1. Reflective Practice in Early Childhood Education
Erin Chatterton
EDPS 854
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Abstract
This project connects cognitive instruction and
psychology concepts to the framework of reflective
practice in early childhood (EC) teacher education
at a teacher training site.
University teacher training sites such as Ruth
Staples Child Development Lab (CDL) at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln use models of
reflective practice which are informed by the
National Association for the Education of Young
Children (NAEYC) as well as social cognitive
theories.
Reflective practice is a dynamic interaction
between teacher trainer and student teacher. In the
EC setting, teacher trainers are required to model as
well as explicitly teach reflective practice. Student
teachers need to leave a teacher training experience
with the necessary tools to effectively reflect on
their teaching behaviors and beliefs.
The model of reflective practice used by Ruth
Staples Child Development Laboratory holds
potential to have an even greater effect on the
transformation of a student teachers’ behaviors and
beliefs in an early childhood classroom. The model
needs to feature more frequent self-assessment as
well as a pre- and post- teacher’s self efficacy scale.
Positively impact the self-regulation, self-efficacy,
and critical thinking skills of early childhood student
teachers at an early childhood teacher training site.
Reflective practice of student teachers is defined as
adopting “a critical attitude toward their classroom
practice by engaging in ongoing and focused reflection”
(Cavanah & Prescott, 2010, p.147).
I would administer teaching self-reflection forms to student
teachers at the Ruth Staples CDL three times more often per semester in
order to help student teachers become more cognitively aware of their
evolving behaviors and beliefs about EC education. The student teachers
would be presented with five self-reflections to complete throughout the
semester, one every other week.
I would also ask student teachers to complete a Teacher’s Self of
Efficacy Scale (TSES) (Tschannen-Moran, 2001), adapted for an EC
setting. This scale would challenge teachers to rate themselves in the
areas of student engagement, efficacy for using effective classroom
strategies, and efficacy for classroom management. Lastly, I would
record video observations of formal and informal feedback and reflection
sessions.
References
Bruning, R.H., Schraw, & G.J., Norby. (2011). Cognitive psychology and instruction. Pearson Education, Inc. Boston, MA.
Cavanagh, M., & Prescott, A. (2010). The growth of reflective practice among three beginning secondary mathematics teachers. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 38(2), 147-159.
Jones-Branch, J. (2010). Scaffolding: A close examination of support in the inquiry process. The Constructivist. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from researchgate.net.
Krummel Reinking, A. (2015). Increasing Accountability Measures of Early Childhood Teachers Using Evaluation Models: Observation, Feedback, and Self-Assessment. Current Issues in Education, 18(1), 1-9.
Lane, R., McMaster, H., Adnum, J., & Cavanagh, M. (2014). Quality reflective practice in teacher education: a journey towards shared understanding. Reflective Practice, 15(4), 481-494.
National Association for the Education of Young Children. Professional Development. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/ecp
National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2005) Teachers: A guide to the NAEYC early childhood program standard and related accreditation criteria. NAEYC Accreditation.
National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2009). The Mentor-Student Relationship- From Observer to Teacher. NAEYC Interest Forums, January 2009. Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/On%/20Our%20Minds%20NAEYC.pdf
National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2010). NAEYC Professional Preparation Standards. (NAEYC). Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/caep/standards.
O'Connor, A., & Diggins, C. (2002). On reflection. Reflective practice for early childhood educators. Location: Open Mind Publishing.
Patil, S. S. J. (2013). Reflective practice in education. Global Online Electronic International Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 2(1), 356-358.
Piaget, J. (1953). The origin of intelligence in the child. Location: Routledge & Paul.
Powell, K. C., & Kalina, C. J. (2009). Cognitive and social constructivism: Developing tools for an effective classroom. Education, 130(2), 241-250.
Strader, W. H. (2009). The Mentor-Student Relationship-From Observer to Teacher. YC Young Children, 64(1), 54-57.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Language and thought. Location: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press.
