Act of Teaching

Chapter 14: Reflective Skills of Effective Teachers

Reflection- is the ongoing process of critically examining and refining teaching practice
by considering the personal, educational, social, and ethical aspects of teaching and
schooling.
Reflection enables teachers to describe and think about what they can do, to anticipate
and solve classroom problems, and to experience continued professional and personal
growth.
Research suggests that reflection is related to effecting teaching, especially instructional
behavior.
Characteristics of Reflective Practitioners
Reflection is a habit in which effective teachers appreciate, apply, and synthesize aspects
of good teaching by examining them from different angles.
Deliberate, open-minded, responsible, and sincere: they have a spirit of inquiry.
1. Reflective practitioners routinely and purposefully deliberate or reflect on teaching.
2. Reflective practitioners are open-minded. They are willing to question their own views of
and reactions to their teaching practices and the school culture.
3. Reflective practitioners take responsibility
4. Reflective teachers are sincere as they closely investigate their teaching.
Benefits of Reflecting on Teaching
The most important benefit of reflection as you prepare to teach is that it enhances your
learning about teaching.
How to learn:
1. You must have a concrete learning experience.
2. You must have an opportunity to reflect on the experience by recapturing and evaluating
it.
3. Integrate your reflections with what you already know and believe about teaching and
learning.
4. You must engage in active experimentation, applying the insights you have gained to
make decisions and solve problems.
The second benefit of reflecting on teaching that you can begin to take advantage of is
that reflection increases your ability to analyze and understand classroom events.
-This reflection makes you more thoughtful and wise.
A third benefit of reflection is that reflecting on teaching will enhance your classroom life
as a teacher by helping you establish an inviting, predictable, and thoughtful
environment.
The fourth benefit of engaging in reflection is that teachers who use reflective skills
become self-monitoring.
Developing Reflective Thinking
-Being able to realize that reflection is a deep thinking process rather than an innate ability
makes the goal of becoming a reflective practitioner more attainable.
The Reflective Process
Three levels of thinking:
1. Descriptive- involves describing significant aspects of a classroom event or a concern.
 2. Comparative- explore alternative perspectives or interpretations that help you understand
why the event described happened that way.
3. Evaluative- moves beyond describing and understanding an event and seeing it form
another point of view to making a judgment about how best to proceed with the next
steps or with making changes.
Becoming a Reflective Teacher
Five methods and suggestions:
1. Discussions- a way to reflect on and give meaning to your teacher preparation
experiences.
2. Dialogue Journals- a powerful tool for promoting reflection. They help you to describe,
compare, and evaluate your classroom experiences.
3. Portfolio- provides a structured opportunity for you to document and describe your
teaching, to connect this to what you know about teaching and learning, and to reflect on
how and why you teach the way you do.
4. Action Research- the process of conducting classroom research to answer questions or
solve problems about teaching and learning involving a specific group of students in a
particular setting.
5. Laboratory Experiences- are contrived teaching experiences carried out on campus, often
with a small group of peers, rather than in an actual classroom setting.
6. Reflective Teaching- to help pre-service and in-service teachers become more thoughtful
teachers. This provides you with a teaching experience in a supportive environment that
serves as the basis for subsequent reflection.

Cruickshank, Donald R., Deborah Bainer. Jenkins, and Kim K. Metcalf. The Act
of Teaching. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print. (p.459-472)