
promotes learning and is something for reflective practitioner to aspire to in terms of their
reflective practice. If the reflective practitioner is self-regulated; then they are managing
their own motivational level.
Researchers identify three critical dimensions or characteristics of self-regulation;
Self-observation
self-judgment
Self-reaction
Self- observation refers to the deliberate monitoring of one's activities. It may take the
form of recording frequency, duration or quality of a behavior. Self- Observation aims at
being very critical thinking of performance and self- observation; therefore, can lead to
higher level of motivation and can lead the practitioner to a higher degree of motivation.
For example, if you realize your preparation habits were causing you to perform poorly,
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you may adjust the way you prepare, leading to higher satisfaction and more motivation
to continue to improve your work habits.
Self- Judgment refers to the extent where you can evaluate your own performance and
how can you evaluate your performance levels compared to the goal level. Self-reaction
refers to reflective practitioner looking at their responses to events in classroom both their
behavioral and cognitive behaviors. This means you are moving to a cycle and looking
critically at all these cognitive outputs.
Lecture 29
Models and Mentors (Topic 187 to 192)
Topic: 187
Peer Mentoring
Within the educational environment; the reflective practitioner can look to models and
mentors to help them with their reflective practice. Peer mentoring is a useful strategy for
reflection. Peer mentoring is a shared relationship between reflective practitioner and
colleague which involves both giving and receiving in terms of knowledge and
information and peer mentoring is an equal relationship between two professionals. The
effectiveness of these relationships is unrestricted and does a high degree of openness,
trust, commitment and a sense of responsibility for each other and mutual accountability
for both and because of this accountability; it is something which can become quite
powerful to add reflection. The thing about peer mentoring is that it can fit very neatly
into friendship and relationships that an individual can have and can become very easy to
conduct.
Unfortunately, this mentoring can be overlooked because of the nature of the relationship
between the individual and may not achieve its full potential. Peer mentoring is a
professional relationship and not two friends chatting away.
The starting point is to begin with a friend. Someone you can trust. What you need to do
is to put time aside; once a week, once a month to actually talk to and discuss and share
ideas about experiences occurring in schools and what is important to remember is that
this relationship must be balanced. The peer mentor and the reflective practitioner are
equal partners in this relationship. The nature of discussion is to focus on areas of
concern; not to be general. General discussion will actually be two people talking so it is
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important for reflective practitioner to ask very good and powerful questions in relation
to areas of concern. Both reflective practitioner and peer mentor are mutually accountable
for answers which are explored through questions.
The best peer mentoring can be characterized by a number of things. First is honesty in
terms of exchange of information and ideas. There should be respect for discussion and
questions for reflection and feedback. The power between the two individuals should be
equal. There is a mutual regard between peer mentor and reflective practitioner. The peer
mentoring activity takes place in limits and cannot be spilled over. The benefits of peer
mentoring are many and there is lots of literature to talk about.
it creates a sense of belongingness and support
It contributes to work success
It contributes to relationships/ networking
It contributes to sense of community
It contributes to culture of success
It builds awareness of resources
What research says about peer mentoring?
It improves academic performance and individual academic self- efficacy in terms of
their academic performance. It also creates a larger degree of satisfaction of work. It also
has been shown that it helps people develop more autonomy and this leads to increased
persistence in terms of achieving goals. Research also shows that it also improves
interpersonal relationships and communications. When a reflective practitioner is dealing
with behavioral issues, this comes in handy.
Making good use of a peer- mentor is very important. The reflective practitioner needs to
be aware of peer mentor's role. Peer Mentor's Role is to:
listen to reflective practitioner
share experiences
work together to foster teachers' skills and working in school
develop networks around the school environment
Reflective Practitioner's Role:

active participation is required from them
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communications and inter-personal relations become very important

must remain open to share ideas and feedback from mentor
accept responsibility for success of peer mentoring process
Topic: 188
Models and Mentors
In terms of the educational environment, we know models and mentors are useful for
reflective practitioner. A mentor is important because he provides support and guidance
for professional development. Also, a mentor demonstrates the employer's recognition of
knowledge, skills and abilities of the mentee. The peer mentoring relationships also helps
an individual/ teacher to develop their career much more quickly and peer mentoring is
also being shown help individuals develop their self-confidence about their role in
school.
A mentor is important also because it helps an individual as reflective practitioner
develop their skills for critical thinking about the work they are doing and to develop a
sense of independence in terms of their work. Where a new teacher is joining the school;
a mentor can help him/ her acclimatize to the job and school culture more quickly.
A mentor is important because it helps teacher feel more in touch socially and
professionally in terms of the culture of school environment and it results in a much
greater awareness of the organization and its functioning. It can also support networking
between individuals and the group and create connections between individuals.
The mentor also helps reflective practitioner become more pro-active about their work
and the approaches they are taking and therefore, mentoring can help the reflective
practitioner move towards 'expert' status much more quickly than if they were working
individually.
What can you expect from a mentor?
A mentor in one sense can take on the role of the coach. Coaching is a partnership
between colleagues where one is the mentor and is helping the reflective practitioner
develop skills and understanding about the job and the performance they are engaged
with. Therefore, what the reflective practitioner needs to expect from a mentor is the
relationship will be held together with trust. Trust is needed to create a climate of honesty
and real reflection. With trust, the strong bond is required between both of them which
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means that the reflective practitioner knows that they are wholly supported and
encouraged and can accept criticism and difficulties much more effectively. Another
thing to expect from the mentor is the feedback. Positive feedback and recognition of a
job well done or constructive criticism of a skill or a task which could use improvement
helps reflective practitioner develop better skills professionally.
It’s also about passing on learned behaviors- A mentor has experience of productive
approaches and can identify certain behaviors which the reflective practitioner can
benefit from. A mentor helps pass on 'Learning about replacement' which means how
new behaviors replace ineffective or inappropriate behaviors. Constructive criticism for
the reflective practitioner is very much focused on behaviors and not on the individual
teacher and in this sense trust becomes important. It’s not a personal attack it is looking at
what is working and what is not working. It is focused on describing effective behavior
and understanding ineffective behavior. It is a very focused approached. It’s important to
remain calm especially when reflection can be quite difficult.
What constructive feedback is also about how the reflective practitioner receives
information and chooses certain pieces of information?
Reflective practitioner needs to listen very carefully in order to develop their skills
professionally. The mentor needs to identify the benefits of improving the behavior and
needs to keep a balance between positive and negative feedback.
Topic: 189
RP as different individuals
Where mentoring is used by the reflective practitioner to help develop their practice,
there are certain considerations to be aware of. It’s important that relationship is
understood as an equal relationship. In other words, it’s not a power gap; a hierarchy
between the mentor and the reflective practitioner. It’s also important for both of them
not to overcompensate in terms of political correctness. It’s a private conversation
feelings can be explored without being censored. It’s important that the two individuals
share a common understanding of the words they use to describe events. A common
meaning between the two needs to be established. Description of events is not important
rather exploration of feelings and responses around experiences and values are extremely
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important. Mentoring relationship depends on trust. Problems must not be denied. They
need to be focused.
The diagrammatic chart shows that both mentor and the reflective practitioner are
different individuals. In this sense, there is a benefit that can occur because of the
difference between the mentor and reflective practitioner. In terms of professional
development, there are different perspectives which can lead to different dimensions of
reflection and discussion. At one dimension, we can focus on performance which is the
focus point for reflective practitioner. For mentor, the focus is on career and professional
development in terms of how reflective practitioner is developing their roles. There is
also inherent in the mentoring relationship an idea of equality but also difference.
Therefore, the mentor can be quite directive in terms of influencing the reflective
practitioner in terms of certain work. There can also be non-directive influence. Just
sharing of experience, so reflective practitioner has options to consider and then choices
to make. These different dimensions suggest different approaches that mentoring can
take. It could be very traditional and directed input from the mentor focusing developing
performance. It could be actually more developmental mentoring where the mentor is not
been directed with a longer time view of development rather than finding immediate
solutions to the problem. Hence, mentors take on different roles i.e. of a coach where
performance is being focused on. It can be the role of the guardian fulfilling the
emotional needs. In terms of mentor being non directive in their role; mentor can be
actors or facilitators or a networker in a relationship. In other words, how reflective
practitioner finds connection between people working with. The mentor takes on the role
of a counsellor where reflective practitioner needs to express their feelings and emotions.
The mentor becomes someone who listens, empathizes with practitioner.
The relationship between the two can be looked as phases a journey that the reflective
practitioner goes through in the mentoring relationship. At the beginning, it’s very much
about two people identifying how two people work together. This move to a point where
the relationship between the two begins to focus on analysis of experiences and events
and the implications of this is on the work which is happening. At this point we can think
about relationships changing levels of energy that occur between the two. When both are
learning to work together; the amount of input is quite high. Once the pair starts to work
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constructively, the focus shifts to analytical. The amount of energy becomes lower and
the process becomes easier. From reflection to mentors; one gets insight that leads to
reframing of assumptions and the way we work. A lot of suggestions around the problem
take place here. Ultimately, this process of energizing the reflective practitioner leads to
the point where the teacher is changing practice, actions and procedures within the
mentoring relationship. This journey moves through stages of action and thinking
external and internal reflection.
In terms of the purpose of mentoring relationship and equality of relationship; we can
consider certain focus areas. Where there is high rapport between the two; one can expect
high degree of open dialogue and openness; a sense of working towards something.
Expectations are shared between the two but where there is not much clarity about what
needs to be result and the rapport and the level of interaction is quite low; then it’s simply
becomes unthinking process rather than reflection. So it’s important as a reflective
practitioner to be very clear about the purpose in terms of mentoring relationship.
Topic: 190
The skills of dialogue
Clearly mentoring within educational environment requires highly developed skills for
dialogue. It involves an understanding of a stereotype that we hold and manage. It
requires a certain fearless questions and discussions. It requires us to analyze the
assumptions and values we have. The behaviors that we regularly engage with. Most
importantly, the dialogue needs to support interaction of ideas and valuing of different
perspectives. There are four key issues relating to difference in mentoring which will
impact on the level of dialogue and quality of dialogue between the two. These four key
issues are:
Perspective: The ability to look realistically at the environment
Networking: The ability to make connections between individuals and
departments within the organization
Power: sense of power between the mentor and the reflective practitioner-
there should be an equal relationship
Dependency: mentoring relationship is very supportive and is made very clear
that reflective practitioner is not dependent on the mentor.
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The issue of how reflective practitioner views difference in mentoring is clearly shown in
the figure given below. The issue and relationship with the same and different groups are
shown very clearly here.
So there is value in terms of the difference between individual and mentoring
relationship. It encourages the reflective practitioner to set high performance targets and
it does provide lot of clarity and visibility to the higher levels of management in
organization in developing practice. It also helps the RP get a much greater insight into
the climate and culture of people working in school. It encourages RP recognize the value
and also enhance their self- confidence. This is an important and significant factor for RP.
It stimulates a lot of networking between groups of individuals.
In this sense, a mentor should establish confidence by establishing strong working
relationships and work related issues rather than personal or family related issue. The
mentor should find common values and interests. He should also make an effort to learn
about each other and must demonstrate a high degree of empathy. The mentor should be
clear about needs and expectations of the mentoring relationship. It's important for the
mentor to avoid assumptions i.e. what is good, what is bad, what will work and what will
not work. The mentor needs to be able to provide a degree of risk in terms of their work
but as support that risk so it minimize the amount of discomfort the individual might
experience.
The RP and mentor have certain areas of dialogue to consider. In terms of content, it can
be focused on very general roles i.e. universal aspects of working in an organizational
setting or it can be focused on very particular areas of practice. It could also be related to
individuals and how the individual is working in a group environment and it could be a
focus on a community within a school. The dialogue can also be quite neutral in terms of
description but it also can focus on emotions and feelings. The dialogue that goes on
between the RP and mentor can be very specific on particular areas or it can be quite
defused and varied. It focuses on achievement of particular standards the individual is
doing. The dialogue can be ongoing and synchronous. It could be in response after an
event. The dialogue can go between internal to external controls.
Topic: 191
Situated Learning
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Learning and development for RP does not happen in isolation and there is a notion
around modelling and mentoring in school where learning is considered to be situated.
This is in a sense looking at the formal integration of learning from the work place. It can
be looked at learning to teach and teaching to learn. But this means for RP that teacher is
not only a teacher but a learner and as such learning to think critically and to question the
practice to explore new principles. Situated learning implies learning is not simple
transfer of knowledge or skill from one individual to another indeed transfer of
knowledge is quite inadequate. It is better to think of 'situated learning' process as a
transitional process of boundary- crossing to become an expert in order to achieve high
level of performance. So teachers as RP need to think like a teacher to look at teaching
from a perspective of a learner. This situates learning within a practice. There are certain
stages that we can consider:
Stage 1: Implicit modelling of strategies and values. This point the individual is looking
at modelling behaviors expressing certain values.
Stage 2: Much more explicit modelling of reflective learning and change in practice.
Stage 3: Linking practical wisdom to abstract theory
Stage 4: Reconstruction by teachers in the classroom through new strategies and
technologies.
Situated learning focuses in a holistic way on teacher learning enabling them to think
critically and originally, question existing practices and exploring ideas and new
principles resonance with Loughran's learning to teach and teaching to learn. This is
through situated learning that the RP can make strong connections between theory and
practice. This can be looked as a very powerful tool for RP.
Topic: 192
Social Learning Theory
Social learning theory has an effect on the mentoring relationship and the process of
reflection in an educational environment. The social learning theory distinguishes
between the acquisition of learning and the performance based on that knowledge. Both
of these external and internal factors are important. Interaction is the key in the process of
learning.
_______________________________________________________________________
There is an idea of Reciprocal Determinism. It is an explanation of behavior that

