Promoting a culture of reflection in teacher education: the challenge of large lecture settings

Abstract

The promotion of reflective practice, while widely advocated in higher education settings, nonetheless presents numerous challenges. This is an under-researched aspect of the discourse on reflective practice. A key challenge for those working in the field of teacher education within higher education is to promote a culture of refection in large group teaching settings. This article reports on the results of a study undertaken in a university in the Republic of Ireland, which examined the potential for developing this area with student teachers, using reflective verbalisation as an organising framework. Locating the discussion within the framework of the theoretical literature on reflective verbalisation, the paper contributes to the ongoing international debate about the facilitation of reflective practice within teacher education in large group educational settings.

Keywords:

• curriculum evaluation
• higher education
• large group teaching
• reflective verbalisation
• teacher education