What is Reflective Teaching?

Teaching is a complex and highly skilled activity, and teachers must

exercise judgement in deciding how to act to support learning most
effectively. Open-minded consideration of evidence, about ones own
work or that of others, enriches the quality of such judgement so that
practice becomes evidence-informed. High-quality teaching, and thus
learner progress, is dependent on the existence of such professional
expertise.
Whether in early, school, further, vocational or higher education, expertise is developed through successive
levels. Reflective practice enables the novice to progress, over time, towards expert leadership in their field.
Given the nature of teaching, professional development and learning should never stop.
Reflective teaching should be personally fulfilling for teachers, but will also lead to a steady increase in the quality
of the education provided for learners. It thus supports the improvement of outcomes and helps to satisfy
accountability requirements whether in early, school, further, vocational or higher education. At the same time, it
draws particular attention to the aims, values and social consequences of education, and to its contribution to the
future.

Reflective teaching means looking at what you do in the classroom,

thinking about why you do it, and thinking about if it works - a process of
self-observation and self-evaluation.

By collecting information about what goes on in our classroom, and by analysing and
evaluating this information, we identify and explore our own practices and
underlying beliefs. This may then lead to changes and improvements in our
teaching.
Reflective teaching is therefore a means of professional development which begins in
our classroom.

Why it is important

Beginning the process of reflection

Teacher diary

Peer observation

Recording lessons

Student feedback

What to do next

Think

Talk

Read

Ask

Conclusion

Why it is important
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."
However, without more time spent focussing 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. Reflective teaching therefore implies a more
systematic process of collecting, recording and analysing 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 language point we introduced we need to

think about what we did and why it may have been unclear.

If students are misbehaving - what were they doing, when and why?

Beginning the process of reflection

You may begin a process of reflection in response to a particular problem that has
arisen with one or your classes, or simply as a way of finding out more about your
teaching. You may decide to focus on a particular class of students, or to look at a
feature of your teaching - for example how you deal with incidents of misbehaviour
or how you can encourage your students to speak more English in class.
The first step is to gather information about what happens in the class. Here are
some different ways of doing this.

Teacher diary
This is the easiest way to begin a process of reflection since it is purely personal.
After each lesson you write in a notebook about what happened. You may also
describe your own reactions and feelings and those you observed on the part of the
students. You are likely to begin to pose questions about what you have observed.
Diary writing does require a certain discipline in taking the time to do it on a regular
basis.
Here are some suggestions for areas to focus on to help you start your diary.
Download diary suggestions 51k
Peer observation
Invite a colleague to come into your class to collect information about your lesson.

This may be with a simple observation task or through note taking. This will relate
back to the area you have identified to reflect upon. For example, you might ask
your colleague to focus on which students contribute most in the lesson, what
different patterns of interaction occur or how you deal with errors.
Recording lessons
Video or audio recordings of lessons can provide very useful information for
reflection. You may do things in class you are not aware of or there may be things
happening in the class that as the teacher you do not normally see.

Audio recordings can be useful for considering aspects of teacher talk.

How much do you talk?

What about?

Are instructions and explanations clear?

How much time do you allocate to student talk?

How do you respond to student talk?

Video recordings can be useful in showing you aspects of your own

behaviour.

Where do you stand?

Who do you speak to?

How do you come across to the students?

Student feedback
You can also ask your students what they think about what goes on in the
classroom. Their opinions and perceptions can add a different and valuable
perspective. This can be done with simple questionnaires or learning diaries for
example.

What to do next
Once you have some information recorded about what goes on in your classroom,
what do you do?

Think
You may have noticed patterns occurring in your teaching through your observation.
You may also have noticed things that you were previously unaware of. You may

have been surprised by some of your students' feedback. You may already have
ideas for changes to implement.

Talk
Just by talking about what you have discovered - to a supportive colleague or even a
friend - you may be able to come up with some ideas for how to do things
differently.
If you have colleagues who also wish to develop their teaching using

reflection as a tool, you can meet to discuss issues. Discussion can be based around
scenarios from your own classes.
Using a list of statements about teaching beliefs (for example,

pairwork is a valuable activity in the language class or lexis is more important than
grammar) you can discuss which ones you agree or disagree with, and which ones
are reflected in your own teaching giving evidence from your self-observation.

