Exploring the Potential of Facebook Group Discussion Platform for Trainee Teachers’ Reflective Practice

Abstract

The teacher training institution is an important place in supplying content and pedagogical training to teacher trainees. However, applying this knowledge in a natural setting is another challenge faced by the trainee teachers. Thus, there is a need to empower the capability of trainee teachers to refine their teaching skills independently. One of the ways to develop and cultivate this need is by improving how reflective practice is conducted during their teacher practice. The issue of improving the quality of reflective practice has been addressed especially through variety of mediums, such as the use of paper-based method and electronic-based method, and such as the use of blog sites, online forums and chat sites, and more recently social networking sites, like Facebook. However, the use of social networking websites, such as Facebook, have received little attention, even though a handful of studies have reported on its many benefits for reflective practice. Therefore, this conceptual paper is written to provide a review of past studies that explored the potential of using Facebook Group discussion platform for trainee teachers as a tool for reflective practice.

Exploring TESL Trainee Teachers' Reflective Practice Experiences through the Use of Facebook Group Discussion

“…The sense of interactivity and information sharing in Facebook captivated and motivated trainee teachers to do better during their practicum session thus created a competitive yet healthy learning environment. Using Facebook Group in an educational setting serves trainee teachers who were undergoing practicum session to create solidarity among them [22]. It provides virtual support for the trainee teachers to go through teaching practicum each day.…”

“…They tend to replicate the ideas of each other in using the features of Facebook in elevating the reflection content to be more illustrative and interesting. Other than that, it can provide a source of information, ideas and inspiration among the trainee teachers during practicum session [22]. Furthermore, the features in Facebook do provide a systematic and structured organization of notifications.…”

“…Reference [22] discovered that social media could be used to promote collaboration in exchanging academic activities and developing social networks throughout the world. This notion was also aligned with the findings of this research.…”

“…Facebook is a good site to communicate an easy and quick manner which led to an improvement on students' engagement in the class. In the case of this research, the rapport between trainee teachers and supervisor was encouraged and cultivated [22].…”

“…More research should be conducted and explored to gather better understanding this subject matter in diverse perspectives [22]. Based on the responses from the trainee teacher, they are much more motivated to use Instagram, which is more popular and appealing.…”