Recently there has been a resurgence of interest in the concept of reflection by teacher educators and in the facilitation of its development in preservice teachers. Much of the literature on reflection (Dewey, 1933;Polanyi, 1958;Van Manen, 1977;Schon 1987;Zeichner 1987) has been concerned with the skills and attitudes needed to develop reflective action. This literature has been influential in teacher education, leading to the investigation of teaching approaches that enhance the development of these skills and attitudes in preservice teachers. Through the implementation and evaluation of the use of student teacher journals across three Australian university campuses, the authors have found that reflective writing is one means by which student teachers acquire these skills. In our experience, active personal engagement in their own thinking and understanding empowers students to make meaningful connections among ideas and concepts in their professional education. There is a need for Australian teacher educators to share their experiences and the strategies they use to facilitate reflection. We need to provide research findings based on investigating how particular tactics are used since there is little to be found in the Australian literature covering these issues. This article is intended as one of the many that are needed to change this situation. It is a description of three different tertiary-institutions' experiences with journal writing in their preserviceteacher-education courses.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract