Welcome to the

Göteborg, Sweden June 15, 2006

Teachers and Reflective Teaching: Diversity and Professional Development Kathleen M. Bailey Monterey Institute of International Studies 460 Pierce Street Monterey, CA USA

International Survey Report Sarah Springer MA in TESOL, Monterey Institute of International Studies Specialties: Teacher education Project-based courses Technology and language learning

Definition of Reflective Teaching In reflective teaching “teachers and student teachers collect data about teaching, examine their attitudes, beliefs, assumptions, and teaching practices, and use the information obtained as a basis for critical reflection about teaching.” (Richards and Lockhart, 1994, p. 1)

Components of the Definition Teachers and student teachers collect data about teaching examine their attitudes, beliefs, assumptions, and teaching practices use the information as a basis for critical reflection about teaching

Reflection IN or ON Action (Schön, 1987) An important distinction: Reflection-IN-action occurs during our teaching. Reflection-ON-action happens before or after our teaching.

Reflection-IN-Action Reflection-IN-action happens very quickly and automatically as we are teaching. Reflection-IN-action occurs as we respond to input and questions from students and other stimuli that compete for our attention while we are teaching.

Reflection-ON-Action Reflection-ON-action includes planning, preparation and follow-up. Reflection-ON-action is “the ordered, deliberate, and systematic application of logic to a problem in order to resolve it; the process is very much within our control.” (Russell and Munby, 1991, p. 164 )

Five Dimensions of Reflection 1. Rapid Reflection 2. Repair ____________________ 3. Review 4. Research 5. Retheorizing & Reformulating (Zeichner and Liston, 1996, p. 47)

Dimensions 1-2: Reflection-in-Action 1. RAPID REFLECTION: Immediate and automatic Reflection-in-Action 2. REPAIR: Thoughtful Reflection-in-Action

Dimension 3: Reflection-on-Action 3. REVIEW: Less formal Reflection-on-Action at a point in time (“often interpersonal and collegial”; Zeichner and Liston, 1996, p. 46) Teachers think about, discuss, or write about their teaching or the students’ learning (e.g., discussing a class with a colleague or writing a student’s progress report).

Dimension 4: Reflection-on-Action 4. RESEARCH: More systematic Reflection- on-Action; a long-term process of collecting data over a period of time. Conducting action research Keeping a teaching journal “Teachers’ thinking and observation become more systematic and sharply focused around particular issues” (ibid.).

Dimension 5: Reflection-on-Action 5. RETHEORIZING & REFORMULATING: Long-term Reflection-on-Action informed by public academic theories. Teachers critically examine their practical theories in the light of academic theories. These processes are “more abstract & more rigorous than the other dimensions” (ibid.). Can continue for years Involve connections to others’ work

3 Key Attitudes of Teachers Three key attitudes are necessary for teachers to be truly reflective (Dewey, 1933) : Open-mindedness Responsibility Whole-heartedness

Open-mindedness "Open-mindedness is an active desire to listen to more sides than one, to give full attention to alternative possibilities, and to recognize the possibility of error even in beliefs that are dearest to us.” _____________________________ Open-minded teachers “are continually examining the rationales that underlie what is taken as natural and right….”

Open-mindedness "An open-minded individual listens to and accepts the strengths and weaknesses of his or her own and others' perspectives.” (Zeichner &Liston, 1996, p.10)

Responsibility An attitude of responsibility "involves careful consideration of the consequences to which an action leads....” (p. 10) It “has to involve reflection about the unexpected outcomes of teaching because teaching, even under the best of conditions, always involves unintended as well as intended outcomes." (Zeichner &Liston, 1996, pp )

Responsibility “Responsibility involves thinking about at least 3 kinds of consequences of one's teaching: personal consequences – the effects of one's teaching on pupil self-concepts; academic consequences -- the effects of one's teaching on pupils' intellectual developments; and social and political consequences -- the projected effects of one’s teaching on the life chances of various pupils....” (Zeichner &Liston, 1996, p. 11)

Whole-heartedness Whole-hearted teachers “regularly examine their own assumptions and beliefs and the results of their actions, and approach all situations with the attitude that they can learn something new.” (Zeichner & Liston, 1996, p. 11).

Please rate the IMPORTANCE of Dewey’s 3 Key Attitudes Not At All Very Important ……..…... Important Open-mindedness Responsibility Whole-heartedness

Now please rate YOURSELF on Dewey’s Key Attitudes Not To A At Great All ………………. Extent Open-mindedness Responsibility Whole-heartedness

Survey about Reflective Teaching How do professional teachers collect data for reflective teaching? Since time is a limited, non-renewable resource, how can we manage reflective teaching with our busy teaching schedules and other time commitments?

