WAN NG, COLETTE MURPHY, JOHN MCCULLAGH,

ANDREA DOHERTY & NAOMI MCLEOD

3. DEVELOPING REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

3.1 INTRODUCTION

The authors of chapter two introduced and briefly discussed how a process of critical
reflection could be applied to support student teachers in becoming reflective.
Chapter three picks up that discussion and considers the idea of teacher educator
reflective practice as well as strategies that teacher educators could use with student
teachers to encourage the development of reflective practice. The chapter begins
with a brief description of reflective practice and concludes by presenting two
strategies (action research and co-teaching) that teacher educators could use to help
them develop personal reflective practice.

3.1.1What is Reflective Practice?

Reflective practice is the process of continually improving one’s teaching through

engagement in it where critical thinking capacity is a necessary feature (Edward
and Thomas, 2010). Engaging in reflective practice is generally considered to be
a core standard and benchmark within the teaching profession. For example, the
General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI) publication “Teaching:
the Reflective Profession’ states that ‘one of the principles which underpin the
Council’s concept of competence is the centrality of reflective practice.... (and that)
competence is developed through reflection on practice and through dialogue with
others.” (GTCNI, 2007, p.13).
‘Reflection’ and ‘being reflective’ have therefore been the subject of much
research and provide the cornerstone for many professional development
programmes (Pollard, 2005). However Larrivee (2008) points out that despite
the prominence of reflective practice within professional standards the pressure
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to meet imposed standards of student performance can result in teachers’

practice being more focussed on expediency and efficiency, and less informed
by reflection.
Time constraints and a crowded curriculum can often restrict engagement in
reflection. There are also the problems resulting from the absence of a clear and
shared meaning of what exactly constitutes reflection and how it differs from other
types of thought.

S. Rodrigues (Ed.), Handbook for Teacher Educators, 33–48.

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 W. NG ET AL.

Without specific criteria, reflection becomes difficult to engage with and any
sense of progression may be hard to identify. Rogers (2002, p.843) believes that
‘‘in becoming everything to everybody, it (reflection) has lost its ability to be seen’’
despite its “allure… as something useful and informing” (Loughran, 2002, p.33) and
its ubiquitous nature.
Husu,Toom and Patrikainen (2008) contend that teacher reflection has not
been as effective as promised because reflective analysis does not come naturally
and requires structure and dialogue. Bolton (2010), whilst recognising the need
for supportive mechanisms, cautions that reflection should not be imposed but
nurtured, and that induction and facilitation are required to avert negative feelings
and resentment.
If we are to convince current teachers and student teachers of the value and worth
of engaging in reflective practice we must create opportunities and contexts in which
this process can be supported and, as Spalding and Wilson (2002, p.1393) suggest,
“we must actively teach and model reflective skills in a variety of ways if we are to
demystify reflection.” Alger (2006, p.287) found that modelling the various levels
of reflection made it accessible and a useful “tool for student teachers to do the
organizing and reorganizing of their understanding.”
Hatton and Smith (1995) attribute the barriers to promoting reflection among
student teachers to their limited conceptions of the work of a teacher and their
preoccupation with coping with their current situation. Given the evidence that
structure and support are necessary, if the skill of reflection is to be developed
among student teachers, Alger (2006) questions the extent to which these skills will
be employed in their future teaching careers, and urges a greater concentration on
the development of a positive disposition to reflection rather than solely on the skills
of reflection.

Provocation 3A
Larrivee (2008) wrote about four levels of reflection (pre-reflection, surface,
pedagogical and critical reflection).
Critical reflection – looks at long-term implications of their teaching and teaching
strategies, and tends to be from the learner’s perspective rather than the teacher’s
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perspective.
Pedagogical – underlying approaches are analysed in terms of impact on pupil
learning.
Surface- relies on ‘what works’ approach, tends to be from a teacher’s
perspective.
Pre-Reflection̘- tends to be a reaction to teaching situations.

