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Inspiring Meaningful Reflection in Preservice Teachers —Susan King

Preservice teacher observes elementary student

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Background

Helping students become more reflective
Encouraging teacher education students (preservice teachers) to engage in meaningful reflection helps them better assess and improve their pedagogy. I have observed that preservice teachers are slow to understand and value reflection, which I believe is an essential element in the art of teaching. HSES 320: Methods of Teaching Physical Education is required for health and physical education majors and is designed to develop effective teaching skills (managerial, instructional, and interpersonal). I wanted to emphasize the importance of reflection in this course. Therefore, in Fall 2003 I asked students to share their thoughts in writing about their teaching following feedback from peers and myself. For the most part, responses were disappointing. In Fall 2004 and Spring 2005, I attempted to determine whether a visual record of teaching performance would inspire more self-reflection than peer-generated feedback.

After reviewing student reflections based upon peer-generated feedback versus a visual record, it appeared that students who used the visual record were slightly more reflective. The peer-generated feedback was in the form of a checklist of teaching behaviors. The checklist served as an inventory of teaching skills which seemed to prompt their reflections. But students who reflected on a visual record of their teaching received no such checklist. They reflected without the benefit of prompts, yet their reflections were longer and exhibited more depth. I hypothesized that when given both the visual record and checklist, students would have the tools to be even more reflective. Therefore, in Spring 2006 I compared reflections based upon visual record versus peer-generated feedback when students received a checklist under both conditions.

| Implementation

Implementation

Two pilots and a reflective study
In the first pilot study (Fall 2004), I assigned reflective exercises after four of six peer-teaching labs. The nine students enrolled were asked to respond to two open-ended questions. For the first lab, half of the class received peer-generated feedback in the form of a checklist or coding sheet, completed by a classmate, providing data on which to make reflections. The other half received only a visual record of their performance in the form of a DVD. The type of feedback they received was switched in the second lab, and by the end of the semester they had received equal amounts of both feedback types. Procedures for the second pilot study (Spring 2005) were similar in the first two labs. In labs three and four, no peer observers were assigned and each student used the checklist and coding sheet to analyze their own teaching. In addition, I conducted a discussion of each student’s performance immediately following their teaching episode.

In the current study (Spring 2006), all students received the checklist or coding sheet after teaching. For the peer-generated feedback group, the sheet was completed by a classmate who also provided verbal comments on their teaching. The visual record group received a blank checklist/coding sheet that they were free to use to analyze their teaching as they viewed the DVD. After all students had completed their teaching episodes, I provided general comments to the class without directing feedback to any particular student.

| Student Performance

Student performance

Visual record leads to deeper reflections
The data from Pilots 1 and 2 indicate that students were more reflective if they used a visual record rather than peer-generated feedback. Reflections based upon visual record were longer in length and included more specific references to the teachers’ movements and verbal statements. In the current reflective study, 56% of the combined advanced and intermediate reflections were based upon visual record. Peer- generated feedback produced 73% of the novice reflections. Eleven out of 12 students reported that the visual record inspired them to reflect more deeply because 1) video allowed self-examination, 2) video feedback was clearer than a verbal description of their performance, 3) they could view their performance repeatedly, 4) video allowed them to conduct a more rigorous self-assessment, and 5) video allowed them to see what their students see.

| Reflections

Reflections

Extending the results
As a result of this project, I will continue to provide visual records of the students’ teaching performance. I will also provide them with peer observers because it benefits both the teacher and the observer. Holding my comments until the end of each lab helped to keep the pace of the lab brisk. It also helped to keep all the students engaged in the discussion instead of tuning out while I critiqued individual students.

In the future, I may write more structured reflective prompts to provide guidance as the students respond. This will necessitate the development of a new reflection rubric so that data can be collected on the development of reflective skills. I hope to infuse a reflective component in all of our field experiences and encourage the teacher education faculty to emphasize reflection in their courses.

| Summary

Project Summary

As students reflect, they connect theory with practice. This is one of the primary goals of a teacher preparation program.

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