Equipping the Reflective Practitioner in initial training: student and mentor

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Equipping the Reflective Practitioner in initial
training student and mentor

• Penny Forsyth, Allen Thurston, Carole Thomson,
  Lindsay MacDougall and Mhairi McFarlane

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2. Three Studies

• Study 1
• The Development of Student Teachers Interaction
  Skills through Video Interaction Guidance.
  Forsyth 2005
• Study 2
• Using Video Interaction Guidance to assist
  student teachers and teacher educators
  reflections on their interactions with learners
  and bring about change in practice. Thomson,
  MacDougall, McFarlane Bryson. 2005
• Study 3
• Video Enhanced Reflective Practice. Forsyth
  Thurston 2005

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3. The Use of Video

• Self Modelling
• Positive Self Review Mentor (PSR Mentor)
• Positive Self Review (PSR)
• Feedforward

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4. Student Mentor relationship

• Developing
• Co-operation
• A Shared Understanding
• Reflection
• Responsibility for learning

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5. Co-operation

• Coping with the social contingency of the
  classroom and student mentor process
• Social contingency means that the most rigorous
  plans can be derailed in the first five minutes
  of a lesson.
• (IAnson Cope 2003)

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5b. Co-operation

• Students and mentors over-estimate their
  communication skills (lack of awareness)
• VIG students
• Rate their skill development higher
• Are seen to be more skilled by peers and VIG
  supervisor
• Rate their ability to maintain intersubjectivity
  less highly

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6. The Slippery Nature of
Co-operation 1

• Initially both video feedback students compared
  favourably with the SET Profile
• Maintaining a positive cycle of initiatives and
  response for over 95 of the time
• The majority of the turns were Pupil Focused
• A positive focus on pupil opinions is necessary
  but not sufficient

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7. The Slippery Nature of
Co-operation 2

• Intersubjectivity is not achieved without
  reciprocity and attunement
• Lively, Interested Mood with use of Humour
• Supportive and Positive Controlling Affect
• Soliciting and Accommodating Engagement
• Adequate level of activating messages e.g.
  general questions, metacognitive questions,
  positive directives

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8. The Slippery Nature of
Co-operation 3

• Intersubjectivity provides the anti-slip mat
• Intersubjectivity motivation for a
  communicative exchange and shared understanding -
  the basis for scaffolding
• Scaffolding helps sustain intersubjectivity
  (provides a sense of journey)

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Intersubjectivity gains in
importance ?

• Unique contribution to our understanding of the
  social construction of learning that can be
  overlooked
• with the emphasis on a positive pupil focus and
  scaffolding
• without an awareness of the micro elements that
  constitute intersubjectivity

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10. Student and Teacher Educator
Intersubjectivity Number of Turns

• The balance of turns between the researchers
  and the students varied
• from equal turns
• ratio of 21
• Some students given feedback by researcher TE3
  had a slightly larger number of turns ( see Table
  3)

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11. Balance of Talk

• The balance of talk between the researcher and
  the student varied for each individual student,
  with researchers dominating the amount of talk in
  most cases
• A simple word count showed that the
  student/researcher word count ratio varied from
  21 to 17
• Four out of six students being given feedback by
  researcher labelled TE3, are seen to talk for
  more of the time than the researcher.

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12. A Shared Understanding

• Potential to accelerate and deepen
• Study 1
• Video Feedback students
• Had developed their skills further
• More agreement with the Supervisor when observing
  peer skills

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13. A Shared Understanding Supervisor and
Student Initiatives and Responses

• Study 3

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14. A Shared UnderstandingStudent and
Supervisor Mood
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15. A Shared Understanding Focus of
the Turns
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16. A Shared Understanding Supervisor and
Student Initiatives and Responses

• Study 3

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17. Students Reflections

• Students reflected on
• their feelings
• their practice
• what the children were doing
• their areas of strength
• their areas for development

