Advantages Of Reflective Teaching

Reflective teaching - a development of future action from the reflection of past and current behavior

Introduction

In the past ten years, the terms `reflection ' and `critical reflection ' have increasingly appeared in descriptions of approaches to teacher education. The concept of reflective practice has found wide application in the field of education, for learners, teachers and those who teach teachers. Reflection is the key to successful learning for teachers and for learners. The origins of the “reflective teaching” concept are explored. It is suggested that the term has been interpreted and defined in numerous ways, with contrasting implications for the design of teacher education programs. It is argued that the concept requires

• it is a practice that expresses our power to reconstitute social life through participation in communication, decision making in social action.

Advantages of Reflective Teaching

• Reflective teaching provides instructors an opportunity to look objectively at their actions before, during, and after instruction. It also allows instructors to take into account their emotions, experiences, and/or responses from their actions to improve their professional practice. The failure to reflect may result in a failure to improve (Paterson & Chapman, 2013).

• Reflective teaching enables teachers to analyze, discuss, evaluate and change their own practice, adopting an analytical approach towards teaching.

• Fosters teachers’ appreciation of the social and political contexts in which they work, helping teachers to recognize that teaching is socially and politically situated and that the teacher’s task involves an appreciation and analysis of that context;

• Enables teachers to appraise the moral and ethical issues implicit in classroom practices, including the critical examination of their own beliefs about good

Reflective Teaching Practice

Reflective teaching is a personal tool that teachers can use to observe and evaluate the way they behave in a classroom. When the teachers collect the information regarding what went in the classroom and take the time to analyze, it helps to create a self-awareness about their teaching.

Approaches to Critical Reflection

Peer Observation

Peer observation can provide opportunities for teachers to view each other’s teaching in order to expose them to different teaching styles and to provide opportunities for critical reflection on their own