Student teachers’ patterns of reflection in the context of teaching practice

Abstract

This study clarifies the basic structure of student teachers’ reflective thinking. It presents a constructivist account of teacher knowledge through a detailed analysis of various patterns of reflection in student teacher portfolios. We aim to gain a greater understanding of the process and outcomes of portfolio writing in the context of teaching practice. By closely analysing portfolio texts, we defined six main starting points for reflective episodes and several patterns under each of them. Also, the patterns of reflective episodes were analysed according to their deductive and inductive dimensions, together with their static and dynamic features. According to our results, it is possible that student teachers can reflect beyond solely practical issues on teaching, articulate multiple concerns about practice and elaborate them in an integrative manner as well as learn both from theory and from practice as a result of reflection for their future profession.

Keywords:

• student teachers
• reflective practice
• teaching practice
• teacher education