A Case Study on Assessing Reflectivity Levels of Pre-Service Language Teachers through Journals

Reflectivity is regarded as an indispensable component of teacher education. Through a reflective teaching/learning model, pre-service teachers may have the opportunity to become a reflective practitioner and train their students in a more reflective fashion. With this in mind, 12 pre-service teachers were assigned to keep reflective journals for a ten-week practicum period. Each week, they were assigned a new task related to the practicum components involving classroom management, lesson planning, micro-teaching, and teachers’ roles. The data obtained from the reflective journals and face-to-face interviews were analysed in accordance with grounded theory including initial and focused coding. The findings suggest that the level of reflectivity of participants mostly remained on the very first level of reflectivity (Recall Level). Upper levels of reflectivity (Rationalization and Reflective Level) were observed to be rather lower than the Recall Level, implying that such reflectivity practices require longer stretches of time to gain the habit of reflective thinking. Also, most of the participants highlighted the contribution of journals to the enhancement of critical reflection.

Yansıtıcı Günlükler Aracılığıyla Hizmet Öncesi İngilizce Öğretmen Adaylarının Yansıtma Düzeylerinin Belirlenmesi

Yansıtma becerisi, öğretmen yetiştirme programlarının ayrılmaz bir parçası olarak kabul edilmektedir. Yansıtmacı bir eğitim öğretim modeliyle öğretmen adayları yansıtıcı düşünce becerilerine sahip olabilirler ve kendi öğrencilerini de bu şekilde yetiştirebilirler. Bu bağlamda, bu çalışmada 12 hizmet öncesi İngilizce öğretmen adaylarından on haftalık süreyi kapsayan bir araştırma takvimi içerisinde yansıtıcı günlükler tutması beklenmiştir. Her bir hafta içerisinde, öğretmen adayları kendilerine tayin edilen özgün ödevler doğrultusunda yansıtıcı günlüklerini ortaya çıkarmışlardır. Veriler, yansıtıcı günlükler ve yüzyüze yarı yapılandırılmış olarak gerçekleştirilen görüşmelerle toplanmış ve Temellendirilmiş Kuramın ön kodlama ve detaylandırılmış kodlama aşamalarına göre analiz edilmiştir. Çalışma, öğretmen adaylarının günlüklerindeki yansıtıcı düşünce basamaklarından ilk basamak olan hatırlayarak yazmayı (Hatırlama Basamağı) ön plana çıkaran bulgulara sahiptir. Mantığa Bürüme ve Yansıtıcı Düşünce gibi daha üst basamaklara nispeten daha az rastlanmıştır. Bulgular yansıtıcı düşüncenin üst basamaklarına ulaşmanın daha uzun zaman diliminde ve daha eleştirel bazda düşünülerek oluşturabileceği sonuçlarına varmaktadır. Aynı zamanda bulgular bu tarz günlüklerin öğretmen adaylarının eleştirel düşünce sistemlerine olumlu katkı yaptığını ortaya çıkarmıştır.

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