Reflecting
The
Reflective Student
Learners do
not just receive information only at the time it is given; they
absorb information in many different ways, often after the fact,
through reflection. Zemelman, Daniels, and Hyde (1993) believe that
the most powerful learning happens when students self-monitor, or
reflect.
Students may not always
be aware of what they are learning and experiencing. Teachers must
raise students' consciousness about underlying concepts and about
their own reactions to these concepts. The ETE modules offer times
for reflecture during and after the research process. Learners review
the appropriateness of their actions and attitudes and evaluate
what changes might be desirable in a similar problem-solving situation.
They formulate concepts and generalizations and convert their individual
and collective experience into education.
There are many ways to
reflect. Reflection may occur individually, in groups, in teacher-led
discussion, or during student-to-student dialogues. Reflection may
occur at any time during the learning process; it does not have
to wait until the end. Herbert (1995) offers some excellent advice:
To be an effective
facilitator of this type of reflection and an analysis, the teacher
must be a good observer of what is happening. He or she needs
to observe not only the learners' actions and nonactions toward
the activity, but also toward each other. Then, at appropriate
times, observations could be offered, questions asked, feelings
explored.
The teacher must also
be able to vary his or her approach in helping the students analyze
what has taken place. The methods are dependent on the personalities
and situations involved. At times, it might be necessary to be
blunt and honest with feedback.
At other times, questions,
discussions, or a gentle approach help students discover for themselves
what they have done and how they are perceived. Sometimes nothing
needs to be said. It is difficult to know the approach to use
with each individual in each situation. Experience is a good teacher
(p. 206).
Reflection is critical
to both learning and transfer! Reflection ends the active learning
experience and begins the assessment by providing evaluation opportunities
as learners apply concepts and skills to new and different situations
(transfer).
The
Reflective Teacher
Keeping Records: During time following a class
period or after the school day, teachers can assess the interactions
that occurred in their classes. Much valuable information is available
from teacher-kept records of a pupil's behavior in the classroom.
Teachers have always been interested in recording student performance
on tests, assignments, homework, and other data from the "instructional
domain." However, noticeably absent from most teachers' data
gathering are records in the "management domain" other
than attendance and tardiness records. Teachers don't trust their
memory when it comes to instruction records, teachers would do well
to keep records of students' behavior and do more than trust to
memory the information dealing with student behavior. Keeping management
records is a good habit for all those involved in teaching in the
ETE cooperative classroom.