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 DEVELOPING REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

Sometimes reflection during, or simultaneously with, our actions is challenging

because of the multiple demands we juggle at the time. With hindsight, consider a
recent episode in your practice, and try to identify where you sit/sat with regard to
Larrivee’s four levels.

3.1.2 Why Reflective Practice?

Good teacher educators are reflective practitioners. Teachers educators demonstrating

reflective practice are able to evaluate and identify their own capabilities and
competence level, and act on weaknesses while building on strengths in order to
grow as professionals. Awareness by the teacher educator (and teacher/student
teacher) of issues of power and control can lead to more deliberate thinking about
creating more democratic classrooms. At the heart of this process, critical reflection
becomes crucial for 21st century student teachers as a means of enhancing practice
(McLeod, 2011; Reed and Canning, 2010; Edwards et al., 2002). Our argument is the
need to nurture and develop open-mindedness and a readiness to see as the necessary
starting point for critical reflection.
As Dimova and Loughran (2009) clarify, open-mindedness requires being ready
to listen to more sides than one as an active listener. This means being prepared to
hear views and ideas that may be contrary to our own and being able to see that
a prior belief may be inappropriate particularly in relation to pedagogy (Rinaldi,
2006). To start this ‘opening process’ there is the need to be ready to demonstrate an
openness of mind, heart and will (Scharmer, 2009, p.37).
Critical reflection requires and begins with self-awareness, which can be
developed gradually and progressively as part of teacher education so that openness
and readiness is nurtured. In the development of such attitudinal dispositions we
show how the process of becoming open can be supported by a practical framework
for reflection, named here as the ‘9 R’s of Reflection’.

3.1.3 Using the 9 Steps of Reflection Pedagogical Approach

The ‘9 Steps of Reflection’ (or 9R’s) as a practical framework developed by McLeod

(2012) illustrates how a pedagogical approach involving deep critical reflection
supported teachers, and enhanced their participatory teaching with young children.
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The central argument is that critical reflection needs to start with the self and
embodied readiness through creating the right conditions for learning.
Just as McLeod (2013) facilitated professional development with teachers in
the form of deep self-awareness using creative collaborative workshops including
reflective tasks over a period of time, so too with student teachers the same process
can be applied. The ultimate intention is that participation can be sustained through
a process of critical reflection. The key point is that the process of self-awareness
in the form of creative collaborative workshops was key to nurturing a critically
reflective approach.

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 W. NG ET AL.

Readiness to be open, develop self awareness and

consciousness of own teaching

Recalling a situation or what happens as part of own

teaching

Recognising personal influences, views, biases,

assumptions, understandings, (stand back after
and during)
Reciprocal relationship

Reflecting on the child’s experiences from their

perspective. What are their feelings? How do
you know?

Reviewing together with other students sharing and

comparing own understandings and thoughts

Relating to relevant reading and research

Reappraising the relevance: Evaluating what

this shows and means personally, looking at
the implications for own teaching

Responding by making appropriate changes

Remembering the relevance and benefits of new

learning so that reflection is sustainable…
and becomes a natural part of teaching.

Figure 3.1: Nine Steps of Reflection

The ‘9 R’s of Reflection’ enabled the teachers to focus positively on the challenges
they faced within their educational setting. Just as the 9R’s developed gradually with
the participant teachers, so in the context of working with student teachers, the 9R’s
could be gradually introduced. Regardless of which sector you work in, as a teacher
educator you can model these 9Rs.
In the context of becoming a teacher educator there is a tendency to follow
Government policy and directives without considering or questioning why and how
appropriate they are for supporting children’s learning. Student teacher learning plans
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are often very teacher directed and objective driven with very few opportunities for
genuine participation that involves or follows children’s interests.
This is not a conscious decision but rather the result of a lack of awareness of
how personal values, beliefs, experiences and understandings influence what is
considered appropriate as a means of teaching. In the study by McLeod, ‘working
with’ rather than ‘doing to’ the participants facilitated creating a safe space that
promoted an open, collaborative approach (McIntosh, 2010). This approach enables

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 DEVELOPING REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

participants to embrace uncertainty, a willingness to fail and a desire to engage in

participatory teaching with young children.

