Teaching practice has evolved for decades and centuries, and the changes that occurred were associated with the cultural shifts that have taken place. The way teachers provide their service has differed depending on the goals and values established in a country. I am a supporter of the current focus on reflective teaching practice as it helps me be a better educator. I am a teacher of French, and I have encountered diverse challenges other teachers in all other disciplines face, as well as issues unique to my specialty. During classes, I encourage my students to communicate in a foreign language, which is twice as hard as attaining academic goals in students’ native language. Reflective practice has become an effective pathway for me, as I identify issues, develop a plan, implement it, and evaluate its effectiveness under diverse circumstances.
Pedagogical Content Knowledge
Reflective teaching practice has been seen as one of the most potent tools to build pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) that is necessary for the provision of high-quality educational services. Concerning the definition, PCK can be understood as a blend of subject-specific knowledge/skills and the teacher’s ability to place special knowledge in the context of pedagogical principles and learners’ age-specific characteristics and needs (Williams et al., 2012). In contrast to generic pedagogy, PCK incorporates discipline-specific pedagogy and enables the teacher to assess instructional strategies’ applicability to specific content areas, thus promoting effective instructional decision-making. Teachers acquire PCK “over time and with experience,” and it is “topic specific, unique to each teacher, and essentially gained through teaching practice” (Williams et al., 2012, p. 328). Clearly, the development of PCK is a life-long process, so practitioners teach and learn continuously.
I am constantly enriching my PCK, but I already have a bulk of knowledge and skill I am using in practice to achieve my teaching goals. I am fluent in French and have good expertise in French literature. I have good knowledge of morphology, syntax, grammar, and other aspects of the language, as well as the history of French and diverse linguistic theories instrumental in understanding the peculiarities of the language. My students benefit from my deep knowledge in this PCK component as they receive all the necessary information regarding the peculiarities of the foreign language and can build the necessary skills.
At the same time, I could find it difficult to transmit my knowledge without knowing the basics of teaching. I have a deep knowledge of teaching theories and models that guide my teaching practice. I choose from a range of modes and approaches when addressing particular goals depending on the peculiarities of students and situations. For instance, I know that I should present materials in diverse ways to address the needs of students with different learning styles. I also use my understanding of developmental psychology to make sure I can help my students grasp the provided information. My knowledge of reflective practice models is instrumental in improving my skills and becoming a more effective educator. My application of PCK has had a considerable positive impact on my students’ academic performance. The learner-centered approach I use helps each student to perceive the materials I provide effectively. My careful choice of instruction and assessment techniques facilitates students’ learning, and they can realize their potential to the fullest.
Reflective Practice
Educators have been divided into two major groups associated with vocational academic pedagogy (Guile et al., n. d.). Academic pedagogy is mainly related to research, exploration, and analysis, theory and model development, while vocational pedagogy is linked to teaching students. In the former case, researchers examine diverse issues and offer evidence-based solutions that are further used by practitioners. In the latter case, educators teach their students and employ the models, theories, and practices developed by researchers. Reflective teaching has gained momentum as it ensures the provision of high-quality educational services based on profound research and personal experience (Maxted, 2015). Reflection has become an indispensable part of teaching, promoting educators’ self-development and contribution to the advancement of the field through including reflective practice into teaching standards (“Professional standards for teachers and trainers,” n.d.). In the context of language teaching, reflective practice’s general importance involves the teacher’s ability to derive meaningful teaching strategy improvement takeaways from students’ performance and reactions to the selected instructional methods. Reflective practice fosters the timely identification of vocabulary, grammar, or articulatory phonetics teaching strategies that do not bring meaningful knowledge improvements, thus promoting excellence in method selection.
Critical Incidents in Teaching Practice
As defined by Cunningham (2012), critical incidents are events in an educator’s professional life that have a particular significance for one or more reasons. Such events may cause disturbances of equilibrium, may occur in the form of ethical (or other) dilemmas, may result in lasting changes in behaviors or values, may cause deep reflection on the associated details or similar cases. Critical incidents often make people enter or leave the profession, and they are by all means contributing to the development of PCK. Specifically, unplanned classroom events shed light on instructional methods’ pitfalls or the need for accommodations. For instance, aside from behavioral issues, students’ disruptive behaviors might signify the implemented language learning methods’ suitability for linguistically gifted students with exceptional memory capacity rather than general audiences. The following are the models that were employed to reflect on two incidents.
Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle
This section seeks to establish the general description of Kolb’s experiential learning cycle or a reflective practice model widely used by practitioners to assess and improve their practice. The researcher introduced the model in 1984, but it is still relevant these days, as it includes the central components of cognition (Appleyard & Appleyard, 2015). The model is deeply rooted in the analysis of experiences and encompasses four major stages, including concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. I utilize this model when reflecting on my practice, and it enables me to remain focused. I prefer this paradigm when dealing with a specific challenge or issue that needs to be solved. For instance, when I try to develop a strategy for a struggling student or choose the most appropriate behavioral pattern to build proper relationships with students.
My reflective journey starts with a particular (concrete) experience that disrupts or offers opportunities to my practice. Reflective observation is the next stage of my reflection when I observe the situation, trying to identify all meaningful factors influencing my teaching and my students’ learning (Appleyard & Appleyard, 2015). Having a journal is an important tool that ensures attention to all details. Abstract conceptualization is associated with the development of some models, ideas, and concepts that are instrumental in understanding the situation, its causes and potential effects (Bishop & Blake, 2007). Finally, based on the developed concepts, different solutions and modes are used to address the situation, which is referred to as the stage of active participation. The most successful solutions become patterns used in specific situations.
Brookfield’s Lenses
This portion of the paper will offer generic content pertaining to Brookfield’s Lenses and anatomize the model’s pillars and the four central concepts. The model developed in the 1990s aims at helping professionals to reflect and critically think about certain events and concepts through four lenses: autobiographical, the student’s eye, colleagues’ experiences, and theoretical literature (Wilson et al., 2020). The model offers a comprehensive view of teaching practice and instruments to reflect and develop solutions and novel approaches. The autobiographical lens implies the analysis of situations and events by looking deeper into the teacher’s own experiences, values, attitudes, and assumptions. The teacher should also go beyond the personal domain and pay attention to the student’s experiences in order to ensure that teaching tactics chosen in each case are effective. Every teacher should make sure that every student’s needs and capacities are well-understood and teaching strategies are built on this data.
Although these two lenses are basic and rather conventional areas for reflection, a good teacher should move further and reflect on colleagues’ experiences as well. This lens is instrumental in bringing more meaning to the reflective analysis and expanding the scope of considered topics (Appleyard & Appleyard, 2015). Teachers should share their knowledge and experiences to constantly self-develop and advance teaching practice. Finally, the fourth lens serves as a certain wrap-up for the three areas mentioned above as it provides the theoretical background for reflection. The theoretical literature lens encompasses the review of existing literature, as well as writing and publishing works on various issues. I frequently use Brookfield’s lenses to reflect on my experiences and develop strategies and instruments to help my students succeed academically. I pay attention to the four areas and use the instruments offered by Brookfield when reflecting on each lens.
The Analysis of Critical Incidence 1
One of the critical incidences to be considered was associated with the inappropriate behavior of the student I will refer to as Kevin (see Appendix A for the brief description of the case). I applied on of my preferred reflective practice models, Brookfield’s lens. My first choice was autobiographical lens as I wanted to understand what my own knowledge and experiences could offer to address the situation. The student’s eye lens could also be applied as I could discuss the issue with the class (without touching the exact problem but focusing on certain aspects such as respect, collaboration, understanding) and the student. For example, colleagues’ experiences lens could also be applied as it entails the discussion of the issue with other practitioners, including school administration (Wilson et al., 2020). I chose this model as it proved its effectiveness in many other cases, although I had to admit that I had doubts that this instrument could be effective with instances of aggressive behavior.
Of course, my pedagogical content knowledge was instrumental in guiding my reflection. I had managed to engage many students before Kevin’s situation. I had learned about various theories and strategies to enhance motivation and student performance. I believed that the student’s behavior was mainly caused by his disengagement. I also tried to find the answers in my past experiences as a student. I had a classmate who could display quite abusive behaviors, so my reflections on the past experiences helped me understand Kevin’s reasons for inappropriate behavior.
The use of Brookfield’s lens led to considerable improvement in my relationships with the student and his behavior. The choice of specific strategies proved to be effective as I concentrated on Kevin’s needs. My past experience helped me choose the right words when discussing Kevin’s behavior with him, and my stories contributed to the development of trusting relationships. Kevin associated himself with me and seemed glad to have a person who could support him in school. His interest in my subject was rather intrinsic, but only the use of learner-centered techniques helped me express his interest and be courageous enough to manifest it.
