Promoting and investigating students' uptake of reflective practice: a Pakistan case

Abstract

Today reflection is considered one of the essential principles underlying good teaching practice and teacher education. However, this tacit acknowledgement that teachers need to be reflective practitioners and the development of reflective practice has largely been in the West. Teachers in Pakistan and most of the developing world are generally unaware of what the term ‘reflective practice’ means. This article presents findings of a study that was undertaken to observe course participants' uptake of an alternate approach to engaging students in reflective practice during a module offered to students in the Masters programme at the Aga Khan University–Institute for Educational Development, Karachi. It describes the practical ways in which students' reflections were generated during the module. It also presents various findings that emerged from these reflective activities, highlighting the successes and challenges of promoting reflection in the said manner. The article further identifies issues that need to be considered if reflective practice is to be nurtured in teacher education institutes in Pakistan and elsewhere in the developing world to ensure the development of reflective teachers.