Becoming a reflective practitioner

1. Becoming a reflective practitioner The Teaching Process RE – TS8, TS4

2. Beware of plateauing Moving forwards Constantly improving The teaching process

3. Through working out • What went well (and why) • What went badly (and why) • What the pupils have learnt (implicit and explicit) • Student progress towards learning outcomes Aims: To improve teaching

4. Aims and Objectives • Were the aims of your lesson wholly or partly achieved? • Did you manage to cover the content of your lesson? • Did pupils achieve the learning objectives? • What did pupils learn (implicitly and explicitly)? Questions to ask yourself

5. Which methods were successful and why? Which methods were not so successful and why? Comment on - Q and A technique VAK Paired/group work Differentiation Pupil ownership of lesson Teacher led sessions Evaluation of methods

6. Was the start and end of the lesson orderly? • Were transitions smooth? • Were pupils organised into effective learning groups? • Were instructions clear? • Were interruptions dealt with effectively? • Was a purposeful working atmosphere achieved? • Was the preparation and planning sufficient? Evaluating Classroom Management

7. Comment on: The tone and approach adopted towards the class and individuals. What use of praise was used? (Tone, look, action) What sanctions had to be used? (Tone, look, action) Evaluation of Control and Discipline

8. Comment on • Use of whiteboard • Use of interactive whiteboard • Worksheets • Textbooks • OHP • Artefacts • Props • Were resources used effectively or constructed effectively? Resources

9. What needs to be planned next? • Should the content be covered again in a different way? Or is it completed? • Targets for the next lesson Future planning

10. Infra-ordinary

11. What is made easier or harder by doing the following things? • Do students wear uniform? Why? Why not? • Do students have to be given permission to talk? Why? Why not? • Do all the desks or tables face the same way? Why? Why not? Noticing the ‘infra-ordinary

12. Reflection is informed by our worldview We must do more than simply reflect…we must change our awareness by looking at the world in different ways. Our reflections reinforce our worldview The problem with reflection

13. Focused Awareness Polanyi and Prosch Subsidary The underlying structure which both limits and facilitates what consciously and subconsciously we choose to attend to. This is what Tripp refers to as ‘problematic’. Problematic

14. Challenge routine Be Critical Reflection Key Points from ‘Problematic and Practice’ – David Tripp

15. Consider the file as work in progress. • Protect anonymity of people and places. • The insignificant may be significant. • Separate incidents may or not be related. • Look for themes, trends or patterns. • Incidents may not be exclusive to pupils. • Date the incidents and record the time, place and context e.g. time of day and weather may be factors. • Incidents can be recorded and returned to later. • Not all incidents need to be followed up. • Consider all viewpoints of those involved. • Consider the wider context e.g. policy and practice, socio-economic. • Share your incidents with others. • Read, read, read and consider incidents in relation to your reading. • Can be hand written but more convenient to log electronically. Keep a Critical Incident File

16. Please read notes in the notes master to this slide explaining in bullet points what a critical incident is. What Makes an Incident a Critical Incident?

17. Honesty

18. DESCRIPTIVE EVALUATIVE ...pupils drifted into the class for the first five minutes of the lesson. I asked them to sit down quickly, but another two minutes were wasted as they took out their bags and started conversations with those already in the lesson. I was relatively effective in using my voice to establish control, but I should have been firmer sooner. My mentor sometimes has a starter activity organised for those who have arrived on time. I think this is a good strategy and will try it for next lesson. I will also contact the PE teacher ... ...pupils drifted into the class for the first five minutes of the lesson. I asked them to sit down quickly. I introduced the starter and the pupils responded well. The second activity was about the nature of God. Six pupils contributed in the feedback. Some of the answers to my question about ‘What does God look like’ included ‘He is an old man’, ‘we do not know’, ‘He looks like Jesus, only older’. We then moved onto.... Evaluation not description

19. Each week you need – • Reflections in journal • Long evaluations (reflections in depth) for at least two lessons • Short evaluations for the rest of the lesson/parts of the lessons you teach Weekly reflections