T he Te a ch e r ’ s Re f l e c tiv e

Pr ac t i c e H a n d b o o k

What do we mean by reflective practice?

What does it involve?
How can it help you develop as a teacher?

The Teacher’s Reflective Practice Handbook is an essential source of advice, guidance and
ideas for both students and practising teachers. Helping you to translate pedagogical
knowledge into practice, this handbook guides you through studying your own teaching
for personal development, evaluating your lessons through classroom research, and
enhancing the quality of pupil learning. It offers an innovative framework which serves
to prepare you for the challenges and complexities of the classroom environment, and
supports the continuing improvement of your teaching.
Underpinned by key theoretical concepts and contemporary research within the
field of education, chapters help you to:

• systematically evaluate your teaching through classroom research procedures

• question personal theories and beliefs, and consider alternative perspectives and
possibilities
• try out new strategies and ideas to maximise the learning potential of all students
• enhance the quality of, and continue to improve, your teaching.

Including a range of reflective tasks, links to online resources, exemplification

material and further reading to help you develop your own thinking, The Teacher’s
Reflective Practice Handbook is an accessible guide which supports the facilitation
of reflective practice through self- and peer-assessment, problem-based learning and
personal development planning. The multi-dimensional framework enables you to
build a meaningful, personally relevant portfolio of evidence-informed practice.

Paula Zwozdiak-Myers is Course Director for the Secondary Postgraduate Certificate

in Education at Brunel University, UK.
The Teacher ’s Reflective
Practice Handbook
Becoming an extended professional through
capturing evidence-informed practice

Paula Zwozdiak-Myers
First published 2012
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2012 Paula Zwozdiak-Myers
The right of Paula Zwozdiak-Myers to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. The purchase of this copyright material confers
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from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Zwozdiak-Myers, Paula.
The teacher’s reflective practice handbook : how to engage effectively
in professional development and build a portfolio of practice / Paula
Zwozdiak-Myers.
  p. cm.
  Includes index.
  1. Reflective teaching–Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Teachers–In-
  service training–Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. Portfolios in education–
  Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title.
  LB1025.3.Z86 2012
 371.102–dc23                  2011048688
ISBN: 978-0-415-59757-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-59758-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-11873-3 (ebk)
Typeset in Galliard
by HWA Text and Data Management, London
For Jonathan and Rosanna, my pigeon pair
And with fondest memories of the most remarkable friend and mentor,
my beloved husband Coleman Everett Myers
Co ntent s

List of figures ix
List of tables x
Preface xi

PAR T I
Reflective practice for professional development:
framing the construct 1

1 Reflective practice: captured, framed and defined 3

2 Qualitative distinctions in reflective practice 14

PAR T I I
Dimensions of reflective practice: key features
and processes 31

3 Dimension 1: study your own teaching for personal improvement 33

4 Dimension 2: systematically evaluate your own teaching through

classroom research procedures 48

5 Dimension 3: link theory with your own practice 67

6 Dimension 4: question your personal theories and beliefs 81

7 Dimension 5: consider alternative perspectives and possibilities 95

8 Dimension 6: try out new strategies and ideas 110

9 Dimension 7: maximise the learning potential of all your pupils 128

viii Contents

10 Dimension 8: enhance the quality of your own teaching 145

11 Dimension 9: continue to improve your own teaching 163

Appendix A: standards for teachers 183

Appendix B: criteria to determine ‘outstanding’ trainee teachers 186
References 188
Index 204
Fig ure s

1.1 Framework of Reflective Practice 5

2.1 Qualitative distinctions between reflective conversations 16
3.1 Model of experiential learning 42
4.1 McKernan’s time process model of action research 52
5.1 Levels in the process of learning with regard to a certain domain 72
5.2 Knowledge base for teaching 74
6.1 Bandura’s conception of triadic reciprocality 87
9.1 Key features of assessment for learning 139
9.2 Analysing oral feedback 141
10.1 Pedagogic expertise as a combination of science, craft and art 153
10.2 Mind map of variables associated with teacher quality 156
11.1 Conceptual framework for key competencies 166
11.2 Individual and collective goals and competencies 168
11.3 Learning as social/collective achievement 171
11.4 Sources of CPD 174
Ta bles

1.1 Emotional intelligence competencies, adapted from Boyatzis, Goleman

and Rhee 10
2.1 Concepts and theories related to qualitative distinctions in reflective
practice 15
2.2 Questions to shape descriptive, comparative and critical reflective
conversations 28
3.1 Ideas and suggestions as to how to resolve a problem 37
3.2 Propositions that underpin experiential learning theory 41
3.3 Reflecting on experience 42
3.4 Characteristic patterns of behaviour associated with different learning
styles 45
4.1 Theorists’ interpretations of action research 51
4.2 Summary template for literature review 57
4.3 Assessing the validity of action research 63
6.1 Research studies to investigate personal theories and beliefs 88
6.2 Teacher self-efficacy scale 92
7.1 Opportunities provided through peer observation 102
7.2 Observing three different teachers 103
7.3 Ways to make peer observation count 105
7.4 Profile of a collaborative personality 106
8.1 Distinctions between learning orientation and performance orientation 113
8.2 Linking Bloom’s taxonomy to what pupils need to do, thinking
processes and possible question stems 118
8.3 Characteristics of explanations 121
8.4 Group composition and group size 124
9.1 Feelings and emotions associated with inclusion and exclusion 129
9.2 Assessment for learning: research-based principles to guide classroom
practice 138
10.1 Teacher behaviours in low and middle socio-economic classroom
contexts 148
10.2 Ten principles of effective teaching and learning 155
11.1 Key features of effective CPD 176
11.2 Portfolio model 177
Pref ace

In past decades, reflective practice has been recognised by eminent scholars, researchers
and practitioners within the field of education, as an important core component
for the professional development of teachers. Currently, reflective practice is in the
foreground of key drivers advanced by governments and education departments
worldwide, to raise educational standards and maximise the learning potential of all
pupils. The broad consensus arising from recent national and international large-
scale surveys is that teacher quality is the ‘single most important school variable
influencing student achievement’ (OECD, 2005: 2), and characteristics which mark
teachers at different career stages should be built ‘on a concept of teaching as praxis
in which theory, practice and the ability to reflect critically on one’s own and others’
practice illuminate each other’ (ETUCE, 2008: 26). This requires teachers who can
determine the relevance of new knowledge; are flexible, creative and adaptive to
change, innately curious and capable of ‘asking intelligent questions about the world
in which they live and work’ (AGQTP, 2008: 7).
There can be no doubt that learning to teach and striving to improve the quality
of practice in the twenty-first century is a major global challenge, particularly within
the culture of schooling ‘envisioned for an increasingly pluralistic society’ (ETUCE,
2008: 58). Schools are expected to: effectively accommodate pupils from diverse
backgrounds and with different languages; be sensitive to gender and cultural issues;
promote social cohesion and tolerance; respond to disadvantaged pupils and those
with learning and behavioural difficulties; use new technologies; and keep pace with
rapidly developing fields of knowledge and approaches to pupil assessment. Teachers
must be capable of preparing pupils for a society and economy in which they ‘will
be expected to be self-directed learners, able and motivated to keep learning over a
lifetime’ (OECD, 2005: 2).
Performance management has also become an important focal point for
professionals working within educational contexts. Teachers are expected to assume
responsibility for their professional development planning at each career stage
and to gather evidence of that development in relation to prescribed performance
criteria, which places an emphasis on performativity and accountability in relation to
measurable, instrumental outcomes. Progression is regularly audited, assessed and
rewarded through various internal and external appraisal and evaluative systems. For
example, the vision of professional development portrayed in the Five Year Strategy
for Children and Learners (DfES, 2004a, para 39) champions:
xii Preface

a new professionalism for teachers in which career progression and financial

rewards will go to those who are making the biggest contributions to improving
pupil attainment, those who are continually developing their own expertise, and
those who help to develop expertise in other teachers.

This highlights the need for teachers to become very active agents in analysing
their own practice both ‘in the light of professional standards and their own
students’ progress in the light of standards for student learning’ (OECD, 2005: 11).
A cautionary note however is that although a number of standards might serve to
identify the professional attributes, skills, knowledge and understanding teachers must
acquire and develop to demonstrate effectiveness, these cannot be applied in a purely
prescriptive manner to guide practice. Characteristics that are difficult to measure yet
which can be vital to pupil learning include the capability to convey ideas in clear and
convincing ways; be creative and enthusiastic; provide positive learning environments
for different types of pupils; foster productive teacher–pupil relationships; and ‘work
effectively with colleagues and parents’ (ibid.: 2).
Terms associated with reflective practice such as critical thinking, metacognition,
reflective judgement, reflective thought, and reflexivity have been introduced into
teacher education and classroom contexts based on the assumption that acquiring
skills associated with reflective practice should enable teachers to become effective
practitioners. Yet, as Furlong and Maynard (1995) persuasively argue, the concepts
and theories which underpin such terms reveal a number of variations: debate
concerning the development of reflective practice stems, in part, from different
discourses within the process of learning to teach which writers have focused on
to examine the complex relationship between the process of theorising and other
forms of propositional knowledge – those derived from Dewey (1933) and from
Schon (1987). A further dilemma concerns their widespread usage and common
currency in educational discourse, performance management, research publications
and textbooks wherein little or no reference is made to how these terms are being
used or what they explicitly mean; an assumption of shared meanings seems to be
prevalent.
The development of reflective practice is a vitally important core component of
professional development, which serves to prepare teachers for the challenges and
complexities of the twenty-first-century classroom and to become effective decision
makers with an understanding of how to translate pedagogical knowledge into their
own practice. The ability to question why a teacher does what she does has been
linked to the development of contextual knowing, professional artistry and reflective
reasoning. Scholars have also argued that reflective practice is characteristically
associated with autonomy, empowerment and effective teaching.
In light of numerous claims advanced concerning the values inherent in reflective
practice for professional development – and we have merely begun to scratch the
surface here – what becomes readily apparent is that reflective practice is a complex,
multifaceted phenomenon; and, if the goal to raise teacher quality is to be realised,
then how we conceptualise reflective practice must be unpacked so that its core
components can be recognised, enacted and understood. On the one hand, we need
to address such questions as: What do we mean by reflective practice? What are its
 Preface  xiii  

core components? How might we recognise it? What can we learn from doing it? On
the other: How do we define professional development? What criteria might we use
to distinguish between restricted and extended professionals? What links can be drawn
between reflective practice and professional development? Are the two phenomena
synonymous, interdependent or mutually exclusive? An important goal, which
permeates through this book, is that of enabling you to respond to such searching
questions from a knowledgeable, experiential and well-informed platform.
The Framework of Reflective Practice presented in this book has been designed to
capture the somewhat elusive boundaries of reflective practice within nine discrete,
yet interrelated dimensions so that you understand how to: effectively engage in
reflective practice; plan for and structure your own professional development as you
acquire the art of self-study; and build a reflective portfolio to evidence your journey
of professional growth and development.
In addition to the nine dimensions which provide specific focal points to guide
and structure evidence of reflective practice, different types of discourse can highlight
qualitative distinctions between ways of thinking and speaking about aspects of
teaching and learning, as well as of practising teaching. Three particular types of
discourse are captured within the Framework of Reflective Practice – descriptive,
comparative and critical reflective conversations – to exemplify and signal the transition
from surface to deep to transformative learning.
An increased awareness of how to meaningfully engage with the core components
embedded within this 9 × 3 Framework of Reflective Practice, should help you to
improve the quality and effectiveness of your teaching, as the focus and content of
reflective practice and types of discourse you engage in can be clarified with a specific
purpose in mind. As you explore the connections and interrelationships between them
and assume a critical stance to your professional work, you will come to exemplify
the attributes associated with a critical being (Barnett, 1997), an extended professional
(Hoyle, 1974; Stenhouse, 1975) and a reflective practitioner (Schon, 1987).
This Framework of Reflective Practice is soundly underpinned by the concepts and
theories advanced over many decades by key scholars, researchers and practitioners
who have contributed important insights into this field of study.

T he s tr ucture of t his book

Eleven chapters are presented in two main parts:

Part 1 – Reflective practice for professional development:

Framing the construct
Chapter 1 introduces the Framework of Reflective Practice which has been designed
to capture nine dimensions of reflective practice in which teachers can demonstrate
capacity and commitment as they study their own teaching for personal improvement.
Chapter 2 presents three types of discourse which can be used in conjunction with each
dimension of reflective practice to highlight qualitative distinctions between descriptive,
comparative and critical reflective conversations teachers can engage in.
xiv Preface

Part 2 – Dimensions of reflective practice: Key features and

processes
Chapters 3 through 11 take each of the nine dimensions of reflective practice in
turn, and explore the key features and processes embedded within the nature of their
reflective activity and translation into professional practice. The attributes associated
with the teacher as researcher as well as the qualities and characteristics associated with
striving toward becoming an extended professional are interrogated in depth to help
you structure and evidence your professional growth and development from a well-
focused and purposeful platform.
Each chapter is organised as follows:

• Learning objectives
• Introduction
• The content presents theoretical underpinnings of the major concepts drawn upon,
which are interwoven with a diverse range of reflective tasks
• Summary of key points
• Recommendations for further reading.

Ref lectiv e port fol i o

Reflective tasks accompany each chapter and invite you to explore the relationships
between academic debate, policy, rhetoric, theory and practice. They aim to provide
an enquiry-led, research-informed and critical approach to teaching and learning. As
you complete these tasks you are encouraged to keep a reflective portfolio to record
evidence of your professional growth and development. The portfolio also provides a
vehicle through which you can articulate and give voice to your personal philosophy and
thoughts about factors that shape and influence teaching and learning as they emerge.
In so doing, your portfolio becomes an iterative and dynamic working document to
exemplify your journey of discovery and enlightenment. Several tasks ask you to set
SMART targets or goals, interpreted as follows:

• Specific – the goal has a clear purpose and defined outcome

• Measureable – it will be clear when the goal has been met
• Achievable – the goal is realistic and sustainable within existing resources
• Relevant – the goal adds value to professional development and reflects identified
needs
• Time-bound – a deadline for achieving the goal has been established.

A ppendice s
Although Chapter 10 explicitly invites you to explore criteria against which the quality and
standards of teaching can be judged, you will find it beneficial to familiarise yourself with
Appendix A: Standards for teachers (DfE, 2011) effective 1 September 2012 and which
apply to all teachers in England, and Appendix B: Criteria to determine ‘outstanding’
trainee teachers (Ofsted, 2008) from the outset. This enables you to align and cross-
reference reflective tasks from each chapter, as appropriate, with criteria currently in use.
 Preface  xv  

U s e of termi nology
Throughout this text the terms he and she or his and her are used in a balanced way so
as to avoid gender bias and unduly lengthy terminology, which enables you to access
key messages embedded within the narrative in a more cogent, fluent manner. School
children are referred to as pupils rather than students: other than when school children
are referred to as students within a direct quote. The expression student teachers relates
to individuals following initial teacher education (ITE) or pre-service teacher education
courses, e.g. undergraduate and postgraduate students working toward a qualified
teacher status (QTS) award.

Paula Zwozdiak-Myers
August 2011
Pa rt I
Ref l ec t i v e p r a c ti ce fo r
pr of es s i o n a l d e ve lo pm e nt
Fra ming t h e c o n s t r u c t
Chapter 1
Re fle c ti ve p ract i ce
Ca ptu red , f ramed and d e f i n e d

Learning objectives
In this chapter you will consider:

• how reflective practice as a disposition to enquiry and a process has been interpreted
within the Framework of Reflective Practice;
• how reflective attitudes can influence your approach to teaching;
• key characteristics and attributes used to describe extended professionals;
• central concepts associated with defining the teacher as a professional;
• how emotional intelligence and professional values may be reflected in your
teaching.

I ntr oduction
In recent decades, reflective practice has increasingly become embedded within discourse
concerning teacher professional development, particularly in relation to raising educational
standards, performance management and whole-school improvement planning. Teachers
who ask searching questions about educational practice that arise from their own contexts
and professional concerns demonstrate a commitment to continuous learning by seeking
new ideas, evaluating and reflecting on their impact, and trying out new ways of working
to improve their effectiveness. This approach to professional development underpins
concepts of the teacher as a reflective practitioner, a researcher and an extended professional.
These concepts are interrelated as Stenhouse (1975) argues, the outstanding feature of
extended professionals is their capacity and commitment to engage in autonomous self-
development through systematic self-study, reflection and research.
Central to your development as a teacher is your commitment and capacity to
analyse and evaluate what is happening in your own lessons and to use your professional
judgement both to reflect and act upon these analyses and evaluations to improve
pupil learning and the quality of your teaching. This enables you to make informed
judgements derived from an evidence base about the effectiveness of both.
Although reflective practice is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon, it is important
that you gain an insight and understanding of its core components as each component
4  Re fl e c t i v e p r a c t i c e f o r p r o f e s s i o n a l d e v elopmen t

plays a significant role in your on-going professional development. The purpose

of this chapter is to demystify this phenomenon and, in so doing, open your eyes
to the numerous factors and variables that may influence and impact the quality of
your teaching. This should enable you to exercise greater discernment in making
professional judgements about how and in what areas you need further development
so as to maximise the learning opportunities you provide for all your pupils from a
well-informed platform.
To that end, the Framework of Reflective Practice, designed to capture nine
dimensions of reflective practice in which teachers can demonstrate capacity and
commitment as they engage in research to study and improve their own teaching,
is presented here. The Framework, with its definition and associated dimensions
of reflective practice, provides you with specific focal points to guide and structure
evidence-informed practice.

Ref lectiv e pra ct i ce for professi o na l d e v e l o p m e nt

Figure 1.1 illustrates the Framework of Reflective Practice (Zwozdiak-Myers, 2010)
based around nine dimensions, which have been identified through a synthesis of
the literature on reflective practice advanced by eminent scholars, researchers and
practitioners within the field. The key attributes associated with reflective attitudes
(Dewey, 1933), extended professionals (Hoyle, 1974; Stenhouse, 1975) and the teacher
as a professional (Day, 1999; Eraut, 1994; Hoyle and John, 1995) are particularly
significant as these have resonance with the central features used to characterise the
teacher as researcher (Hopkins, 2002; Stenhouse, 1975). This construct supports
Moore’s (2000: 146) proposition that teachers should perceive themselves ‘as
researchers and theorists as well as practitioners’ as the pursuit of becoming a reflective
practitioner is not so much about the acquisition or development per se of the skills
and areas of knowledge required for successful teaching, but rather concerns ‘the
particular skills needed to reflect constructively upon on-going experience as a way of
developing those skills and knowledge and improving the effectiveness of one’s work’
(ibid.: 128).
Although the dimensions presented in Figure 1.1 might not appear to have well-
defined boundaries given the complex, interdependent nature of variables that abound
within the context of teaching and learning, they have been separated out to map the
salient features embedded within each, in relation to the development of reflective
practice. It is important to note that although the dimensions are presented in a linear,
sequential manner from 1 through 9, any one dimension can provide the initial catalyst
for reflective practice. For example, a debriefing session with a mentor or professional
tutor following an observation of your lesson might through discussion provide
the springboard from which you consider alternative perspectives and possibilities
(dimension 5) for future lessons, or you might decide to attend a specific training
session offered by your local authority or subject association to continue to improve
your own teaching (dimension 9). Following the initial impetus to engage in reflective
activity, other dimensions will come into play; ultimately they all interrelate and each
forms an integral part of the construct. The picture should begin to emerge as a
coherent whole.
Situated at the core of this framework, reflective practice is defined as:
 Reflective practice  5  

Consider
alternative
Try out
Question perspectives
new
their personal and
strategies
theories and possibilities
and ideas Maximise
Link theory beliefs
with their the learning
own practice potential
of all their
5 students
Systematically 4 6
Enhance the
evaluate their own teaching quality of their
3 Reflective practice is 7
through classroom research own teaching
a disposition to enquiry
procedures
incorporating the process through which
2 student, early career and experienced teachers 8
Study their own structure or restructure Continue to
teaching for personal actions, beliefs, knowledge and theories improve their
improvement 1 that inform teaching for the purpose of 9 own teaching
professional development

DIMENSIONS OF REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

Figure 1.1  Framework of reflective practice

a disposition to enquiry incorporating the process through which student, early

career and experienced teachers structure or restructure actions, beliefs, knowledge
and theories that inform teaching for the purpose of professional development.

Two very broad, interrelated strands – a disposition to enquiry and a process – are
embedded within this definition. Ways in which the work of key proponents within the
field contribute toward an understanding of the characteristic features associated with
the first strand are identified in the following sub-sections of this chapter.
The second strand, which captures reflective practice as a process, incorporates
numerous concepts advanced by theorists over past decades, particularly in relation
to the nature of reflective activity and its translation into professional practice. The
seminal work of Schon (1987) and his concepts of reflection in action and reflection on
action along with Kolb’s (1984) model of experiential learning are but two examples.
Although some of these processes are inextricably linked to a disposition to enquiry
and are briefly touched upon here, Chapters 3 through 11 explore the main concepts
and theories used to clarify the range of processes embedded within each dimension of
reflective practice highlighted in Figure 1.1.

Ref lectiv e pra ct ice a s a di sposi t io n to e nq ui ry

Reflective attitudes
Reflective practice as a disposition to enquiry has at its roots the early work of Dewey
(1933), specifically in relation to the reflective attitudes of open-mindedness, responsibility
and wholeheartedness, which he considers to be both prerequisite and integral to
reflective action.
Open-mindedness refers to the willingness to consider more than one side of an
argument and fully embrace and attend to alternative possibilities, which requires an
active desire to listen to more than one side and recognise that formerly held views and