REFLECTIVE PRACTICES: A JOURNEY OF SELF DISCOVERY
Abstract
Reflection refers to the analysis and judgment of one’s personal thoughts and actions. It is a systematic collection of information about classroom happenings to analyze and evaluate this information to make changes and improvements in current practice (Farrell, 2007). This study was conducted to find out the impact of reflective practices that enabled prospective teachers to report their all activities and demonstrate their level of competency level as a professional teacher, including personal development, daily class activities and reflective discussions in the form of portfolio. The study was aimed to; (i) analyze the role of portfolio construction to enhance student teachers' reflection on practice and (ii) know the abilities and skills they enhanced during this activity. Qualitative interpretations of this study explored how prospective teachers discovered the meaning of reflective practice and practiced through portfolios development. Data from open ended questionnaire and students' written reflection depicted that portfolios are beneficial for students because of provision of enough opportunities for reflecting upon their practice. The reflective practices and portfolio development provided resources to mention the hidden curriculum. The results of the study reveal the challenges faced by the prospective teachers in development and effective implementation of the portfolio and shared their learned lessons along the way. The findings of the study suggested that the prospective teachers learned to reflect through various opportunities, in different contexts and developed many skills. This study has significant implications to provide insight for teacher educators who provide the scenarios of reflection to their prospective teachers to become efficient reflective practitioners.
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