Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | A | Academic Exchange Quarterly

Self-regulation through reflective practice.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

"Teaching today is much harder than it used to be" is a commonly heard refrain. Unfortunately the hardships faced by many of today's first year teachers have caused too many of them to leave their chosen field of education. This article describes how reflection can be used to face and overcome challenges directly affecting teaching and learning.

Introduction

Every year in August and September eager and idealistic new teachers arrive at schools ready to make a positive difference in their students' lives. The transition from theory to practice, for many, is swift and brutal (Ornstein 2003). During their time in schools of education, most new teachers had plenty of support from university supervisors and their peers. They go into teaching expecting the same level of support and are shocked when they realize they are totally on their own (Ornstein, 2003).

Without moral and practical help, new teachers must look to themselves to determine how to cope with incidents in order to create a positive learning environment for their students. This is how I found myself when I was the new teacher. Hole & McEntee (2001, p. 27) developed the following protocol for individual reflection that closely parallels the reflective processes I used and have described in this article:

* Collect stories. Keep a diary, log, or informal notes on stories of incidents as they occur.

* What happened? From your notes, expand on a story that requires further thought.

* Why did it happen? Provide background information surrounding the story; look for causes and effects.

* What might it mean? Determine whether the incident is worthy of action. Explore multiple solutions and answers.

* What are the implications for practice? Reflect on the incident in context; determine how you would monitor and adjust your practice.

Hole and McEntee's protocol enables teachers to move toward self-regulated behaviors necessary for teaching and learning. Self-regulation is a metacognitive activity requiring teachers and students to reflect on their thinking. Ir is an active process where participants set goals, take action, deliberately monitor their actions, and make necessary adjustments to meet articulated goals (Pape, Zimmerman, & Pajares, 2002). Self-regulation of teaching practices is coming into its own due to the inclusion of reflective practice in the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) Standards and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). Attention to reflection has far-reaching consequences as more than 40,000 teachers in our nation's schools are currently Board Certified (NBPTS, 2005) and 620 colleges of education have met NCATE standards (NCATE, 2004).

Teaching students to think critically about their learning is an indispensable skill required by good teachers. Just as students benefit by reflecting on their learning, teachers benefit by reflecting on their teaching practices. Teachers must learn to identify and set specific goals for themselves, the same expectations they hold for their students. John Dewey said, "... thinking enables us to direct our...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!