Reflective Teaching, 2nd Edition

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Multiple Choice Quiz

Short Essay / Discussion Questions

1. According to John Dewey, the process of reflecting for teachers begins when they have a difficulty or a “troublesome event.” Think about a few troublesome events you have had while teaching or have seen when observing. What did you do? What might a reflective teacher do in the same situation? What could you or that teacher do differently next time a troublesome event occurs in your class?
2. Dewey describes three attitudes that are needed for reflective action; what are they? How could you use these three traits to become a more reflective teacher in the future?
3. Chapter 2 talks about having a balance between reflection and routine, thought and action. Think of a normal teaching day. Now describe some areas where routines might be necessary and some areas where you could use reflection to benefit your students.
4. Sociologist C. Wright Mills argued that there are three types of believers: vulgar, sophisticated, and critical. Describe the three types. Which type of believer do you feel you are? What type would make the best teacher? Could a teacher be one type of believer on one idea and another type for a different idea?
5. Think about teachers you have observed. Describe the degree to which you felt their decisions were directed by others. How were their decisions directed by impulse, or by convention? Did any teacher actually stop to reflect on the proper course of action?

Video Case Studies

After viewing this chapter, I was more aware, keenly so, of technical practices and reflective practices in my teachings. With more understanding about technical practices and how those practices affect my responses to student actions and responses, I was able to identify where I was reframing situations and where I was not. I was able to reflect and evaluate my teaching style and see where I was engaged in in-action and on-action reflection, and when I was resorting to technical practices.

I came to the realization that the management and procedural systems I use for behavioral classroom management are, in essence, an obstacle in my reflection in-action. Although I certainly manipulate these systems to fit different children’s needs at times, as I am certain other teachers do, the behavior-management systems that are widely used are an easy fallback when unwanted or unsolicited and inappropriate responses occur in the classroom. The card system or clip system creates a situation in which children are warned or rewarded for those actions. These management systems create routine actions. These routine actions are made based on  impulse, authority, and a traditional behavioral system that is widely accepted and used across the nation in many schools. I found myself resorting to the system at times when I could not immediately change the situation or had not yet stepped back to reflect on the situation in-action or re-frame it.  In this situation, one would need to step back and “re-frame” the situation rather than fall back on the traditional, widely used behavior system. I have used positive reinforcement strategies as a management tool.  How could anyone go wrong with positive reinforcement?

I quickly realized that many of the techniques used were not beneficial in creating self-regulating and responsible students. Children become to want the award and not the behavior. Giving stickers to students when they finally did the right thing was only masking the underlying problem and didn’t allow me to get to the root of the issue or help the child understand and work through his or her action or behavior. One may think it is not practical or realistic to not use a behavioral management system with large class sizes and other circumstances that arise in the classroom, however, I am simply stating that teachers should be aware of the systems they use, why they are using them, and who are they good for. Routine, procedures, schedules, and expectations are all needed, but teachers should also be aware of how systems can limit the amount of reflection in-action while teaching.

Dewey mentioned a “collective code,” problems, goals, and the means for their accomplishment being defined in particular ways that can interfere with reflective teaching.  I immediately was able to pinpoint a “collective code” by the following stem given: “This is the way we do it at our school.” Currently, our school is adapting a school-wide behavioral-expectation system—PBIS. It is a popular system that many schools are adopting, and all teachers will be expected to speak the same language. Who is it good for, what does it accomplish, and how does it accomplish it? It will help manage and create order for the school and students. I understand that children need expectations, but whose expectations are they meeting and under what pretense? I am not “anti-systems,”  but teachers should be keenly aware that the system in place can be the same system that impedes their refection and hinders their ability to reframe situations when they arise.  

—MAT Student

Questions

1. Are there any routines or management systems in place that create actions that are routine and not reflective in your classroom or a classroom you have seen?
2. Has your thinking and feelings changed toward those systems after reading this chapter and the case study? How has the information in this chapter made you think differently? Would you change any of the systems in place that you have identified?
3. What behavioral management systems do you use? Who does the system benefit?  Reflecting back on this chapter, do you feel it affects your reflection in action?
4. Identify a collective code at your school. What is it? Who does it benefit?

Behavioral-management systems are used to hold kids accountable for their actions. Read the following excerpt from the article, “What Americans Keep Ignoring about Finland’s School Success.”

“There’s no word for accountability in Finnish,” he later told an audience at the Teachers College of Columbia University. “Accountability is something that is left when responsibility has been subtracted” (Pasi Sahlberg, director of the Finnish Ministry of Education's Center for International Mobility and author of the new book Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland)?

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/12/what-americans-keep-ignoring-about-finlands-school-success/250564/ (full article)

5. After carefully reading the excerpt by Pasi Sahlberg, how do you feel about his statement?

Additional Link on widely popular and used classroom behavior systems:

http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/jshindl/cm/Chapter19behavioralSystems-final.htm