Transcript How was it for you? - Association for the Teaching of

The reflective teacher


If teachers today are to initiate young
people into an ethical existence, they
themselves must attend more fully than
they normally have to their own lives and
its requirements; they have to break with
the mechanical life, to overcome their own
submergence in the habitual, even in what
they conceive to be virtuous, and to ask the
“why” with which all moral reasoning
begins.
Maxine Greene, Teacher as Stranger
The Educational Setting

1) What is the rationale underlying
the setting?

2) What is the universe of
alternatives that could be
considered?
Sarason (1971)
Professional reflection in
Teaching Psychology

Education policy is currently based
upon concepts of:

Productivity

Performance
Who is in control?

Decision making has been removed
from classroom teachers.
Those who feel their professional
expertise is under attack may
become disengaged with the work
they do.
 Teachers can become isolated in
the work they do.
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Who are we?
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Coldron & Smith (1999) state;
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‘ From the beginning of, but also
during, their careers, teachers are
engaged in creating themselves as
teachers’.
Subject knowledge

Research suggests that a main
aspect of a teacher’s sense of
identity is ‘expert knowledge’ in
relation to how this is taught and
how the learners understood.
(Beijaard et al (2000)
Who are we?

The expectations of society – ( the
past , high status and respect, and
today?).

Personal identity – the way you
view yourself as a teacher,
hopefully reviewing and changing
your self concept.
Who are we?

28 of 82 teachers having
completed their PGCE stated that
they already felt like teachers, and
that this feeling of professional
identity dated to their earliest
classroom experiences.
What we do
 Teaching
innocently
means assuming that the
meanings and significance
we place on our actions
are the ones that students
take from them.
What we say

We know why we believe what we
believe, but students often don’t!

A joking aside appreciated by some
leaves others insulted.

Just knowing that we’re not alone in
our struggles is profoundly
reassuring.
Identity

Fraser et al (1998) note; that
‘teachers who remain in teaching
attach greater value to recognition
and approval of supervisors, family
and friends. Those leaving assign
more importance to salary
increases, job challenge and
autonomy’.
Professional identity
Identification with one school.
 Ownership of teaching space.
 Relationship with pupils & parents.
 Relationship with other staff.
 Feeling valued.
 Sense of professional community.
 Feedback from pupils, teachers and
others.

The professional teacher
Providing encouragement and
motivation for students.
 Being approachable, but able to
encourage limits for student
behaviour
 Being seen to be caring, and willing
to listen to students.
 Being interested and interesting.
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The professional teacher
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Trying to be open-minded, and not
pre-judge students.

Trying to be creative.
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Diplomacy (with students and
colleagues)
Autonomy & Ownership

‘Ownership’ of what is taught has
shifted from teachers to government,
with England having one of the most
highly politicised and rigidly
controlled education systems in the
Western World ( Grainger et al,
2004))

If teachers are to regain ownership of
the profession, what is it they are to
own?
Teaching Today
 ‘Naively
I thought teaching was
going to be about teaching. Well
now I realise that on top of that
we have to act as; policeman,
bouncer, administrator,
psychologist, social worker, role
model, Butlins redcoat’ (TES
Online Forum)
The Reflective Teacher

Dewey (1990) – Reflection is a
special form of problem solving,
thinking to resolve an issue which
involved active chaining, a careful
ordering of ideas linking each with
its predecessors.
Being reflective

Dewey (1990)

1) Open-mindedness.
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2) Responsibility.
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3) Wholeheartedness.
No pain, no gain
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Critical reflection requires you to
also consider your beliefs, attitudes
and assumptions whilst organising
and reorganising your knowledge
and understanding (Alger, 2006).
This can sometimes be an
uncomfortable and challenging
process.
How do I begin?
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1) Acknowledge your belief system.
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2) Compare your own beliefs with
the beliefs of others (peers, friends
etc).
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3) Become more conscious of
alternatives that exist or could be
created.
Experience

Experienced teachers may take
many important factors for
granted, and unless you actively
probe for what underlies their
behaviour you will miss much of
what is significant about the nature
of teacher decision-making.
Likely reactions

1) Feelings of vulnerability – which
follow from exposing one’s
perception and beliefs to others.
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2) Feelings of self-blame – for any
perceived weaknesses uncovered
through reflection.
How to overcome this

1) Individualistic approach to
reflection.
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2) Provide an environment within
which teachers can work together
as “critical friends”.
The future

More teacher ownership?

Improved pay & pensions?

More valued CPD?

Royal College of Teaching?
THANK YOU
Enjoy the rest of the
conference and your
career in teaching.
Trevor P Dunn BA MSc MA(Cantab) CPsychol CSci AFBPsS FHEA FRSA
Email: [email protected]