Abstract:

Over the past several decades, reflection and reflective practice has been promoted and encouraged in the context of teacher education and a large literature has grown up in this area. The central role of teacher education programmes in introducing and promoting reflection and reflective practice in teaching is widely recognised. This paper describes the design and implementation of an intervention in the first year of a four-year B. Ed primary teacher education programme aimed at introducing, promoting and supporting reflection and reflective practice. In developing and implementing the intervention, it was acknowledged that reflection and reflective activity needs to be embedded in the teacher preparation programme and become an element in all aspects of the programme.

The B. Ed programme is a four year programme aimed at preparing students to teach in primary school. During the programme students are provided with opportunities for critical reflection on their own experiences as learners, for developing expertise in subject-specific methodologies, for gaining insight into the social contexts of education and for developing their philosophy of teaching and values around teaching. Students are also supported in becoming life-long learners through their experiences of reflection and enquiry throughout the programme. During the programme, students are provided with opportunities to work for extended periods in schools during which they are expected to apply their learning and experiences and engage in further reflection and enquiry in the context of their work.
Each year of the programme involves taught modules and periods of working in primary schools.

The intervention described in this paper involves the development of a tutorial programme focused on promoting and encouraging critical reflection among students in the context of their ongoing coursework and school experiences. During weekly tutorials, students are provided with opportunities to actively explore and reflect on their ongoing learning journey in a collaborative supportive context, engaging in structured theme-based activities. In the context of further scaffolding reflection and reflective practice, students build their own personal e-portfolio throughout the year by selecting artefacts or pieces of work that represent key aspects of their learning across the programme and uploading them to an e-portfolio specially selected and developed for the programme. As part of the e-portfolio work, students write reflections in which they are encouraged to reflect deeply on the chosen artefacts and their significance for them.

The paper tracks the development of the tutorials and e-portfolio dimensions of the B. Ed programme involving 470 undergraduate students. The nature and content of the tutorial work is outlined and the arduous journey towards the selection and development of the e-portfolio platform is described. The purpose of the paper is to share with like-minded colleagues the journey of curriculum planning and implementation of a programme focusing on reflective practice in teacher education.

Keywords:

Teacher education, reflection and reflective practice, e-portfolios.