Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc.

(TESOL)
A Framework for Teacher Reflectivity
Author(s): Claire Stanley
Source: TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 32, No. 3, Research and Practice in English Language Teacher
Education (Autumn, 1998), pp. 584-591
Published by: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL)
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3588129
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Parliament of the
Republic
of South Africa.
(1995,
March
15).
White
paper
on education
and
training
(Notice 196).
Cape
Town,
South Africa:
Department
of Education.
Phillipson,
R.
(1992).
Linguistic imperialism.
Oxford: Oxford
University
Press.
Samoff,
J. (1997).
Frameworks! South
African
education and
training policy
documents:
1994-1996.
Paper prepared
for the Macro Education
Policy
Unit of the
University
of
Durban-Westville,
South Africa.
The South African
qualifications authority
act
(Act
No.
58). (1995,
October
4).
Government Gazette.
Suransky,
C.
(1998).
"A
liberating
breeze
of
Western civilisation"?: A
political history of
fundamentalpedagogics
as an
expression of Dutch/Afrikaaner relationships. Unpublished
doctoral dissertation,
University
of
Durban-Westville,
South Africa.
A Framework
for
Teacher
Reflectivity
CLAIRE STANLEY
School
for
International
Training
*
AlthoughJohn Dewey
first outlined his
understanding
of the notion of
reflection in
1933,
not until the
past
15
years
or so have the
concept
and
practice
of reflective
teaching gained
credence and
undergone
wide-
spread
discussion in Western education
systems.
More teachers and
teacher educators are
understanding
the issues of
teaching through
the
lens of reflection.
Indeed,
a
comprehensive study
identified seven
major
universities in the U.S. that teach reflection as a cornerstone of their
teacher education
programs
(Valli, 1992),
and authors from
Australia,
Europe,
and New Zealand
report
teacher education
programs
in their
countries that are
aiming
to
develop
teachers as reflective
practitioners
(Hatton
&
Smith, 1995;
Korthagen,
1985;
Smyth,
1989; Wallace, 1996).
The discussions about
reflectivity
in teacher education have focused on
the definitions of
reflection,
the
processes
of
reflection, and,
most
recently,
the
investigation
of evidence of reflection.
Dewey's
definition of reflection is "that which involves
active,
persis-
tent,
and careful consideration of
any
belief or
practice
in
light
of the
reasons that
support
it and the further
consequences
to which it leads"
(Zeichner
&
Liston, 1996,
p.
9).
Reflection involves
emotions,
passions,
and intuitions
(Greene, 1986)
as well as
logical thinking processes.
Attitudes of
open-mindedness, responsibility,
and wholeheartedness that
require
teachers to examine
multiple perspectives
of their own and
others' beliefs and
practices
are essential to reflective action
(Dewey,
1910/1933).
Central to the discussion of when and how reflection takes
place
and
what
processes
are used in reflective
teaching
has been Schon's
(1983,
1987)
framework of reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action. He
Parliament of the
Republic
of South Africa.
(1995,
March
15).
White
paper
on education
and
training
(Notice 196).
Cape
Town,
South Africa:
Department
of Education.
Phillipson,
R.
(1992).
Linguistic imperialism.
Oxford: Oxford
University
Press.
Samoff,
J. (1997).
Frameworks! South
African
education and
training policy
documents:
1994-1996.
Paper prepared
for the Macro Education
Policy
Unit of the
University
of
Durban-Westville,
South Africa.
The South African
qualifications authority
act
(Act
No.
58). (1995,
October
4).
Government Gazette.
Suransky,
C.
(1998).
"A
liberating
breeze
of
Western civilisation"?: A
political history of
fundamentalpedagogics
as an
expression of Dutch/Afrikaaner relationships. Unpublished
doctoral dissertation,
University
of
Durban-Westville,
South Africa.
A Framework
for
Teacher
Reflectivity
CLAIRE STANLEY
School
for
International
Training
*
AlthoughJohn Dewey
first outlined his
understanding
of the notion of
reflection in
1933,
not until the
past
15
years
or so have the
concept
and
practice
of reflective
teaching gained
credence and
undergone
wide-
spread
discussion in Western education
systems.
More teachers and
teacher educators are
understanding
the issues of
teaching through
the
lens of reflection.
