Reflective Practice in Teaching(Draft Excerpt from Linda Larson’s Dissertation)A Descriptive Study of Technology Integration And Teacher Professional Development In One Higher Education InstitutionDRAFT: DO NOT DUPLICATE WITHOUT PERMISSION OF AUTHORLinda LarsonCSULB June 3, 20021Reflective practice is defined as “on going process of examining and refining practice, variously focused on the personal, pedagogical, curricular, intellectual, societal, and /or ethical contexts associated with professional work, perhaps but not necessarily from a critical perspective” (Cole & Knowles, 2000). The idea of reflective practice observes that a person can stand outside of themselves and come to a clearer understanding of what they do, and who they are by freeing themselves of distorted ways of reasoning (Brookfield, 1995).Theorists of reflective practice are interested in helping teachers understand, question, investigate, and take seriously their own learning and practice. They argue that professional education has taken a wrong turn in seeing the role of practitioner as interpreter, translator, and implementer of theory produced by academic thinkers and researchers. They believe instead that practitioners including teachers, must research their own work sites. This involves their recognizing and generating their own contextually sensitive theories of practice, rather then importing them from outside. (Cole & Knowles, 2000, p. 5)Schon states a reflection occurs when the learner encounters an action they do not know and this surprise initiates the reflection. The reflection that occurs at this point enables the learner to deal with what Schon calls the” indeterminate zones of action.” When an action occurs that does not fit previous models of action, this triggers their reflections. While a learner is in the zone, there are two types of reflections that happen. Either the learner reflects after the action, or the reflection occurs during the action and the learner thinks about how to adapt the activity while it is taking place (Schon, 1983, 1987).Collaborative reflection occurs when two professionals help each other deal with learning difficulties. For this process to be successful the following elements must exist:- Focus of attention of the present interactions as an object of reflection in its own right. 2- Getting in touch with and describing one’s own largely tacit knowing-in-action.- Reflection of the other’s understandings of the substantive material that the instructor wants to convey and the students want to learn.- Testing what one has understood of the other’s knowing-in-action and framingof the interaction; testing what the other has made of one’s own attempts at communication.- Reflection on the interpersonal theories-in-use brought to the communicative process. (Schon, 1987, p. 138-139)Brookfield in his 1995 book, Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher, reports there are six reasons why learning critical reflection is important. - It helps teachers take informed actions. Informed actions are those that can beexplain and justified to others and us. It is through informed actions that teachers’ actions have a chance of achieving the desired result.- It enables teachers develop a rationale for practice. A critically reflective teacher can communicate to students and colleagues the rationale behind her practice. She is informed through her reflection, and she knows why she does what she does because her decisions are a reflection of her core believes, values and assumptions.- It allows teachers to avoid self-laceration. Teachers who take their work seriously tend to blame themselves if students are not learning. Critically reflective teachers realize sometimes resistance to learning has nothing to do with their abilities as teachers. They learn to stop blaming themselves and turn their attention to understanding the resistance.- It enlivens practitioners’ classrooms. Critically reflective teachers who make their own thinking public are more likely, and therefore, subject to discussion – are more like to have classes that are challenging, interesting, and 3stimulating for students. A teacher who effectively models critical inquiry in her own practice can be a powerful catalyst for critical thinking in her students.- It increases democratic trust. In the classroom, students learn democratic behavior, or manipulative behavior. Teachers who have learned reflective practice know the effects they are having on their students. Students learn if independent thought is valued, or if all that matters is pleasing the teacher. Though the actions of the teachers, the amount of trust that students have in the world is either increased or diminished (1995).Brookfield found that there are four critically reflective lenses through which a practitioner can view their teaching: autobiographies as teachers and learners, students’ eyes, colleagues’ experiences, and theoretical literature.(1) When a practitioner uses their autobiographies as teachers and learners, it puts the teachers in the role of the “other.” In this role, a practitioner is viscerally connected to what the students are experiencing. (2) With the student lens, the practitioner sees themselves through the eyes of their students. Using this lens assures that students take from a practice the meaning teachers intend.(3) To see practice from the perspective of a colleague, a colleague observes the practitioner and provides critical feedback and engages in critical conversations with the practitioner.4(4) Theoretical literature can provide the multiple interpretations of familiar but impenetrable situations. It can help the practitioner understand experiences byilluminating them in a theoretical framework. (1995).Henderson in his book, Reflective Teaching: Professional Artistry Through Inquiry sees teaching as a craft. He states, Just as writers, sculptors, painters, and composers must develop their craft, so must teachers. Throughout their career, they must continually refine their skills inthe general areas of program designing, lesson planning, and classroom management. They must become highly skilled problem solvers while engaged incomplex teaching-learning activities. (Henderson, 2001)He sees the cultivation of the teaching craft is a highly personal matter requiring a dedicated effort. In Henderson’s opinion, each teacher must in engage in reoccurring cycles of