Developing reflective practice in student teachers: collaboration and critical partnerships

An Action Research on Developing Prospective Teachers’ Inquiry Skills

“…Finally, the student teachers' collaborative dialogues with their peers and instructor supported their growth in inquiry. In line with this finding, Parsons and Stephenson (2005) highlight the importance of collaboration. Assisted learning is critical to scaffold learning (Woolfolk et al, 2008).…”

“…A number of studies in teacher education revealed the value of social interaction and collaboration (Parsons & Stephenson, 2005), the impact of teachers' feedback on pre-service teachers' readiness for teaching (Samaras & Gismondi, 1998), the power of collaboration with peers for teacher development (Warford, 2010), the importance of collaborative teacher education programs (Pugach & Blanton, 2009), teacher growth in a community of learners (Kaartinen, 2009). …”

Student teachers’ perceptions of feedback as an aid to reflection for developing effective practice in the classroom

“…The 'messiness' of the classroom situation, compared to the theoretical 'high ground' means that formulaic approaches to reflection cannot be considered effective; 'in the swampy lowland, messy, confusing problems defy technical solution' (Schön, 1987:3). While some may consider it fairly straightforward to identify if a lesson was successful or not, the recognition of causes and consequences for next steps may demand a more focused approach (Parsons and Stephenson, 2005).…”

Using Simulated Parent-Teacher Talks to Assess and Improve Prospective Teachers’ Counseling Competence

“…Consequently, the outlined simulation approach might serve as an inspiration for the design of future teacher education programs on parent or student counseling. In this context, the video recording of the simulated counseling talks could be used for the subsequent joint analysis of participants' counseling behavior, in order to provide prospective teachers the opportunity to conduct detailed self-evaluations and reflect on multiple aspects of their professional performance, which is considered to be a key element in the context of integrating theoretical knowledge and practical skills (Ericsson, Krampe, & Tesch-Römer, 1993;Parsons & Stephenson, 2005). Particularly in research on teacher education, the importance of reflection following active learning for the long-term development of practical competences is consistently highlighted (Admiraal et al, 2011;Watts & Lawson, 2009).…”