Collaborative toolkit creation to support reflective practice in teacher education

Abstract

Reflection in practice and on practice is a vital aspect of teacher education, especially in enabling student teachers to link theory and practice. However, student teachers’ perceptions of what reflection is, and how to reflect on their teaching, varies. Additionally, student teachers may often view reflective practice as a course requirement rather than a supportive tool to enable development of practice. This project aimed to support student teachers to develop confidence when reflecting on their practice by identifying features of effective reflection and considering approaches that they could adopt. This was achieved by developing a stronger understanding of the theoretical models that can support reflective practice and understanding the challenges experienced by student teachers. The participatory study involved eight student teachers and four teacher educators, with existing reflective models reviewed and trialled. Prior to an initial workshop, student teachers approached their reflective practice in a variety of ways. Some needed to write their reflections, whilst others felt that oral reflection and professional discussion supported them more effectively. Student teachers felt supported when they had a staged model to scaffold this process and were drawn towards reflective models with such structure. Drawing on their experiences a toolkit has been co-created that offers student teachers an evidence-informed framework to assist with confident and effective reflective practice. Indicative findings show that reflecting on practice is a very personal choice. During the co-creation of the toolkit, the student teachers drew on features they had evaluated to be the most effective from existing models whilst allowing for personal tailoring of bespoke models. More than 200 student teachers on a blended teacher education programme will be introduced to the co-created toolkit and encouraged to use it to support confident and effective reflective practice.