emphasizes on the mutual effects of the individual and the environment on each other.
The distinction between positive or enactive learning and vicarious learning. Enactive
learning is learning by doing and experiencing the consequences of your action. The
consequences are seen as providing information about appropriate actions, creating
expectations and influencing motivation.
Vicarious learning is different from enactive learning. It's learning by observing others.
The emphasis is on the powerful effect of modelling behaviors and attitudes. Therefore,
the RP imitating those behaviors and values. Learning occurs through that imitation. Two
main modes of observational learning:
First, OL can take place through vicarious reinforcement. Vicarious reinforcement is
important because it happens automatically for us. Second, learning by observing others
imitates the behavior of a model even though the model receives no reinforcement or
punishment while the observer is watching.
The other aspect of OL is observation is an extremely efficient learning process. There is
no real effort of how to write. Social cognitive theory distinguishes between acquisition
and performance of learning. Four key elements to be considered for OL learning:
Attention & retention: how much attention an individual pays to watching a role model
Production: the individual putting into practice what is being learnt
Motivation & reinforcement: how the RP uses his observation to motivate them and
reinforce new behaviors.
OL has five possible outcomes:
1. Teaching new behaviors: Modelling can be applied deliberately in the classroom to
teach mental skills and to broaden horizons- it is to teach new ways of thinking.
2. Encouraging already learned behaviors: All of us have had the experience of looking
for cues from other people when we find ourselves in unfamiliar situations. Observing the
behavior of others tell us which our already learned behaviors to use.
3. Strengthening or weakening inhibitions: The Ripple effect- If you observe a teacher
not managing behavior, you conclude that the class may be less inhibited in future about
breaking rules.
_______________________________________________________________________
4 & 5. Directing attention & arousing emotion: In OL you may develop emotional
reactions to situations you have never personally experienced and this can help you
develop better reactions in future.
Lecture 30
Dialogic Process in RP and Community-building (Topic 193 to 198)
Topic: 193
The Dialogue Process in RP
RP can be a dialogic process and as such dialogue can be a self-assessment tool for RP.
It's useful in assessing knowledge as well as practice but also in terms of evidencing
reflection and development for RP and as such some critical element to the dialogical
process in terms of reflection and these aspects of trust, empathy, honesty, sincerity,
openness, learning, self-awareness, growth, mutual responsibility and challenge in order
to develop. It involves exploration and critique of experience; is a process of
communication at very different levels and analytical and evaluative levels. For RP, it is
important to define what will be included in terms of dialogue for reflection. It is indeed
conversation for a purpose and it involves the RP in moving forward professionally. It's
learning which should emerge over time. Dialogue helps learning develop rather than
become instantaneous and therefore; the RP needs to take care of professional dialogue
that takes place. There is an inherent power differential in assessment due to differing
roles. This can be quite useful but needs to be fully understood.
The RP should assess the quality of the dialogue being engaged within the evidence of
understanding and as a tool for RP to use it is much about process as product, its learning
evolving overtime engaging in dialogue rather than the outcome of dialogue.
Dialogue has a shared purpose. It is a two way street. There are genuine questions to seek
unknown answers. For the RP it is formative in nature. Dialogue can move forward or
backwards and the power relationship enables this backward and forward movement. It is
important to consider is the influence that particular criteria especially assessment criteria
or learning outcomes for teachers may have on dialogical process. This affects the quality
of dialogue and can actually be beneficial for the RP. Dialogue is quite complex and
involves complex interaction with another and therefore, they not only needs to be
speaking but listening effective dialogue in terms of professional conversation. It is based
_______________________________________________________________________
on different expectation. So there is a notion that the process of dialogical reflection is

critical and the emphasis is on growth and development.
Topic: 194
The Educational Environment
The RP can engage the dialogic process to develop their practice. Dialogue is a self-
assessment tool to assess knowledge and practice evident to assessment, to assess the
quality of learning.
The types of dialogic process in RP that an individual can engage with. The dialogic
reflection can be different from written reflection. Written reflection is quite static and
superficial whereas dialogic reflection is much more flexible and multi-layered because
of the level of interaction. Written reflection is just writing reflectively whereas dialogic
one is much easier to reflect on. It's much easier to show and explore. In Written
reflection values emerge over time whereas in dialogic it is much easier to engage and
explore in particular values. Written reflection is limited to words and that has a limit but
on the other hand dialogic reflection is quick and easy providing opportunity to probe
into details.
Written reflection is limited to probing questions. Therefore, can be quite limited in terms
of depth of learning. Written reflection is positive and useful because it’s possible to
evident all the experience.
Dialogic reflection requires back up evidence as any form of written expression is
missing in it.
The dialogic process is very useful because it is quick and easy to engage with but there
are limitations to it as well as positive attributes. The outcome of dialogic reflection
includes an assessment of informal learning which is engaged within the school
environment and from experience in classroom. It is useful because it creates a space for
learning between individuals and regularity in terms of reflection and therefore learning.
It's a process of interacting with others, envisioning and re profiling professional roles
and notions about teaching and learning.
Dialogic process is very useful as a professional development tool and is a means of
organizational change.
Topic: 195
_______________________________________________________________________
Asynchronous Discussion (AD) - The Theory
The dialogic process for reflective practice can be Asynchronous. Asynchronous

discussion is where dialogue occurs sometimes after experience and between experiences
so in a sense out of step. Asynchronous discussion tends to be very theory oriented and
allows teachers to have time to reflect and to produce their collaborations and
contributions with others.
AD enables teachers to think and develop higher order thinking skills e.g. to gather,
apply, analyze, synthesize and evaluate information. These add to RP's bag of skills. AD
allows students to conceptualize ideas and issues and theories from different viewpoints,
to understand different perspectives on things. It also is very good means for
collaboration. The active collaboration is really shared creation, shared discovery with
others. AD enables the thinking process to inform the dialogue very directly.
All this links nicely to Vygotsky's sociocultural learning theory in that learning
experiences happen at a socio cultural level. In other words, the experiences are
communicated and shared with a community of professionals. This is essential for
learning and internalization of knowledge. From this point of view, there is a constant
interplay between social processes and individual cognitive development.
This can also be looked at from Dewey's experience based learning theory which tells us
that experiences are not only shared but reconstructed through reflection. Reflection is
the heart of knowledge- constructing process. RP is framed by a difficult perplexing and
confused experiences and questions initially and a unified or resolved situations to
achieve some useful end points. In this sense, it's very much about integration of
deliberation and actions.
Halliday's social- semiotic perspective in terms of dialogic process tells us that language
that we use simultaneously performs three macro- functions:
ideational
interpersonal
textual
Halliday's social- semiotic perspective on learning believes that language is socially
shaped by experience but is also shaping our experience. There is an interplay between
language and dialogue.
_______________________________________________________________________
Topic: 196
Asynchronous Practice
Asynchronous discussion as a practice of dialogic process needs to be designed. It just

happened instantaneously and it can be designed by some other individual perhaps a
mentor rather than RP. It’s very much about asking teacher to reflect on theories have
learnt about teaching and how learning about teaching is being understood and applied in
different situations.
AD occurs over time rather than spontaneously, providing time for thinking about events.
It provides RP to think about events in detail. It can occur via email and text and this the
main means for AD because the time lack is involved in written expression but care
needs to be taken by RP that dialogue remains as dialogue not a monologue. It’s an
interpersonal discourse. It’s about showing and giving admirations, celebrating successes,
encouragement, developing eagerness to share, agreements, suggestions, clarifications,
and invitations for more discussions.
AD is a process of questioning but engaging, it’s about expression and response. It's
skeptical and respectful yet at the same time challenging but supportive.
The 'other' or the mentor involved in the process needs to be explicit and with a desired
discourse used in AD.
Thus, teachers can learn critical language to express themselves effectively in both
cognitive and socio-affective levels. It is revealed in Fabro & Garrison (1998) where they
call it as established presence of a significant other in dialogic discourse. In this sense, it
is appropriate that discourse is practical and the significant other is constructively
critiquing contributions in the dialogic process rather than a simple two way process.
Topic: 197
Dialogic Diaries
Dialogic diaries are a very useful tool for RP to engage in a dialogic dialogue. It's a type
of reflective journal in which teachers or reflective practitioners reflect on their learning
and a 'significant other' writes a response. Essentially, the written thinking passes
between RP and the significant other and this becomes an ongoing dialogue. Dialogic
diaries are a very useful tool and asynchronous discussions can occur through the journal
_______________________________________________________________________
and journal writing and its different stages over time. So a conversation is maintained
between two people through the journal.
There are different stages to Dialogic Diaries:
Stage 1:
Uncertainty: There is uncertainty is about how to write and what to write. Is it good for
reflection.
Stage 2: Enthusiasm: Once the level of uncertainty is over come, the RP can find the
writing in Journal and response to the journal becomes quite an engaging process for RP.
Once the dialogic diary has been engaged for some time, it actually becomes a little
habitual and can lead to lack of enthusiasm which is stage 3 of the process.
Once this stage is passed, this becomes a habit and learning can develop quickly but this
requires motivation and for the RP its worth at this point being aware of it and then this
becomes quite powerful because learning can be ongoing.
Dialogic Diaries are powerful for reflection but there are certain issues maintaining a
diary.
1st is time. The teachers require time to write diaries. The time needed for diary writing
process to continue for a long term. So sometimes, diary writing becomes unproductive.
The ethics of diary writing especially blog writing or shared writing.
Topic: 198
The Academic Portfolio
A fundamental feature of self-evaluation or academic portfolio is the intentional focus on

learning assessment. It is very deliberate and systematic in its process. The RP has an
attention on focusing on towards teaching and on research skills and reflecting on
experiences in classroom. Its focus is different from Dialogic Process. An academic
portfolio is an evolving collection of experiences and experiments over time. It is very
much about teacher not only reflecting but taking Meta cognitive appraisal of how and
more importantly, why learning and teaching from their experience.
There are certain benefits which can be considered for an academic portfolio for a
dialogic reflection. There is potential of increased understanding of how you learn and
what are your learning outcomes (What you have and have not learned) and also what we
are not learning or developing. With increased understanding, we are able to explore the
_______________________________________________________________________
aspects about work which we value. The role in learning how to articulate in writing
one's thoughts and ideas
Another benefit is there is potential for an increased understanding of the others’ views is
of our professional role. There is an enhanced ability to make connections about the
theories that we know and among courses taught and in the context of teaching without
boundaries. It is an opportunity to make connections between what we have experienced
on courses and formal courses and with the experiences and research and collaboration.
Another very useful benefit is an increased sense of learning over time.
What is to be included in Academic Portfolio:
One should include documentation of steps, (analogous to keeping a log for lab research)
commentaries (as for solution to math problems)
It also evolves over time and there is a history to it. One can look back and look at
progression of the journey. Certain process is involved in constructing an academic
portfolios.
Collection: A relatively short collection of materials that summarizes and
highlights an individual's activities as a teacher and researcher
Selection: Why are you creating the portfolio? Who is reading it and why?
Reflection: Thinking critically about your total learning, teaching and research
experiences
Connections: Making personally meaningful connections between teaching,
field of research and service and community experience.
The academic portfolio is long term piece of evidence and is a living
collection of documents and materials which change over time. New items are
added, others are dropped.
Lecture 31 - Collaborative Observation and Feedback

Topic 199-204
Topic 199
Teachers Collaborating
• Every teacher is an active participant in their development
• There are real benefits where collaboration and continuous learning are the focus
of reflective practice.
Teachers Collaborating:
_______________________________________________________________________
Self –
Reflection
Summative
Goal Setting
Evaluation
Formative Observation/
Assessment/ Collection of
Evaluation Evidence
Observations/ Collections of Evidence are part of Step 3 of the 5-Step Cycle of
evaluation.
_______________________________________________________________________
Self –Reflection
Summative
Goal Setting
Evaluation
Observation/
Formative Assessment/
Evaluation Collection of
Evidence
The Observation/Collection of Evidence begins as soon as the goals are set (step 2) and
continues until the end of the cycle with summative evaluation.
Observations are one more source of evidence for the reflective practitioner, and forms a
significant part of the role of feedback in promoting professional growth and
development.
Observing Practice: What Can You See?
Inside the Classroom Outside the Classroom
_______________________________________________________________________
Teacher Student engagement Professional collaboration (team meetings)

Classroom management Family and community engagement
Differentiated instruction Collaborative data analysis
Cultivating a safe learning environment
Principles of Brief Observations

Frequent
Focused
Varied
Useful and Timely Feedback
Collecting Evidence through Observation
• It is helpful to adopt one or two note-taking strategies that facilitate quick short-
hand. Here is a sample excerpt of observation notes.
• Paraphrasing around short quotes that convey the tone and spirit of the interaction
are all good note-taking strategies during short observations.
Teachers Collaborating: Getting Feedback from Others on Observations:
• FOCUSED: feedback should focus on what was observed
• EVIDENCE-BASED: feedback should be grounded in evidence of practice
• CONSTRUCTIVE: feedback should reinforce effective practice and identify
areas for continued growth
• TIMELY: feedback should be provided shortly after the observation
Topic 200
Peer Observation
There are several benefits from using peer observation:
• Maintaining and enhancing teaching quality and therefore improving student
learning experiences
• Developing self-awareness about a variety of instructional aspects
• Reflecting on various aspects of your teaching practice
_______________________________________________________________________
• Recognising and identifying good practice in others

• Identifying your own professional development needs
• Providing evidence of quality teaching practice for promotion applications
• Identifying and promoting good practice and innovation in teaching and learning
• Deepening understanding of the work of colleagues in and across teams,
departments and faculties
• Networking with colleagues to discuss various learning and teaching issues
• Increasing the sense of collaboration and enhanced trust through allowing
colleagues to observe and comment upon each other’s teaching.
Collaborative Observation and Feedback
• Briefing session
• Observation session
• Post-observation session
• Production of a record of observation
The Process of Peer Observation
Briefing session:
• The RP being observed will set out the context of the observation and draw the
observer’s attention to anything that they particularly want comment on
Post-Observation session:
• This is a collaborative reflection and will involve appraisal of the session by the
teacher who was observed and comments from the observer.
• The observer’s feedback should cover good practice seen during the session, as
well as areas they think may benefit from future development
• Post-observation is usually the most difficult part of the peer observation process
as it can be difficult both to give criticism and to receive it.
Topic 201
Collaborative Observation and Feedback
Peer Observation
There are a number of focus areas for the reflective practitioner during peer observation:
• Planning/ Organisation/ Content
• Teaching Strategies/ Resources
• Presentation/ Management
• Assessment/ Monitoring
Planning/ Organisation/ Content
• Teaching purposes are clear and stated in appropriate term, such as aims,
outcomes
• Content is appropriate for the level, abilities, needs and interests of students.
• Content is well researched and up-to-date.
Teaching Strategies/ Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
• Methods are appropriate to purposes of session.