Provocation 3B
This provocation models the 9Rs.
Recall a situation that was part of your teaching with student teachers.
Begin to ‘Recognise’ personal influences, views, biases, assumptions,
understandings, (so that later student teachers may be encouraged to stand back
and value a child’s perspective).
Reflect on this from the student teachers’ perspective.
What was their experience of learning?
Were they involved? How?

From working with student teachers over the last twelve years, it is clear that
students feel a pressure to ‘get it right’. They are uncertain about sharing ideas,
having a go, or experimenting, for fear of getting it wrong. Thus creating a pedagogic
environment with the right conditions for collaboration in order to enable sharing
thoughts and ideas is essential and at the heart of becoming self-aware.
In McLeod’s (2012) study, the intention was for the teachers to use the Steps as
a structure for keeping a reflective journal in relation to their practice focusing on
participation (Moon 2008). Through their journal writing and engagement in the
reflective and collaborative nature of the dialogic/creative workshops, they became
more self aware and open to change. Their ability to see personal influences on their
practice and appreciate the child’s experience was enhanced.
Quite early in the study the additional reading provided a sense of relevance,
purpose and authority for the teachers as a way of justifying participation with young
children (Eun, 2011). This needs to be at the heart of a student teacher’s journey to
becoming pedagogically aware. The reading provided needs to be relevant, so that
students can make links between participatory pedagogy (see Shier, 2001) and their
own teaching.
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In the context of developing self-awareness and a personal pedagogical approach,

it is essential that student teachers draw on both research and relevant pedagogical
literature alongside Government policy initiatives. The process of collaborating and
sharing together becomes more natural and valued by the teachers and is seen as
‘Reviewing together’. As workshops progress, the student teachers will become more
expert at evaluating and Reappraising the relevance of their teaching in relation to
participatory practice.

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 W. NG ET AL.

The structure of the 9 Steps of Reflection could be used to provide practical

pedagogical steps to help teacher educators and student teachers.
The Reciprocal Relationship arrow represents the ‘golden thread’ that connects
each of the aspects of the process. It indicates steps as part of the purposeful process
of critical reflection. However, the steps should not be seen as a restrictive set of
rules to be followed rigorously. The 9R’s of Reflection can help promote deeper
pedagogical insight for teacher educators and student teachers.

3.2 ACTION RESEARCH: A STRATEGY TO SUPPORT REFLECTION

Researching one’s own reflections and actions is an effective strategy to improve

one’s professional practice. Broadly speaking, this is called action research. A much
cited definition of action research is:
a form of self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situations
in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own practices, their
understanding of these practices, and the situations in which the practices are
carried out. (Carr and Kemmis, 1986, p.162)

3.2.1 Teacher Action Research: Pedagogical and Participatory

In the literature, views of what constitute action research appear to fall into two
groups. One group of thinking link action research closely to self-reflection and is
research undertaken by practitioners for the enhancement of their own practices (Carr
and Kemmis, 1986). The other group views action research as the active involvement
of the practitioner in the research where there is systematic collection of information,
including self-reflection, designed to bring about social changes (Bogdan and Biklen
1992). The former could be viewed as pedagogical action research, while the latter
has a participatory dimension that involves a community of participants in the action
research. Both forms of action research are applied research that assists teachers to
reflect on their own practices and gather evidence to inform how they should change
the way they teach.
In pedagogical action research, the practicing teacher conducts research on their
own teaching and evaluation methods, with the aim of gathering evidence to inform
him/her of whether the students’ learning has improved. While there are numerous
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anecdotal accounts of teaching innovations and examples of best practice, it is

critical that research is conducted to show if these practices and innovations are
actually working in the classroom.
Participatory action research is community-based where researchers from
universities work collaboratively with teachers to test new ideas and implement
actions for change in order to improve practice (Mason, 2005). The research design
could involve other stakeholders within the school community such as other teachers,
the principal and parents.

