Enhancing student-teachers’ learning and teaching through guided reflection

The project aimed at developing the ability of student-teachers of the new full-time Postgraduate Diploma in Education Course to better reflect on their teaching and prepare them for assuming their roles as teachers. Students participated in a series of group meetings in which they shared their feelings, thoughts and emerging concerns from their initial involvement in teaching. The meetings were held during the six-week practical component of the Course and continued during the first few months of their teaching in schools. The sessions were observed and recorded using a participant observation technique. In between meetings, the students were visited in their schools and interviewed to solicit their main concerns and thoughts. Main themes raised by the students served as a basis for their reflection in the meetings. Followup interviews highlighted the contribution of the sessions to students’ ability to reflect and to learn through guided reflection by the investigators. Using the above method enabled student teachers to obtain direct feedback about their reflection process and help them to assume a more active role in evaluating their own teaching practice.