• Methods are chosen with regard to students’ abilities, needs and needs of content.
• Methods are chosen to gain interest and participation.
• Class management is effective and appropriate.
• Resources are used effectively and complement content, methods and purposes.
Presentation/ Management
• Effective presentation/ communication skills are used.
• Effective use of questioning to monitor and promote understanding.
• Student contributions and participation are encouraged in a positive atmosphere
Assessment/ Monitoring
• Suitable methods are used to identify and monitor student progress.
• Constructive feedback is provided
Topic 202
Peer Observation
• The process of peer observation of teaching (POT) can be undertaken in a number
of different ways.
Buddy System:
• Where two colleagues agree to act as observer and observed. The observation
takes place followed by a reversal of the roles at a later date.
Circus:
• Colleague A observes colleague B, colleague B observes C, and so on round the
group until they have all been observed.
• The process for three people is shown below, but it can be adapted for more than
three participants.
Teams of Three:
• The observations are organised within teams of three as in the diagram.
• Each colleague is observed twice (perhaps reversing the cycle).
When you are the observer:
• Discuss all aspects of the activity.
• Ensure the feedback is structured to save time and provide clear instructions.
• During observation don’t be distracted by the content if you are there to observe
teaching strategies, for example Allow the one being debriefed to say something
about the observation before you give feedback.
• Focus comment on the behaviour not the person
• Be specific: Clear, Owned, Balanced, Brief, Specific (COBBS)
• Give feedback as soon as possible.
• Prioritise your comments.
Topic 203
What is Lesson Study
_______________________________________________________________________
Lesson study is a professional development process that Japanese teachers engage in to

systematically examine their practice
The Goal of Lesson Study
The goal of lesson study is to improve the effectiveness of the experiences that the
teachers provide to their students.
A Focus on the Examinations of Lessons
• The core activity in lesson study is for teachers to collaboratively work on a small
number of “study lessons”.
• These lessons are called “study” lessons because they are used to examine the
teachers’ practice.
Working on a Study Lesson
1. Research and preparation:
• The teachers jointly draw up a detailed plan for the study lesson.
2. Implementation:
• A teacher teaches the study lesson in a real classroom while other group members
look on.
3. Reflection and improvement:
• The group comes together to discuss their observations of the lesson.
4. Second implementation and reflection: (optional but recommended)
• Another teacher teaches the study lesson in a second classroom while group
members look on; this is followed by the group coming together again to discuss
the observed instruction.
_______________________________________________________________________
The Lesson Plan is the Backbone of the Study Lesson

 The lesson plan supports the lesson study process, by serving as a Teaching
tool--it provides a script for the activities of the lesson
 The lesson plan supports the lesson study process, by serving as a:
 Communication tool--it conveys to others the thinking of the teachers who
planned the lesson
 The lesson plan supports the lesson study process, by serving as an:
 Observation tool--it guides what to look for in the lesson; it is a place for the
observers to record/ share observations.
Topic 204
How do RPs Share Learning from Lesson Study
• Reports/ Publications
• Outside Advisors
• Lesson Study Open House
• Rotations of Teachers
• Structural Supports for Teachers
Lesson Study focuses more on student learning than on teaching.
How do RPs Share Learning from Lesson Study

• Reports/ Publications
The report is not just lesson plans and lesson materials. It is a reflective piece that
includes a discussion of the motivations
• Open House
_______________________________________________________________________
• The open house allows a school to share its lesson study work with other schools.
• Rotation of Teachers
• Teachers can be rotated through grade levels within their schools.
• Structural Supports for Teachers
• Within schools, the structure of the teachers’ staff room also facilitates the sharing
process, since the teachers’ desks are arranged together in a single room.
Lecture 32
Topic 205-208
Topic 205
Group and Peer Supervision
• Roles and Approach
• Focus person (the reflective teacher)
• Supervisor
• Mediator
Focus Person
Presents the
Supervisor
subject of the
Mediator dialogue Listens
Listens actively, asks
actively to questions in
the dynamic an
process appreciative
between way, using
focus person the answers
and to investigate
supervisor. further and
deeper
The Roles
• Roles
Focus person
Defines theme and subject of the dialogue
Supervisor
Asks questions about what has been seen and heard in an investigative, exploratory and
appreciative way
_______________________________________________________________________
A Reflecting Team
• Together, the three roles make a reflecting team
The Role of the Reflecting Team
• Listens to the dialogue without interrupting
• Takes notes
• The session and the focus person’s dilemma
• Listens to the dialogue without interrupting
• Takes notes
• Own associations about the process
• The reflecting team discuss what they have seen. They can make proposals for
questions that can be posed, directions that can be followed
Group and Peer Supervision: The Rules
• A clearly defined theme
• Appreciative approach
• Clear feedback
• Questioning technique
• Confidence
Group and Peer Supervision: Constructive Feedback
• Respect the other as a person
• Acknowledge the other’s right to opinions, beliefs and values
• Show understanding and recognition of the other’s feelings and views
• Help the other to a better understanding of strengths, weaknesses and potentials.
Group and Peer Supervision: Questioning Technique
Using open questions:
• To examine something further. E.g. Can you give more details?
• To make the other elaborate and argue:
• Why use this activity?
• Why did you….?
To challenge:
• Direct (Which resources are (to be) used in this activity? )
• Indirect (How do you think the students will interpret the results?)
• What did/do you intend the students to learn?
Group and Peer Supervision: Questioning Technique
• Using closed questions for validation and interpretation (Is it correct when I
understand that….)
• Probing questions (what exactly?) and funnel questions can make the other focus
Group and Peer Supervision: The Rules
• A clearly defined theme
• Appreciative approach
• Clear feedback
_______________________________________________________________________
• Questioning technique
• Confidence
Topic 206
Supervision – What Is It?
• Both of these aspects will be relevant to varying degrees in supervision,
depending on the context. It can be helpful to think about supervision both in
terms of development (which is related to ongoing professional learning) and
performance (which is related to clinical governance and standard setting).
Domains of Supervision
• Think about some different contexts in which supervision can occur, e.g. peer
supervision, teaching, multidisciplinary team meetings.
• In which part of the diagram do these supervisory conversations take place?
• Although many aspects of supervision are common across all contexts, in the
critical setting it is useful to tease out some of the specific aspects; not least
because of an emerging distinction being made in education between the two
closely related and overlapping activities of critical and educational supervision
• In which part of the diagram do these supervisory conversations take place?
• It is useful to tease out some of the specific aspects.
Principles of Supervision
• Be clear about why there is a need for supervision and who has asked for it.
• Set a time frame for the supervision session; even a few minutes of focused time
can be worthwhile.
• Protect the time and space where possible and appropriate; try to ensure there will
be no interruptions and that there is privacy.
• Ensure that there is confidentiality
• Be transparent about the extent to which the supervision is about development or
performance; this may need to be renegotiated or stated during the session.
What is Supervision For?
• Students
• Contexts (professional networks in schools, department issues etc.)
• Career development
Using Questions in Supervision
• The RP is given the opportunity to reconstruct their view of a particular issue or
difficulty. This is achieved by the supervisor asking them questions to try to help
them see things from different perspectives and in different contexts.
• To help the RP come to conclusions and solutions, the supervisor may wish to
refrain from giving any advice until towards the end of the supervision
conversation.
The circuluar process of supervision
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Constraints and Barriers

• Time
• Worries about the possible enormity of the problem; opening a ‘can of worms’.
• Need for appropriate training to carry out supervision.
• Embedded cultural attitudes: for some teachers there is a tradition of working
alone
• Fear of showing areas of weakness or need.
• Anxiety about professional revalidation.
• Attitudes about ‘policing’ the profession.
• Personality mismatches between supervisor and reflective practitioners.
Topic 207
A Question-Based Approach to Supervision
The 7 C’s
1. Conversations
_______________________________________________________________________
 This implies that the conversation itself is the working tool.

 Effective conversations create new understanding of reality through ‘rethinking’
and ‘reconstructing’ stories.
2. Curiosity
 This is used to develop the story about students, colleagues and oneself.
 It involves paying close attention to both verbal and non-verbal language
3. Contexts
 This develops an understanding of the RP’s networks, their sense of culture,
faith, beliefs, community, values, history and geography, and how these affect
teaching
4. Becoming more interested in interactions/patterns between people and events

producing a richer story.
5. Creativity
 Finding ways to create an account of reality that makes sense . It implies the
creative process of jointly constructing a new version of the story through the
process of supervision.
6. Caution
 Looking for cues from teaching. It involves working with a level of challenge.
7. Care
 This encompasses being respectful, considerate and attentive. It means
ensuring that reflective practice is carried out within an ethical framework.
Topic 208
Differentiated Supervision
The Premises
• There are a lot of very good teachers in education.
• Teachers are the best determiners of their own professional development needs.
• Not all teachers need to be observed continuously.
• Collaboration and professionalism breed creativity and motivation.
Four Modes of Differentiated Supervision
• Focused Assistance
• Technical Supervision
• Peer Coaching
Self-directed professional development
_______________________________________________________________________
• To resolve a specific problem

• To provide direction to new teachers
Technical Supervision
• Teachers not in focused assistance can choose this form of supervision
• All reflective practitioners benefit from participation in this phase
Peer Coaching and Self-Directed
• continued professional development
What is Peer Coaching?
• Teachers working as a team to collaborate around individual developmental goals
in a non-threatening supervisory model.
What is the Process of Peer Coaching?
• Select a partner
• Goal setting
• Operationalise goals
• Develop data collection instrument
• Observations
• Data sharing
• Modify practice
Lecture 33
Challenges of inter-professional Working for Reflective Practice.
Topic 209-214
Topic 209
Challenges of inter-professional Working for Reflective Practice.
Drivers of Inter professional learners
 To modify negative attitude and perceptions
 To remedy failures in trust and communication between professionals
 To reinforce collaborative competence to secure collaboration
 To implement policies
 To improve services
 To effect change
 To enhance job satisfaction and ease stress
 To create more flexible working conditions
 To counter reductionism and fragmentation as the teaching profession proliferates
in response to technological advances
 To integrate teaching approaches and changing learning preferences
 Economic drivers also support IPL. This is especially so in rural or remote areas
where resources are often quite sparse.
Topic 210
Challenges of Inter-Professional Working for Reflective Practice
Principles of Inter-Professional Learning (IPL)
_______________________________________________________________________
 Improves the quality of teaching

 Focuses on the needs of students
 Encourages professionals to learn with, from and about each other
 Respects the integrity and contribution of each professional
 Increases professional satisfaction
 Improves the quality of teaching - IPL underpins the reality of the complexity of
education. Individual professionals working in isolation does not develop
expertise.
 Focuses on the needs of students – IPL puts the needs and interests of students at
the centre of practice.
 Encourages professionals to learn with, from and about each other – This is a core
distinguishing feature of IPL
 Respects the integrity and contribution of each professional – Participants in IPL
are seen as equal learners
 Increases professional satisfaction – This is achieved through mutual support and
guidance discussion about roles and responsibilities, and is a collaborative
practice.
Challenges of Inter-Professional Working for Reflective Practice

Effective Inter-professional Team-working
• Effective schooling requires coordinated and concerted efforts from teachers.
• Effective care requires the concerted and coordinated activities of multiple
professionals.
• Teamwork can contribute to job satisfaction.
• Teamwork can assist in the development and promotion of inter-professional
communication.
• A clear understanding of one’s professional identity, likely role within a team and
the ideas about teaching as a profession are tested and developed.
• The perceptions of one’s own professional identity and others assumption about the
professional identities of other groups may not align.
• There is an expectation that in professional settings a grouping of individuals will
have the capabilities required to adjust their own practice.
• Differences in career histories.
• Varying levels of preparation, qualifications and status.
Topic 211
Communities of Practice and IPL
• The learning that comes from being involved in a community of practice (CoP) is
often not formalised and usually unacknowledged by the workplace as a legitimate
way of learning.
_______________________________________________________________________
• The concept that learning is a social phenomenon (Wenger) leads to informal

learning experiences which occur at all levels within a work environment.
• New knowledge allows teachers to act as change agents as they find new ways of
doing things and have the opportunity to challenge practices, which ensures that
best practice is incorporated into the workplace on an ongoing basis.
• If the working environment allows and encourages this type of learning experience,
opportunities for professional and practice development are greatly increased.
Structure (How What’s the Who What Holds How Long

clear are the Purpose Belongs? Them Do They
boundaries?)
Structure (How What’s the Purpose Who Belongs? Together?
What Holds Last?
How Long Do
clear are the Them They Last?
boundaries?) Together?
Informal To receive and pass Friends and Mutual need Never really
Networks
Communities of on information
To create, expand andcolleagues
Self-reflection and Passion,
relations startEvolve
of end and end
(Undefined)
Practice exchange knowledge based on commitment and organically
(Fuzzy) and to develop expertise of the identification
individual capabilities topic with the
profession
Communities of Practice and IPL compared to other forms of team learning.
Topic 212
Communities of Practice and IPL
 professional and practice development are greatly increased.
• A community of practice can be described as a group of people who work
together to achieve a common goal.
• The process of working together and sharing knowledge and resources can lead to
an enriched learning experience as people are exposed to new ways of thinking
and problem solving.
• We have seen that a community of practice has specific criteria which makes it
so. There are differences between a CoP and, say, an informal network.
• Communities of practice share three specific domains
o Knowledge – a common body of knowledge within the community.
o Community – commitment to forming a group for networking.
o Shared practice – sharing of ideas, resources and strategies
Topic 213
The Role of the Reflective Practitioner in IPL
_______________________________________________________________________
 The RP ensures that IPL is effective at many levels: The level of the curriculum
(its design and balance of activities); timetabling; allocation of resources;
relationships between different academic groups; selection of activities for IPL.
 Once higher-level decisions have been made to implement IPL activities, the RP
is also responsible for what goes on in the learning environment itself – the micro-
culture of the ‘classroom’.
Guidelines for school management of inter-professional groups.
 Encourage ‘learning from’ rather than ‘learning with’ one another.
 Make sure there is adequate, diverse and equal mix of experience.
 Ensure the majority of collaboration has relevance to all.
 Utilise the skills, knowledge and expertise of all the participants.
The Role of the Reflective Practitioner in IPL: Learning Theory
• The rationale for PL is also underpinned by learning theories.
• Various theories focus on effective learning happening in the gap (or
‘disjuncture’) between what someone thinks they know and what they think they
need to know.
• In theory, slightly unfamiliar contexts, such as IPL, create disjuncture, revealing
learning needs and motivating RPs to close the gap.
• Skillfully facilitated and planned IPL can utilise constructive friction, creative
conflict and the learning ‘edge’ to promote change, stimulate debate and
discussion, and promote professional development.
Topic 214
The Role of the Reflective Practitioner in IPL 2
The RP ensures that IPL is effective at many levels: The level of the curriculum (its
design and balance of activities); timetabling; allocation of resources; relationships
between different academic groups; selection of activities for IPL.
Once higher-level decisions have been made to implement IPL activities, the RP is also
responsible for what goes on in the learning environment itself – the micro-culture of the
‘classroom’.
Guidelines for school management of inter-professional groups.
• Encourage ‘learning from’ rather than ‘learning with’ one another.
• Make sure there is adequate, diverse and equal mix of experience.
• Ensure the majority of collaboration has relevance to all.
• Utilise the skills, knowledge and expertise of all the participants.
The rationale for PL is also underpinned by learning theories.
Various theories focus on effective learning happening in the gap (or ‘disjuncture’)
between what someone thinks they know and what they think they need to know.
• In theory, slightly unfamiliar contexts, such as IPL, create disjuncture, revealing
learning needs and motivating RPs to close the gap.
_______________________________________________________________________
• Skillfully facilitated and planned IPL can utilise constructive friction, creative
conflict and the learning ‘edge’ to promote change stimulate debate and
discussion, and promote professional development.
Lecture 34 Grounded Theories

Topic 215-220
Topic 215
What is Grounded Theory?
Focus on generating theoretical ideas (or hypotheses) from experiences rather than
having these specified beforehand. Grounded theory is inductively derived from the study
of the phenomena it represents.
Core Elements of Grounded Theory
• Inquiry shaped by the aim to discover social & social psychological processes.
• Create analytic codes and categories from the data
• Data collection and analysis proceed simultaneously.
• Analytic process employed prompts theory discovery and development rather
than verification of pre-existing theories = Inductive
• Theoretical sampling refines, elaborates and exhausts conceptual categories.
• Systematic application of grounded theory analytic methods will progressively
lead to more abstract analytic levels.
Data analysis begins to develop theories (explanations) that suggest further cases to
sample.
• Use these to elaborate and refine emerging theoretical categories
• Develop properties until no new ones emerge
• Involves comparison of people, places, events, conditions, settings etc.
Purpose
• To develop theory about phenomenon of interest which are grounded or rooted in
observation
• Allows the reflective practitioner to take a researcher role in order to seek out and
conceptualize latent social patterns and structures through constant comparisons
Constant Comparisons...
• involve comparing one segment of data with another to determine similarities and
differences
• provide abstract conceptualizations to avoid descriptive interpretations
• help facilitate the discovery of patterns in the data
Coding
• While you do comparisons you will be taking notes and coding
Coding: identifying categories and properties
• Can be done formally or informally
_______________________________________________________________________
Topic 216
Stages in Developing a Grounded Theory (GT) 1
Three stages:
1. Open coding - a procedure for developing categories of information
2. Axial coding - a procedure for interconnecting the categories
3. Selective coding - a procedure for building a story that connects the categories
producing a discursive set of theoretical propositions.
Open Coding
• Examine the text for salient categories
• Applying codes to the text is labelling phenomena.
• Key is to avoid mere description. e.g. “conferring” not “talked to a manager”
“Information gathering” not “reading the schedule”
• Use constant comparative approach in an attempt to saturate Saturation =
look for the instances that represent the category and continue looking until new
information does not provide further insight into the category Saturation = look
for the instances that represent the category and continue
Coding
• Stress on ACTION Not what does this represent, but what is the person doing?
What are they trying to achieve? What strategy are they using? Code social and
psychological processes
• Coding process is iterative. Builds up gradually, based on early coding.
Axial Coding
• Explore the relationship of categories, making connections between them.
• Then apply a model to this.
Model = Causal conditions =>
• Central Phenomenon => context =>
• intervening conditions =>
• Action/interaction strategies => Consequences.
Look for...
• Causal conditions = what influences the central phenomenon, events, incidences,
happenings
• Phenomenon = the central idea, event, happening, incident about which a set of
actions or interactions are directed at managing, handling or to which the set of
actions is related.
• Strategies for addressing the phenomenon. Purposeful, goal oriented.
• Context - locations of events.
Topic 217
Stages in Developing a Grounded Theory (GT) 2
Three stages:
3. Selective Coding
Identify a single category as the central phenomenon
_______________________________________________________________________
Then construct a story around this.

Story line = the conceptualisation of the story = the core category
Selective coding = systematically relating the core category to other categories and
filling in categories that need further refinement.
Theory should emerge by constant comparison, not forced. Emergent.
Prescriptive, develops categories
Categories and theory co-constructed = constructivist
Examines how experience is constructed and structures are erected by the reflective
practitioner
Coding not a description, rather it gets to the concept/pattern.
GT is the study of a concept.
Theoretical Sensitivity
Sources of Theoretical Sensitivity:
• Professional experience
• Personal experience of an event
Theoretical Sensitivity
Sources of Theoretical Sensitivity:
• Analysis process itself: become sensitive to concepts, meanings and relationships
• Theoretical sensitivity is a good thing in that it helps us connect what we know to
what we don’t know about what we are studying (awareness of our biases)
• Forces us to step back and make sure what we are truly seeing is FOUND in the
data. Think of it as a “grounding tool” for conducting grounded theory
Topic 218
Grounded Theory
• There is a continuous interplay between data collection and analysis
_______________________________________________________________________
Written Record
Data Analysis Approach
Data Collection
Technique
Research Method
Philosophical
Assumptions
Some Approaches to Grounded Theory
Two main variants:
1. Strauss and Corbin (1990) provide a one coding paradigm (context, conditions,
interactions, conditions and consequences)
2. Glaser (1978) provides 18 coding ‘families’ giving many more options
Strauss and Corbin (1990) variant is the most widely used
• Theoretical coding
= The formulation of a theory
• The Process and Categories Within the Flow of Research in Grounded Theory for
the Reflective Practitioner
_______________________________________________________________________
Topic 219
Types of Grounded Theory Design
• Emergent Design
• Grounded theory exists at the most abstract conceptual level rather than the least
abstract level as found in visual data presentations such as a coding paradigm.
• Emergent Design
• A theory is grounded in the data and not forced into categories
• Four essential criteria: fit, work, relevance, modifiability.
• Constructivist Design
• Philosophical position between positivist and post-modern researchers
• Theorist explains feelings of individuals as they experience a phenomenon or
process.
• Constructivist Design
• Study mentions beliefs and values of the researcher and ignores predetermined
categories
• Narrative is more explanatory, discursive, and probing the assumptions and
meanings for the individuals in the study.
Types of Grounded Theory Design
• Zig-Zag Data Collection and Analysis to Achieve Saturation of Categories
_______________________________________________________________________
Narrative is more explanatory, discursive, and probing the assumptions and meanings
for the individuals in the study.
Topic 220
Criteria for Evaluating Grounded Theory
• Is there an obvious connection between the categories and the raw data?
• Is the theory useful as a conceptual explanation for the process being studied?
• Does the theory provide a relevant explanation of actual problems and a basic
process?
• Can the theory be modified as conditions change or further data are gathered?
• Is a theoretical model developed or generated that conceptualizes a process,
action, or interaction?
• Is there a central phenomenon (or core category) specified at the heart of the
model?
• Does the model emerge through phases of coding? (e.g. initial codes to more
theoretically oriented codes or open coding to axial coding to selective coding)
• Does the teacher attempt to interrelate categories?
• Does the study show how the teacher validated the evolving theory by comparing
it to the data, examining how the theory supports or refutes existing theories in
the literature, or checking theory with student’s colleagues?
Lecture 35 Building Theory from and for practice

Topic 221 to 226
Topic 221
Building Theory From and For Practice
_______________________________________________________________________
Framework for Organising Teachers’ Learning and Knowledge – Building Practice

The knowledge conversion model focuses primarily on knowledge creation and the
transfer of knowledge between implicit and explicit forms and across individual and
organizational levels.
There are four knowledge conversion stages (SECI):
• Socialisation (S) between individuals using tacit knowledge.
• Externalising (E) it in individual reflections in an organisational context that
builds collaborative knowledge
• Combination (C) facilitates bringing tacit individual knowledge into explicit
organisational knowledge
• Making knowledge reusable for individual learning in internalisation (I).
Socialisation Externalisation
Communication between the members Publishing reflections.
of the community Comments from community member
to peers’ reflection
Internalisation Combination
Monitoring community members Collaborative creation of learning
reflections and learning from them. resources.
Planning own competence Formulating community norms and
development visions
Topic 222
A Process for Personal Theory Building
_______________________________________________________________________
• The aims of theory building:

- explanation
examples: what produces bad behaviour?
- prediction (if “A” happens, “B” will follow)
• Theory building: attempting to construct and evaluate explanatory statements
about what is going on around us.
• Some common sense examples:
- punishment deters bad behaviour
- improved teaching increases student achievement
• Theory building operates both at the abstract level of concepts (ideas abstracted
from an object) and at the empirical level (experience of reality)
Issues in developing your personal theory
• People are unlikely to change their beliefs unless they have opportunities to
critically reflect upon them.
• The intention to learn springs from problems experienced in practice or the desire
to maintain currency in knowledge
• The intention to learn is essential to the recursive process of personal theory
building.
Topic 223
What is Theory?
• A coherent set of general propositions used as principles of explanation of the
apparent relationships of certain observed phenomena.
What Makes a Good Theory?
• Validity
It fits the facts
• Generalisation
Makes predictions about future or other events
• Replication
It can be repeated with similar findings
 Constructs
Teachers use concepts (or constructs) as variables
Examples: School leadership; honesty; efficiency
 Propositions
_______________________________________________________________________
What Makes a Good Hypothesis

• precise
• specifies variables to measure
• specifies relationships between variables
The Double Movement of Reflexive Thought
• Induction occurs when we observe a fact and ask “why”
• To answer this we develop a tentative hypothesis as the explanation
• Deduction is the process we use to test the hypothesis
Topic 224
Using Evidence 1
 Evidence from own students (formal and informal)
 Evidence of own practice (link to evidence from students)
 Evidence from others’ research to inform practice
 Beliefs, Knowledge and Skills of Reflective Practitioners
 Inquiry habit of mind
 Evidence as a source of information for teaching and learning (not labels for
students)
 Beliefs, Knowledge and Skills of Reflective Practitioners

 Knowledge and skills
 The meaning of the evidence for practice
 Sufficient understanding to make relevant adjustments to practice
 Evidence-informed Conversations
_______________________________________________________________________
• Teacher inquiry and knowledge-building cycle to promote valued student

outcomes
• Sufficient understanding to make relevant adjustments to practice
Topic 225
Using Evidence 2
Evidence from Students
• What do the students already know?
• How adequate are the sources of evidence we have used?
• What do the students need to learn and do?
• How do we build on what they know?
Evidence of Effectiveness of Own Knowledge and Practice
• How we have contributed to existing student outcomes?
• What do we already know that we can use to promote improved outcomes for
students?
• What do we need to learn and do to promote these outcomes?
• What sources of evidence / knowledge can we utilise?
_______________________________________________________________________
Three fields of knowledge
The use of evidence for professional learning cannot be a single event:

Pervades all aspects of the cycle
• Identifying what students know and need to learn
• Identifying what teachers know and need to learn
• Deciding what might be most effective
• Checking impact of changes to practice
Topic 226
Teachers’ Knowledge Management
• The three basic means of human knowledge acquisition are :
• To discover
• To study and to communicate - obtaining knowledge from others
Significance of Knowledge Management
• Track, measure, share and make use of intangible assets in a school.
• To capture, share and use productive knowledge to enhance learning and improve
performance
• Knowledge involves a higher degree of certainty or validity than information
BASICS of knowledge :
• Information; Values; Beliefs; Experiences; Rules and Procedures
Categories of Knowledge:
• Can be transmitted through social interactions and socialisation.
• Tacit knowledge - personal; wisdom and experience; context-specific; more
difficult to extract and codify.
• Cultural knowledge - Cultural Ethos specific to a school or region or language or
religion or nation.
Conceptual Framework of Knowledge Management
_______________________________________________________________________
Lecture 36 Action Research

Topic 227 to 232
Topic 227
Action Research
Three particular characteristics of action research are that it:
• Arises from practical questions
• Is participatory in nature
• Its validity is strengthened through peer examination and discussion.
The Objects of Enquiry Are:
• Observable social activities, patterns, structures;
• intentions motivating those activities;
• shared, available interpretations of these activities;
• Goal & interest to document, explicate, critique, transform.
Aspects of Action Research
Pratical Participatory
• Studying practices involving • Studying social issues that constrain
individual or team-based enquiry individual lives
• Focusing on teacher development • Emphasising “equal” collaboration

and student learning
• Implementing a plan of action • Focusing on “life-enhancing

leading to the teacher-as- researcher changes”
Resulting in the ‘emancipated practitioner
_______________________________________________________________________
The Reflective Practitioner looks at Action Research as a Cycle:

Action Research is an “interacting cycle”
Look ↔ Think ↔ Act
The Cyclical Nature of Action Research:

• We can view the action research approach for the reflective practitioner through a
number of diagram
Topic 228
The Reflective Practitioner Engaging in Action Research
• Action research engages teachers in a cycle of:
• Experience
• Critical reflection
• Action
• It is a deliberate rather than a purely exploratory entry into a naturally-occurring
educational setting. That is, it is a planned and self-consciously focused
examination of changing practice.
_______________________________________________________________________
• It is a solution-oriented investigation aimed explicitly at solving particular

problems rather than simply documenting their instances, character or
consequences
• It is group or personally owned and conducted. This emphasises the importance of
the practitioner’s role as a determinant of the description of the problem, what
counts as solutions, and what form the reporting will take.
• It takes the form of a series of iterations on and around the problem, its
documentation and theorisation, and the analyses that are used to display how it
has been redefined and solved
• These iterations are referred to as spirals but are more commonly known as the
Action Research Cycle. This ‘cyclic’ feature of Action Research is taken to be
central to its core emphasis on the documented improvement of practice
• The trying out of ideas is not undertaken solely for the purposes of re-theorising
practice, or adding to knowledge, but is also aimed at improving practice.
Ethical Practice
• It is collaborative in nature: sense-making of data collected from within the field
of teachers’ own practice.
• It is transformative in its intent and action: Practitioner researchers engage in an
enterprise which is about contributing to transformation of practice
Topic 229
Reasons to do Action Research
• Help you build a reflective practice based on proven ideas or techniques
• Allow you to try new ideas and reliably assess their effectiveness
• It will help you build confidence in your teaching
• It will contribute to the professional culture of teaching at your school
• It can create meaningful and lasting change in order to improve student
achievement
Levels of Action Research
• The individual practitioner for classroom
• Group of teachers for department
• Teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders to affect change in the larger
school community
How to Get Started – Identify a Problem, Issue or Question
• Decide on a FOCUS
• Find your professional self…some guiding questions may be…
• What are your broad interests in teaching/ specific interests?
• What questions are manageable?
• What are you passionate about?
_______________________________________________________________________
• Is there a problem or question that you would like an answer to as a

teacher and how will an answer to your question or idea help you do a
better job?
Sources of Information
• Studies published in books, journals, periodicals, technical reports, and academic
theses and dissertations available either in print or online.
Conducting Action Research Steps
• Identify the question, issue or problem
• Conduct a literature review
• Define a solution
• Apply the solution and collect the data
• Analyse your findings
• Report your findings
• Take ACTION
Topic 230
The Nature of Action Research
• Research is empirical.
• Research is systematic.
• Research should be valid.
• Research should be reliable.
• Research can take on a variety of forms.
Research is empirical.
Action research is characterised as empirical because empiricism is the concept that all
knowledge is derived from sense experience. Information takes the form of data, which
can include test scores, field notes, responses to questionnaire items, etc
Research is systematic
Based on the scientific method, there are five steps:
1. Identify the problem
2. Review the information
3. Collect data
4. Analyse data
5. Draw conclusions
Research should be Valid
Validity is when something should be based on fact or evidence
Internal validity is the extent to which results can be interpreted accurately
External validity is the extent to which results can be generalised.
Action Research should be Reliability
• Reliability of research concerns the replicability and consistency of the methods,
conditions, and results.
Action Research can take a number of forms
• Basic and applied research
• The primary purpose of basic research is the extension of knowledge
_______________________________________________________________________
• The primary purpose of applied research is the solution of an immediate, practical

problem.
Topic 231
Action Research for Continuous Improvement
• Successful schools will have learning rather than teaching as a focus. Teachers
will work together to analyze student work and consider best practice.
• Instructional decisions will be based on data, emphasising formative as well as
summative data.
Professional Learning Commnuities
• Collaborative conversations will be a part of the regular school day for teachers.
• There will be a focus on results and staff will hold themselves accountable.
• Professional learning teams will function successfully on a variety of levels
leading to improved student achievement
• SMART goals will be understood and used meaningfully.
• Action research or teacher enquiry will inform practice.
• Students who are experiencing difficulty will be supported
• Learning is for all students and teachers.
Topic 232
Gathering Data
• There are many options for gathering data.
• Action researchers must choose their data gathering methods.
• Choose the techniques that most effectively address the question.
Techniques for Gathering Data
• Reflective Journal
• Portfolio
• Observations
_______________________________________________________________________
• Interviews
• Questionnaires
• Case studies
• Checklists
Guidelines for Analysing Data
DO
• Design a system for analysing your data
• Look for themes or pattern to emerge from the data
• Share your findings with a colleague
DON’T
• Let your previous assumptions guide your analysis
• Censor the data you have recorded
• Look through your data only once
A Process for Analysing Qualitative Data
• Write continuously…What are you seeing? What questions emerge? What are
you learning?
• Look for themes, patterns, and big ideas
• Identify main points that appear most frequently and most powerfully
• Draw information together
• Include support for each of your themes
Action Research is…Process, Collaboration, Improvement, Practice, Communication
Lecture 37 Appreciative Inquiry

