Reflection levels and teaching practices of in-service English teachers in Indonesia

Sisilia Setiawati Halimi

Abstract


The continuation of reflection practices and the application of learned knowledge are crucial for teachers’ professional development, yet few studies explore how in-service teachers sustain reflection after training. This study addresses this gap by exploring an alternative to traditional journaling: a teacher camp that integrates reflective practices into an interactive and immersive experience. It investigates the levels of reflection of in-service English teachers who participated in the teacher camp and the correlation of these reflection levels to their teaching practices. In the five-day camp, English language teachers from all over Indonesia participated in various activities including teacher workshops, sharing and reflective sessions and other related activities. Every night during the camp, the teachers were asked to reflect on what they had learnt and how they would implement it in their teaching contexts. This study employed a multi-phase mixed methods research design. Four hundred and sixty teachers’ reflective writings were analysed to investigate the teachers’ reflection levels. Data analysis was performed using a thematic content analysis. In addition, a closed questionnaire and both open-ended closed questions were used to collect data on the relationship between the teachers’ reflection levels and their teaching practices. The findings revealed a significant correlation between these two aspects. Since most participants showed an understanding of the importance of in-depth reflection for their overall professional development, the impact of the reflection practice on their teaching practices will also be discussed.  Recommendations for further research in this area were provided.

Keywords


In-service EFL teachers; levels of reflection; teachers’ perceptions; teacher professional development; Written reflections

Full Text:

PDF

References


Akbari, R., Behzadpoor, F., & Dadvand, B. (2010). Development of English language teaching reflection inventory. System, 38, 211-227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2010.03.003

Altalhab, S., Alsuhaibani, Y., & Gillies, D. (2021). The reflective diary experiences of EFL pre-service teachers. Reflective Practice, 22(2), 173-186.

https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2020.1865903

Bradbury, O. J., Fitzgerald, A., & O'Connor, J. P. (2020). Supporting pre-service teachers in becoming reflective practitioners using conversation and professional standards. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 45(10), 18-34. http://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2020v45n10.2

Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education. Routledge.

Chung, E. (2023). Eleven factors contributing to the effectiveness of dialogic reflection: Understanding professional development from the teacher's perspective. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 18(2), 268-288.

https://doi.org/10.1080/1554480X.2021.2013234

Cirocki, A., Indrarathne, B., & Calderón, V. E. A. (2024). Effectiveness of professional development training on reflective practice and action research: a case study from Ecuador. Reflective Practice, 25(5), 676–694. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2024.2384124

Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage Publications, Inc.

Dewey, J. (1993). How we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process. D. C. Heath.

Fallah, N., & Nazari, M. (2019). L2 teachers’ beliefs about corrective feedback: The mediating role of experience. English Teaching & Learning, 43, 147-164. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42321-019-00020-7

Farahian, M., & Rajabi, Y. (2022). An investigation into the level of reflection and barriers to EFL teachers’ reflective practice. International Journal of Research in English Education 7(2), 81-100. https://doi.org/10.52547/ijree.7.2.81

Farrell, T. S. C. (2013). Reflective teaching. TESOL International Association.

Farrell, T. S. C. (2019). Reflection-as-action in ELT. TESOL International Association.

Griffiths, V. (2000). The reflective dimension in teacher education. International Journal of Educational Research, 33, 539-555. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0883-0355(00)00033-1

Gudeta, D. (2022). Professional development through reflective practice: The case of Addis Ababa secondary school EFL in-service teachers. Cogent Education, 9, 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2022.2030076

Hatton, N., & Smith, D. (1995). Reflection in teacher education: Towards definition and implementation. Teaching and Teacher Education, 11(1), 33-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/0742-051X(94)00012-U

Hébert, C. (2015). Knowing and/or experiencing: A critical examination of the reflective models of John Dewey and Donald Schön. Reflective Practice, 16(3), 361-371. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2015.1023281

Higgins, C. (2007). Reflections on a line from Dewey. In L. Bresler (Ed.), International handbook of research in arts education (pp. 389-394). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-3052-9_23

