Teacher Candidates Develop the Disposition of Reflective Thinking Through Practice

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Teacher Candidates Develop the Disposition of
Reflective Thinking Through Practice

• ACEI Annual International Conference Exhibition
• April 14-17, 2004

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Presented by

• Kathy Conway
• Southeast Missouri State University
• http//cstl-coe.semo.edu/Conway/presentations/
• Cindy Gordinier
• Southeast Missouri State University
• Deborah A. Moberly
• University of Memphis

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Reflective Thinking..

• The kind of thinking that consists in turning a
  subject over in the mind and giving it serious
  and consecutive consideration
• John Dewey (1933). How we think A restatement
  of the relation of reflective thinking to the
  educative process. Boston DC Heath.

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Using Reflection

• On-Action (analyzing past event)
• In-Action
• Schon, D. A. (1983). The Reflective
  Practitioner How professionals think in action.
  New York Basic Books

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MoSTEP Performance StandardsQuality Indicators

• The Discipline
• Learning and Development
• Individualization
• Curriculum Development
• Instructional Strategies

• Motivation and Management
• Communication Skills
• Assessment
• Professional Development
• Partnerships
• Technology

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Development and Documentation

• Knowledge
• Skills
• Dispositions

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Dispositions

• A disposition is a tendency to exhibit
  frequently, consciously, and voluntarily a
  pattern of behavior that is directed to a broad
  goal.
• Katz, Lilian G. (1993). Dispositions as
  Educational Goals. ERIC Digest EDO-PS-93-10.

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Teacher Candidate Reflection Skill to
Disposition
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Stages

• Focuses on self, is superficial, has
  misinterpretation
• Describes experience Beginning perceptions of
  others
• Initial analysis
• Identifies problems, corrects misinterpretation
  and questions behavior
• Changes practice, connects ideas
• Revises practice, applies criteria, has global
  perspective

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Stage One

• Focused on self
• Describes experience
• Interpretation is superficial
• May include misinterpretation

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Stage One Examples

• TC 1. Students were participating and reading
  along in their textbooks or I read.
• TC 2. One thing I believe I did well was
  introducing tornadoes. This was the first lesson
  for the tornado unit, and so I really wanted to
  get the students excited and pumped about the
  week. I decided to really grab their attention
  by showing them a clip from the movie Twister.
• TC 3. I was very prepared. Over the weekend I
  made the suitcases complete and with handles
  and nametagsAlso, I did a good job adjusting my
  lesson to fit a special occasion.
• TC 4. My transitions were smooth between the
  changes in aspects that we discussed. We
  reviewed terms, sang a song, that went along with
  a book focused on the day before, talked about
  how slaves used symbols to travel along the day
  before, talked about how slaves used symbols to
  travel along the Underground Railroad, and
  introduced the term abolitionist.

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Stage Two

• Less focus on self
• Some perception of cooperating teachers views
• Some perception of students views
• Describes experience objectively with elaboration
• Sees instructional strategies to model/avoid

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Stage Two - Examples

• TC 2. Some of the students had never seen a
  tornado before, and it is hard to connect to
  something when you havent experienced it. I
  thought by showing the video clip the students
  could see a tornado and the kind of damage it can
  do, They would be experiencing the tornado in a
  way and will be able to visualize how a tornado
  looks, moves, etc. when we have discussions in
  class.
• The students were very active and excited when
  we reviewed the terminology we already learned up
  this point in the unit. Hands went in the air
  almost immediately after I asked the question.
• TC 5. The students were argumentative at first
  in their groups but ended up doing fairly well
  working together to come up with a compromised
  list of items. I was proud of them for voicing
  their own opinions and coming to group
  conclusions.

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Stage Three

• Begins to see through others eyes (university
  supervisor, cooperating teacher, students)
• Sees cooperating teacher and university
  supervisor as resources
• Initial analysis (emotion may be the
  impetus/drive of the analysis)
• Begins to see ways to grow

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Stage Three - Examples

• TC 2. The notebooks worked out great! We
  spent a few minutes decorating them and then we
  read chapter 1 out of our book. After reading
  chapter 1 I asked the students what they thought
  was important and what we should write down in
  our notebook.
• Karen the classroom teacher and I decided the
  best way to get the tornado tubes ready is to
  have us do it. Karen was afraid there would be
  too much playing around in the bathroom and
  with the water.