Measures
How Intervention Addresses Core Psychological Concepts
Purpose
Proposed Intervention
Critical thinking is supported in the EC teacher training setting
largely through formal reflection meetings. Self-assessment forms and
surveys (TSES, self-reflection forms) aid a student teacher in how to think
rather what to think (Bruning, 2011). Student teachers not only need to solve
their own problems as growing pre-service teachers, but also aid in solving
everyday preschool problems within the EC classroom. Teacher trainers are
modeling critical thinking of an EC teacher through formal interactions
(feedback sessions and reflection meetings), requiring critical thinking of
student teachers through self-assessment, and modeling critical thinking by
teaching young children problem-solving processes. Knowledge, inference,
evaluation, and metacognition are subskills of cognition that can be readily
observed at a quality EC teacher training site (Bruning, 2011). The proposed
intervention involves video observations being taken of formal and informal
feedback. I would video record feedback and reflection sessions and code
for conversation regarding critical thinking components. Student teachers
are required to be aware of developmental levels of each child (knowledge)
and make connections (inferences) to curriculum based off of that
awareness. Then they are required to evaluate the validity of their inferences
and become more cognitive of the evolution of their thinking in regards to
beliefs and practices in the EC setting. The critical thinking aspect of the
intervention would be largely supplemented by self-regulation and self-
efficacy interventions.
The proposed intervention would positively impact self-regulated
learning of student teachers in that they would be required to perform three
extra self-reflections throughout the semester, making the total five self-
reflections. I believe this would aid student teachers in becoming more
cognizant of their growth as an EC teacher. Student teachers make a plan
and set goals in a formal reflection meeting, as well as personal goals which
may or may not be explicitly stated to the teacher trainer. They are also
required to assess how and which goals were achieved. The teacher trainers
also encourage self-regulation through modeling and efficient instruction of
reflective practices in an EC setting.
Self-efficacy development is supported in the EC teacher training
setting through each interaction between student teacher and child or student
teacher and teacher trainer or student teacher and the parents of children.
Increasing students’ awareness of the self-efficacy concept, using expert
modeling, providing feedback, and encouraging self-regulation can be
supplemented by the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) being
administered towards the beginning and end of the EC student teaching
experience. Student teachers would have the opportunity to analyze their
beliefs more thoroughly throughout the semester, which would most likely
impact how student teachers believe they can significantly affect their
students.
I will be able to measure the impact of reflective practice at an EC
teacher training site using each core psychological concept which I have
previously addressed as a guide. Each measure involves recording change
and understanding emerging themes in some way or another. For the self-
regulated learning theory, I would be able to know if my intervention
involving more self-reflections worked if an evolution of beliefs could be
documented. In the self-reflections, I will be looking for language which
applies to self-regulation within the teacher training context, and create
themes to connect the concept to the reflective practice framework.
I will be able to measure the impact of reflective practice on self-
efficacy using the TSES. This will measure the change over time in student
teachers’ beliefs about teaching self-efficacy. Critical thinking can be
measured by coding video observations of feedback and reflection situations
for language regarding critical thinking components.
Discussion
Overall, this project has aided me in
thinking more critically about my Scholarly
Discovery Project which I am working towards
completing in the next semester. I was able to
release much of my cognitive load into the
paper, so that I could free up some space for
new fresh ideas. Cognition in instruction,
especially blended with reflective practice, is
very valid to my professional development. I
enjoy the challenge of getting to know new
student teachers each semester as a Graduate
Assistant at Ruth Staples CDL, because I have
to individualize my instruction based on my
knowledge of each student teacher’s abilities
and beliefs. I will present my intervention ideas
from this project to the Ruth Staples CDL staff
before the new semester. This way each
classroom will have a more detailed model of
reflective practice to reference throughout a
semester of teacher training the EC setting. I
believe that my intervention, even though it
increases the workloads of student teachers,
would positively impact many aspects of
reflective practice at an EC teacher training site.