Topic 233 to 238
Topic 233
An Introduction
• Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is the study and exploration of what gives life to human
systems when they function at their best
• This approach to personal change and organizational change is based on the
assumption that questions and dialogue about strengths, successes, values, hopes,
• An Introduction and dreams are themselves transformational.
• AI simply put…
• If we continue to search for problems, we will continue to find problems
• If we look for what is best and learn from it, we can magnify and multiply our
success
• Imagine the difference…
• What works well in my teaching?
Vs.
• What problems do I need to fix to make my teaching better?
• 4D Cycle of the AI process
_______________________________________________________________________
• Imagine the difference…

• What works well in my teaching?
Vs.
• What problems do I need to fix to make my teaching better?
Topic 234
an Introduction 2
Problem-Solving vs. Appreciative Inquiry
Problem-Solving is…
• Identify problems; Conduct Root Cause Analysis; Brainstorm Solutions &
Analyze; Develop Action Plans
• Metaphor: Teaching involves problems to be solved
Appreciative Inquiry is…
• Appreciate “What is”; Imagine “What might be”; Determine “What Should Be”;
Create “What Will Be”
• Metaphor: Teaching is a solution/ mystery to be embraced
Focusing on Being Exceptional
Reflective Practice tends to focus on
• Making improvements
• Changing things for the better
• The language of ‘deficit’ – correcting what is wrong
For the Reflective Practitioner, using AI focuses on:
• Positive Attributes
_______________________________________________________________________
• Examples:
Describe a peak experience or high point in your teaching.
Identify a time in your experience when you felt most effective and engaged.
What are three wishes you have to enhance the quality of your teaching?
Underlying Benefits
• Appreciative Inquiry unleashes power by:
• Building relationships
• Creating opportunities for teachers to be heard
• Generating opportunities for teachers to dream
• Allowing teachers to choose how they will contribute
• Giving teachers the support to act
• Encouraging and enabling teachers to be positive and affirming
Topic 235
5 Principles of AI
• Constructionist: The way we know is fateful
• Simultaneity: Change begins the moment you ask the question
• Poetic: People in organisations are an open book
• Anticipatory: Deep change = change in active images of the future
• Positive: The more positive the question = greater/longer lasting change
Key Understandings of AI
• Appreciate/value the best of what is
• Envision what might be
• Engage in dialogue about what should be
• Innovate what will be
• A cooperative inquiry
• A collaborative process
• Generate new narratives/ perspectives
Key Understandings of AI
The 4D Cycle Expanded
• Discover: The identification of organizational processes that work well
• Dream: The envisioning of processes that would work well in the future
• Design: Planning and prioritising process that work well
• Destiny: The implementation of the proposed design
_______________________________________________________________________
The 4D Cycle
Topic 236
from AI to Transformative Inquiry
Critical Inquiry
• Systematic inquiry that seeks to reveal the operation of wider structures such as
power;
• Claims to objective knowledge;
• Claims to ‘truth’ and understanding;
• Can be inclusive and dialogical;
• Includes a vision of a better world;
• It can be argued that it often results in a problem focus with an emphasis on
solutions
• Comparison of AI to Critical Inquiry -
Critical Inquiry Appreciative Inquiry

Driver Logic of analysis Faith in strengths
Find what’s wrong, broken or Find what’s working, present or
missing/find solutions to it; right/affirm and expand on it;
Knowledge Negative experiences of Positive and unique experiences
focus power/conventions
Epistemology Social constructivist / Realist; Social constructivist
More stress on understanding More stress on meaning/significance
Value Rationality and reason, the intellect Innovation, affirmation, intuition,
‘objective knowledge’ imagination; ‘constructed knowledge’
Approach Address the ‘negative’; leverage the Amplify the ‘positive’; reframe the
‘positive’ ‘negative’
Space-time Wide-continuous Immediate (here/now)
dimension
_______________________________________________________________________
Process Does not have to be social Narratives; Storytelling,

Dialogical or reflective Encouraging
Criticism? Draws on principles of simultaneity
Impact Directive/intolerant resulting in Encouraging and inclusive resulting in
defensiveness sense of camaraderie;
Potentially paralyzing or deficit discourse Potentially emancipatory - way forward.
– maintains status quo Spirals of ‘dysfunctional’ practices?
Potentially emancipatory - shared
meaning of Justice
From AI to Transformative Inquiry

Similarities between AI and Critical Inquiry
Critical Inquiry and Appreciative Inquiry
Driver Social Change
Knowledge Experiential knowledge

focus
Epistemology Social constructivist, ‘Situated truth’
Value Knowledge, sharing and dialogue
Process Explore and examine; reflection and management of knowledge
Impact Potentially emancipatory - potential for discovery and change
Topic 237
from AI to Transformative Inquiry 2
• Combining Critical Inquiry and Appreciative Inquiry provides the Reflective
Practitioner with a new framework: Transformative Inquiry
Critical Inquiry Appreciative Transformative Inquiry
Inquiry
Driver Social change - Logic Social change - Social change – Logic and
affirmation affirmation (pragmatism)
Knowledge - Power – negative Unique Experience Power in both negative and
focus experiences unique/shared experiences
Epistemology Realist/Social Social Postmodern stress on relational
constructivist; stress on constructivist; stress meaning
Understanding on Meaning Retains a critical realist
orientation
_______________________________________________________________________
Value Rational knowledge Constructed Reflectively modulated inquiry.

knowledge and ‘Not everything goes’
Innovation
Approach Address the ‘negative’; Address the Neutral; Modulated choices
leverage the ‘positive’ ‘positive’; reframe through social reflection
the ‘negative’
Space-time Wide-continuous Immediate Wide-continuous through the
dimension (here/now) Immediate
Process Examine, analyses Affirmation, Collaborative; situated
creativity, judgments
storytelling
Impact Emancipatory through Emancipatory Second order learning
shared meanings through camaraderie
Transformative Inquiry (TI)

• Claims to retain the mobilizing appeal of AI with the reason of CI.
• Claims to foster informed positions on change (whether transformative or
conservative) conducive to action.
• Can result in the inclusion of new voices.
• Potentially expands the circle of influence.
• Recognizes the power/reality of the whole in the specific.
• More awareness of consequences (practical reason).
• Can result in second order learning
Topic 238
the 5-I Approach
 Provides a more detailed framework for AI
 Based on S.O.A.R
_______________________________________________________________________
 Provides a strategic framework with an approach that focuses on strengths and
seeks to understand the whole system (e.g. school) by including the voices of the
relevant stakeholders.
 The “5-I approach” is: Initiate, Inquire, Imagine, Innovate & Inspire to Implement
The SOAR Process

• Can be done quickly or over an extended period of time
• Depends on purpose/goal
• Should include “teams” or break out groups to address each set of questions
• This is best opportunity to involve various stakeholders
Lecture 38 Extensions to Dewey’s Work

Topic 239 to 244
Topic 239
Reflection as Rationality
• John Dewey, saw reflection as a further dimension of thought, and as such in need
of education. “While we cannot learn or be taught to think, we do have to learn to
think well, especially acquire the general habit of reflection” (Dewey, 1933). For
Dewey, reflection is a rational and purposeful act, an “active, persistent and
careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of
the grounds that support it, and further conclusions to which it leads…” (Dewey,
1933).
_______________________________________________________________________
• Eemphasized practical ideas in both his philosophical and educational

theories, always striving to show how abstract concepts could work in everyday
life.
• He emphasized "hands-on" learning, and opposed authoritarian methods in
teaching.
• Recognises the individual’s own experience as the key element in learning – as
both the ‘means’ and the ‘end product’.
• In its simplest form, reflection is comprised of direct experience, process and
understanding of experience.
• To achieve understanding – to make meaning – the reflective practitioner MUST

engage in his or her own inquiry cycle.
Topic 240
Dewey and Reflective Thinking
Reflection as a Meaning-Making Process:
• Moves the learner from one experience to the next with deeper understanding of
its relationships with, and connections to, other experiences and ideas
Reflection as a Meaning-Making Process:
• The thread that makes continuity of learning possible
• It ensures the progress of the individual and, ultimately, society
_______________________________________________________________________
• It is a means to essentially moral ends.

Reflection as a Rigorous Way of Thinking:
• Systematic
• Rigorous
• Disciplined
• Roots in scientific inquiry
• Reflection needs to happen ‘in community’, in interaction with others.
Reflection as a Set of Attitudes:
• Reflection requires attitudes that value the personal and intellectual growth of
oneself and others.
Six Phases of Reflection:
• An experience
• Spontaneous interpretation of the experience
• Naming the problem(s) or the question(s) that arise out of the experience
• Generating possible explanations for the problem(s) or question(s)
• Constructing the explanations into full-blown hypotheses
• Experimenting or testing the selected hypotheses.
Significant Attitudes for Reflection:
• Empathy
• Open-mindedness
• Curiosity
• Self-awareness
• Inter-cultural communication skills
• Patience
• Ability to take risks/ act/ experiment
• Active seeking of feedback and alternative perspectives
Topic 241
Modern Version of Dewey’s Theory -
Inquiry Cycle
_______________________________________________________________________
Dewey and Reflective Thinking

• Problem Definition
• Problem Analysis
• Solutions
• Criteria
• Implementation
Dewey: Pattern of Reflective Thinking
Problem Definition
• What is the specific question or problem?
• What are the key terms, and what do they mean?
• What are the group’s limitations?
• What is the nature of the problem?
• What caused the problem?
• Why is it a problem?
• What are your goals?
• What are the obstacles preventing you from attaining your goals?
• How does it affect the persons involved?
• What are the short-range effects?
• What are the long-range effects?
Solutions - Selection
• What are the available solutions?
_______________________________________________________________________
• What creative solutions can we generate?

• Brainstorming
Solutions - Criteria
• By what criteria will you judge a solution?
• How well does each solution meet these criteria?
• What additional effects will preferred solutions generate?
• What are possible negative side effects?
• What are possible bonus effects?
• What is the best solution or combination of solutions?
Topic 242
Dewey: Routine Action and Reflective Action
Provides a useful distinction between routine action – in which the grounds for action
have not been actively considered and where tradition, external authority and
circumstance are guiding factors – and reflective action.
Reflective action derives, in Dewey’s view, from the need to solve a problem and
involves ‘the active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form
of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it’.
Teachers who are unreflective about their teaching tend to accept the everyday reality in
their schools and concentrate their efforts on finding the most effective and efficient
means to solve problems that have largely been defined for them.
It’s not that unreflective teachers aren’t thinking – rather, their thinking does not allow
the possibility of framing problems in more than one way. Main feature of Dewey’s
approach to reflection and reflective thinking are the generation of the process through
‘perplexity. A sense of goal-directedness and the notion of texting or evaluation
This brings Dewey’s approach into the realms of experiential learning. Dewey believes
that the process can be improved by having an understanding of, and experimenting with,
forms of thinking.
Topic 243
Dewey: Phases of Reflective Thought
Dewey suggests aspects (phases) of reflective thought:
• Suggestions…where the mind leaps forward to a possible solution
_______________________________________________________________________
• Intellectualization…of the difficulty or perplexity that has been directly

experienced into a problem to be solved
• Hypothesis…the use of one idea after another as a leading idea to initiate and
guide observation
• Mental elaboration…which clarifies the idea by overt or imaginative action
• Testing the hypothesis…Dewey did not believe that there was a strict order to
these phases. He described them as being ‘fluid’
Topic 244
Dewey: Experience, Reflection and Learning
As the father of the 20th Century progressive movement in education and an eminent
philosopher, John Dewey’s work is particularly helpful in defining and describing the
relationships among experience, reflection, and learning
Dewey (1933) states that an experience is an interaction between the individual and the
environment.
An experience first includes more than participation in activities; experience could be
reading a book, taking lecture notes, or talking with others.
Secondly, an experience contains what Dewey referred to as continuity, a continuous flow
of knowledge from previous experiences
Learning, therefore, is a continuous and cumulative process.
Prior learning becomes the fodder for further understanding and insight.
In his 1933 work, “How We Think”, Dewey distinguishes between four different modes
of thinking:
Imagination
Belief
Stream of consciousness
Reflection.
Dewey acknowledges that imagination, belief, and stream of consciousness are certainly
part of our thinking activities, yet they do not necessarily contribute to learning and even
less to lifelong learning.
Reflection however plays a different role.
_______________________________________________________________________
Reflection is active. When we reflect we examine prior beliefs and assumptions and their
implications. Reflection is an intentional action.
A “demand for a solution of a perplexity is the steadying, guiding factor in the entire
process of reflection” (Dewey, 1933, p. 14).
A key point is that informed action follows this reflective thinking process and leads to
more ideas and therefore generates more experience on which to reflect. “Reflective
thinking impels to inquiry” (Dewey, 1933, p. 7)
Lecture 39 Extensions to Boud’s Representation

