Teacher educators should recognize preservice teachers' reflective judgment levels and provide guided reflection tailored to their epistemological assumptions¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

This strategy directs teacher educators to take preservice teachers' epistemological development into account when guiding reflection on field experiences. The article recommends that educators "recognize prospective teachers' reflective judgment levels, reassure them that the ill-defined dilemmas they find in classroom practice can be confusing but that they can learn to make the most justifiable decisions possible," and provide support tailored to individuals' reasoning styles. It further recommends helping novices collect and evaluate evidence rather than copy cooperating teachers, and providing regular structured dialogue with peers and mentors about ill-structured problems in a candid, non-threatening setting.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Regular, structured opportunities for dialogue with peers and mentors about ill-structured educational problems
• Support appropriate to individuals' reasoning styles

Constraints¶

• Teacher educators may fear fostering extreme relativism if uncertainty is emphasized without guidance toward weighing evidence

Target Learners¶

• preservice teachers in early field experiences

Target Learning Goals¶

• reflective reasoning about ill-defined dilemmas of practice
• evidence-based justification of teaching decisions

Affordances¶

• Reflective Judgment Model Rjm

Related Strategies¶

• Educators should internalize individual differences and consider the advantages and disadvantages of students' learning styles

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Schoen, L. (2005). Learning to make sense of the dilemmas of teaching practice: An exploration of preservice teachers' development of reflective judgment. Boston College. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED506804