Evaluating the impact of a reflective teacher education course

Evaluating the impact of a reflective teacher education course

  This article reports on an action research study carried out by a foreign teacher educator during a program that aimed to induce a process of transformation in participants" teaching practices through guided reflection in class discussions and written reflective tasks. The participants were an intact group of 20 Korean students on an M.A. in English Education course. The participants" attitude changes toward the aim of the course were assessed by pre and mid training questionnaires, and the quality of their reflection and changes in their practices by analyzing four sets of reflective tasks. The results indicate that, after six weeks, the participants" attitudes toward the aim of the program and toward observation tasks had improved, despite frustrations concerning their command of English, which many perceived as inadequate. Their attitudes toward feedback on reflective assignments, lectures, shared sample teaching materials and activities, which were fairly high pre training, remained high. However, participants" levels of reflection decreased, possibly because of personal and contextual factors that impinged on their time, ability, and willingness to both reflect and increase their theoretical knowledge through reading. Finally, it was noticed that a few teachers in training who had experimented with activities in their classrooms and shared their experiences in class seemed to inspire peers into trying out changes.