Topic 245 to 250
Topic 245
Extension to Boud’s Representation
• Returning to the experience and attending to feelings.
• The strength of this model is it addresses emotions.
• Returning to the experience and attending to feelings.
• The strength of this model is it addresses emotions.
Returning to the experience – recall and detail of the salient points.
Attending to – connecting with feelings – using helpful feelings and removing or
containing obstructive ones.
Evaluating Experience – re-examining the experience in light of one’s intent and
existing knowledge.
The Importance of Emotion
• Boud is concerned about the role emotion plays in blocking or facilitating
reflective processes.
• In this way, reflection is essentially a private process where emotional influences
- such as avoidance of an area of thought - can steer the process of reflection more
strongly than any other influence.
• This requires the Reflective Practitioner to return to an event, incident or
experience & record it.
• Then consider it in detail at an emotional and cognitive level.
• Then the Reflective Practitioner re-evaluates the event in the light of experience,
knowledge & experimentation; seeking to understand the meaning of the
experience.
• Then the reflective Practitioner plans for what might change.
Topic 246
Boud’s Triangular Representation
Boud’s Triangular Representation of Reflective Learning is one of the most popular and
frequently cited models of RP.
There are three stages of reflection:
_______________________________________________________________________
• Reflection
• Learning
• Experience
• In the three-stage model, Boud recommends that the Reflective Practitioner first
reflect on an experience by mentally replaying the experience and describing it in
a descriptive, non-judgmental way.
• The second stage involves attending to feelings – both positive and negative –
triggered by the experience, ‘discharging’ any negative feelings which may
obstruct the reflection
• After attending to feelings, the teacher is then ready to re-evaluate the experience
by progressing through four sub-stages:
• Association (relating new data to what is already known);
• Integration (seeking new relationships between the data);
• Validation (determining the authenticity of the new ideas and looking for
inconsistencies or contradictions);
• Appropriation (making the new knowledge/attitudes one’s own).
Topic 247
Issues
• Boud’s Triangular Representation of Reflective Learning is one of the most
popular and frequently cited models of RP.
• One problem with this model is that it tends to confine reflection to a
retrospective role:
• Reflection-on-action rather reflection–in-action.
• Also, the focus stays on individuals’ mental activity; practitioners are not
encouraged to engage in reflective dialogue in a wider social arena.
• Boud has countered such criticism by highlighting the complexity of the reflective
process given our understanding about the way emotions and cognition interact.
_______________________________________________________________________
• For example, if Reflective Practitioners feel more positive about themselves they
will be more likely to persist with reflective activities.
• Ideas like these have since been applied in teachers’ professional education with
the use of mentors and supervisors who understand the importance of giving
teacher (Reflective Practitioners) external validation and positive feedback about
their reflections.
Topic 248
Naming Barriers to Reflection
• Boud’s model puts the process of reflection into context.
• When formulating the model in 1985 he was not aware of barriers which hindered
the process of reflection.
• In his 1993 book he became more concerned with critical reflection and barriers.
• So finally, in 1993 we see the emergence of barriers as a separate entity within the
process of experiential learning and reflection in the Boud model this largely
came about due to Boud's experience of being 'blocked'.
• Boud classifies barriers as internal and external based on their origins in relation
to the practitioner;
Internal barriers come from within the learner, such as:
• Previous negative experiences
• Accepted presuppositions about what the learner can do
• What learning can take place
• Internal barriers come from within the learner, such as:
• A lack of awareness of one's assumptions
• The emotional state of the teacher
• Established patterns of behavior.
External barriers can come from:
• People
• The learning environment
• The larger personal situation and context of the teacher
• Social forces such as stereotyping, cultural expectations, classism and so on.
Boud did not have a direct analysis of barriers to learning from experience, but
brainstormed a list of eighteen barriers which can be found in the 1993 text.
Topic 249
Naming Barriers to Reflection 2
• Boud specifically focuses on emotions and feelings as a barrier to reflection
• In Boud’s model of reflection he talks about Stage 2 of the model - Attending to
Feelings and stresses that in reflecting it is important to work with any feelings
which we may have.
• However much valuable learning occurs in circumstances which we would never
choose to experience, if we knew what the end point would be, and if we were
aware of what we would need to experience so as to get to the end point!
_______________________________________________________________________
• The significance of this is that the Reflective Practitioner may not want to engage
fully with the affective elements of reflection which can lead to anxiety, pain and
discomfort.
• Personal awareness as a barrier to reflection
• This is the most important barrier in reflecting on experience. If we are not
personally aware that a barrier exists, then how can we possibly seek to overcome
it?
• The Reflective Practitioner’s learning can be seriously impeded in that s/he does
not see the benefit of formally reflecting:
• ‘It wasn't in my nature' or 'I'm too practical for things like that' can be typical
thoughts.
• Also coupled with this, not knowing 'how' to reflect comes the feelings of not
being 'able' or 'good' enough to undertake critical reflection = 'imposter ship‘.
• The environment as a barrier to reflection
• Any environment can be disturbing to careful reflection if it is not comfortable for
the Reflective Practitioner.
• The keeping of a journal as a barrier to reflection
• A journal is a recognized method of evaluating personal experience by reflecting
on it.
• It is not easy to pick up a pen and to start writing!
• Writing about personal experience can be profoundly difficult.
• Boud suggests a possible reason for this in that the culture of academic and
professional writing has always devalued personal experience in the 'quest for
objectivity and generality'.
• So we can see two instant barriers that restrict personal writing, namely previous
experience and the traditional nature of academic writing Boud refers to the fact
that the real battleground for working with barriers is the teacher.
Topic 250
Overcoming barriers by oneself
• Boud identifies a process for overcoming barriers starting with acknowledging that
they exist.
• An important landmark in overcoming barriers is called 'naming' - the more clearly
we can understand them, the more easily we can work with them.
• Reflective Practitioners are able to learn from a group, since their experiences of
using reflection in practice are invaluable.
• Teachers working together can motivate each other and help sustain interest in the
exercise.
• The Reflective Practitioner can commit to the group because the group becomes an
invaluable part of the reflective process, because we need, as learners, appropriate
support, trust and challenge from others.
_______________________________________________________________________
• Boud refers to the importance of effective facilitation.

• But the facilitator should create conditions in which authentic dialogue and
communicative discourse can occur.
• Boud reminds us that the facilitator should resist the temptation of running
mindlessly giving answers and solving problems.
Lecture 40
Extensions to Models
Topic 251 to 256
Topic 251
Extension to Gibb’s Model
Gibbs’ reflective cycle, as we saw previously, is a popular model for reflection.
The model includes 6 stages of reflection and is represented in the following diagram:
• Gibbs’ reflective cycle
• Description
• Feelings
• Evaluation
• Analysis
• Conclusion
• Action Plan
Gibbs’ discussed the use of structured debriefing to facilitate the reflection involved in
Kolb’s ‘experiential learning cycle’. He presents the stages of a full structured debriefing
as follows:
• Describe = Initial experience
• Description = What happened? Don’t make judgments at this point or try to draw
conclusions, simply describe
• Feelings = What were your reactions and feelings? Don’t move too quickly to
analysis
_______________________________________________________________________
• Evaluation = What was good or bad about the experience? Make value judgments
• Analysis = What sense can you make of the situation? Bring in ideas from outside
the experience to help you. What was really going on? Were different people’s
experience similar or different from yours in important ways?
• Conclusions (general) = What can be concluded, in a general sense, from these
experiences and the analysis you have undertaken?
• Personal Action Plans = What are you going to do differently in this type of
situation next time?
What steps are you going to take on the basis of what you have learned?
Topic 252
Gibbs’s Reflective Cycle
• Gibbs’ reflective cycle
• Description
• Feelings
• Evaluation
• Analysis
• Conclusion
• Action Plan
Description
• In this phase, you need to explain what you are reflecting on.
• Perhaps include background information, such as what it is you’re reflecting on
and explain who was involved.
• It is important to remember to keep the information provided relevant and to-the-
point. Don’t focus on details that aren’t required.
Feelings
• Discuss your feelings and thoughts about the experience.
• Consider questions such as: How did I feel at the time? What did I think at the
time? What did I think about the incident afterwards?
• You can discuss your emotions honestly.
Evaluation
• For your evaluation, discuss how well you think things went. Perhaps think about:
How did you react to the situation, and how did other people react?
_______________________________________________________________________
• What was good and what was bad about the experience?
• If you are reflecting on a difficult incident, did you feel that the situation was
resolved afterwards? Why/why not?
• This phase is a good place to include the theory – remember it is important to
discuss the theory and not just describe it.
Topic 253
Gibb’s Cycle parts
Analysis
• In your analysis, consider what might have helped or hindered the event.
• You also have the opportunity here to compare your experience with the literature
you have read.
• This phase is very important, particularly for higher level reflection.
• As a reflective practitioner you need to bring the theory and experience together.
Conclusion
• In your conclusion, it is important to acknowledge: Whether you could have done
anything else; what you have learned from the experience;
• consider whether you could have responded in a different way.
• If you are talking about a positive experience discuss whether you would do the
same again to ensure a positive outcome.
• Also consider if there is anything you could change to improve things even
further.
• If the incident was negative, explore how you could have avoided it happening
and also how you could make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Topic 254
Gibb’s Cycle 2
_______________________________________________________________________
Action Plan
• Action plans sum up anything you need to know and do to improve for next time.
• Perhaps you feel that you need to learn about something or attend some training.
What can you do which means you will be better equipped to cope with a similar
event?
Example
• Following is an example of an action plan.
Action Plan – An Example
• It demonstrates a number of options (aimed at support and activity) within the
reflective thinking process for consideration as ways forward for the reflective
practitioner.
Action Plan – An Example
• In future, I will ensure that I build up a relationship with colleagues. I am
working alongside several different teachers and I intend to speak to each of them
about my worries about students’ behaviour. I have already had a useful
conversation with one teacher and together we have developed a programme of
team-teaching for the next few weeks so that I do not feel so pressurised.
• I plan to do this with the other class teachers, as it will help them to understand
how I feel. I also need to speak to colleagues more often about how they feel, as I
think I will be able to learn from them. In terms of training, I have booked onto a
behaviour management workshop.
_______________________________________________________________________
• In future, I will ensure that I build up a relationship with colleagues. I am working
alongside several different teachers and I intend to speak to each of them about
my worries about students’ behaviour. I have already had a useful conversation
with one teacher and together we have developed a programme of team-teaching
for the next few weeks so that I do not feel so pressurised.
• Action plans sum up anything you need to know and do to improve for next time.
Topic 255
Gibb’s cycle for Deeper Reflection
Using Gibbs’ reflective cycle for deeper reflection
• Gibb’s Model helps the Reflective Practitioner develop the type of thinking
associated with deep thought;
reflection which is aimed at achieving better understanding. It contains a mixture of
elements:
1. Making sense of experience
• We don’t always learn from experiences. Reflection is where we analyse
experience, actively attempting to ‘make sense’ or find the meaning in it.
2. ‘Standing back’
• It can be hard to reflect when we are caught up in an activity. ‘Standing back’
gives a better view or perspective on an experience, issue or action.
3. Repetition
• Reflection involves ‘going over’ something, often several times, in order to get a
broad view and check nothing is missed
4. Deeper honesty
• Reflection is associated with ‘striving after truth’.
_______________________________________________________________________
• Through reflection, we can acknowledge things that we find difficult to admit in

the normal course of events.
5. ‘Weighing up’
• Reflection involves being even-handed, or balanced in judgement. This means
taking everything into account, not just the most obvious.
6. Clarity
• Reflection can bring greater clarity, like seeing events reflected in a mirror. This
can help at any stage of planning, carrying out and reviewing activities.
7. Understanding
• Reflection is about learning and understanding on a deeper level. This includes
gaining valuable insights that cannot be just ‘taught’.
8. Making judgements
• Reflection involves an element of drawing conclusions in order to move on,
change or develop an approach, strategy or activity.
Topic 256
Trans-disciplinary Skills in Gibbs’ Model
Gibb’s Model helps the Reflective Practitioner develop a range of trans-disciplinary
skills:
• Social skills
• Communication skills
• Thinking skills
• Research skills
• Self-management skills
Social skills include skills for:
• Accepting responsibility
• Respecting others
• Cooperating
• Group decision making
• Adopting a variety of roles
Communication skills include skills for:
• Reading
• Writing
• Listening
• Speaking
• Non-verbal communication
Thinking skills include skills for:
• Acquisition of knowledge
• Comprehension
• Application
• Analysis
• Synthesis
• Evaluation
_______________________________________________________________________
• Dialectical thought
• Metacognition
Research skills include skills for:
• Formulating questions
• Observing
• Planning collecting data
• Organising data
• Interpreting data
• Time management
• Codes of behaviour
• Informed choices
• Ethics
Lecture 41
Extension to John’s Model of Structured Reflection
Topic 257 to 262
Topic 257
Extension to John’s Model of Structured Reflection
• John’s model of structured reflection is an example of a ‘staged model’ of
reflection.
Another popular model used by reflective practitioners, it should be used to assist you in
moving beyond a descriptive account of an experience to one that involves analysis
learning and plans of action.
Stage 1: Describe the event/experience
What happened?
Who was involved?
What part did you/others play?
What was the result?
Stage 2: Thinking and feeling
What was significant about this experience to me?
What was I thinking and feeling during the experience?
How do I feel about the outcome of the event?
Stage 3: Evaluation
What was good and bad about the experience?
What were the consequences of my action/actions of others?
Stage 4: Analysis
What sense can I make of the situation?
What factors (e.g., values, assumptions, meaning perspective, experiences) influenced my
feelings, thoughts, and actions?
What sources of knowledge influenced or should have influenced my actions?
How did others feel and how do I know?
What could I have done differently?
_______________________________________________________________________
What would be the consequences of those other actions?

How do I now feel about the experience?
What have I learned about my practice/myself/my organizations?
What would I do now in a similar situation?
What factors might get in the way of me applying my learning from the experience?
Topic 258
Extension to John’s Model of Structured Reflection 2
John’s model of structured reflection provides the Reflective Practitioner with a series of
cue questions.
It is important to detail these questions for reflection:
1. Description Questions
1.1 Phenomenon
Describe the ‘here and now’ experience
1.2 Causal
What essential factors contributed to this experiences?
1.3 Context
What are the significant background factors to this experience?
1.4 Clarifying
What are the key processes for reflection in this experience?
2. Reflection
2.1 What was I trying to achieve?
2.2. Why did I intervene as I did?
2.3. What were the consequences of my actions?
2.4. How did I feel about this experience when it was happening?
2.5. How did the students feel about it?
2.6. How do I know how the students felt about it?
3. Influencing Factors
3.1. What internal factors influenced my decision making?
3.2. What external factors influenced my decision making?
3.3. What sources of knowledge did/should have influenced my decision making?
4. Could I have dealt with the situation better?
4.1. What other choices did I have?
4.2. What would be the consequences of these choices?
5. Learning
5.1. How do I now feel about this experience?
5.2. How have I made sense of this experience in the light of past experience and
future practice?
5.3. How has this experience changed my ways of knowing?
Topic 259
Extension to John’s Model of Structured Reflection 3
Using John’s Model
• Johns model for structured reflection can be used as a guide for analysis of a
critical incident or general reflection on experience.
• This would be useful for more complex decision making and analysis
_______________________________________________________________________
• Johns supports the need for the reflective practitioner to work with a supervisor
throughout their learning experience.
• He refers to this as guided reflection, and recommends that teachers use a
structured diary.
• Johns considered that through sharing reflections on learning experiences, greater
understanding of those experiences could be achieved than by reflection as a lone
exercise.
Johns also uses Carper’s (1978) four patterns of knowing:
• Aesthetics
• Personal
• Ethics
• Empirics, adding a fifth pattern -
• ‘Reflexivity’.
This as a strength of the model as it is one of the few models of reflection that refers to
the development of an epistemological base to reflections.
If you use this model for a situation that is ongoing, you could adapt the reflexive section
using cues from another model or develop your own set of cues.
Topic 260
Using John’s Model:
Looking In –
Find a space to focus on self
Pay attention to your thoughts and emotions
Write down those thoughts and emotions that seem significant in realising desirable
work.
Looking Out –
Write a description of the situation surrounding your thoughts and feelings.
What issues seem significant?
Aesthetics
Why did I respond as I did?
What were the consequences of that for the student/others/myself?
How were others feeling?
Personal
Why did I feel the way I did within this situation?
Ethics
Did I act for the best? (ethical mapping)
What factors (either embodied within me or embedded within the environment) were
influencing me?
Empirics
What knowledge did or could have informed me?
Reflexivity
Does this situation connect with previous experiences?
How could I handle this situation better?
What would be the consequences of alternative actions for the student/others/myself?
How do I now feel about this experience?
_______________________________________________________________________
Can I support myself and others better as a consequence?