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 DEVELOPING REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

Provocation 3C
Reflect on the last two classes that you have taught.
How would you assess how well they went?
Write a list of questions. For example, how well did my students understand my
explanation of the concept of energy and create some criteria for the assessment?
Now consider what kinds of evidence would you use to demonstrate the degree
by which you have satisfied the criteria.
How would you improve on those criteria that you have assessed unfavourably?
How could you improve on the criteria for which you were unable to produce
evidence to demonstrate that you addressed the criteria satisfactorily?

Participatory action research involves direct participation of all parties in a

dynamic research process where all participants are active co-researchers. As the
purpose and outcomes of participatory action research is about improving the
teachers’ pedagogical practices, this type of action research could be viewed as
participatory pedagogical action research.
In participatory pedagogical action research, teacher practitioners are ‘ultimate
arbiters over what counts as useful knowledge’ (Mason, 2005, p.567) and the role
of the university-based researcher is to supply the theoretical resources needed for
the practitioner to reflect on to further develop his/her practice (Goldstein, 2000;
Johnston, 1994; Leitch and Day, 2000).
Most of the reported pedagogical action research in the literature is participatory
in nature. There are variations in the interpretation of action research and its
processes (see for example Elliot, 1991; Quigley and Kuhne, 1997; Macintyre,
2002; McNiff, Whitehead and Lomax, 2003; Whyte, 1991). Thus action research
as a research method has had issues raised about its quality and whether it is real
(scientific) research or just a description of classroom practices (Bartlett and Burton,
2006). Swepson (1995) argued that both scientific research and action research are
similar and that both are combinations of rational and empirical processes.
The empirical processes in participatory action research involving a community
of participants are more rigorous and accountable than self-managed pedagogical
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reflective practices. For example, data obtained from a student survey and a
colleague’s observation and feedback could be triangulated and analysed in light of
the teacher’s reflections, aided by a researcher.

Provocation 3D
What are the advantages and pitfalls of a self-managed pedagogical action
research?

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 W. NG ET AL.

3.2.2 Underlying Principles and Processes of Action Research

Bradbury and Reason (2003) asserts that action research is grounded in lived
experience and addresses significant problems. It should be designed and developed
in partnership with people rather than simply studying people. Bargal (2008) adds that
action research entails continuous cooperation between researchers and practitioners
and that it includes a cyclical process of data collection to determine goals, action
to implement the goals and the assessment of the results of the intervention (i.e.
pedagogy in this context).
The cyclical process is described by Latham and Gilbert (1995) as planning -
acting - observing - evaluating - planning etc. (cycle starts again) while Norton
(2001) identify the elements in the cyclical process as ITDEM (see Figure 3.2).

Identifying a problem in your practice

Thinking of ways to tackle the problem
Doing it
Evaluating it
Modifying your practice

Figure 3.2: The elements in the cyclical process of action research

While there are slight variations in action research sequences described in the
literature, most have the following stages in their sequences:
i. identifying a general problem or idea
ii. designing an action plan
iii. implementing and collecting the data
iv. analysing the data
v. reflecting and further action plan.
An example of the application of these stages of action research, working with a
researcher follows.

3.2.2.1 Identification of a problem that needs improving. Reflect on previous data

and identify an area that needs improving e.g. improve end of topic marks of low
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ability students. Research questions could include: what are the conceptually difficult
areas that low ability students experience? What will be the impact of formative
assessment on the learning of these students?

3.2.2.2 Produce an action plan. Design a modification to the existing teaching

practice e.g. build in 5 formative assessments to monitor the progress of the students
and identify concepts that the low ability students have difficulty with, then provide
the necessary scaffolding to assist them with the learning.

