Summary
- Reflective teaching practice
- Reflective teaching examples
- Reflective teaching strategies
- Benefits of reflective teaching
A Detailed Guide About Reflective Teaching Practice
An unprepared teacher has taught nothing to the students. Ideally, a teacher spends hours planning a lesson. The plan may include getting or organizing supplies, reading additional material, and copying pages for assignments.
The hours of preparation help the teacher in delivering an effective lesson. However, without preparation, the lesson may turn ineffective and the students confused.
It must be noted that the teaching process is not limited to planning, preparing, and delivering information. Most experienced teachers reflect on their practice and its effectiveness.
In other words, post the lesson, the teacher reflects on if the method of teaching was good and effective, or how it can be still improved. They evaluate how the students received the information.
Reflective Teaching Practice
Reflective teaching practice can be used by teachers and learners alike. It is a method where a teacher is not just aware of what they are teaching but also of how and why they teach it.
Similarly, students using the reflective teaching method learn to analyze what they have learnt? If they have learnt it well? And what is its purpose?
Yes, a well-planned lesson can sometimes fall flat and a busy teacher may ignore a poorly received lesson and move on to the next lesson.
However, in time the difficulty of teaching the lesson will wither away and the teacher will naturally improve their method of teaching it.
The ineffectiveness of a well-prepared lesson cannot be predicted, but it can most definitely be remedied. The latter part is what a reflective teacher would take a particular interest in.
Post the lecture, they will lock back and reflect on their teaching and how the students reacted. They may observe that some part of the lesson may not have been misunderstood by the students.
This critical observation will come in handy for the teacher who can now alter the way the subject is taught or find a solution to it.
This is the difference between an experienced lecturer and a new teacher. The prior was once a newbie but eventually learnt to optimize his method of delivery.
The latter will also eventually learn how to optimize their method of teaching for effective results.
Reflective Teaching Examples
Teachers using the reflective teaching method observe and note their experiences subjectively. They ask how the class went.
Did the students like the learning environment? The teacher will also assess and compare themselves with a colleague who teaches a similar subject.
Fundamentally, the teacher has to reflect on themselves, observe and improve their practice. There are several ways to achieve this and here are 5 examples of a reflective teaching approach.
1. Keep a Journal
Keep a notebook at hand to jot down comments and observations while taking the lesson or later.
The notes would be observations like how well the assignments worked, the highlights of the lecture, errors that need to be rectified, things that worked, and things that need reworking.
These points will be useful when planning and preparing for the next class.
2. Audio Recording
Not every person is good at writing so to make an accurate and quick reflection of the lesson and its effect, the teacher can make a voice not on their smartphone right after the class. It would take more than a minute to record and label the content.
Similarly, one can practice their lesson by recording it as audio on their smartphone. They can then listen to it and improvise to make the lecture more effective, attractive, or interesting.
3. Give Exit Slips
An amazing way to gauge students’ understanding of the lesson would be to give them exit slips post the class. The slip can ask 2 questions did they understand what was taught.
And how can the teacher improve his/her teaching? Give tips. In this way, the teacher gets a snapshot of how well the students understood the lesson as well as information concerning the teacher’s method of teaching.
4. Colleague Assistance
Other than getting input from students, a teacher can also get guidance from a colleague.
Being in the same profession, the other teacher can follow the class for an hour and then give their feedback on what needs more attention.
Likewise, you can also give back the same assistance to the teacher and help them improve as well.
5. Videotape the Class
One can video record the complete lesson and later check on how it worked. Besides reflecting on the teaching, the teacher can also observe their body language, voice modulation, and class management.
Reflective Teaching Strategies
The reflective teaching approach is reflecting on self and this can be made effective by increasing awareness of one’s teaching from different points of view.
By gathering multiple perspectives on how one teaches based on evidence, teaching can be made more effective. Here are 4 Reflective teaching strategies for assessing once teaching.
1. Autobiographical
what are the challenges of the course? What can be improved the next time? What went well? Can I alter something and how?
2. Student’s Eyes
What do the students say about improving their learning? What has prevented their effective learning? Student recommendations to improve the course next time?
3. Colleague Input
Find out how well my colleagues’ semester went? What were the challenges? What are the similarities and differences in experiences with fellow teachers who teach a similar course or students?
4. Use Literature
What does the research say on the best way of teaching students? What research states on students’ expectations? What are the different evidence-based strategies to support student learning?
Benefits of Reflective Teaching
There are many ways in which teachers benefit from the reflective teaching method. It is inherent to the practice to plan, prepare new sessions and analyze and improve from previous sessions.
The method helps in developing a better understanding of the subject as well as oneself. Here are 5 Benefits of reflective teaching
1. Stronger Teacher-Student Relationship
Like parents, teachers value their relationship with their students. By cultivating a positive individual relationship with the students, it becomes easier for the student to understand your method of teaching.
Reflective teaching helps in this arena as the teacher will take every student as an individual learner with unique needs.
By observing the student’s behavior, performance and needs, the teaching method can be altered. Thus students are more likely to perform better when feeling safe and comfy in the class environment.
2. Professional Growth
Through the regular practice of self-reflection, a teacher can better understand their weakness and strengths. This in the long run will improve efficiency and promote professional growth.
By noting goals and optimizing to achieve results, a teacher’s performance will steadily grow and reach professional excellence.
3. Scope for Innovation
By using reflective teaching teachers can take stock of what is working and what needs greasing. By observing one’s practice every day, problems will be noted and will require a solution.
This brings in the scope for innovation. Not all students are the same and so the teacher will have to improvise and innovate to find a solution for any specific issue of concern.
4. Improve Teaching
Teaching is a tough profession and it is challenging to plan and teach a lesson. Good teachers remember the names of all their students while maintaining a safe classroom environment for them.
They see to it that every student is following and understanding the subject and through reflective practice, every student’s benefits from learning are ensured.
Students need motivation and teachers need to provide it. This makes the learning environment a success. Some stud nets may not prefer individual participation but will perform well when clubbed into small groups.
This observation is easier when using reflective teaching through which, student preferences can be understood to simplify message delivery.
5. Makes Lessons Interesting
Teachers and students abhor the need to frequently look at the clock during a class. It means it’s boring. However, by implementing reflective teaching strategies, the problem can be identified and dealt with.
Teachers and students like a lively classroom and it can be achieved with some effort.
Instead of jumping straight into the lesson, start the class with a revision. This will help in remembering what was taught in the last class.
To make it interesting, make it into a game show where students can give ideas, raise questions and give answers. By making it into an activity, the class becomes lively as well as effective.
Conclusion
Every teacher values their students equally, but not all students are equal. Every student comes with their unique baggage of challenges.
But by using the reflective teaching method, a teacher can make a lesson inspiring and fun for all.
So if you are a teacher and looking to enhance your practice, then this article will give you a detailed guide about reflective teaching practice.