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Stage Four

• Analyzes situation (emotion becomes secondary)
• Identifies problems
• Corrects misconceptions
• Questions own behavior
• Sees ways to improve

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Stage Four - Examples

• TC 2 One thing I did not do well during this
  lesson was keeping up with our notes taking. I
  had planned that after each chapter we would
  wrote write down at least four things that we
  wouldnt have time to do our activity, and so I
  cut out the not note taking so we would have
  time to read both chapters. I wanted the
  students to get practice taking notes. I should
  have had them continue to take notes rather than
  cut that out of the lesson.
• TC 6. I think if I was going to teach this
  lesson again then I would put paper on the tables
  so they didnt get painted by the tractors. I
  think I would also have them help me make rules
  about what they could and couldnt do with the
  tractors.
• TC 3. My original lesson plan was too short
  for time allowed. The Spanish numbers went over
  smoothly, especially with the book I read earlier
  in the day. However, I am really glad I had the
  Spanish clothing ready as a back up activity.
  This was fun for the students and helped fill in
  the spare time.

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Stage Five

• Examines complexity of the situation
• Connects ideas
• Intellectualizes the situation (reasoning,
  considering ramifications)
• Seeks new and better ways

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Stage Five - Examples

• TC 2. One thing I did not do well during this
  lesson was checking the video very closely before
  I had the students watch it, While I was making
  sure that the video was in the right place to
  start, I heard the s word a couple times being
  said. I was so glad I doubled-checked the video
  because I dont think the kind of language would
  have been right for the classroom. I also
  realized the movie is rated PG-13. I should have
  showed a movie that was rated G for the students
  to see. Although we only watched about 10
  minutes of the movie, some parents might have not
  wanted their children to watch PG-13 movies
  without their permission.
• The students were to predict what would happen
  if they moved their tubes in different ways.
  They were to answer would it still create a
  tornado? It was a great way to get the students
  thinking and using their minds to think of
  different ways to move th bottles It was also a
  way to get the students involved in the lesson.
  They were telling each other how they found
  different ways to create the vortex, and then the
  other students would try their way and it turned
  out to be a great cooperative learning activity.
• TC 3. Next time I teach this lesson, I will
  remember to point out that there are some
  discrepancies among the poster and activity page
  Spanish color names. This would avoid confusion.
  To help clarify this I may also compare this to
  a box of crayons. (Crayola has several names for
  basically the same color.

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Stage Six

• Thinks about clearly defined criteria
• Applies criteria to practice and change
• Solicits comments/resources from others
• Uses information from others
• Identifies interrelationship of ideas (global
  picture, holistic perception)
• Reflects on change
• Plans and/or revises practice

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Stage Six - Examples

• TC 2 . One thing I would keep the same is the
  word Notebook. I believe that the student really
  gain information when they do this activity.
  When they draw a picture for the meaning of a
  word the picture really sticks with them. I
  also think having the students draw a picture
  shows if they comprehend the word and understand
  its meaning.
• TC 6. If I could change this lesson I would
  change the sentence I had them write. I do think
  that this sentence is too long and complex for
  them. I think that if I had them do this
  activity I would change the sentence to something
  shorter for them to read. If the sentence was
  more on their level then they would be able to
  read and understand what they were reading to me
  and to the class.
• TC 3. The crossword puzzle was a little
  difficult for the students to do, so I allowed
  them to work with people around them. They did a
  really good job about not just copying off of
  each other As I was walking around they were
  actually talking about the handout and figuring
  out the answers together.

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Teacher Candidate Reflection Skill to
Disposition
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Program at Southeast

• Observation of cooperating teacher
• Writing prompts for observation
• College classroom discussion/scaffolding
• Teach in the k-6 classroom
• Writing prompts for teaching
• College classroom discussion/scaffolding

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Reflection as a Disposition
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Stage One Example Revisited

• TC 3. I was very prepared. Over the weekend I
  made the suitcases complete and with handles
  and nametagsAlso, I did a good job adjusting my
  lesson to fit a special occasion.

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Stage One Example Revisited

• TC 4. My transitions were smooth between the
  changes in aspects that we discussed. We
  reviewed terms, sang a song, that went along with
  a book focused on the day before, talked about
  how slaves used symbols to travel along the day
  before, talked about how slaves used symbols to
  travel along the Underground Railroad, and
  introduced the term abolitionist.

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Recommendations for future research

• Is there a transfer of this reflective process
  during student teaching that results in the
  development of reflection as a true disposition?
• Do beginning teachers continue their development
  of reflective practice?
• How can self assessment be used by teacher
  candidates to help them act upon their
  reflections?
• Is there a relationship between teacher
  candidates affective development and their
  ability to be reflective?
• end