Hung, D. M., & Thuy, P. T. (2021). Reflective teaching perceived and practiced by EFL teachers--A case in the South of Vietnam. International Journal of Instruction, 14(2), 323-344 .https://doi.org/10.29333/iji.2021.14219a

James, T., Griffin, H., Johnston, K. S., & Armstrong, F. (2023). Reflective minds, brighter futures: Empowering critical reflection with a guided instructional model. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 20(6), 1-27.

https://doi.org/10.53761/1.20.6.9

Karimi, M. N., & Nazari, M. (2019). L2 teachers’ representations of classroom management events: Variations across experience levels. Iranian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 22(1), 27-72. https://ensani.ir/fa/article/445506/l2-teachers-representations-of-classroom-management-events-variations-across-experience-levels

Karimi, M. N., & Norouzi, M. (2019). ‘Cognitive aging’ in teachers: L2 teachers’ cognitive performance across various stages in their teaching career. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 13, 371-388. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2018.1466893

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice-Hall.

Le, T. T., Pham. T. T., Nguyen, A. T., Phuong, H.Y., Huynh, T. A. T. & Nguyen, H. T. (2023) An insight into reflective teaching levels of Vietnamese EFL teachers in a premier language center. Cogent Education, 10(2), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2023.2243118

Lave J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815355

Mackenzie, L. (2018). Investigating reflection in written assignments on CELTA Courses. ELT Journal, 73(1), 11-20. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccy037

Ong, W. A., Swanto, S., AlSaqqaf, A., & Ong, J. W. (2021). Promoting reflective practice via the use of 5-step Copora reflective model: A case study of East Malaysian ESL pre-service teachers. TEFLIN Journal 32(1), 72-96. https://doi.org/10.15639/teflinjournal.v32i1/72-96

Orakci, Ş. (2021). Teachers’ reflection and level of reflective thinking on the different dimensions of their teaching practice. International Journal of Modern Education Studies, 5(1), 117-145. http://doi.org/10.51383/ijonmes.2021.88

Rodgers, C. (2002). Defining reflection: Another look at John Dewey and reflective thinking. Teachers College Record, 104(4), 842-866. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9620.00181

Salih, A. A., & Omar, L. I. (2022). Reflective teaching in EFL online classrooms: teachers' perspective. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 13(2), 261-270.

https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1302.05

Shavit, P., & Moshe, A. (2019). The contribution of reflective thinking to the professional development of pre-service teachers. Reflective Practice, 20(4), 548-561. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2019.1642190

Simpson, D. J., Jackson, M. J. B., & Simpson, J. C. (2004). John Dewey and the art of teaching: Toward reflective and imaginative practice. Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452232386

Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Basic Books.

Swatevacharkul, R. (2019). Promoting pre-service EFL teacher reflection: An investigation of reflection levels in Thai context. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 9(2), 463-471. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v9i2.20244

Torabzadeh, S., & Tavassoli, K. (2021). Exploring differences in novice, experienced, and highly experienced teachers’ reflectivity: A mixed methods study. The Journal of Asia TEFL, 18(3), 1040-1048. https://doi.org/10.18823/asiatefl.2021.18.3.24.1040

Torabzadeh, S., & Hashamdar, M. (2022). Exploring differences in novice and experienced teachers self-efficacy: A mixed methods study. MEXTESOL Journal, 46(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.61871/mj.v46n1-6

Tsui, A. B. M. (2009). Distinctive qualities of expert teachers. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 15, 421–439. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600903057179

Velasco, E. (2024). Reflective practice: A corpus-based analysis of in-service ESL teachers' reflective discourse. Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research, 12(1), 83-105. https://doi.org/10.30466/ijltr.2024.121419

Ward, J. R., & McCotter, S.S. (2004). Reflection as a visible outcome for pre-service teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20(3), 243–257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2004.02.004

Yee, B. C., Abdullah, T., & Mohd Nawi, A. (2022). Exploring pre-service teachers' reflective practice through an analysis of six-stage framework in reflective journals. Reflective Practice, 23(5), 552-564.

https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2022.2071246




DOI: https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v15i1.80324

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


View My Stats

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.