Indeed,
a
comprehensive study
identified seven
major
universities in the U.S. that teach reflection as a cornerstone of their
teacher education
programs
(Valli, 1992),
and authors from
Australia,
Europe,
and New Zealand
report
teacher education
programs
in their
countries that are
aiming
to
develop
teachers as reflective
practitioners
(Hatton
&
Smith, 1995;
Korthagen,
1985;
Smyth,
1989; Wallace, 1996).
The discussions about
reflectivity
in teacher education have focused on
the definitions of
reflection,
the
processes
of
reflection, and,
most
recently,
the
investigation
of evidence of reflection.
Dewey's
definition of reflection is "that which involves
active,
persis-
tent,
and careful consideration of
any
belief or
practice
in
light
of the
reasons that
support
it and the further
consequences
to which it leads"
(Zeichner
&
Liston, 1996,
p.
9).
Reflection involves
emotions,
passions,
and intuitions
(Greene, 1986)
as well as
logical thinking processes.
Attitudes of
open-mindedness, responsibility,
and wholeheartedness that
require
teachers to examine
multiple perspectives
of their own and
others' beliefs and
practices
are essential to reflective action
(Dewey,
1910/1933).
Central to the discussion of when and how reflection takes
place
and
what
processes
are used in reflective
teaching
has been Schon's
(1983,
1987)
framework of reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action. He
TESOL
QUARTERLY
TESOL
QUARTERLY
584 584
describes what reflective
practitioners
do when
they
look at their work in
the moment or in
retrospect
in order to examine the reasons and beliefs
underlying
their actions and
generate
alternative actions for the future.
Such reflective
thinking
and examination either
during
or after the fact
can lead to
greater
awareness on classroom teachers'
part
in relation to
their
knowledge-in-action,
or the
theories, ideas,
metaphors,
and
images
they
use as criteria for decision
making
in their
teaching practice.
Some
teacher educators
(e.g.,
Duckworth, 1987; Perrone, 1989)
have
placed
their faith in the belief that considerable
practice
with reflection-on-
action will lead to a
greater capacity
for reflection-in-action or reflective
classroom
teaching, whereby
a teacher's in-the-moment decision
making
and
practice
will be
increasingly
aware and informed.
Given the above definitions and
processes
of
reflection,
researchers
have
sought
to find evidence of reflection in teachers'
thought
and
speech (Rodgers,
1993; Wallace, 1996).
Hatton and Smith
(1995)
used
reflective
writing
texts as data from which to extract evidence of
reflection-on- and -in-action. The results of their
study
describe techni-
cal,
descriptive, dialogic,
critical,
and contextual
qualities
of reflection as
found in the teachers'
writing.
A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF TEACHER REFLECTION
The framework I
propose
is based on
my
research
(Stanley,
1995;
in
press)
into the
development
of six
experienced
teachers who were
attempting
to
implement
reflection and reflective action into their
teaching practice. They
were
teaching
L2s in the U.S. and overseas in
public
and
private
schools as well as in
refugee
and
immigrant programs.
Data sources included
in-depth
interviews,
transcripts
of
supervisory
dialogues
from the
teaching practicum,
and
excerpts
from
reports,
reflectivejournals,
and
correspondence.
The
findings
of the research led
to the
emergence
of a
conceptual
framework that outlines the
process
of
the
development
of a reflective
teaching practice
and is
grounded
in the
direct
experience
of classroom teachers.
Phases in the
Development
of a Reflective
Teaching
Practice
The
process
of
developing
of a reflective
teaching practice
can be
represented
as a series of
phases:
(a)
engaging
with
reflection, (b)
thinking reflectively,
(c)
using
reflection, (d)
sustaining
reflection,
and
(e)
practicing
reflection. The
phases
do not
represent
a
sequence
that is
followed but rather moments in time and
particular experiences
that
constitute a
particular phase.
At certain
points
in
time,
given personal
and contextual
circumstances,
teachers
may
find themselves in
any
of the
phases.
CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS
585
Engaging with
reflection. Deciding
to
engage
with
Dewey's
"active,
persist-
ent,
and careful consideration of
any
belief or
practice"
in one's
teaching
is not as
simple
as it
may
seem. The amount of
energy
and commitment
needed to
put
one's
teaching
to
scrutiny,
let alone the time and
space
needed to do
so,
can be
daunting.
