Quality reflective practice in teacher education: a journey towards shared understanding

Abstract

This paper describes the process followed by a group of four primary and secondary teacher educators at a university in Sydney, Australia, to develop a collective understanding of the nature and value of reflective practice. The project developed a framework and set of indicators to assess the quality of pre-service teachers’ reflective writing and provide targeted feedback to support their ability to reflect on classroom practice. The process of developing the framework highlights the value of collaborative coding and collegial discussion as methods for establishing common understanding and shared practice of reflective writing in teacher education.

Keywords:

• reflective writing
• shared understanding
• depth of reflection
• assessment indicators
• pre-service teacher education