This study demonstrated that the notions of reflective practice, as
advocated by Donald Schon, are applicable to student-teachers in practica
settings. For Schon, a practitioner is reflective when he or she becomes
intrigued or curious about some element of the practice setting, frames it i n
terms of the particulars of the setting, reframes it in terms of past experience
and knowledge, and then develops a plan for future action. Reframing occurs
as a response to the 'back talk' in the action setting where something does not
happen as expected (producing the 'curious' or 'intrigued' response).
A number of issues specific to student-teacher reflection emerged from
the analysis of four student-teachers engaged in a thirteen week practicum.
The analysis was guided by three research questions: What is it that student teachers
reflect upon?; What precipitates that reflection?; and What factors
enhance or constrain that reflection? The student-teachers in this study
reflected upon three main issues: the ownership of their practice; pupil
learning; and the different levels of their understanding of practice. From the
analysis, it was possible to identify up to four different précipitants or triggers
for the types of reflective activity documented: a primary and secondary
precipitant at each of the framing and reframing stages. The secondary
precipitant at the reframing stage was deemed to be the most significant i n
terms of student-teacher reflection. Factors that either enhanced or
constrained reflection have been summarized in terms of their implications
for enhancing reflective practice. These factors included: exposure to a
multiplicity of perspectives; intense examination of one's practice; theorizing
about one's practice; and the ability to entertain uncertainty.
Finally, the study contributes in three ways to Schon's conceptualization
of reflection as it applies to student-teachers in practica settings. Firstly,
reflection is bom of incidents but is thematic in nature. Secondly, ownership
of one's practice is central to a variety of reflective concerns raised by student teachers.
Finally, Schon's coaching models need to be reviewed in light of
changes that occur in the relationship between student and sponsor as the
action which students reflect upon moves from a virtual world of planning
to the real world of performance.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/2932 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Clarke, Anthony |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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