Abstract:

Academic staff members in today’s universities are increasingly required to evaluate their own professional teaching practice (Kuit, Reay & Freeman, 2001, p. 128). Reflective practice is seen as the way forward for both students and academics alike and there is research that shows that reflective practice leads to better learning (Davis, 2003, p. 243). This paper is a reflexive practitioner’s evaluation of her own teaching with the aim of improving her teaching practice and developing a sound philosophy on teaching.

The nature of the study called for a predominantly qualitative research paradigm (De Vos, Styrdom, Fouché & Delport, 2005). Different research methods were used in this study. A philosophical and critical analysis was used to formulate criteria for evaluating the educator’s teaching practice (Smith, 2009, p. 5). As an active participant in the study, the researcher relied on narrative analysis to make sense of her experiences (Jonassen & Hernandez-Serrano, 2002, p. 66). A video recording of one of her lectures allowed the researcher to evaluate her own teaching practice through participant observation (De Vos et.al., 2005, p. 275). Peer reviews of the researcher’s teaching practice by colleagues and feedback from her students allowed for triangulation of the measurements to ensure that her evaluation of her teaching practice was objective and reliable.

Based on the conclusions drawn from the observations of her own teaching practice in relation to the criteria she had identified from the literature as well as the feedback from her peers and students, the researcher was able to identify weaknesses in her teaching practice and make adjustments to her teaching to overcome these weaknesses. Feedback from her students as well as observations of class participation in follow-up lecturing sessions later in the semester, confirmed that the planned strategies had paid off.

Keywords:

Reflective and relexive teaching practice.