Pre-service teachers reflecting on their teaching practice : an action research study in a Mexican context

Studies conducted on reflection claim that when student teachers are being trained to become language teachers, reflective practice should start from the early stages. Rodman (2010) states that reflective practice helps pre-service teachers (hereafter PSTs) to actively consider and reconsider belief...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Chulim, Floricely Dzay
Published: University of Warwick 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.682946
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Summary:Studies conducted on reflection claim that when student teachers are being trained to become language teachers, reflective practice should start from the early stages. Rodman (2010) states that reflective practice helps pre-service teachers (hereafter PSTs) to actively consider and reconsider beliefs and practices that allow them to improve their ability to monitor decisions about what and how to teach. However, it has been observed in other studies (e.g. Ward and McCotter 2004) that some PSTs remain at a simple descriptive level of reflection. Kwan and Simpson (2010:417) state that this is because ‘reflection usually begins with an unstructured approach […] which may not enable the teacher to move from a mere ‘thinking’ process to a higher level of reflection and action’. This thesis shows the results of an action research study developed in a public university in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The outcomes in this study help to understand how collaborative reflections are produced and promoted in a Second Language Teacher Education programme. The study also provides an insight into the concerns, learning and development of Pre-service teachers in Mexico. The main goal of the study was to intervene and introduce the use of various tools, strategies and values to engage in collaborative and dialogic reflection. The findings show that the participants positively engaged in reflective practice with the use of (mainly) two tools (journals and group reflections) and the promotion of reflective strategies, collaborative and dialogic reflection, as well as the support of continuous questioning in a non-threatening environment. Data revealed that the student teachers followed a process of reflection that developed from simple descriptions to a more evaluative process at the end of the intervention.