1. Poster Design & Printing by Genigraphics ® - 800.790.4001 Reflection: How Our Preservice Teachers Perceive Their Own Teaching Abilities David W. Snyder, DME, Professor of Music Education Illinois State University INTRODUCTION METHODS AND MATERIALS DISCUSSION RESULTS REFERENCES ABSTRACT CONTACT David W. Snyder Illinois State University Email: dsnyder@ilstu.edu Phone: 309-438-5222 Website: www.cfa.ilstu.edu/dsnyder/news Most university programs ask their preservice music educators to do some form of small or large group instruction as part of their program before the student teaching semester(s). One of the tools used to deepen these preservice teaching experiences and consequently the pedagogical knowledge for these teachers is to have them reflect on their teaching episodes. Video self- reflection is a tool that allows the preservice teacher to examine their own teaching objectively and to make the reflective comments of others come to life. Excerpts of reflections taken from preservice music teachers watching video clips of their teaching are presented in this paper. Some of the areas where this type reflection proved effective for improving instruction were: 1.) reducing the amount of teacher talking and increasing the amount of student playing, 2.) structuring of the lesson, and 3.) attention to student playing errors. Study of these reflective comments may also suggest that teachers-in-training must progress through the preliminary stages of self- focus and lesson structure before being able to comment on error detection and correction.. Initial observations made from studying these reflections included high incidences of self-criticism, very few comments concerning the student musicians’ playing, and a noted “lack of enthusiasm” from the student musicians being taught. A lack of enthusiasm from the classroom students was also noted by Fallin and Royce (2000) in their case studies of student teachers. Preservice teachers often gauge their level of success in teaching by how enthusiastically the students react to their lesson. Past research also shows that when first viewing one’s own teaching, comments tend to focus on self and not on the students being taught (Duke and Prickett, 1996). Comments from these preservice teachers confirmed that this was indeed the case. Both the experienced (those who had taught in clinical situations before) and inexperienced preservice teacher alike dedicated part or all of their reflection to comments about themselves. The criticisms most often brought up in these self-focused comments were voice level, talking too much, pacing, lack of clarity in conducting, nervousness and/or lack of confidence. These types of comments are to be expected and seem appropriate for an individual standing in front of a group of students for the first time. A junior, first time teacher wrote this, Another thing I noticed was I didn’t seem confident. I felt more confident than I looked. If I stand with a good posture, this will help me look more confident. I also noticed that my pacing was really slow. This will come with time as I become more comfortable with teaching. Another junior, first time teacher wrote, I thought my voice level was really good and that I was clearly communicating with the students. I did notice that I was lacking in enthusiasm and they were responding to that negatively. 1.Teacher educators need to help move preservice teachers from self-focused comments to those concerning the lesson and the students they are teaching. 2.University method classes must create more opportunities for preservice teachers to work in real classrooms to help them change their focus from “self” to the students in the classroom. 3.Doing self-critiques from videotape can improve a preservice teacher’s ability to reflect on the classroom as a whole including lesson presentation and student playing errors. Students were video taped twice each semester and asked to submit a critique of their teaching after watching the video tape on the class website. Students then received written feedback on their teaching from both the supervising teacher and the cooperating teacher detailing specific areas for improvement. The written critiques from the students were sent to the supervising teacher via email and were then analyzed for common themes among the 70 participants preservice teachers. The ability for our preservice teachers to reflect on their craft cannot be over stated. Research findings indicate the emergence of new understandings and conceptions regarding planning and organization, pedagogical strategies, delivery, content knowledge, and classroom management when teachers reflect (Downey, 2008; Yung, et. al., 2007). Reflection that involves other preservice teaching colleagues is an important developmental tool as well in learning how to teach. Conkling (2007), in her article on situated learning writes, …it seems that collaborative reflection, whether face-to-face or mediated by technology, is one of the keys to learning to teach because it allows preservice teachers to learn from each other. The focus of this research was on self-reflection using video. The excerpts that are used in this poster are taken from the emails of preservice music teachers at a large Midwestern University completing their required clinical hours with instrumental students at both the middle school and high school level. Though these teaching episodes were eventually evaluated by the instructor in the areas of teacher presence, classroom management, lesson planning, teaching method, pacing, error detection, pedagogy and assessment, the preservice teachers received no specific guidelines on how to focus their first reflective comments. The intent was to get a glimpse into the developing teacher psyche and see what teachers-in-training actually do notice about their own teaching. Wu, Cheng-Chih and Kao, Hue-Ching (2008). Streaming Videos in Peer Assessment to Support Training Pre-Service Teachers. Educational Technology & Society, v11 n1 p45-55 Yung, Benny Hin Wai, et al. (July 2007). “Tracking Pre-Service Teachers’ Changing Conceptions of Good Science Teaching: The Role of Progressive Reflection with the Same Video. Research in Science Education, v37 n3 p239-259 Susan Wharton Conkling, “The Possibilities of Situated Learning for Teacher Preparation: The Professional Development Partnership,” Music Educators Journal 93, no. 3 (2007): 48. Donald E. Casey (1992). Descriptive research: Techniques and procedures. In R. Colwell (Ed.), Handbook of research on music teaching and learning (pp 115-123). New York: Schirmer. Jana Fallin and David Royce, “Student Teaching: The Keystone Experience,” Music Educators Journal 87, no. 3 (2000): 19-22. Robert A. Duke and Carol A. Prickett, “The Effect of Differentially Focused Observation on Evaluation of Instruction”, Journal of Research in Music Education 35, no.1 (1987): 34; Magaret Haefner Berg and Janice P. Smith, “Using Videotapes to Improve Teaching”, Music Educators Journal 82, no. 4 (1996): 31-37. Mark Robin Campbell and Linda K. Thompson, “Perceived Concerns of Preservice Music Education Teachers: A Cross-Sectional Study,” Journal of Research in Music Education 55, no. 2 (2007): 162-176. Warren Haston and Amanda Leon-Guerrero, “Sources of Pedagogical Content Knowledge: Reports by Preservice Instrumental Music Teachers,” Journal of Music Teacher Education 17, no. 2 (2008): 48- 59. Colleen Conway, “Perceptions of Beginning Teachers, their Mentors, and Administrators Regarding Preservice Music Teacher Preparation,” Journal of Research in Music Education 50, no. 1 (2002): 20-36. Julie Ballantyne and Jan Packer, “Effectiveness of Preservice Music Teacher Education Programs: Perceptions of Early-Career Music Teachers. Music Education Research 6, no. 3 (2004): 299-312. Figure 1. Preservice teacher with supervisor. Figure 2. Cooperating teacher S BOXWITH YOUR ORGANIZATION’S HIGH RESOLUTION LOGO