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18. Feelings about VIG

• I felt it would be a good chance to be able
  to look back at how I taught the lesson and see
  how or what I could change or improve on.
• (BEd1 student)
• Im a bit concerned that I would perform
  terribly and this might affect my self-perception
  as a teacher.
• (BEd2 student)

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19. Feelings about VIG

• Anything that I can use to improve my
  practice can only be good. Will be able to use
  experience as evidence of continuing professional
  development. Gives me opportunity to build
  confidence by focusing on positive aspects of my
  practice.
• (BEd3 student)

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20. Reflection on Practice

• More student responses, during the feedback
  sessions, were observed in the reflecting on
  practice category than in any other area of
  reflection.
• They reflected on all parts of the contact
  principles to some degree with most students
  reflecting more on the non verbal responses than
  the verbal responses.

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21. Student Reflection on Practice

• Student 2 (B.Ed 4), reflected on her guidance
  of children in relation to their learning. She
  explained that she knew about childrens
  experiences and therefore based her lesson
  sequencing on this.

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22. Reflections on the Mentoring Process

• Initially I found it difficult to compliment
  myself, but hearing compliments and seeing them
  in action boosted my confidence and my
  self-esteem.
• (B.Ed 4 student)

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23.Reflections on the Mentoring Process

• There was some anxiety about being video taped
  but there was also excitement and interest in the
  outcomes.
• In reality the students found being video
  taped and watching themselves on video was not as
  difficult as they had imagined.
• They felt that seeing themselves on video
  helped to boost their confidence in their own
  practice.

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24. Conclusions Students

• Students are able to
• reflect on their practice when seeing themselves
  on video
• reflect on non verbal and verbal aspects of their
  practice when using the hierarchy of the contact
  principles as a framework
• suggest areas for development of their practice
  using the contact principles

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25. Reflection

• Ghaye Ghayes reflection hierarchy
• Surface learning
• descriptive reflection i.e. a retrospective
  tellers account which describes events (what,
  when, where, with whom)
• perceptive reflection i.e. a retrospective
  account where the teller makes demonstrable links
  between their description of practice and their
  personal feelings about it.
• Deep learning
• receptive reflection i.e. beginning to make
  links between their experience and constructions
  of reality and that of others. They are open to
  and receptive to alternative perspectives and are
  prepared to assess critically what they claim to
  know. New insights open up with new possibilities
  for action.
• interactive reflection i.e. exploring what can be
  done with what has been learned and fitting it to
  future practice.
• critical reflection i.e. considering complex
  issues of power and politics, exploring how the
  quality of ones individual practice is
  influenced, constrained or liberated by the
  structures and systems within which it is
  located.

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25a Reflection

• ..it highlighted areas we sometimes take for
  granted and made me more aware of my own self
  image and how I project this.

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25b Reflection

• Video feedback was so valuable I have learnt so
  much from it. I was anxious at first about being
  videoed but I have such a sense of achievement
  now.

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26. Reflection
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27. Reflection
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28. Responsibility for learning

• Less likely to defer to the opinions of others
• Evidence of ownership of the solution (central
  route processing)

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29. Responsibility for learning
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30. Conclusions

• The three studies suggest
• Increases student confidence in their
  communication skills.
• The process itself demands a deep level of
  reflection
• VIG training enhances the teacher educators
  ability to facilitate student reflection

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31. Conclusions

• Single studies suggest
• Heightens awareness of the importance of
  intersubjectivity and its anti-slip properties
  regarding co-operation.
• Other contextual factors can easily form a part
  of the students reflections on interaction
• Develops a greater shared understanding between
  student and mentor

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32. Conclusions

• Single studies suggest
• Learning in one context generalises to other
  contexts
• Students over time become more proactive in the
  feedback process or co-construction of learning
• Students have more ownership of their working
  points (solutions)

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33. Conclusions

• Single studies suggest
• The student is more skilled at interaction