In order to address the problem and improve the overall atmosphere in the class, I needed a good plan. Kevin’s abusive behaviors (both verbal and physical) were the core concrete experiences in that case. Reflective observation included the focus on Kevin’s conduct immediately before the abusive act, the types of activities implemented, and other students’ behaviors. Abstract conceptualization was deeply rooted in my assumptions regarding the student’s engagement. I believed that I needed to choose the right activities to keep Kevin busy and collaborative. I tried several options, one of which was rap, French rap, to be more precise. We devoted some time to listening and even writing rap in French. Those were group tasks, so Kevin collaborated with other students. Hence, my active experimentation with the strategies and concepts I developed helped me address the issue.
The Analysis of Critical Incidence 2
Another incidence to reflect on took place at the John Roan School (see Appendix A for the brief description of the case). I applied Kolb’s experiential learning cycle to address this case. I started reflecting on all meaningful concrete situations (concrete experiences) when I failed to achieve my teaching goals with John. I wrote down the instances when he refused to answer my direct questions and was disengaged. During the second stage of reflection, based on Kolb’s model, the educator must look at aspects and events that have not been noticed or reflected upon previously (Appleyard & Appleyard, 2015). My reflective observation involved the analysis of John’s behavior, other students’ conduct, and my own responses to the situation. I tried to recollect exact phrases or actions of other students that could trigger John’s increased alienation.
Abstract conceptualization and active experimentation were quite challenging stages for me to apply in that situation. First, it seemed rather easy to address the problem as I only had to use the strategies related to building rapport. I first concentrated on personal experience linked to changing places and being new to a community. Although these attempts had a limited positive effect, the effort did not suffice. I had to go through the circle another time and managed to find the key component for my strategy. It turned out to be the subject as with the help of the French language, I managed to motivate John and make him more engaged during classes and more socially active beyond French classes. John had a strong interest in studying French and French literature, and he excelled when he started completing tasks and participating in discussions. His achievements in French also helped the student to build proper relationships with his peers and even make friends.
Similar to critical incident 1, the use of the two models became the basis for a plan that I could employ in specific situations. The strategies I developed based on the analysis of particular events were used with the student, as well as other students who displayed similar behaviors. Although reflection and analysis took a considerable portion of time, this effort was instrumental in helping my students to achieve their academic goals.
Action Research
In addition to reflective teaching, action research can be employed as a tool to improve teaching strategies and the overall quality of educational services. Action research and reflective practice are often seen as two terms to define one concept, which is the advancement of teaching practice through analysis (Bolton, 2014). Of course, these two approaches share many features in common and pursue the same goal, to promote teaching practice. In both cases, transformation and improvement are core principles guiding teachers in their analysis. However, action research and reflective practice are different modes that can help educators to self-develop.
As mentioned above, reflective practice implies a reflection on experiences and often leads to the development of some techniques and strategies that can be applied in certain situations. Action research tends to entail reflection, but it is associated with the use of rigorous research methodology, clear goals, and particular steps to implement change. Action research consists of such stages as plan, act, observe, and reflect (Bolton, 2014). These phases are closely related to the ones undertaken in reflective teaching. An important distinction is that reflection in action research serves as the evaluation of a specific plan of action and the basis for improvement of this particular plan. In reflective practice, well-thought plans are not necessary as educators may reflect and observe, as well as try some new strategies and ways to address a situation. I often use action research in my practice as it ensures quick and effective development of solutions to particular issues.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is possible to note my existing pedagogical content knowledge helps me in solving multiple issues I encounter in my practice on a daily basis. I understand that it is not sufficient to know your subject well, but I, as an educator, must know the most effective channels to transmit my knowledge. Reflective practice is one of the platforms for ensuring successful transmission. Although I used multiple theories, approaches, and models in my practice, Brookfield’s lens and Kolb’s experiential learning cycle often help me achieve the set goals. Therefore, I chose these two models to reflect upon, which helped me see the advantages and peculiarities of the use of these tools.
These frameworks guide the teacher as they contain a set of specific steps that can be applied in a range of situations. These models are effective as they bring out teachers’ PCK and draw parallels between current and past experiences, new knowledge, and something learned before. Reflective practice is an important component of teaching practice since it helps teachers to find answers to complex questions that cannot be simply located in a manual. Reflection helps teachers find the most appropriate solutions in every unique situation based on knowledge, experiences, and values that are part of human life.
References
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