Reflective teaching

Reflective teaching means looking at what you do in the classroom, thinking about
why you do it, and thinking about if it works or not - it’s a process of self-
observation and self-evaluation for professional development.

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

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?

1
When to Begin the process of reflection

You may begin a process of reflection in response to a

 particular problem that has arisen with one of 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

misbehavior

 how you can encourage your students to speak more English in class.

So, the first step is to gather information about what happens in the class. Here are some
different ways of doing this.

1. Teacher diary
Teacher Diary is the easiest way to begin a process of reflection because 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 can 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.

This method of Reflection gives your own limited way of thinking on the matter.

2. Peer observation
Invite a colleague to come to your class to collect information about your lesson.

This may be with a simple observation task like,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 or what different patterns of
interaction occur or how you deal with errors and even your and students reactions.

It can be done in THREE steps

2
i. 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, Or would 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.

ii. The Actual observation -The observer would then visit his or her partner’s
class and complete the observation using the procedures that both partners had agreed
on.

iii. 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 peers to
observe and collect information which would help;

Organization of the lesson,

Teacher’s time management,
Students’ performance on tasks,
Time-on-task,
Teacher questions and student responses,
Student performance during pair work
Classroom interaction,

3
 and Students’ use of the first language or English during class.

In comparison to Teacher Diary, Peer Observation is a broader method of reflection on

teaching.

3.. 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.

o How much do you talk?
o What mostly you talk about?
o Are instructions and explanations clear?
o How much time do you allocate to student talk?
o How do you respond to student talk?
 Video recordings can be useful in showing you aspects of your own behaviour.
o Where do you stand?
o Who do you speak to?
o How do you come across to the students?

4. 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.

4
 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.
o 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.
o 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.

 What are you doing?

 Why are you doing it?

5
  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

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. There’s nothing
wrong with asking, “How can I do it better?” Doing this is not a sign of being an
underwhelming teacher; in fact it’s quite the opposite: It shows you are brave and
professional.