Personal,
professional,
and contextual
factors
may
limit and even inhibit a teacher's
ability
to
engage
with
reflection.
Personal issues of self-esteem
may trigger responses
of
guilt, pain,
and
self-doubt when teachers examine their
teaching.
Childhood
experi-
ences,
adult
traumas,
and even cultural
conditioning may
be
strongly
embedded in a teacher's
psyche
and create a fear of
looking
too
closely
at oneself and one's work. If the
experience
of reflection is too
painful,
a teacher
may consciously
or
unconsciously
resist
learning
to reflect. It
takes a
healthy degree
of
ego development
to
put
oneself and one's work
under the
microscope.
Therefore,
some teachers
may
not become
reflective for reasons that are
beyond
the
scope
of the field of teacher
education. To
date,
this
reality
seems to have been
ignored
in the
literature on reflection.
Similarly, professional
and contextual factors can influence a teacher's
capacity
to
engage
with reflection. If a teacher needs to work
many
hours
a week to
barely
make a
living,
there
may
be little time left for reflective
thinking
or
writing.
The contexts in which teachers work
may
not be
reflective if
colleagues
are interested
only
in a
paycheck
and not in
professional growth
and
development.
Stable
professional
and contex-
tual factors seem to be
prerequisites
to reflection
and, indeed,
influence
a teacher's
capacity
to
engage
with reflection.
When basic
personal, professional,
and contextual factors are stable
and teachers are curious about
learning
the
process
of
reflecting
on
their
teaching, they
can
engage
with reflection. This will
require
a
continuous commitment to the
process
and a mobilization of will that
may
need to be renewed on an
ongoing
basis.
Thinking reflectively. Learning
to think
reflectively
is a skill that some
teachers
may
have
acquired previously.
However,
many
teachers' initial
reaction to reflection is
simply
to think back on a classroom situation and
describe what
happened
and how
they
felt about it. The
following
excerpt,
which is taken from
my
research
(Stanley,
1995,
in
press),
is a
good example
of a teacher's
spontaneous
effort to think
reflectively:
I didn't feel nervous but somehow I didn't know where I was
heading.
And I
should have taken that sentence and written it on the blackboard and started
from there. But I don't know
why
I left it. I didn't take
advantage
of that
sentence. Instead I
kept
on
talking....
Well,
starting
from there
everything,
well I think it was a mess
although
I tried to sort of
organize things
later. But
again,
somehow I felt it was not
working.
TESOL
QUARTERLY 586
What had been written on the board?
Why
did she need to
go
back to it?
How did it connect to the rest of the lesson? What data did she observe
in order to come to the conclusion that "it was a mess"? Where are the
students and their reactions? How does this lesson fit within a
larger
whole or
syllabus?
What
possible
alternative actions could she have taken
in the lesson? What will she do the next time she teaches this
particular
lesson or this
group
of students? These
questions
and
many
others would
help
this teacher
develop
the skill of
thinking reflectively.
Using reflection.
When teachers have understood what reflection is and
how to think
reflectively, they
can use it as a tool.
Just
as in
learning any
new
skill,
there is a
phase
of
experimentation
and
joy
in
seeing
how
many
different
shapes
reflection can take and
when, how,
and with whom it
can be done. Is it an
activity
best done alone and
through writing,
or is it
also beneficial to
shape
reflective
dialogues
with
colleagues,
friends,
and
supervisors?
Can it be done in the mind's
eye
in unconventional
settings,
such as
during
a
daily jogging
routine? How
many
books or articles or
people
is it useful to consult in
reframing
a situation or a
problem?
One of the teachers who
participated
in
my study (Stanley,
1995)
had
been
writing
a reflective
journal,
but in a conversation with her
supervi-
sor she
noted,
And it's
very important
to the
activity
we are
doing
now to talk about what
happened
because I was
writing
and I wrote
things
in
my
notebook last week
but somehow I tend to be too
polite
with
myself
or sometimes too rude with
myself.
But
talking
and
listening
to
you
and
listening
to
myself
is
very
important.
