Novice and Experienced Korean EFL Teachers’ Reflective Teaching

The present investigation was undertaken to examine the differences and/or similarities between novice and experienced Korean EFL teachers in reflective teaching before and after their engagement in reflective activities, and what influenced the differences and/or similarities. Two novice and two experienced teachers participated in reflective practice for one semester by writing reflective journals, taking part in reflective group discussions, and self-observing their classroom teaching. The results showed that initially reflection was considered as a professional activity for the novice teachers and an academic activity for the experienced teachers. Concerning the main area of reflection, the novice teachers originally focused on their teaching while the experienced teachers attended to their students. These differences were attributed to the differences in teaching experience and reflective orientation. As the teachers’ engagement in the reflective activities increased with time, the experienced teachers gradually viewed reflection as a professional activity and tried to practice reflection enthusiastically. Also, the novice and experienced teachers embraced each other’s orientations and changed their teaching behavior accordingly. In terms of implications, the study suggests that teacher training programs use novice-experienced teacher discussion, journal writing, and self-observation of classroom teaching to improve the novice-experienced partnership and achieve their professional development.