A Reflective Approach to the Methods Practicum

Ferguson, Patrick

doi:10.1177/002248718904000207

Cited by 32 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…Such descriptions of how novices reflect and what they think about after the lesson is over are often fodder for charges that beginning teachers are unable to reflect on their own practice and that of other teachers (Ross, 1989;Simmons, Sparks, Starko, Pasch, Colton, & Grinberg, 1989;Ferguson, 1989;Zeichner & Liston, 1985). However, this may be due to methodological problems; that is, the instruments used to collect data on reflection may measure nothing more than verbal facility (Kagan, 1990).…”

Section: Postactive Teaching Tasksmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Is Competent Beginning Teaching? A Review of the Literature

Reynolds¹

1992

Review of Educational Research

268

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What does it mean to be a competent beginning teacher? This review melds findings from the literature on effective teaching with those of learning to teach in order to answer this question. It begins with a discussion of problems encountered in interpreting these bodies of research. Next, differences between beginning and experienced teachers are discussed in three broad domains of teaching tasks: preactive, interactive, andpostactive. In the conclusion, recommendations are offered regarding what should be measured in performance-based assessments for teacher licensure.Sound assessments for teacher licensure are grounded in the wisdom of practicing professionals and research on teaching. It is with the research on teaching literature that this review is concerned. The crux of my argument is simply this: To build valid teacher assessments for teacher licensure, we must determine what beginning teachers should know and be able to do. A first step is to examine the similarities and differences between two bodies of research: teacher effects and learning to teach. Having done so, we are in a better position to formulate a definition of the competent beginning teacher. Such a definition can then act as a guide for the development of meaningful assessments. After discussing some of the problems encountered in interpreting research on teaching, I present a synthesis of findings from research on teacher effectiveness and on learning to teach. The final section of the article offers recommendations for what to expect of beginning teachers and suggestions for future research.

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Section: Postactive Teaching Tasksmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Is Competent Beginning Teaching? A Review of the Literature

Reynolds¹

1992

Review of Educational Research

268

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“…Furthermore, the degree of reflection exhibited in these papers did not increase as the semester progressed and students received more practice and feedback. Ferguson (1989) examined student learning in a secondary social studies methods course at the University of Alabama, based on logs and lesson plans written to document students' associated practicum experiences. Again, relatively few students demonstrated the desired degree of reflectivity, though many were critical of their master teachers for not engaging in frequent reflection about goals of the social studies program.…”

Section: Related Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preservice Teachers' Conceptions of Content and Pedagogy: Measuring Growth in Reflective, Pedagogical Decision-Making

Morine‐Dershimer¹

1989

Journal of Teacher Education

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uch interest has centered J~ ~N recently on reflective teaching and the role of reflec-m v tion in teacher preparation programs. Note for example the special issue of the Journal of T'eacher Education (1989) that focused on the theme, &dquo;Critical Reflection in Teacher Education : Practices and Problems. &dquo; Conceptions of what constitutes reflective practice vary, and research that examines reflective teaching is limited. Despite these problems, a number of teacher educators are attempting to encourage prospective teachers to become reflective practitioners. This study focuses on a generic methods course taken by secondary student teachers at Syracuse University. The course is taken just prior to student teaching and is designed to promote reflective teaching, as well as provide practice in instructional decision making. The study examines novice teachers' changes in thinking about both content and pedagogy associated with experiences in a series of reflective peer teaching sessions; tests the value of pre and postconcept mapping as a measure of change in pedagogical decision making ; and compares the growth of graduate and undergraduate novices as revealed by that measure. Related ResearchThree recent studies have attempted to evaluate teacher education courses or program components that aimed to encourage critical reflection, and they provide a background for the research reported here. In each case the evaluator or researcher was also the instructor or coordinator of the course or program component, and the instructional experience focused on relating theory to practice. Definitions of reflection varied somewhat, as did procedures for measuring change in reflectivity. In each case, researchers noted the difficulty of accomplishing their goals of encouraging reflective practice.Zeichner and Liston ( 1987) reported on a set of studies examining elementary student teaching at the University of Wisconsin, Madison to determine what changes occurred in student teachers' perspectives of teaching. These studies indicated that students entered the program with specific beliefs about the role of the teacher, and left the program holding essentially the same beliefs. The authors noted student teachers' attitudes that time spent on inquiry and reflection detracted from more important tasks of demonstrating pedagogical knowledge and skills. Ross (1989) described an introductory education course at the University of Florida focused on helping prospective teachers learn to use research findings appropriately. During the semester, students read and discussed research, wrote several papers relating specific research to teaching practices they observed or recalled, and received feedback from the instructor on these papers. To evaluate development of reflective thinking, Ross analyzed the theory-to-practice papers and noted that less than one-fourth demonstrated the desired level of reflection. Furthermore, the degree of reflection exhibited in these papers did not increase as the semester progressed and students received ...

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“…Teacher quality, which includes teacher certification status, degree in field, and participation in high-quality professional development, all have a significant impact on student outcomes [1]; [2]; [4]. Improving the quality of teaching in the classroom has the greatest impact on those students identified as most educationally at risk.…”

Section: Highly Qualified Teachersmentioning

confidence: 99%