How available am I to work with students/families and staff to help them meet their
needs?
Topic 261
Using John’s Model 2
• Considering the Cue:
• What internal factors were influencing me?
• Consider the following framework -
Using John’s Model:
• Considering the Cue: What Internal Factors Were Influencing Me?
Considering this cue helps the reflective practitioner to give equal weight to the internal
perspective of reflection as much as
the external focus (which always tends to be the primary focus)
Adding ‘reflexivity’ means that the danger of ‘navel-gazing’ (thinking with no point) will
be avoided and along with ‘looking-in’ provides the reflective practitioner with the
opportunity for ‘deep learning’.
Topic 262
John’s model: Writing Reflexively and Writing Reflectively
• John’s Model provides a structured approach to reflexive writing and reflective
writing.
• What is the difference?
Reflexive Writing
• Different to other forms of academic writing. Switch from 3rd to 1st person for
example.
Expectations Negative attitude Expectations from • Develop
from self: towards others: style of writing
·obligation/duty The student/family? ·in what way? that uses ‘I’ and
·conscience What factors Loyalty to staff versus personal
·beliefs/values influenced my actions? loyalty to experience.
Normal Time/priorities? student/family?
• Danger
practice - felt I Anxious about ensuing
had to conform conflict? of being too
to a certain personal
action. • A
Fear of personal
sanction? response to
events/ experiences
• Immediate/ surface considerations
• Aiming at cataloguing – may be subjective – but this is OK!
_______________________________________________________________________
• Provides foundations for the professional response

• Might feel strange at first. You may not be used to writing about your feelings or
actions from an impersonal perspective
• Will take practice.
• Experiment with different models of reflection.
• It is still academic.
• It is not a diary entry, blog or email to a friend.
• It is not simply a description of events. Reflection is in the analysis of those
events.
• It is the considered exploration of your own role in the experience.
• It should not be chatty (informal) in style.
• It should still contain a clear introduction, a main body, and a conclusion.
• It may even include evidence and references.
• It should be clearly linked to theory.
• It should show what you have learned from the process.
• It should consider other perspectives
Lecture 42
Extensions to Kolb Learning cycle
Topic 263 to 268
Topic 263
Extension to Kolb’s Learning Cycle
Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle
• The cycle requires the individual to periodically detach from the experience, to
move from actor to observer
• Is the process of reflection constant or does it vary according to the focus?
• Experiential learning involves reflective learning - except where the material of
learning is unchallenging.
• Reflective learning usually has an important role in experiential learning -
however, it has an important separate meaning when there is no new material of
learning and we reflect on what we ‘know’ already.
The Experiential Learning Cycle can be elaborated with this perspective in mind.
_______________________________________________________________________
• The 4 learning styles in the cycle can be viewed as extreme viewpoints on two
different continua.
• The horizontal continuum is the processing continuum – how we access
information.
The processing
continuum
Active Experimentation = ‘doing’ Reflective Observation =
‘watching’
• We access information by observing it or engaging directly with it.
The vertical continuum is the perception continuum – how we perceive/ experience
information.
Concrete Experience = ‘feeling’
The perception continuum
Abstract Conceptualisation = ‘thinking’

We experience information by our reactions – how we feel and what we think about it.
• The learning style preferences are therefore a product of two pairs of variables –
or separate ‘choices’ that we make as reflective practitioners
Topic 264
Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle – The Matrix View
• Kolb believed that we cannot perform both variables on a single axis at the same
time (e.g. ‘think’ and ‘feel’, ‘watch’ and ‘do’).
We can view the construction of Kolb’s learning styles in terms of a 2-by-2 matrix
• Each learning style represents a combination of two preferred styles.
_______________________________________________________________________
• The table highlights Kolb’s terminology for the learning styles
Doing (Active Experimentation Watching (Reflective

- AE) Observation - RO)
Feeling (Concrete
Accommodating (CE/AE) Diverging (CE/RO)
Experience - CE)
Thinking (Abstract
Converging (AC/AE) Assimilating (AC/RO)
Conceptualisation - AC)
• As a reflective practitioner, knowing your learning preferred learning style

enables you to orient your reflective practice according to the preferred method.
For the reflective practitioner it is a matter of using emphasis – choosing the style that fits
best with the given situation and your own learning preferences.
Topic 265
Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle – Description of Learning Styles 1
• Kolb described the 4 learning styles in detail: Diverging, Assimilitating,
Converging, Accommodating.
• Diverging (Feeling and Watching – CE/RO)
Doing (Active Experimentation - Watching (Reflective

AE) Observation - RO)
Feeling (Concrete
Experience - CE)
_______________________________________________________________________
Thinking (Abstract
Conceptualization - Converging (AC/AE) Assimilating (AC/RO)
AC)
Diverging (Feeling and Watching – CE/RO)

Such learners are able to look at things from different perspectives. They are sensitive.
They prefer to watch rather than do, tending to gather information and use imagination to
solve problems.
• They are best at viewing concrete situations at several different viewpoints.
• Kolb called this style 'diverging' because the learner performs better in situations
that require ideas-generation, for example, brainstorming.
• Reflective Practitioners with a diverging learning style have broad cultural
interests and like to gather information.
• They are interested in people, tend to be imaginative and emotional, and tend to
be strong in the arts.
• The Reflective Practitioner with the diverging style will prefer to work in groups,
to listen with an open mind and to receive personal feedback.\
Topic 266
• Kolb described the 4 learning styles in detail: Diverging, Assimilitating, Converging,
Accommodating.
• Assimilating (Watching and Thinking – AC/RO)
Doing (Active Watching (Reflective

Experimentation - AE) Observation - RO)
Feeling (Concrete
Experience - CE)
Thinking (Abstract
Conceptualization - AC)
• The Assimilating learning preference is for a concise, logical approach.

• Ideas and concepts are more important than people
_______________________________________________________________________
• This Reflective Practitioner requires good clear explanation rather than practical
opportunity.
• They excel at understanding wide-ranging information and organising it in a clear
logical format.
Assimilating (Watching and Feeling – AC/RO)
• The Reflective Practitioner with an assimilating learning style is less focused on
people and more interested in ideas and abstract concepts.
• The Reflective Practitioner with this style is more attracted to logically sound
theories than approaches based on practical value.
• For this type of Reflective Practitioner learning style, in learning situations, this
translates as preferring readings, lectures, exploring analytical models, and having
time to think things through.
Topic 267
Kolb described the 4 learning styles in detail: Diverging, Assimilitating, Converging,
Accommodating.
• Converging (Doing and Thinking – AC/AE)
Doing (Active Watching (Reflective

Experimentation - AE) Observation - RO)
Feeling (Concrete
Experience - CE)
Thinking (Abstract
Conceptualization - AC)
Converging (Doing and Thinking – AC/AE)

• The Reflective Practitioner with a converging learning style can solve problems
and will use their learning to find solutions to practical issues. They prefer
technical tasks, and are less concerned with people and interpersonal aspects. The
Reflective Practitioner with a converging learning style is best at finding practical
uses for ideas and theories. They can solve problems and make decisions by
finding solutions to questions and problems.
• The Reflective Practitioner with a converging learning style is more attracted to
technical tasks and problems than social or interpersonal issues.
• A converging learning style enables specialist and technology abilities. This
Reflective Practitioner will like to experiment with new ideas, to simulate, and to
work with practical applications.
Topic 268
_______________________________________________________________________
• Kolb described the 4 learning styles in detail: Diverging, Assimilitating,

Converging, Accommodating.
Accommodat-ing (Doing and Feeling – CE/AE)
• The Accommodating Reflective Practitioner’s learning style is 'hands-on', and
relies on intuition rather than logic.
• These Reflective Practitioners use other people's analyses, and prefer to take a
practical, experiential approach. They are attracted to new challenges and
experiences, and to carrying out plans
• They commonly act on 'gut' instinct rather than logical analysis.
• This Reflective Practitioner will tend to rely on others for information than carry
out their own analysis.
• Interestingly, this learning style is prevalent within the general population.
• Individual Reflective Practitioners can be helped to learn more effectively by the
identification of their lesser preferred learning styles and the strengthening of
these through the application of the experiential learning cycle.
The 4 Learning Styles – Sum Up
• Ideally, activities and material that the Reflective Practitioner uses for
professional development should draw on abilities from each stage of the
experiential learning cycle. This will take them through the whole process in
sequence.
Lecture 43
Taking Reflective Practice Forward
Topic 269 to 274
Topic 269
Taking Reflective Practice Forward
• Reflection investigates pedagogy and the content of teaching, in a conscious on-

going review and evaluation of theory, policy and practice.
• Different levels have been identified, for example:
• Technical (focusing on teaching strategies only e.g. how to teach vocabulary)
• Contextual (relationships between problems and teacher actions)
• Critical (deep) thinking, seeking to get at the heart of practice while taking
account of contextual and technical factors).
The quality of reflection is also something to be borne in mind. Reflection has been seen
as always beneficial among teachers. However, some reflection may just lead to
stagnation, with some teachers just going round in circles.
In addition, power is a key issue: teachers without power cannot perhaps use their
reflection to best advantage.
_______________________________________________________________________
Topic 270
Taking Reflective Practice Forward 2
We are concerned here with Reflective Practice in relation to our own professional
practice as teachers, rather than in relation to student learning. These two domains are by
no means separate, since the main objective of the former is to facilitate the latter!
The Reflective Practitioner needs to embrace the diversity of available definitions,
including:
• Evaluating the effectiveness of one's teaching practice
• Examining teaching from the perspective of the learner
• Conscious and self-aware
• Deliberation on professional practice (sometimes called reflection-on-action,
after Schon)
• Intuitive and implicit application of professional knowledge to specific teaching-
and-learning settings (called reflection-in-action, after Schon)
• Self-awareness with respect to one's own processes of learning and developing an
approach to teaching and learning that is informed by an understanding of how
learners develop knowledge and learning skills making changes to one's
professional practice in the light of experience
• Deepening one's understanding of one's role as a professional teacher in the light
of experience (again based on Kolb's cycle of experiential learning) basing
professional decisions upon feedback (e.g. from learners and/or colleagues).
• Theorizing from experience that is, constructing abstract models or analytical
frames based on practical experience of teaching
• Reflective Practice is therefore a way of being, rather than a set of practical
strategies or techniques.
Topic 271
A Clean Approach to Reflective Practitioner
• A clean approach to RP aims to facilitate Reflective Practitioners to improve their

practice by:
• Enhancing the effectiveness of their reflection
• Deepening their understanding of their process of reflection and its application to
their practice (i.e. self-modelling)
The Lawley and Tompkins Model of Reflective Practice involves two parallel processes
(each with two aspects):
• External behaviour (event)
• Verbal and non-verbal
• Internal behaviour (experience)
• State and strategy
_______________________________________________________________________
The Lawley and Tompkins Model has 5 components:

1. Reflection
2. Desired Outcome
3. Plan
4. Practice
5. Feedback
• We can represent the Lawley and Tompkins Model in diagrammatic form:
Topic 272
Comparing Models
• The Disney Strategy for Reflective Practice is described in terms of roles the
practitioner takes on:
• The Dreamer
• The Realist
• The Critic
With all models it is possible to find points of comparison.
Look at the following, which compares three different models:
_______________________________________________________________________
Critical
LawleyThinking and ReflectiveKolb
and Tompkins Practices (EDU 406)
Equivalent VU
1a What happened? Active Experimentation

(External) Concrete Experience
1b What was experienced? Reflective Observation
(Internal) Abstract Conceptualisation
1c What meaning is given
to 1a/ 1b?
1d How is that arrived at?
1e What is concluded/
learned?
1f How are 1a and 1b
evaluated?
Lawley and Tompkins Disney Strategy
2a What outcome is Dreamer

desired in the future? Realist
2b What evidence Critic
(feedback) will be used to
monitor improvement?
3a what is the plan?
3b how and when will it
happen?
3c what might prevent the
plan from working/
3d what can be done about
that in advance?
_______________________________________________________________________
Topic 273
Self-Directed Learning – What is it?
• The process of learning in which the learner assumes primary responsibility for
planning, implementing and evaluating learning.
• The learner chooses what to learn and how to learn, and also decides when to
continue and when to end.
– Goals for Reflective Practice
• It enhances the ability of teachers to be more self-directed in learning (humanistic
approach)
• Fosters transformational learning
• Promotes social action
• Reflective Practitioners can use SDL to develop both skills and attributes as
learners which support lifelong development
• Better plan, carry out and evaluate their own learning
• The Reflective Practitioner who is a self-directed learner can participate fully and
freely in the dialogue through which we test our interests and perspectives
against those of others and accordingly modify them and our learning goals
Self-Directed Learning
• Is listed as a key component of 21st Century skills.
• It is intricately inked to lifelong learning
• Listed as a demand for modern societies (UNESCO, OECD)
For the Reflective Practitioner, self-directed learning is;
• A learning process
• A personality aspect
• Ownership of learning
• Self-management
• Self-monitoring
• Extension of learning
Topic 274
Self-Directed Learning 2
• Ownership of Learning
The Reflective Practitioner’s characteristics or personal attributes are important to
SDL
Teachers who take personal responsibility in learning have ownership of their
learning
• Self Management
SDL, as an instructional process of the individual teacher assessing their needs,
identifying learning resources, implementing learning activities and evaluating
learning outcomes.
• Self Monitoring
_______________________________________________________________________
This focuses the Reflective Practitioner on both cognitive and meta-cognitive

aspects of learning, which are internal to the teacher (thinking, making meaning
of information and integrating new knowledge into existing knowledge structures.
• Extension of Learning
The Reflective Practitioner has total control about the choice of what to learn,
how to learn and how to evaluate learning.
Some possible behavioural indicators
• Teacher identifies/ determines and articulates own learning goals
• Teacher identifies learning tasks to achieve the goals and charts learning progress
• Teacher challenges self for achievement of learning goal
• Teacher formulates a question and generates relevant inquiries
• Teacher explores a range of possibilities and makes decisions
• Teacher self-plans and self-manages time
• Teacher critically reflects on learning and initiates gathering of feedback
• Teacher applies learning in new contexts
Lecture 44
Higher order thinking that unifies curriculum, instruction and learning
Topic 275 to 280
Topic 275
Higher Order Thinking for a Unified Curriculum, Instruction and Learning
• Focus on the three dimensions of critical thinking:
Critical
Thinking
Analysis of
Improveme
Analysis of thinking by
nt of
thinking by focusing on
thinking by
focusing on teaching
using what
the parts quality
you learned
(standards)
_______________________________________________________________________
• Education, as a concept, defines a set of higher order goals, but actual school
learning typically culminates in a set of lower order results.
• How can we narrow the gap between goals and results?
• How can we make higher order goals a practical reality?
…so that in math classes students learn to think mathematically,
…so that in history classes students learn to think historically,
…so that in science classes students learn to think scientifically,
So that in general –Students begin to think critically in a disciplined, self-directed way.
The obstacle is that many teachers make assumptions about instruction, knowledge, and
learning that are incompatible with HOT
Reflective Practice provides a new set of assumptions:
We need long-term commitment to Reflective Practice because of the deep-seated nature
of the changes needed and the depth of resistance that can be expected.
Topic 276
Higher Order Thinking for a Unified Curriculum, Instruction and Learning 2
• The fundamental problems in schooling today at all levels are

