Despite the fact that this article was written 40 years ago, I think there are still some really relevant points when it comes to my experience in teacher education in 2026. Notably, the article talks about how teaching candidates will be consistently bombarded with advice/suggestions for teaching practices by not only their professors, but also the teachers they work with. Even though we have yet to embark on our practicum, I believe this is still incredibly true nowadays, as it has felt like a big point of the program is to help us develop our own pedagogies and identities by offering a slew of different activities, philosophies etc. we can use. I can imagine this will only be furthered during our practicum when we are able to observe teaching in action and receive direct feedback instead of the more theoretical practice we get in our own education. Moreover, the article emphasized the importance of being reflective of your own teaching and in particular the educational, social, and political context in which our practice exists, something I feel has only gotten more relevant in recent years. Especially with how careful this program has been to urge us to seek out and consider differing view points, and help us understand that our actions exist within the context of a social institution and have far reaching consequences, this has clearly been a relevant topic for over four decades. I honestly felt that much of the larger sentiment in this article was still relevant for us as teaching candidates, especially the amount it highlighted being reflective as I agree that that is arguably the most important quality you can have as a teacher, particularily if you want to continuously improve. Apart from a few instances of examples that felt dated (such as when it asked us to question why “is math taught every day but science taught only once per week” which I do not believe to be the case anymore), I think much of the heart of this article has remained relevant since its release, and much of it speaking to my own intentions and goals within the program.
I think this has furthered my ideas of teacher inquiry by further cementing the importance of reflective teaching in its development of open-minded, productive teachers, and how inquiry inherently rests in reflection. I think we have all been aware of this, especially since it has been mentioned several times over the past week, but this article has given us some of the terms and examples to further understand it. For instance, defining routine action versus reflective action and what these two types of action/teaching can lead to and thus how important it is to be a reflective teacher if we want to make a positive impact on education as a whole. And, how reflective teaching will lead us to question our actions, and of those around us, leading to further inquiry into what pedagogies and philosophies are personally worthwhile. I think it also offers a call to action to us as teaching candidates to enter this program already primed to be curious and critical of different practices and choices, helping us develop a sense of inquiry and reflection before we’ve even got into the meat of the matter, which I believe will help us be better teachers entering the field.
Well said, Sarah!
ReplyDelete