Adoption of a reflective approach and reflective thinking

Adoption of a musing approach and wistful sentimentBasically, the basis of musing approach suggests that the assessment of instructor quality should be achieved through criticism (Vieira and Marques 2002).It is stigmatizeworthy in that locationfore, that many writers in the field of teacher pedagogy much(prenominal) as, (Loughram 1996 Richards 1995 Cruickshan and Applegate 1981 Dewy 1910) waste sought to define this word. A tally to Richards (19951) the concept of censure or critical reflection indicates to an activity or process in which an arrive is recalled, considered and pass judgmentd, usually in relation to broader purpose. It is a response to old start out and involves conscious recall and examination of the experience as a basis for evaluation and decision-making and as a root word for planning and action.It is defined also by Cruickshan and Applegate (1981553) as helping teacher to think approximately what happened, why it happened and what else they c ould have done to reach their goal. Furthermore, reflection is considered the deliberate and purposeful act of persuasion which centres on ways of responding to conundrum situations (Loughram 1996).Accordingly, it is far-famed that they agree that thoughtful teachers employ cognitive processes in battle array to solve the problems which susceptibility face them in their daily passe-partout person course session. On the opposite hand, the notion of brooding thought traced back to Dewey (1910) which refers to problem framing, identifying option solutions and choosing from options according to the outcome we want and the situation at hand (Dewey 1910 cited in Roberts 1998).The main reasons for the adoption of reflective approach and reflective intellection on that point are many reasons for the adoption of reflective approach and reflective thinking in teacher development programs which I think they are considered peremptory aspects. One of these aspects is that reflection approach provides a solution for teachers to shift from the routinised and ego-acting acts in their classroom situations and enables them to possess awareness around the physical bodys of decisions which they might have in their commandment and choosing the consequences of their instructional decisions. This sack up be achieved through reflecting on ones teaching as a step towards change in their teaching way (Richards 1995).Because, according to (ibid 1995) teachers who utilised reflective analysis in their knowledge teaching admitted that it is a valuable element for professional growth and self evaluation.Another positive aspect is that the adoption of reflective thinking in teacher education groundwork be considered a beneficial doer because, as Posner (1989) points out, when students teachers have the reflective thinking they leave behind have wise teaching ways instead of being tradition and have the freshman step to interpret new experiences derived from their fresh ideas as a result of reflective thinking. Further more, reflective thinking will enable teachers to possess a philosophical approach to teach coherently because, by developing this kind of thinking they have the ability to integrate various types of knowledge which could be received during their teacher development program.On the other hand, it is most-valuable to note that reflection which is the basic component in reflection approach and reflective thinking has many advantages which can not be handle. One of these advantages is that we can achieve the personalised growth through reflection, because it makes us free from integrity views of situations which might hinder our thinking in defining problems and finding solutions. Moreover, problems which might face teachers can be reframed in different ways by reflection. Thus, providing a wide range of possible ideas then, helping teachers to have a wide range of possible solutions (Dewey 1910 cited in Roberts 1998). Additio nally, when teachers use reflection they will have the ability to think about educational aspects of their work and a raise awareness of important ethical and moral questions (Van Manen 1977). However, it is worth noted to mention the importance of critical reflection as Richards (1998) indicates that it enables teacher to have comprehension knowledge about themselves as teachers as a result, they can be prepared well to have a decision about their own teaching. This view can be supported by Dewey in 1904 when he pointed out preparing teachers to be critically reflective about their practice may be moreimportant in long depot than focussing on mastery of the techniques and skills (Dewey 1904 cited in Richards 1998152).On the other hand, reflective teachers characterise by positive features according to the finding of a longitudinal study conducted by Korthagen and Wubbels (1995) regarded to teacher education program in Utrecht. These features allow in First, reflective teacher hav e the ability to structure situations and problems. Second, they can evaluate their experience by using questioning approach for example, asking questions such as, why and how this happened in their own teaching. Third, they possess strong feeling of personal security and self efficacy and able to analyze and describe experience and interaction perfectly. Fourth, they are independent learners because they have clear understanding about what they need to learn.Hence, from what discussed above, we can see that reflective approach and reflective thinking play an important role which can not be ignored in teacher development programs.The underlying principles of reflective approachSince reflection is considered an important element in reflective approach, writers such as (Dewey 1910, 1933 Schn 1983 Wallace 1991) gave a great deal of discussion based on it. I am going to analyse the principles of reflective approach based on their discussions as followsThe principles based on Deweys acc ountAccording to Dewey (19101933) reflective thinking is the basis of deliberative thought. In his perspective disciplined deliberative thinking is seen as a basis for citizenship and personal progress (Roberts 1998). Moreover, in companionship to reflect effectively, teachers should develop particular skills, for instance, observation and reasoning and should possess about sort of qualities such as, responsibility, open minded and wholeheartedness ( Griffiths2000). But, it is noted that there is a shortcoming with this account in that his idea of teaching as routine action is unjustified because as Furlong and Maynard (199545) considered it is an over-simplification and does not capture the multi-facetedness ,unpredictability and abridge complexity of teaching (Furlong and Maynard1995 cited in Griffiths2000).The principles based on Schns accountWallaces reflective modelThe principles of reflective approach in Wallaces reflective model fierceness that there are two important ty pes of knowledge which should be include in teacher education courses comprised First, received knowledge and second, experiential knowledge. The first refers to all concepts, skills and theories that trainees received through their academic study or from other sources such as, reading books. The second refers to the knowledge based on trainees past experience in their teaching practice (Wallace 1991). Wallaces model, however, is separated into three legs as followsThe pr- training stage.The professional education/development stage.The professional competence stage.It is exhibit in figure (4.1) below.To put it more simple, in the first stage there is believe that teachers trainees who engaged in professional education do not come with blank minds. In other words, they have already the idea of good and bad teacher that is to say, what Wallace refers to trainees existing conceptual schemata or mental constructs (Wallace 491991). In the second stage, the professional development is a chieved by theory and practice that is what he refers to as a cyclical process. In other words, the received knowledge and the experiential knowledge are incorporated together. To illustrate, once students teachers engaged into classroom environment, they have the ability to discover a real framework of teaching and have awareness of the differences of classroom situations. Accordingly, their action will be recalled during their teaching practice. For example, they will ask questions such as, how could some experienced teachers tackle with those situations and how they themselves can deal with them. Thus, they can evaluate their professional performance by reflecting upon their classroom activities. As a result, the positive and minus sides of their teaching strategy will be discovered. Hence, they will be professional educators and have the professional competence which is the aim of the third stage (ibid).Although, Wallaces reflective model can be applied in both pre-service an d in-service education, so far from the principles drew above. It is noted that there are some limit points, because there is an important question should be asked here, is the experience shared among teachers because it seems to be private. Another limitation lies in participants school culture might not encourage reflection.