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 DEVELOPING REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

Table 3.1: Stages of an action research

Norton’s (2001) stages of

Stages of research reflection and activities
action research
Identifying a problem in your
Identification of a problem Generate research question(s)
practice
Thinking of ways to tackle Design modified practice
Produce an action plan
the problem Design research methodology
Apply modified practice in
Implement the plan and teaching
Doing it
collect the data Collect data according to
methodology
Analyse data and generate
Evaluating it Analyse the data
some conclusions
Reflect and plan further Compare with hypothesis
Modifying your practice
action and/or previous findings

For the research, design the research methodology e.g. pre- and post-tests, survey
attitudes of students toward the topic at the beginning, interview the low ability
students midway and at the end of the topic to gauge their progress and attitudes; invite
a colleague to observe two classes and provide feedback; keep a journal entry etc.

3.2.2.3 Implement the plan and collect the data. Implement the teaching plan and
work with the researcher to collect the data at the planned time.

3.2.2.4 Analyse the data. Analyse the data e.g. document and record patterns,
themes or differences; identify areas of improvements and areas that are not so
successful from the data.

3.2.2.5 Reflect and plan further action. Compare with early assumptions, hypothesis
and/or findings and identify unresolved issues or new problems. Reiterate the cycle.
Table 3.1 above shows these stages mapped into Norton’s (2001) sequence of action
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research.

3.3 DEVELOPING REFLECTIVE PRACTICE THROUGH COTEACHING

Coteaching is an ideal methodology that teacher educators can use to simultaneously

enhance their own reflective practice as well as the reflective practice of in-service and
student teachers. Coteaching can be described as teachers sharing the responsibility
for all aspects of practice, such as planning, teaching, assessing and evaluating

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 W. NG ET AL.

(Martin, 2009). It can provide a range of benefits such as decreasing student teachers’
anxiety in the classroom, improving teachers’ skills and pedagogical competences,
allowing for more pupil-centred enquiry-based learning and, importantly, enriching
the learning experience of pupils. Indeed, in the US, the National Council for the
Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE)’s Blue Ribbon panel on clinical
preparation and partnerships has noted the critical role of coteaching as a model for
linking theory and practice in preparing teachers to teach (NCATE, 2010).
Coteaching was initially developed as an inclusion model for K-12 classes where
a special education teacher was paired with a classroom teacher (Kluth and Straut,
2003). When coteaching is used as the model for student teaching, the established
practices involved with learning to teach are challenged and student achievement
and attitudes are positively impacted.
For more than five years, Bacharach, Heck and Dahlberg (2007) explored
the development and implementation of an empirical student coteaching model
involving formal school-university partnerships in 17 school districts. Children who
were cotaught in mathematics and reading classes showed statistically significant
improvement in achievement.
The study provided strong evidence of the benefits coteaching afforded for
student learning and teacher preparation. In this section of the chapter we will focus
on how coteaching can be used to enhance reflective practice so that more sustained
benefits can be accrued from the practice.
Each of the popular models (Kolb, 1984; Gibbs, 1988; Atkins and Murphy, 1994;
Korthagen and Vasalos, 2005) used to represent the process of reflection generally
involve a cycle of what can be approximately represented by the stages; planning,
teaching, evidence collection, evaluation, refinement, and teaching. As practitioners
move through this cycle one could investigate how each stage is enriched by
interaction between the coteachers within this zone of proximal development (ZPD).
Coteaching provides ideal conditions for learning by creating a zone of proximal
development in which the collective achieves more than the individual. The key
characteristic underpinning coteaching is that preservice teachers engage in
discussions about practice and praxis with their cooperating teaching partners. It
is this dynamic between participants which we have found to be key to making
the often challenging practice of reflection more accessible, meaningful, and more
rewarding.
Some of our most recent work on coteaching, which we include in this chapter,
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interrogates questions relating to the extent to which coteaching promotes reflective

practice, the particular affordances provided by coteaching, which support reflection,
and how even a brief coteaching experience might inform the future reflective
practice of both participants.
Coteaching essentially progresses via three key stages: coplanning and
copreparation; copractice, which includes coteaching and coevaluation, including
coreflection (see Figure 3.3).

