In this study, we analyzed the co-reflection of pre-service teacher community in three years of post-class discussions (PCD) on the basis of cultural historical activity theory in the case of an biological laboratory class program. We figured out the sociocultural elements of co-reflection of community using activity system suggested by Engestrӧm. We also analyzed the aspect of reflection in terms of both 'the diversity of reflection subjects' and 'the practicality of reflection.' Finally, limitations of co-reflection were sought in a process of continuos circulation of reflection and practice. The results show that the sociocultural factors of 3-year-PCD changed, and in these changes, 'regular PCD,' 'introduction of tools for facilitating reflection,' 'transition of the subject in PCD from researcher to pre-service teachers' are remarkable. And in these process, co-reflection made positive progress since the content of reflection became diverse and practical. However, in some subjects such as 'managing time,' 'participation of students,' 'mentor's role (a kind of teaching manual),' reflective practice have not developed and similar patterns of discussion were repeated. From these results, we suggested ways of facilitating pre-service teacher community's co-reflection from the viewpoint of an activity system.
The purpose of this study was to analyze pre-service teachers' reflective discussion on their practical work-based teaching by focusing on the components of instruction and the connectivity of discussion. Eight afterclass discussions were recorded and transcribed, and finally analyzed in terms of theoretically driven categories such as aims, teacher knowledge and learner response which also respectively reflect the actual flow of planning, implementation and evaluation of the teaching practice. The result showed that in their discussion about students, conceptual understanding and scientific skill components were most emphasized, while teaching method and strategy were most frequently addressed in the discussion about teacher knowledge. But this also revealed problems in their discussions such as the lack of discussion about inquiry and student interest, difficulties in clarifying theoretical terms and the lack of discussion about instructional models and theories. Meanwhile, pre-service teachers' discussions were limited in terms of connectivity between the components of instruction, meaning that their discussion tended to deal with each component separately rather than occurred in connection with each other. Furthermore, when connections were made during the discussion, only few components of instruction appeared. Based on this result, the paper suggests the need to develop tools to facilitate effective reflection in ways that incorporate various components of instruction and enhance connectivity between the components and between the instructions.
This study examines the growth of an innovative pre-service science teachers' (PST) community over a period of three years in a voluntary and informal setting for teaching science to high school students. The objective of this study is to understand the traits and conditions necessary for the learning and development that occurred in the PST group. We describe the growth of the PST group with a focus on the group's endeavor to move from simple laboratory work to a more inquiry-based approach to science instruction. In doing so, we seek to articulate the growth of the group by focusing through the lens of cultural historical activity theory on how its meanings, tools, and priorities were constantly formulated and examined within the community.
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