Reflecting Teachers Beliefs About Their Classroom Practices

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One way for teachers to ensure that they meet their teaching and learning goals and continue to grow professionally is to practice reflective teaching.

Reflective thinking in teaching is associated with the work of Dewey (1933. 1938), who suggested that reflection begins with a dilemma. Effective teachers suspend making conclusions about a dilemma in order to gather information, study the problem, gain new knowledge and come to a sound decision. In the 1970s, Lortie (1975) described how failing to reflect on teaching decisions leads to teaching by limitation rather than intentionality. Other researchers (Clift, Houston and Pugach. 1990; Hargreaves and Fullan. 1992) have reinforced how important it is for teachers to examine their own beliefs about their classroom practices.

Reflecting on our own practices is important because it allows us to assess what we are doing well, identify areas where we need improvement or guidance to ensure that we are performing to the best we can and meeting, even exceeding all standards and expectations. As humans, we naturally reflect on our surroundings and experiences. When we reflect, we step back and think of the present situation, relate it to the past and construct meaning and knowledge that directs action in practice. …show more content…

The specific events in the past to where we reflected serve as a foundation of a deeper and unconscious competence in reflection. To deal with the present, we do relate our analysis and actions either with the conscientious good or with our experiences. It is a deliberate process of trying, sometimes failing, trying again, becoming confident until it eventually becomes an unconscious process. When we persistently reflect, this process becomes instinct but not an end itself as it continually evolves and progress with the new learning that comes on our

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