| In the post-method era,reflective teaching has become a paradigm in teacher education and incorporated into the teacher standards by many countries.Reflective teaching is deemed to reflect teachers' professionalism and the best antidote to the problems encountered by teachers.It has been a hot topic in the teacher education field on how to develop and promote teachers' reflective competences.Issues faced by PSTs during the practicum are diverse,complex and challenging.As such,PSTs might act intuitively and experientially,which might not allow them to grasp the real picture of their own teaching situation.In this regard,reflective practice has been incorporated into PSTs' practicum agenda as it can provide insights into PSTs'beliefs,life experiences,educational experiences,world views that might influence their teaching.Studies in exploring how PSTs' reflective competences are developed during their practicum are currently receiving considerable attention,which are characterized by utilizing the qualitative research methods,such as case studies and action research.Their focuses are on how reflective tools such as journals,videoed teaching tapes,etc.are used to promote teachers' reflective competences.Many practices conducive to PSTs' reflection development have been identified.However,these studies also reveal some areas for further improvements,such as limited participants,rigid research method.Rarely are there any studies on the influence of the PSTs' practicum experience on their reflective competences with a combination of both the qualitative and quantitative research methods,especially from the perspective of a teacher education program(in the form of the practicum).This study has inherited the research findings of previous studies and endeavored to investigate the impact of PSTs' practicum experiences on their reflective competences and the reasons influencing PSTs' reflection by using a reflection questionnaire,reflective journals and interviews.1)What are the PSTs' reflective competences prior to the practicum?2)Is there any influence of the PSTs' practicum experience on their reflective competences?If yes,to what extent?3)What might be the underlying reasons during the practicum that have influenced PSTs' reflective competencies?By conducting paired t tests on 43 PSTs in a MED program in a normal university in Central China,analyzing the 7 participants' reflective journals and interviewing them for information of the practicum practices,this study finds that PSTs' reflective competences remain practically stable during their practicum with no significant differences found in the paired t tests(p=0.756>0.05)and an extremely small effect size(d=0.05).It also brings into spotlight the influence of PSTs' awareness of conducting research,the coaching styles and frequency of guidance both from the supervisors and teacher educators,the supervisors' lack of motivation in coaching PSTs and PSTs' lack of interest in reflecting on the PSTs' reflection as potential influencing factors in PSTs'reflective competences development.Finally,this study provides some insights for the parties concerned.For teacher educators,it reveals a necessity for providing express scaffolding for PSTs in assigning them reflective tasks.It also suggests that teacher educators might develop a metacognitive awareness of their own facilitation styles when communicating with PSTs about their teaching.Furthermore,they might consider the frequency of their coaching.For supervisors,this study implies a deeper involvement in PSTs' reflective activities,which might be an invaluable opportunity for them to see their own teaching from another perspective.For PSTs,this study suggests a need for them to engage in deeper reflection on their own teaching in order to maximize their learning in the practicum. |
PDF Full Text Request