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Date Posted: 20:29:28 05/30/07 Wed
Author: Leonardo
Subject: Peer Editing to Cristiane -

The process of Reflection through Action Research

Reflective thinking can be viewed as the thoughtful, self-questioning of teacher’s actions, experience or attitudes. It can be the kind (BW type) of behavior certain teachers have (P,) but others do not. However, if we take the concept of “Reflective Teaching” as the theoretical construct (WW construction) some authors such as Richards proposed, it is easy to see that it is not only a matter of stop to think, but it is a process with certain steps. It needs some systematic structure in order to be useful and not fall into some event in teacher’s daily routine. There are at least four steps we have to follow to consummate the reflective process.
To begin with we need an initial reflection to find out the issue or the problem we want to solve. When inside the classroom, teachers might perceive something that is not working well, something that needs to be changed. As an example we can think of a teacher who has noticed students don’t do their homework. This problem will be the initial reflection that will lead you to the next step. The teacher might list his/her hypothesis or perceptions that can explain students lack of homework. For each hypothesis, the teacher will follow step number two, starting with the one he/she considers more probable.
After addressing the issue, the teacher needs to plan an action to try to solve the problem. In the example given above, the strongest hypothesis might be that students are not motivated enough to do their homework, which is boring and impersonal. So, a good plan is to try to create more motivational exercises, or give students some options rather than the same given exercise to everyone. The plan needs to be made according to the reality of the classroom. Also necessary is to plan strategies and choose techniques to observe the process in the classroom.
The next step is to put the plan in action. The teacher will execute carefully what had been planned. That’s the simplest and fastest part of the cycle, but as important as any other step.
The last step of the cycle is the observation of the plan in action. While carrying out the plan, teachers will collect data to state whether the action was effective or not. This observation is made by taking notes of the student’s comments or by some formal technique, such as a questionnaire.
In fact, the last step can be the first step to another cycle of reflection (P,) or can close the cycle if the problem is solved. Either way, the teacher has to reflect again on the process so that he/she improves his own cycle of improvement. If in the example given students keep forgetting the homework, the same steps will be followed but now based on the next hypothesis raised.
Reflecting on your own barriers and limitations will always lead teachers to continue the cycle explained of initial reflection to address the issue, planning an action, observation of the action and reflection on the observations. All the steps are necessary and the register of each of them helps not only to solve the actual problems, but also other teachers, trainees, and researchers to connect theories and practice.

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