Engaging Student Teachers in Reflective Thinking

Self-reflection is an essential element of personal change (Dewey, 1991), andteachers should participate consciously and creatively in their own growth anddevelopment through reflection (Schӧn, 1987; Zeichner, 1999). Recently, there hasbeen a gradual shift from the traditional transmission-based view of learning to aconstructivist, process-oriented view of learning in teacher education (Candall,2000). In the latter view, teachers modify and develop their personal theories withconstant reflection on their own practice (Hacker & Barkhuizen, 2008; Williams,2001). In Japan, the transmission-based view is still dominant in teacher education,and the importance of teacher reflection is not recognized. This paper explores therole of reflection and the views of student teachers on reflective practice in teachereducation in Japan. The study was conducted in an MA program in EnglishEducation at a national university. The participants were eight first-year studentsenrolled in a teaching methodology course. The class met once a week for twosemesters over a year. In order to enhance students’ reflection, the author askedstudents to submit a reflection journal every week. In these journals, the studentsreflected on what they learned in each class. In addition, they were expected tointegrate theory and practice by reflecting on their own past experiences as ateacher and a learner. The author made comments on each journal to furtherenhance reflection. The students were also asked to submit a reflection report ontheir own micro-teaching they conducted twice during the second semester. Theyreviewed and analyzed videotaped micro-teaching. At the end of the course, aninterview was conducted to determine how reflection journals and the reflectionreport helped the students to realize the importance of reflection and to engage inrefection. Discussion is based on the analysis of the interview data, written journalsand reflection papers.