ERIC Number: EJ959660
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1740-8989
EISSN: N/A
The Focus, Role, and Meaning of Experienced Teachers' Reflection in Physical Education
Jung, Jinhong
Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, v17 n2 p157-175 2012
Background: It has been widely accepted that reflective teaching is a powerful component of effective teaching. Accordingly, educating reflective practitioners has been a major goal of teacher education. Reflective teaching refers to the act of thinking such as analyzing or assessing educational meanings, intentions, beliefs, decisions, actions, or products yielded through those thinking processes. Reflective practitioners are those who contemplate and negotiate the complexities of teaching to enhance their decision-making power and autonomy in classrooms. However, despite the enormous proliferation of literature on reflection, little is known about the nature of reflection which will provide significant insights into teacher education that aims to prepare reflective practitioners. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the nature of three exceptional physical education (PE) teachers' reflection in terms of its focus and roles. Research questions that guided this study were: a) what is the focus of reflection-in/on-action of exceptional PE teachers? and b) in what ways does the reflection influence the teachers' practice? Methods: This study was grounded in a social constructivist framework and employed a multiple case study design. Major data sources included semi-structured interviews, non-participant observations, teachers' written reflections, students' work samples, relevant archival data, and researcher's field notes. The data were analyzed through the constant comparative method using Atlas.ti as an aid. To enhance the trustworthiness of the study, triangulation of multiple data sources and member checking were conducted. Results: Data analysis indicated that the teachers' reflection focused on four main topics: (a) the students, (b) instruction, (c) context, and (d) critical incidents. Reflection impacted the teachers' practice playing four key roles such as (a) making sense of unforeseen events, (b) developing knowledge-in-action, (c) making on-the-spot decisions, and (d) reconstructing teachers' belief systems. (Contains 1 table and 1 note.)
Descriptors: Grounded Theory, Constructivism (Learning), Physical Education, Teacher Effectiveness, Teacher Attitudes, Physical Education Teachers, Interviews, Data Analysis, Cognitive Processes, Reflective Teaching, Teaching Methods, Teacher Role, Semi Structured Interviews, Observation, Educational Environment, Knowledge Base for Teaching, Decision Making
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A