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 DEVELOPING REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

Coplanning

Copractice Coevaluation

Figure 3.3: Phases of co-teaching

In our recent coteaching research focusing on developing reflective practice in the

context of primary science, teacher and student-teacher coteacher pairs were encouraged
to plan, teach and reflect on lessons and schemes in relation to ‘ideal’ practice, as
opposed to the more pragmatic planning enacted by teachers working alone.
Coteaching therefore provides the mutual support of two (or more) professionals
during praxis to develop and reflect on their own and each other’s improving
classroom practice to aid the learning of the students. We provided coteachers with
tools for reflection, which comprised:
1. Coreflection sheets on which coteachers commented on areas of the lesson and on
their coteaching by recording their responses to questions such as:
• ‘Ideal‘ children’s science learning from this lesson – how did we/they do?
• What limited children’s learning?
• How good were the tools we used and how could we improve them?
• How far did coteaching enable both teachers to attain the planned learning/
development?
• What changes should be made?
2. Self-diagnostic tools, in which coteachers could assess their own levels of
reflection (e.g. see Larrivee, 2008).
3. Key readings about reflective practice, against which coteachers could raise their
own levels of reflection.
Following coteaching, student teachers employed the pedagogical approaches, which
they had developed in the copractice phase, during their solo teaching placement.
Cooperating teachers also integrated their new learning from the coteaching into
subsequent solo practice.
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Provocation 3E
Introduce yourself to coteaching via sharing expertise by coplanning a session
for your student teachers with a colleague.
Coteach it.
Coreflect on the potential of coteaching for student teachers.

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Data on coreflection comprised semi-structured interviews, focus group

discussions, completed coreflection templates after each lesson, and reflective
essays (student teachers only) and video journals (data not used for this proposal).
The findings, overall, suggested that coteaching provides a method for improving
reflective practices of student and cooperating teachers, particularly in relation to
the learning and teaching of primary science. Coteachers highlighted the value of
reflection. They commented on how they had used it before but with little effect.
They commented on how they now realised the benefits of reflection-in-action
as they worked together in the classroom, and reflection-on-action in both their
coreflections following lessons, and in the later reflection during interviews and
additionally for preservice teachers, in the reflective essays.
More specifically, coreflections identified huge benefits of coteaching, including:
• working with a critical friend;
• improved confidence to teach science;
• improved learning environment for children;
• more experimentation with teaching approaches;
• reduced use of worksheets;
• teaching more science;
• children ‘owning’ their learning and driving lessons;
• coteachers and children working at a higher level.
This is illustrated by responses from cooperating and student teachers to identifying
new practices following coteaching, for example:
Researcher: Anything in your practice now that you didn’t do before [coteaching]?
1. Cooperating teacher: Even teaching science. Having more confidence and
carrying out daring lessons that might not go so well.
2. Student teacher: I wouldn’t have touched investigative side before with a barge
pole. On my placement in P3 I gave them cups of water. Not on your life would
I have given them a cup of water before because I would have been nervous of
what they would do. Even how you set the room up at the start – my experience
totally changed that.
Individual reflections on coteaching identified a key difference between student
teacher and cooperating teachers in that student teacher reflections indicated that
they had progressed from evaluating resources and classroom activities to reflecting
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on children’s learning. Cooperating teachers’ reflections, however, suggested that

they moved from evaluating resources and activities to reflecting on their own
pratice and its effectiveness:
3. The content of reflection changed. Before I focussed on resources and how they
worked, whereas after coteaching I went: “okay this group didn’t get this, and this
is why I think they didn’t get it, so this is what I’ll do instead next time”. It was
much more detailed in terms of children’s learning instead of the practical setup
of the classroom. (student teacher )

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 DEVELOPING REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

4. You evaluate your notes but it took your evaluation in a different way because you
were now being more about self. Before you were looking at things that work in
your notes and don’t. Now you were looking at yourself and what do you expect
to get from it. It was more looking at you and could you have done something
better. Even learning from the student with the sheet and going over it together
and maybe on your own you would have poured over it for hours and analysed
every word and they were just ‘you don’t have to go into huge detail just cover it’.
(Cooperating teacher).
Most reflections from interviews with cooperating teachers referred to the theory
and practice of science learning and teaching. However, direct and deep reflection
on the theory-practice relationship more generally was more evident in student
teachers’ reflective essays.

