Reflection in teacher education: how can it be supported?

The main aim of this article is to explore the ways in which teacher educators can improve levels of reflection in postgraduate student teachers. The author argues that postgraduate student teachers are able to reflect on their practice in schools, and that the insights gained are useful in clarifying their own beliefs about teaching and learning. The outcome of such reflection at an early stage of their career may have implications for their ability to engage with the development opportunities made available to them as they move through their teaching careers. Using a qualitative approach, data from the learning journals and reflective writing assignments of student teachers, and a focus group interview, are examined in order to evaluate students' ability to engage in reflective writing at various stages over a 1 year course. The support given to students over the course of the year is examined with a view to evaluating its impact on students' abilities to reflect on their practice and their own learning. A number of recommendations are made for possible improvements to supporting student teachers in this important area of work

The Use of a narrative approach to illuminate an individual learning need: implications for teachers’ professional development

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the current focus of teachers' continuing professional development in the area of special educational needs is competency-based. This focus reflects the government's policy view of special educational provision in schools, which is closely compatible with a ‘technical rational’ (technicist) approach to management (Habermas, 1974). Technicist approaches assume that what needs to be managed, the purposes to be achieved and the management process are clear, fixed and unproblematic. Personal experiences of those closely concerned with the special needs area in schools, especially of those involved with designing or receiving special provision, suggest a contrary view. The real world in schools is fraught with uncertainty, complexity and conflicting viewpoints. This article will illustrate how a technicist approach is inadequate to address management practices in special educational provision. It will go on to discuss ways in which practice in this area can most effectively be conceptualised from the perspective of a reflective practitioner (Schön, 1983, 1987