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BECOMING A REFLECTIVE TE ACHER
Jennifer York-Barr and her colleagues (2006) created the reflective practice spiral as a way to “embed reflective practices as a cultural norm in schools” (p. 19). They argue that reflective practice begins with individuals and spreads to larger communities of practice. They describe a number of activities for the following: • Individual reflection—Journaling, case studies, literature review, portfolio development, and video or audio review of one’s own teaching
• Reflection in a small group or team—Action research, study groups, grade- or contentspecific meetings to design and review instructional designs and assessments, examining student work, examining student data, and reviewing case studies • Schoolwide reflection—Study groups focusing on specific content areas, instructional strategies, or assessment techniques Max van Manen (1977) proposed three levels of reflection: (1) technical rationality, (2) practical action, and (3) critical reflection. Technical rationality is the lowest level and is typical of new teachers whose background knowledge about teaching is limited. It involves figuring out how to make it through a lesson or deal with glaring classroom management issues. At this stage, teachers encounter many problems for the first time. At the second level, practical action, teachers reflect on the context of their classrooms and examine their underlying theories and beliefs about teaching. A question typical at this stage is, “Why did I do that?” Here, teachers develop “rules of thumb” that will help them handle different types of situations. During the last stage, critical reflection, teachers look at ethical issues related to education in general. Reflection at this level “involves a constant critique of domination, of institutions, and of repressive forms of authority” (van Manen, 1977, p. 227). At this stage, teachers might reflect on why their curriculum focuses on certain topics or events more than others and how that focus affects students’ learning and beliefs. Gillie Bolton (2010) developed a five-stage process to guide teachers as they engage in reflective writing. The five stages are as follows: 1. The six-minute write—Here, the reflector writes without stopping for at least six minutes. The goal is twofold: (1) to clear one’s head of clutter and (2) to encourage writing to flow. It does not matter what is written down. It can take any form (lists, poetry, prose) and be on any topic. This writing does not need to be reread or shown to anyone else. 2. The story—Immediately following the six-minute write, and without rereading what was written during that time, the reflector selects an event and writes down its story. Bolton emphasized writing about the first event that comes to mind and recording as many details as possible about it. She also recommended that the reflector consider the story fictional while writing it, to counter embarrassment or fear of getting details wrong. 3. Reading and responding—The reflector goes back and reads everything she has written. While reading, the reflector makes corrections, fills in details, and makes any other changes that she feels are appropriate. The reflector also tries to be aware of her thoughts as she rereads.
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• Reflection with a partner—Interactive journaling, cognitive coaching, considering different possibilities for instructional design, using an inquiry cycle to examine specific events, reading and discussing articles and case studies, and examining student work