Enhancing Pre-Service Teacher Training: The Construction and Application of a Model for Developing Teacher Reflective Practice Online

Mark Brooke

Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong, China.

DOI: 10.4236/ojml.2012.24023                

Abstract

Reflective practice is an essential component of pre-service teacher training programs. It facilitates the linking of theory and practice and empowers trainees to seek reasons behind their practices and their beliefs. These help novices to evolve as they witness their own teaching philosophies emerging. This research took place over 18 months and comprised 3 case studies of eight weeks with 3rd year ESOL trainees on their first intensive block practice in Hong Kong state schools. The research suggests that an online environment is an effective one in supporting and developing reflective practice during these periods. This was facilitated by asking trainees to apply an online model to scaffold reflections. These reflections were then posted and discussed by all case study members. They were also explored further using online moderator asynchronous Socratic dialogue to prompt further reflection. Findings demonstrate that a deep level of reflection is attainable in this context, albeit relatively rare, using the online medium.

Keywords

Pre-Service Teacher Training; Reflective Practice; Asynchronous Computer-Mediated Communication (ACMC); Action Research

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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