Survey of Practices and Attitudes Online survey (developed, distributed, and administered electronically) Background information about the respondents Experience with and beliefs about reflective teaching activities

Survey of Practices and Attitudes Ideas about how to get started on reflective teaching Experience of and beliefs about program support for reflective teaching

Background Information Positions currently held by respondents Teaching situation (part-time vs. full-time) Educational background Teaching experience

Background Information Ages of students typically taught Teachers’ knowledge about the target language Teachers’ confidence using the target language

Position(s) Currently Held Language teacher Curriculum/materials developer Teacher educator Test developer/administrator Teacher supervisor Program administrator Other subject matter teacher Other 85.3 % 47.7 % 37.4 % 26.3 % 20.8 % 19.7 % 12.4 % 18.1 %

Respondents’ Experience Years of full-time teaching experience (or the equivalent)

Education Levels of Respondents Secondary School Associate Degree Four-year BA/BS Teaching Credential Certificate Diploma Masters Degree EdD or PhD Graduate Credits 75.7 % 6.5 % 79.0 % 32.7 % 20.8 % 17.0 % 69.2 % 13.2 % 20.4 %

Current Employment Status One full-time job 60.8 % One full-time + one part-time job 16.0 % One part-time job 11.3 % More than one part-time job 9.7 % Unemployed and seeking work 2.1 %

Ages of Students Taught Under 5 years 5-6 years 7-8 years 9-10 years years years years years years Over 40 years 8.3 % 17.8 % 21.9 % 25.7 % 31.8 % 38.0 % 46.9 % 84.1 % 72.8 % 53.1 %

Target Language (On a 9-point Likert scale) Knowledge About the Language Confidence Using the Language Average (Standard Deviation) 7.96 (1.22) 8.21 (1.13) Number of respondents 1,137

Quantitative Findings SurveyMonkey (online survey construction and data collection program) Nine-point Likert-scale items on 18 possible procedures for practicing reflective teaching Two rating scales per procedure: Actual experience with the procedure (“never” to “very frequently”) How appealing the idea is (“not at all appealing” to “very appealing”)

Reflective Teaching Activities Making notes on our lesson plans Getting written feedback from our students Discussing teaching with trusted colleagues

Reflective Teaching Activities Observing other teachers’ lessons Inviting colleagues to observe our teaching

Reflective Teaching Activities Audio-recording our lessons and listening to the recordings Video-recording our lessons and watching the videos

Reflective Teaching Activities Making entries in a teaching journal Collecting and organizing materials for a teaching portfolio Selecting and posting materials on a professional website

Reflective Teaching Activities Reading cases about teaching Writing cases about teaching Conducting action research Engaging in language learning experiences

Reflective Teaching Activities Team teaching with a colleague Being mentored by other teachers Mentoring other teachers Engaging in reciprocal coaching with other teachers

Suggestions for Getting Started From this list of eighteen possible reflective teaching activities, which three activities would you suggest to a colleague who wanted to get started on reflective teaching?

Suggestions for Getting Started

Quantitative Findings Using SurveyMonkey, teachers rated Their experience with each procedure The appeal of each procedure Average rating Standard deviation Correlation of appeal and experience N = 1,100 – 1,200+

Experience and Appeal Ratings

Employers and Schools Employers should require teachers to do some form of reflective teaching on a regular basis. One or more employers have required me to do …reflective teaching. 1 = strongly DISagree 9 = strongly agree

Employers and Schools Schools should provide support to teachers to encourage reflective teaching (e.g., paid release time, workshops, etc….) I have received support from my school(s) to practice reflective teaching…. 1 = strongly DISagree 9 = strongly agree

Requirements for and Support of Reflective Teaching Means (SDs) on a 9-point Likert Scale) Should n = 1,134 Have n = 1,134 Employers Require 5.81 (2.64) 4.59 (2.91) Schools Support 7.92 (1.68) 4.46 (2.84)

Requirements for and Support of Reflective Teaching

Issues of Diversity: Initial Findings Teachers use diverse options for recording data to practice reflective teaching. For all 18 procedures, the average “appeal” ratings were higher than the average “experience” ratings. The highest rated (for both experience and appeal) was language learning. The lowest rated (for both experience and appeal) was audio-recording lessons.

Issues of Diversity: Initial Findings Only to a moderate extent do these teachers believe employers should require reflective teaching. These teachers feel strongly that schools should support reflective teaching. Only about half report having had support for reflective teaching.

Issues of Diversity: Future Analyses Are there differences in response patterns (means and standard deviations) when the data are grouped by categories? Teachers’ level of education Teachers’ experience Teachers’ professional role(s) Teachers’ employment status

Issues of Diversity: Future Analyses Native vs. non-native teachers of the target language Teachers’ country of employment Ages of typical students

Problems with the Survey Answer format requirements (“3” vs. “three” vs. “3 hours” vs. “3 hrs.”) discouraged some respondents, who then stopped The “digital divide” (teachers without Internet access can’t respond) Opportunistic sampling via our networks

Problems with the Survey Some respondents not 100% sure about the constructs (e.g., mentoring vs. coaching) Time needed to complete the survey (e.g., the open-ended comments)

Reference Lists Available For reference lists about professional development options (including team teaching, coaching, keeping journals, teachers’ portfolios, etc.), please visit Go to “Resources” for downloadable Word files you can use and distribute to your colleagues and to teachers-in-training.

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Thank you! And welcome to

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