How often do you actually stop what you are doing in order to analyze your objectives as a teacher? Have you recently asked yourself why you are teaching? What and how you are teaching? In addition, most importantly, who you are teaching? Teacher development starts with self-reflection. Not only is it a powerful tool to improve your teaching performance but it also leads to successful outcomes for your students.
“Teacher development is a process of becoming the best kind of teacher that I can personally be. (Underhill (1986:1). Teacher development draws on the teacher’s own inner resource for change. It builds on the past, because recognizing how past experiences have or have not been developmental helps identify opportunities for changes in the present and the future. It also draws on the present in encouraging a fuller awareness of the kind of teacher you are now…it is a self-reflective process because it is threw questioning old habits that alternative ways of being and doing are able to emerge.( Head, Taylor 1997).
Teacher development begins with us questioning our own practice. Believe me, there are many questions to reflect upon. Why am I teaching? Do I need to change anything about my teaching (we always do!)? Do I want to change? (Extremely important question). How can I change? What are my beliefs about teaching? Have they changed recently? (I hope so). What kind of teacher am I? What are my student’s beliefs about learning? Do I evaluate my teaching? How do I evaluate it? How do I structure my classes? Do my student`s perceive my goals? Do I give my students authentic language opportunities in the classroom? And many, many more.
REFLECTION
Good teaching always begins with self-reflection. Before sitting down at our desks and preparing our classes for the following day, successful outcomes will not happen unless we take into consideration what has been going on in our previous classes and how our students have reacted and what we have been able to accomplish. We are dealing with students from the 21st century. So let´s be the teachers they need us to be. I believe we cannot do that unless we put all our efforts and look not only into the past but into the future as well.
What is reflection?
Reflection or “critical reflection” refers to an activity or process in which an experience is recalled, considered, and evaluated, usually in relation to a broader purpose. It is a response to past experiences and involves conscious recall and examination of the experience as a basis for evaluation and decision-making and as a source for planning and action.”(Richards,1990).
Asking what and why questions give us a certain power over our teaching. We could claim that the degree of autonomy and responsibility we have in our work as teachers is determined by the level of control we can exercise over our actions. In reflecting on the above kind of questions, we begin to exercise control and open up the possibility of transforming our everyday classroom life. (Bartlett, 1990. 267)
For those who have been teachers for a while and for those who are starting up now, reflective teaching is a must to become better teachers. We only improve once we begin to question what we are doing and start looking for the answers. According to those answers, we prepare our next steps.
According to Richards, reflection takes place in 3 stages:
Stage 1
The event itself.
The starting point is an actual teaching episode, such as a lesson or other instructional event. While the focus of critical reflection is usually the teacher’s own teaching, self-reflection can also be stimulated by observation of another person’s teaching.
Stage 2
Recollection of the event.
The next stage in reflective examination of an experience is an account of what happened, without explanation or evaluation. Several different procedures are available during the recollection phase, including written descriptions of an event, a video or audio recording of an event, or the use of check lists or coding systems to capture details of the event.
Stage 3
Review and response to the event.
Following a focus on objective description of the event, the participant returns to the event and reviews it. The event is now processed at a deeper level, and questions are asked about the experience.
Reflective teaching can be done in various different ways. Writing journals are very effective instruments. You record classroom events for later reflection. When you write, you trigger insights about your own teaching and can later compare your notes with peers.
Reflective teaching is part of the ongoing development of a good, effective teacher. The more we reflect, the more we learn about our teaching, our faults and our gifts and ourselves. Only then are we able to improve, and there is always space for improvement.
Below are a few questions you can ask yourself after a certain class:
- What worked well and why?
- What didn’t work well and why?
- What would/could I have done differently?
- Did learners acted as expected or not?
- What were my initial goals of the class?
- Were my initial goals accomplished?
- Did the students perceive their learning?
- Were they motivated?
- Did I stick to my class plan or did I have to rearrange it during the class? Why?
Once we have gone through this process, we are ready to prepare our next class.
“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” – William Arthur Ward