This teacher was
exploring
and
testing
the usefulness of her attitudes
toward herself when
critiquing
her work in a reflective
journal. By being
too
polite,
was she not wholehearted
enough
in her reflections?
By being
too
rude,
was she not
accepting
and
open-minded enough?
What inner
climates and outer
forms,
such as
journals,
conversations,
or cassette or
video
recordings,
serve teachers best at different
points
in their
develop-
ment as reflective
practitioners?
In the
phase
of
using
reflection,
teachers
begin
to sort out the forms and
feelings
of the
process
that are
most beneficial to their
practice.
Sustaining reflection.
In the midst of
using
and
experimenting
with
reflection,
teachers encounter difficulties that
they
need to overcome in
order to sustain their commitment to
developing
a reflective
teaching
practice.
One of the
greatest
difficulties is
usually
emotional reactions to
what is uncovered
through
the
investigation
of classroom
teaching.
In
going deeper
into reflection on one's
teaching,
it is not unusual to
begin
to find issues of
prejudice
or favoritism toward certain
students,
learning
CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS
587
styles,
or theories of
teaching
and
learning.
In
fact,
it is
precisely
to this
end that critical reflection must come.
However,
teachers can find it difficult to
accept
evidence in their
classroom
teaching
of
pedagogical
issues,
such as a
high percentage
of
teacher talk or lack of
clarity
in classroom
'procedures,
or of
political
issues,
such as
gender
bias, racism,
and
power inequalities.
At this
point,
they may
want to retreat to a safe haven of distance and choose not to
reflect at this more
introspective
level for a while until
they
have sorted
out the emotions of
fear,
anger,
or shame
triggered by
these discoveries.
Teachers
may,
however,
be able to sustain reflection at a more
externally
oriented level at this time
through readings, workshops,
or
dialogues
with other teachers or
professionals.
The most
important aspect
of this
phase
is to maintain contact with
reflection in forms that are workable without
abandoning
a commitment
to the
development
of a reflective
teaching practice
and to a
continuing
investigation
of the difficult
findings. By sustaining
reflection in
ways
that
are feasible when difficult emotions and
insights
arise,
teachers maintain
the link to a reflective
teaching practice.
With
time,
new
input,
and a
sense of
distance,
it is
usually
easier to look at the
findings
with
greater
understanding
and
clarity
and with some
compassion
toward oneself and
one's students.
Practicing reflection.
With time and
practice,
as in the
development
of
any
skill,
reflection becomes an
integral part
of
practice.
Contextual
factors,
such as
having
at least one other
person
with whom reflective conversa-
tions are
possible
or
having
time for reflective
writing
on a
weekly
if not
daily
basis,
are
important
for further
development
of a reflective teach-
ing practice. Although
this was not true at the time of the
study,
recent
graduate
students in the MAT
program
at the School for International
Training
have established reflective
learning
communities on the
Internet,
which are evidence of the creative
practice
of reflection.
After
experimenting
with the use of reflection for some
time,
teachers
often
develop
frameworks and
procedures
for
continuing
reflective
thinking
that leads to reflective action in their classrooms. One such
framework is
examining
a class
through
the
multiple
lens of its
compo-
nents: the
teacher,
the
students,
and their
relationship;
the materials or
activities of the
lesson;
the
processes
that the students are asked to
use;
and the context of the school or
program
and the wider cultural
society.
Working
with this kind of
analytical
framework,
a teacher can
begin
to
see the
multiple
influences on
any
one lesson in a
way
that allows for
greater clarity
as to the source of
problems
in the classroom.
TESOL
QUARTERLY 588
Implications
for the Field of Teacher Education
By understanding
the
concept
of
phases
in the
development
of a
reflective
teaching practice,
a teacher educator
may
be more skilled in
responding
to
particular
teachers who are
trying
to
implement
reflection
and reflective action in their
teaching.
Teachers need to work on
different
aspects
of
reflection,
reflective
thinking,
and action
depending
on which
phase
of
development they
are in. Table 1 serves as a
point
of
reference for the
phases.
If a teacher is
struggling
to
engage
with
reflection,
it is
helpful
to
examine
personal
and contextual factors that could be detrimental to
reflection. Or if the teacher's reflective
thinking
is
mostly descriptive,
it is
useful to work with a
transcript
or
videotape
of a class in order to
examine all the data
present
in a
teaching
moment. This can lead to an
investigation
of the decisions made at the time and the values and beliefs
that
supported
those decisions.
