Pedagogical Counselors’ Self-exploration of Writing Feedback on Preservice Teachers’ Teaching Journals

Abstract

The study examines types of feedback pedagogical counselors write in response to preservice teachers’ reflective writing in Teaching Journals during their practicum. The study also examines variables that can affect written feedback on reflective writing: year in the college, preservice teachers’ levels, changes in feedback over time and personal differences among counselors. 689 comments written by five counselors from 74 Teaching Journal entries were explored. The results showed eight feedback types, in which asking for clarifications and leading preservice teachers to infer from pupils’ responses, were the most frequent. Differences of feedback types written to student teachers was affected by year in the college, by levels of the student teachers and by the context of the practicum. The discussion will focus on the eight feedback types and the linguistic aspect of the feedback.