fragmentation and lower order learning.
There is too little connection and depth.
• Fragmented lists dominate curricula
• Fragmented teaching dominates instruction
• Fragmented recall dominates learning
What is missing is coherence, connection, and depth of understanding.
The bottom line, as we all well know, is not what is taught but what is learned.
Students are learning something very different from what we think we are teaching them.
“All too often we focus on a narrow collection of well-defined tasks and train
students to execute those tasks in a routine, if not algorithmic fashion.”Alan
Schoenfeld
“Then we test the students on tasks that are very close to the ones they have been
taught. If they succeed on those problems, we and they congratulate each other on
the fact that they have learned some powerful mathematical techniques.”Alan
Schoenfeld
Schoenfeld cites a number of studies to justify this characterization of instruction and its
lower order consequences. He also gives a number of striking examples, at the college, as
well primary and secondary levels.
_______________________________________________________________________
Topic 277
Reflective Practice is a cure for robotic lower order learning which is an

increasingly common mode of learning in every subject area.
In other words, though education by its very nature comprises a set of higher order goals,
actual school learning, given established practice, culminates in a set of lower order
results.
The issue that emerges from these harsh realities is unambiguous for the Reflective
Practitioner:
How can we re-conceptualise and restructure what we presently do to narrow the gap
between goals and results, to make higher order goals a practical reality, to reduce lower
order goals to what they should be?
Reflective Practitioners can work to improve student performance only by improving
student thinking.
• We can improve student thinking only by creating opportunities and incentives
for them to think.
• We can provide them with opportunities and incentives to think only if their
teachers have time to thoughtfully redesign instruction.
• We can give teachers time to thoughtfully redesign their instruction only if they
do not feel compelled to cover huge amounts of subject matter.
• We can reduce the obsession to cover huge amounts of subject matter only if the
curriculum is restructured to focus on basic concepts, understandings, and
abilities.
• We can restructure the curriculum to focus on basic concepts, understandings, and
abilities only if we understand why such a focus is essential to higher order
learning.
Topic 278
_______________________________________________________________________
The Reflective Practitioner understands why such a focus is essential to higher order
learning only if teachers clearly understand the profound differences between didactic
models of education.
These confuse acquiring knowledge with memorisation, and the critical model of
education which recognises that acquiring knowledge intrinsically and necessarily
depends on higher order critical thought.
What lies behind uncritically held assumptions?
• That students learn how to think when they know what to think
• That knowledge can be given directly to students without their having to think it
through for themselves,
• That the process of education is, in essence, the process of storing content in the
head like data in a computer
• That quiet classes with little student talk are evidence of student learning
• That students gain significant knowledge without seeking or valuing it
• That material should be presented from the point of view of the one who knows
• That superficial learning can later be deepened
• That coverage is more important than depth
• That students who correctly answer questions, provide definitions, and apply
formulae demonstrate substantial understanding
• That students learn best by working alone.
Topic 279
The Reflective Practitioner understands and values education focused on higher order
learning as this holds a very different set of assumptions, namely:
• That students learn what to think only as they learn how to think
• That one gains knowledge only through thinking
• That the process of education is the process of each student gathering, analysing,
synthesising, applying, and assessing information
_______________________________________________________________________
• That classes with much student talk, focused on live issues, is a better sign of
learning than quiet classes focused on a passive acceptance of what the teacher
says
• That students gain significant knowledge only when they value it
• That information should be presented so as to be understandable from the point of
view of the learner, hence continually related to the learner’s experiences and
point of view
• That depth is more important than coverage
• That students can often provide correct answers, repeat definitions, and apply
formulae while not understanding those answers, definitions, or formulae
• That students learn best by working together with other students, actively
debating and exchanging ideas.
Topic 280
The Reflective Practitioner will make a paradigm shift from a didactic to a critical model
of education to make higher order thinking a classroom reality
What are the basic changes that must be made to effect this shift?
• Re-conceive the curriculum
• Curricula play a significant role in school life. Instruction arises from goals and
objectives stated in them.
• The re-design of instruction
• Teachers feel they have no time to focus on higher order learning and therefore
the most basic ideas and issues within a content area can be neglected.
• The shift from a lecture-drill-recall paradigm to one focused upon engaged deep-
processing
can only be achieved through long-term evolution.
• The Reflective Practitioner has the opportunity to place a major emphasis on a
detailed formulation of philosophy, highlighting the essential role of thinking in
the acquisition of knowledge, and contrasts lower order with higher order
learning.
_______________________________________________________________________
• How does this translate for the Reflective Practitioner?

• Higher order learning multiplies comprehension and insight
• Lower order rote memorisation and performance multiply misunderstanding and
prejudice.
• Higher order learning stimulates and empowers
• Lower order discourages and limits the learner.
• Good teaching focuses on high content, basic ideas and issues taught in ways
which actively engage student reflection and thought.
Lecture 45
The Future of Reflective Practice
Topic 281 to 286
Topic 281
The Future of Reflective Practice
• Reflective practice is something that was invented in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.
• It has been used worldwide for the past ten years. Many things have changed after
1994.
We can begin to see some of these things:
• The concept of wikis, where many people collaborate to construct a knowledge
base, an evolving encyclopaedia.
• Search engines are changing the way we access information. This will change our
professional world.
• The Internet – the wisdom of crowds, combining people’s knowledge to make
decisions.
• The concept of collective intelligence, and similarly, communities of practice,
which are small groups as opposed to being more socially open like collective
intelligence.
We can begin to see some of these things:
• Constant renewal - Any profession will face the challenge of needing to adapt.
The way I do my profession will need to be reinvented, and in some cases I will
need to create new approaches, new beliefs and new understandings.
• My assumption is that many ideas of reflective practice are being used by authors
today, and they are finding it very powerful. Its importance is growing in this
Century.
• Are those authors citing Schon?
If you analyse how they present their ideas, you can see similarities. The idea of
Schon is basically how to improve the ways we think in action.
_______________________________________________________________________
Topic 282
Perspectives of RP in the New Professional Environment
• Although a product mostly of the 60s, 70s and 80s, one name recurs through the
years:
• Donald Schön,Displacement of Concepts, 1963
• Chris Argyris and Donald Schön,Theory in Practice, 1974
• Donald Schön,The Reflective Practitioner, 1983
• Donald Schön, Educating the Reflective Practitioner, 1987
• Donald Schön and Martin Rein, Frame Reflection, 1994
Many things have happened to quicken the pace of reflective practice, and these will
continue to strongly influence the ways that Reflective Practitioners reflect on practice -
The Web World Wide was invented and spread throughout the world. A new
communicational platform was implanted, new collaborative software was developed and
new business processes emerged.
Cell phones have spread worldwide and internet communication (e.g. Skype and so on)
are now spreading even faster.
China and India have entered into the global market with highly dynamic economies.
Topic 283
New Ways for Collaborating in Professional Work are Emerging:
Wiki, or the gradual construction of a knowledge base from many people.

Search Engines, reaching out to the whole pool of knowledge worldwide.
Collective Intelligence, combining intelligence of many people around shared interests.
Communities of Practice, stable spaces for exploring and learning together.
Innovation is Being Distributed:
Democratising Innovation, teachers, researchers and educationists develop new ideas of
teaching, learning and education.
Social Innovation, many teachers working in diverse contexts can come together because
of common interests and innovative initiatives.
• Research Networks, articulate capacities worldwide around a common question or
inquiry.
The Art of Conceptual Innovation is the Driver
• Innovation now is achieved in new concepts of the way professionals work.
• The capacity of integrating technologies is key for creating new solutions and tap
into the pool of knowledge of humanity
• When millions of people are innovating, the only way of keeping pace with
change is through the creation of new concepts.
• Artistry will be more important then before in the exercise of professions.
Topic 284
Reflective Practice Will Evolve Continually
_______________________________________________________________________
• The diversity of situations and pace of change will require the capacity of:
• Updating
• Extending
• Adapting
• Reinventing the practice of professions, and
• Reinvention of the professions or the creation of new ones
• How can we fit the ideas of Reflective Practice into this emerging professional
environment?
Traditional Teaching Skills
• These first 6 teaching skills are not new, but their importance has increased
significantly for the modern teacher:
Commitment:
• It is essential that teachers are committed to their work and to the education of
young people. The responsibility that lies with a teacher is huge, so a modern
teacher must always be aware of this and be truly engaged in their profession.
Preparation:
• There used to be a time when the right temperament enabled you to become a
teacher. Nowadays it is impossible to find a teacher without formal academic
training.
• This requirement is increasing as education levels improve in society.
• The better prepared you are as a teacher, the more effective you will be, so you
should pursue you studies with this ethos in mind.
Organisation:
Good organisation and the planning of a course/ lesson in advance are key factors for
success. It is very important that a teacher organises the lesson properly and allocates
the time to cover it in its entirety.
• Tolerance:
In an increasingly diverse and multicultural society, it is necessary for teachers to
manage any prejudices they may have and to treat all their students equally without
showing favouritism.
It is a very important teaching skill not to impose your world view on your students,
instead you should openly discuss topics and let students decide for themselves
• Story Telling:
One of the best ways to teach and transfer ideas is through stories. The best
teachers have used this method in their classes for centuries.
• Open to Questions:
Having discussions and collaborating in class are essential for encouraging
students and implementing new teaching techniques
Teachers must be open to answering their students questions.
Modern teachers truly listen to their students questions and answer them honestly, not
just with a cursory or textbook response.
_______________________________________________________________________
Topic 285
New Teaching Skills

• These new teaching skills complement the more traditional ones. These skills are
associated with new technologies. Incorporating these into your teaching
repertoire will ensure you become a modern teacher.
• Innovative:
The modern teacher must be willing to innovate and try new things, both teaching
skills and educational apps, ICT tools and electronic devices.
• The modern teacher must be an “early adopter”.
• Tech Enthusiast: The modern teacher must not only be innovative but also be
willing to explore new technologies. Wheth-er it is iPads, apps or personal
learning environments, modern teachers should be in constant search of new ICT
solutions to implement.
• Social :
One of the traditional teaching skills was to be open to questions. The modern
teacher should lead the conversation to social networks to explore possibilities
outside of the class itself. Try using Twitter in the Classroom.
• Geek:
• The internet is the greatest source of knowledge that humanity has ever known, so
to be a modern teacher you must be a curious person and incorporate this
resource at every available option. Your students are going to do it if you don’t!
• You need to be someone who is always researching and looking for new
information to challenge your students and engage them in a dialogue both in
class and online.
Topic 286
Reflective Practice Will Evolve Continually 2
Better Teaching
• Greater emphasis on new skills also has important implications for teacher
reflection.
• The 21st Century reflective practitioner will favour student-centered methods—
for example, problem-based learning and project-based learning.
• Problem-based Learning and Project-based Learning allow students to
collaborate, work on authentic problems, and engage with the learning community
in school.
• Teachers know about them and believe they're effective. And yet, teachers don't
use them. Recent data show that most instructional time is composed of whole-
class instruction led by the teacher.
• Even when class sizes are reduced, teachers do not change their teaching
strategies or use these student-centered methods
_______________________________________________________________________
• When students collaborate, one expects a certain amount of noise in the room,
which could devolve into chaos in less-than-expert hands.
• These methods demand that teachers be knowledgeable about a broad range of
topics and are prepared to make in-the-moment decisions as the lesson plan
progresses.
Part of the 21st Century Reflective Practitioner skills relates to greater collaboration
among teachers and learning from knowledge acquired from classroom experience
END
_______________________________________________________________________

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Critical Thinking and Reflective Practices (EDU 406) VU

Critical Thinking and Reflective Practices (EDU 406)

The Place or Reflective practice in Teaching

Working with colleague

What do these consideration means for RP

It can be understood in multiplicity of ways, according to the aims and functions

Behavior Visible behavior

Becoming a Reflective Practitioner takes time commitment, responsibility and

 Teaches without assessing student needs

Time and Space for Reflection

11. Does my assessment accurately reflect student learning?

What did I do?

 Critical friends maintain confidentiality frankness, sensitivity and

Interestingly, from a modern educational perspective, Dewey’s reference to

Conceptualization involves interpreting events and actions looking for

 How do you know the planned change is appropriate? What other

C) Brookfield’s CIO which guide journal writing as reflective practice

 Detailed analysis and exploration in the earlier stages means valuable

Critical assessment of assumptions

Critical thinking involves reasoning:

 Honest so that we recognize emotional impulses, selfish motives, immoral

Key Features of Reflective Writing

Personal/ Behoove competence

 For example, “ I will discuss school expectations with my head of

These can be operationalized with the following questions:

 .This is the teacher being prepared to pose questions and propose

 Teachers can draw inferences from experience

 Intrapersonal learning through feeling, values and attitudes.

 What would you like to spend more time on in school?

 Frames frequently use metaphors as a way to develop and or to

 In the example “ common inspection Framework: We need to have

 The action strategies

 How will I collect information?

 Concepts are abstractions of situations – the patterns

Critical Thinking and Reflective Practices (EDU 406)

 Hence any study of practice needs to incorporate an emancipatory focus

 Probing how speech and texts construct social truths.

Involve critically choosing the appropriate information sources.

Gazing is about finding connections and re-assembling them. It supports reflective

 If we have looked at the bottom, Knowledge is generated and internalized

we think more about it and externalize the knowledge through the

 Concept maps are a graphic representation of knowledge.

 The knowledge contained in Designs is more visible for the ‘’expert’’ in

 Engagement (Whole-heartedness) Curious about subject and impact of

We as teachers are working in a community, we can think of it as an eco-system. There

professionalism. For example, Research defines direction of professional growth. We can

Reflective practice has two key components:

2. Metacognition: Thinking about the process of professionalization and

- Applying good practices and key learning.

Practice episodes as interactive cycles:

Theories of Practice Episodes

But this is not enough …

Reflective practice incorporates the antecedents by introducing a “feedback loop” so that

teachers work • Experience critical reflection / thinking and pedagogical argumentation

experimenting, Socratic method, online searching. Visual Observing, symbolizing,

- Commensurately with experience

 Questions of Information- These force us to look at our sources of information as

The Nature and Purpose of Professionalism

Reflecting on Professional roles leads teachers to consider their professional