Read
You may decide that you need to find out more about a certain area. There are
plenty of websites for teachers of English now where you can find useful teaching
ideas, or more academic articles. There are also magazines for teachers where you
can find articles on a wide range of topics. Or if you have access to a library or
bookshop, there are plenty of books for English language teachers.

Ask
Pose questions to websites or magazines to get ideas from other teachers. Or if you
have a local teachers' association or other opportunities for in-service training, ask
for a session on an area that interests you.

Conclusion
Reflective teaching is a cyclical process, because once you start to implement
changes, then the reflective and evaluative cycle begins again.

What are you doing?

Why are you doing it?

How effective is it?

How are the students responding?

How can you do it better?

As a result of your reflection you may decide to do something in a different way, or

you may just decide that what you are doing is the best way. And that is what
professional development is all about.
Julie Tice, Teacher, Trainer, Writer, British Council Lisbon
This article was first published in 2004

What Is Reflective Teaching And

Why Is It Important?
Roseli Serra quarta-feira, maro 11th, 2015 4 Comments

Teachers are the busiest professionals on Earth. Teachers never stop

working.
How many times have you heard statements like those above? I bet many
times.
And how many times have you stopped to reflect upon your teaching
practice? Have you ever done it? How? What was the last time youve
been observed? What was the last time you observed a friend?
You may think: Why so many questions? What does it all have to do with
reflective teaching?
Ive noticed that a lot has been discussed about critical thinking regarding
our students learning process. What about reflecting on our teaching
process? Have we reflected on it?
Reflective teaching is a personal tool that teachers can use to observe and
evaluate the way they behave in their classroom. It can be both a private
process as well as one that you discuss with colleagues. When you collect
information regarding what went on in your classroom and take the time
to analyse it from a distance, you can identify more than just what worked
and what didnt. You will be able to look at the underlying principles and
beliefs that define the way that you work. This kind of self-awareness is a
powerful ally for a teacher, especially when so much of what and how they
teach can change in the moment.

Reflective teaching is about more than just summarizing what happened

in the classroom. If you spend all your time discussing the events of the
lesson, its possible to jump to abrupt conclusions about why things
happened as they did.
Reflective teaching is a quieter and more systemic approach to looking at
what happened. It requires patience, and careful observation of the entire
lessons experience.
According to Jack Richards, reflection or critical reflection, refers to an
activity or process in which an experience is recalled, considered, and
evaluated, usually in relation to a broader purpose. It is a response to past
experience and involves conscious recall and examination of the
experience as a basis for evaluation and decision-making and as a source
for planning and action. (Richard 1990)
Bartlett (1990) points out that becoming a reflective teacher involves
moving beyond a primary concern with instructional techniques and how
to questions and asking what and why questions that regard
instructions and managerial techniques not as ends in themselves, but as
part of broader educational purposes. Asking what and why questions
give us a certain power over our teaching. We could claim that the degree
of autonomy and responsibility we have in our work as teachers is
determined by the level of control we can exercise over our actions. In
reflecting on the above kind of questions, we begin to exercise control and
open up the possibility of transforming our everyday classroom life.
(Bartlett, 1990. 267)
The process of reflective teaching supports the development and
maintenance of professional expertise. We can conceptualise successive
levels of expertise in teaching those that student-teachers may attain at
the beginning, middle and end of their courses; those of the new teacher
after their induction to full-time school life; and those of the experienced,
expert teacher. Given the nature of teaching, professional development
and learning should never stop.

How does reflection take place?

Many different approaches can be employed if one wishes to become a
critically reflective teacher, including observation of oneself and others,
team teaching, and exploring ones view of teaching through writing.

