Deepening our reflectivity

Mayes, Clifford

doi:10.1080/08878730109555270

Cited by 25 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 9 publications

(12 reference statements)

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“…A relevant part of educational literature portrays reflection as a wholly beneficial practice for practitioners (Gould & Taylor, 1996;Johns & Freshwater, 1998;Mayes, 2001;Smith, 1992) and also for researchers (Steier, 1995;Dahlberg, Drew, & Nyström, 2002). In the nursing field, in particular, reflection is largely practised and deeply examined (Benner, 1984).…”

Section: Perspectives On Reflectionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Learning thoughtful reflection in teacher education

Mortari

2012

Teachers and Teaching

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The notion of reflection has become an object of attention in education, but the research on this topic is often reduced to mere reflective practice. A relevant part of educational literature portrays reflection as a wholly beneficial practice for practitioners, but also for researchers. In the nursing field, in particular, reflection is largely practised and deeply examined. Reflection is specifically encouraged in teacher education, where 'how-to' manuals are widely used to explain strategies for turning teachers into reflective practitioners. In some cases, a specific kind of reflective approach is proposed, such as critical reflection. From the analysis of this technical literature, I observe that a wide range of approaches for fostering reflection have been applied, but little research evidence shows how effective these approaches are. Taking this problem into account, this article presents a research study on reflection. It first introduces a specific and unusual concept of reflection -that of phenomenological conception -and then goes on to develop an empirical investigation that enacts a phenomenological method of inquiry and is aimed at exploring the potential of the use of journal writing as a tool for enhancing reflection, and documents the data that emerged. The research was developed in a university context where the student teachers were asked to 'reflect on the life of the mind', in order to learn how to take a reflective stance. The student teachers wrote entries in a reflective journal in which they were requested to describe the lived experiences of the mind as they came to their reflective attention. The data emerging from the experience were made sense of through a qualitative method of analysis. The findings of the research are useful for designing an effective method for enhancing reflective practice.

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Section: Perspectives On Reflectionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Learning thoughtful reflection in teacher education

Mortari

2012

Teachers and Teaching

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“…However, work by Nord (1990) and Serow, Eaker, and Ciechalski (1992) indicate that, although spirituality can be a powerful motivating force for many people who choose teaching as a career, this aspect of teachers' lives is largely ignored in teacher preparation programs. Instead, too many teacher preparation programs opt for an interpretation of teaching that is prescriptive and technical in nature (Mayes, 2001b). This neglect of spirituality in teacher preparation programs is "existentially inauthentic" (Mayes, 2001a, p. 5) because it ignores a powerful motivating force for many teachers and closes off the development of the kind of teacher reflectivity that can lead to powerful learning for both teachers and students.…”

Section: Spirituality and Teacher Preparationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The goal of reflection is for the teacher to become more instructionally effective, more personally satisfied with what he or she does, and more sensitive to the social and political implications of teaching (Bullough & Gitlin, 1995). However, Mayes (2001aMayes ( /2001b suggests that current forms of critical teacher reflection are inadequate because the spiritual dimension is excluded. A reflectivity that excludes spirituality is incomplete because it does not take the teacher's personal spiritual commitments into account.…”

Section: Spirituality and Teacher Preparationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An African American spiritual perspective, on the other hand, reintroduces the whole person into the public arena "and legitimates the realm of spirituality as a genuine voice in the educational leadership discourse" (2002, p. 351). Dantley's rejection of positivism's hierarchical, linear, and compartmentalized approach to leadership is echoed elsewhere (Mayes, 2001b;Palmer, 2003;Tisdell, 2001).…”

Section: Spirituality and Leadershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Spiritual Dispositions of Emerging Teachers: A Preliminary Study

Boone¹,

Fite²,

Reardon³

2010

Journal of Thought

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“…It is widely claimed that critical reflection upon experience is a worthy process that enables teachers to understand and improve their practice (Grimmett et al, 1990;Liston & Zeichner, 1990;Shulman, 1992;Zeichner, 1994;Mayes, 2001). Ward and McCotter (2004) point out that 'the value of reflection to the development of teachers has a growing consensus among teacher educators' (p. 244).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Reflecting on reflection: a case study of one teacher's early-career professional learning

Attard

2006

Physical Education & Sport Pedagogy

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Background: It is widely claimed that critical reflection upon experience is a valuable process in which all teachers should engage in order to improve their professional practice. Assumptions are made about the benefits of reflection both for the teacher as person and professional; however, there is a lack of in-depth research on the reflective process conducted by teachers. Purpose: To illustrate and understand the process of critical reflection as it was experienced and used by one teacher to support his early career professional development. Participants and setting: A case study of one physical education teacher in a secondary school in Malta.Research design: The research takes the form of a self-study undertaken over a 30-month continuous period. The teacher-researcher was engaged in case-study research in which aspects of action research, self-study and writing as a research method were combined. Data collection: The teacher-researcher kept detailed reflective journals in which his experience of engaging in the process of professional learning through critical reflection was recorded meticulously. Data were collected at three levels: reflection upon personal practice, pupils' learning and 'official' professional development activities. Reading of the wider research literature was incorporated into the reflective process. Data analysis: Data analysis was ongoing throughout the research and a systematic grounded theory process was undertaken at the end of the 30-month data collection phase. Findings: The process of reflection is characterised as a 'reflective odyssey'. At the beginning of the process, it was difficult for this teacher to engage in reflection in a meaningful way; however, once the habit of reflection became established, it was impossible to stop reflecting. Reflection was, at times, an uncomfortable experience and it leaked into this teacher's personal life. Reflection was not foolproof nor did it automatically lead to changes in practice. Conclusions: Although it was neither easy nor straightforward, this teacher found engaging in the process of critical reflection to be a valuable experience because it gave him a powerful sense of control over his professional learning and his professional life. IntroductionThis article is about one teacher's early-career learning. It provides an unusual research perspective on professional development because detailed data were collected and analysed by one teacher-researcher focusing on himself as a teacherlearner during a three-year period of his early career. It has long been claimed that educational research lacks the kind of knowledge to be gained from practitioners researching their own practice (Little, 2002;Brouwer & Korthagen, 2005). This article, therefore, attempts to offer critical insight into the process of early-career teacher learning 'from the inside'. If successful, that is, if other teachers, professional developers and researchers are able to learn something of value from it, then it has achieved its purpose of being research of intense...

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Deepening our reflectivity

Cited by 25 publications

References 9 publications

Learning thoughtful reflection in teacher education

Learning thoughtful reflection in teacher education

The Spiritual Dispositions of Emerging Teachers: A Preliminary Study

Reflecting on reflection: a case study of one teacher's early-career professional learning

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