5. Through coteaching I have developed my reflective practice through the levels of

progression and in a variey of ways through reflection in action and reflection on
action… It is evident that whilst coteaching has developed my refective practice,
the road to becoming a competent ‘Reflective Practitioner’ (GTCNI, 2010) will
be long. Reflection is arguably a process, not a method, but a process which must
be developed throughout a teaching career. This journey of effective reflection,
facilitating lessons which site pupils’ learning in the forefront has begun and
it will be interesting to chart the progress and effectiveness of my reflections
throughout my teaching career.

In terms of meta-reflection, Coteachers invariably talked of the value of reflecting

and how reflection improved their practice; cooperating teachers commented on
time constraints re reflection; all appreciated coreflection was a major reason for
coteaching being successful in improving practice. The agreed template for reflection
was critiqued after use by some student teacher :

6. Throughout the coteaching experience, reflection arguably occurred through the

provision of a structure, in the coreflection template, maximising the thinking
process. This structure gave reflections a premise, however, care must be taken in
the use of templates when reflecting to ensure that the process is not hampered by
the completion of sections on paper.
Copyright © 2014. Sense Publishers. All rights reserved.

Most reflections were characterised as level 3 and 4. Indicative quotes 1 and 2 - level
2 [surface reflection] of our adapted Larrivee tool (eg: using evidence and making
adjustments based on experience only). Quote 3 – level 3 [pedagogical reflection]
(eg: adjusts methods and practices based on students’ relative performance). Quotes
4-6 – level 4 [critical pedagogical reflection] (eg: commitment to continuous
learning and improved practice; constructive criticism of own practice; sees teaching
practices as remaining open to further investigation).

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 W. NG ET AL.

3.4 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, we suggest that action research and coteaching provide an ideal

approach to develop reflective practice. Two factors are crucial: firstly, a constant
focus on ideal, rather than pragmatic practice in relation to development of learning
and development. It could be argued that much of the current continuing professional
development offered to teachers embraces the rather low level “this is how to…”,
instead of aiming higher, as is encouraged in the coteaching approach “what is the
ideal way to develop children or students’ learning of..?” Secondly, we recommend
that action researchers and coteachers are provided with ‘tools’ for reflection, such
as articles, self and peer diagnostic instruments to evaluate levels of reflection, and
ideas from key scholars on reflection, such as Dewey, Vygotsky and Rogers.
Our lived traditions produce values, biases and beliefs which influence the
manner in which we consciously or unconsciously form our professional identity,
our priorities and understandings of working with young children (Hassan, 2005;
Beijaard et al., 2004). It is these embodied experiences, especially those unconscious
ones that we need to understand if we want to understand the ‘richness and subtlety
of human experience’ (Leitch, 2006, p. 551).
Within the context of education, teachers tend to feel restricted by an outcome
driven curriculum and targets imposed by government as part of a top down
approach. As a result there is the tendency to sometimes ‘play it safe’ and follow
rules without questioning (Wilkins, 2011). Being aware of these power relations
can promote a consciousness of reality so that we (and our student teachers) are
more able to make informed decisions about what is appropriate pedagogy and take
ownership of our and their practice (MacNaughton, 2005; Freire, 1994) rather than
doing what is familiar and safe.

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AFFILIATIONS

Assoc Professor Wan Ng

School of Education
University of New South Wales
Australia.
[email protected]

Professor Colette Murphy

Director of Research
Trinity College Dublin.
Ireland
[email protected]

Dr John McCullagh
Stranmillis University College, Belfast
Northern Ireland
[email protected]

Dr Andrea Doherty
Copyright © 2014. Sense Publishers. All rights reserved.

Stranmillis University College, Belfast

Northern Ireland
[email protected]

Dr Naomi Mcleod
Senior Lecturer
Liverpool Hope University
[email protected]

48

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