Approaches to Critical reflection:

Peer Observation Peer observation can provide opportunities for
teachers to view each others teaching in order to expose them to
different teaching styles and to provide opportunities for critical reflection
on their own teaching. Some suggestions for peer observation:
1. Each participant would both observe and be observed Teachers
would work in pairs and take turns observing each others classes.
2. Pre-observation orientation session Prior to each observation, the
two teachers would meet to discuss the nature of the class to be
observed, the kind of material being taught, the teachers approach to
teaching, the kinds of students in the class, typical patterns of interaction
and class participation, and any problems that might be expected. The
teacher being observed would also assign the observer a goal for the
observation and a task to accomplish. The task would involve collecting
information about some aspect of the lesson, but would not include any
evaluation of the lesson. Observation procedures or instruments to be
used would be agreed upon during this session and a schedule for the
observations arranged.
3. The observation -The observer would then visit his or her partners
class and complete the observation using the procedures that both
partners had agreed on.
4. Post-observation: The two teachers would meet as soon as possible
after the lesson. The observer would report on the information that had

been collected and discuss it with the teacher (Richards and Lockhart,
1991).
Benefits:
The teachers identify a variety of different aspects of their lessons for
their partners to observe and collect information on. These include
organization of the lesson, teachers time management, students
performance on tasks, time-on-task, teacher questions and student
responses, student performance during pair work, classroom interaction,
class performance during a new teaching activity, and students use of the
first language or English during group work.
The teachers gain a number of insights about their own teaching from
their colleagues observations and that they would like to use peer
observation on a regular basis. They may also obtain new insights into
aspects of their teaching.
Written accounts of experiences
Another useful way of engaging in the reflective process is through the
use of written accounts of experiences. (Powell 1985) and their potential is
increasingly being recognized in teacher education. A number of different
approaches can be used.
Self-Reports Self-reporting involves completing an inventory or check
list in which the teacher indicates which teaching practices were used
within a lesson or within a specified time period and how often they were
employed (Pak, 1985).
Self-reporting allows teachers to make a regular assessment of what they
are doing in the classroom. They can check to see to what extent their
assumptions about their own teaching are reflected in their actual
teaching practices.
Journal Writing

A procedure which is becoming more widely acknowledged as a valuable

tool for developing critical reflection is the journal or diary. The goals of
journal writing are:
1. To provide a record of the significant learning experiences that have
taken place
2. To help the participant come into touch and keep in touch with the selfdevelopment process that is taking place for them
3. To provide the participants with an opportunity to express, in a personal
and dynamic way, their self-development
4. To foster a creative interaction
between the participant and the self-development process that is taking
lace
between the participant and other participants who are also in the
process of self-development
between the participant and the facilitator whose role it is to foster such
development (Powell, 1985, Bailey, 1990)
Recording Lessons
For many aspects of teaching, audio or video recording of lessons can also
provide a basis for reflection. While there are many useful insights to be
gained from diaries and self-reports, they cannot capture the moment to
moment processes of teaching. Many things happen simultaneously in a
classroom, and some aspects of a lesson cannot be recalled. It would be of
little value for example, to attempt to recall the proportion of Yes-No
Questions to WH-Questions a teacher used during a lesson, or to estimate
the degree to which teacher time was shared among higher and lower
ability students. Many significant classroom events may not have been

observed by the teacher, let alone remembered, hence the need to

supplement diaries or self-reports with recordings of actual lessons.

Conclusion:
A reflective approach to teaching involves changes in the way we usually
perceive teaching and our role in the process of teaching. Teachers who
explore their own teaching through critical reflection develop changes in
attitudes and awareness which they believe can benefit their professional
growth as teachers, as well as improve the kind of support they provide
their students. Like other forms of self-inquiry, reflective teaching is not
without its risks, since journal writing, self-reporting or making recordings
of lessons can be time-consuming. However teachers engaged in
reflective analysis of their own teaching report that it is a valuable tool for
self-evaluation and professional growth. Reflective teaching suggests that
experience alone is insufficient for professional growth, but that
experience coupled with reflection can be a powerful impetus for teacher
development.
You might find, as you progress, that there is an area of knowledge you
need to know more about. So never be afraid to ask for help or advice.
Theres nothing wrong with asking, How can I do it better? Doing this is
not a sign of being an underwhelming teacher; in fact its quite the
opposite: It shows you are brave and professional.