Understanding Preservice Teachers' Reflective Thinking In The Practicum

This paper intends to study the experience of a group of graduate students in their teaching practicum in a local middle school in a city of eastern China. It aims to understand their reflective thinking development and the main factors that influence the process. The data sources include interviews, reflective journals and a final summary of the practicum experience. The major findings of the research are as follows:Firstly, the preservice teachers have developed their reflective thinking in the teaching practicum. The major evidences are found in the level of their technical and practical reflection, though they are still found weak in doing critical reflection. Secondly, the preservice teachers'reflective thinking has positive effects on their new understanding of language teaching, learner differences, and their confidence in teaching. Some critical events, related to difficulties in the preparation for teaching, emergencies in teaching process and existing problems in teaching, have stimulated participants'reflective thinking.Thirdly, this study also finds main factors facilitating and restricting participants'reflective thinking. Facilitating factors include real teaching environment and mentors'help, while restricting factors include the lack of teaching experience and the mentors'way of teaching.Based on these findings, the researcher makes some suggestions for advancing teachers'reflective thinking in a similar learning context, including providing more chance of real-classroom teaching to preservice teachers so that they can gain hands-on experiences with the real teaching materials, different students, and many ways of improving themselves through reflection and practice.