Reflective Teaching in Language Classroom

Lead In

 “We do not learn from experience…we learn from reflecting on experience.”  —John Dewey 

Teachers learn much about teaching by doing.  They constantly think about what was successful about their lessons and what needed to be improved.  They think about their students – the ones who are learning well and the ones who seem to be having difficulty.   They constantly think about the issues in society and how they will get them across to their students.  They constantly think about the values, beliefs and traditions that they want to pass on to their students.  This type of thinking is called REFLECTION.  Like looking into a mirror, a reflection is something that allows teachers to look at themselves and decide to accept what they have done or change it.

Defining Reflective Teaching

In 1983 David Schön wrote the book The Reflective Practitioner in which he described his Reflective Practitioner Model and its approach to decision making and problem solving. He describes the difference between Reflection IN Action and Reflection ON Action and how the use of these practices could help to distinguish an effective practitioner from a less effective one. Teachers deal with people every day, which makes for an unpredictable day. Reflection is a useful method for a teacher to evaluate the day’s events and decisions; it also helps prepare a teacher for the unpredictable events to come.

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.

What is Reflecting IN action?

Reflection IN action describes the teacher’s ability to resolve situations while they are happening; it is done instinctively, while drawing on previous experiences. This reflection does not happen after the in class occurrence, rather the teacher tries out several solutions till the most appropriate solution is found. It involves a mixture of knowing and doing; Schön described this as ‘theory-in-use’.

What is Reflecting ON Action?

Reflection ON action takes place after the event has taken place. This involves developing a repertoire of experience and forces teachers to think about what they would ideally do if the situation happened again. Schön believes that both types of Reflection are necessary to become an effective practitioner. Reflecting on one’s strengths and weaknesses helps in teacher 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 focusing 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 analyzing 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

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 misbehavior 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.

a. 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. 

b. 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.

c. 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 behavior:

• Where do you stand?
• Who do you speak to?
• How do you come across to the students?

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, pair work 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.

d. 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.

How can students be involved in reflection?

Though reflection is an important process for teachers and student teachers, it should also be encouraged for the students. Just as teachers grow and develop, so do students and they can only benefit from noticing their development. Many teachers do not know, however, how best to involve students in the process of reflection. Here are some tips:

·       Give the students opportunities to reflect in different ways, whether it be in writing or out loud. Different materials can also be used to facilitate reflection and keep the students engaged; some students enjoy journaling, some might prefer interviews, and some might prefer blogging. Don’t be afraid to use technology!

·       Give the students support and direction for their reflection. Simply asking them to reflect will not be enough for all students; guiding questions or introductory sentences can be used to direct the students who need the direction. (ie. Today what I liked was… or What did you like today? What helped me learn was…  or    What helped you learn today?

·       Make reflection a regular occurrence. The more the students take part in reflection, the easier and more natural it will become for them.

·       Keep the students’ reflections in a portfolio; this way the students will be able to look back on their own reflections to see how much they’ve grown, learned, and how much they were able to write about their learning!

Let the students know why they are reflecting and that it is not a purposeless activity. These reflections help you improve as a teacher, and help them improve as learners; once students know how they learn best, then learning will become easier!