When a teacher is
actually using
reflection with some
degree
of
ease,
the teacher educator can
inquire
into values and
assumptions
that drive
the teacher's
practice.
It
may
also be
possible
to uncover
pedagogical
or
political
issues that teachers cannot see on their own. It is
very
useful for
the teacher educator to know that
painful
emotions can be
triggered
as
a result of this
investigation.
Reflective conversations with a teacher
educator or other teachers in which there is a
great
deal of
listening
and
understanding
can be
particularly helpful
at this time. In
talking
with
other teachers about the
issue,
teachers
may
be able to see that
they
are
not the
only
ones
dealing
with this
issue,
that others can and do
encounter similar issues in their classrooms.
Clearly,
written accounts
from classroom-based research or the broader literature on the
specific
issue would also be useful at this time.
CONCLUSION
The
conceptual
framework of the
phases
and the
suggestions
for
responses
to teachers in the different
phases
of
developing
a reflective
teaching practice
can be of
particular
use to
university professors
teaching
courses on
reflection,
supervisors
of
teaching practica,
school-
based administrators and
supervisors,
and
practicing
teachers who are
using
reflection for
professional growth
and
development.
To
date,
no
other framework in the literature describes the
process
of
learning
how
to reflect and can then be used in
educating
teachers to reflect.
Just
as
conceptual
frameworks from the fields of
linguistics, language acquisi-
tion,
and intercultural communication have informed teachers and
teacher educators in their
work,
it is
hoped
that the framework
pre-
sented in this article will
begin
a conversation
among
teacher educators
CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS
589
TABLE 1
oCS~~~~~~~~ ~~~~Phases of Reflective
Teaching
Phase
Characteristic
Engaging
With
Reflection
Thinking
Reflectively
Using
Reflection
Contextual
Requires
interest,
factors
psychological
strength,
and
contextual
support
Approaches Partly
or
totally
lacks skill in
reflective
thinking
Struggles
to find time to
reflect
Is unclear as to what
reflective
thinking
is and
is
not;
engages
in
seemingly
random
reflective
thinking;
possibly
holds
positivist
view of education
Can make time for
consistent reflection-on-
action
Engages
in clear reflective
thinking
at
will;
is
mostly
engaged
with reflection-on-
action;
has
greater
awareness of moments of
reflection-in-action
Finds
ways
to
sustain reflection
from other
perspectives
Shows
greater
precision
of data
Has
systems
in
place
for
consistent reflection-on-action
Shows
precision
of data in
the moment or
later;
easily
engages
with both reflection-
on-action and reflection-in-
action
Can examine
larger
systemic
issues as well as
classroom realities
Initially
has
descriptive
thinking
and
feeling
responses
Responds creatively
and
appropriately
to situations
reflected
on;
can
generate
multiple
reasons for actions
Uncovers
problematic
pedagogical
or
political
issues
Experiences
painful
emotions
triggered
as a
result of
investigation
Engages
in reflection-on-
action that includes
analysis
of
pedagogical
and
political
dimensions of
teaching
Generates
multiple
reasons
and
responses
in the moment
and
later;
has
strategies
in
place
for
dealing
with
difficult
feelings;
uses
frameworks for
analysis
that
bring
broader
interpretations
After
reflection,
takes action
that involves both students
and broader educational
community
Sustaining
Reflection
Practicing
Reflection
Issues
Responses
H
tt
cr
0
H Actions
on the
development
of useful tools that will
guide
them in the education
of reflective
practitioners.
On a
practical
level,
by using
the framework of
the
phases,
teachers and teacher educators will be able to more accu-
rately
assess their
development
of a reflective
teaching practice
and then
respond
in more
precise ways
in order to sustain and internalize that
practice.
THE AUTHOR
Claire
Stanley
is Associate Professor at the School for International
Training
and is
the Chair of the
Department
of
Language
Teacher Education. She is
continuing
her
research in teacher
reflectivity through
an on-line reflective
teaching project
with
ESL and EFL teachers in the U.S. and overseas.
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CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS
591