Reflective Diary
Data were drawn from journal writing based on the experiences of teaching starter activities in class to evaluate pupil’s behaviour and learning. The reflective diary style was based on Gibbs’ (1988) reflective cycle. This diary format encourages practitioners to reflect on 6 key stages of reflection of the lesson in order to encourage deeper analysis; Description; Feelings; Evaluation; Analysis; Conclusion; and Action Plan. Reid (1993, p.3) defines reflection as a “process of evaluating an experience of practice in order to describe, analyse, assess” which ultimately informs future practice. Scanlon et al. (2002: 137) states that keeping reflective diaries encourages practitioners to self-reflect on information gained
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Any change in their behaviour was recorded at the opening of the lesson, during the starter activity and then throughout the lesson in relation to classroom and behaviour management. According to Kawulich (2005) observation allows for the investigation of the people under study in their natural setting to be observed. Writing a diary allows for critical reflection, to make sense of the incident and draw conclusions from an educational setting (Tang, 2000). Gibbs model provided a framework to critically engage with the enquiry, making a connection between observations, experiences and emotions. Reflective diary was selected for many reasons and which Salisbury (1994) points out; purpose of personal development, to record experiences, to support planning and progress in research. Writing a diary encourages practitioners to focus on a focal point, a means to organise views and to comprehend information gained from the experience (McClure, 2005). The data derived from reflective diary was then analysed thematically. This involved reading through each journal twice and highlighting key words and themes within the text. Initial ideas and explanations were noted down in the margins from which the themes were stemmed. According to Boyatzis (1998), the themes generated need to capture the