VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ------------------- ------------------- NGUYỄN THỊ MINH THANH NGUYỄN THỊ MINH THANH USINGJOURNALS USING JOURNALSAS ASAAMEANS MEANSOF OFTEACHER’S TEACHER’SREFLECTION-ON- REFLECTION- ON-ACTION TOENHANCE ACTION TO ENHANCETEACHING TEACHINGQUALITY QUALITYAT ATFACULTY FACULTYOF OF ENGLISH ENGLISH––HANOI HANOINATIONAL NATIONALUNIVERSITY UNIVERSITYOF OFEDUCATION EDUCATION (Sử dụng hình thức ghi nhật kí để tự đánh giá sau bài dạy của giáo viên nhằm nâng cao (Sử dụng hình thứclượng chất ghi nhậtgiảng dạy kí để tự ở giá đánh khoasau tiếng bài dạyAnh, củatrường Đại giáo viên nhằm Sưcao nâng học phạm lượng chất Hà giảng dạy Nội) ở khoa tiếng Anh, trường Đại học Sư phạm Hà Nội) M. MINOR THESIS Field: English Field: Teaching English Methodology Teaching Methodology Code: 60.10 HANOI– –2012 HANOI 2012 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ------------------- NGUYỄN THỊ MINH THANH USING JOURNALS AS A MEANS OF TEACHER’S REFLECTION- ON-ACTION TO ENHANCE TEACHING QUALITY AT FACULTY OF ENGLISH – HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION (Sử dụng hình thức ghi nhật kí để tự đánh giá sau bài dạy của giáo viên nhằm nâng cao chất lượng giảng dạy ở khoa tiếng Anh, trường Đại học Sư phạm Hà Nội) M. MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60. Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa HANOI – 2012 1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv PART I: INTRODUCTION 1.
Aims of the study. Scope of the study. Methods of the study. Significance of the study.
Overview of the study. 4 PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORITICAL BACKGROUND 1. Types of reflection. Journals as a means of reflection.
Functions and advantages of journals. Focus of journal writing. 13 vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Analysis of journals.
Prompts for journal entries. Guidelines for writing journals. Data collection instruments. 22 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 1.
Data analysis approach. Results of questionnaire. Teachers’ understanding of reflective practice. Teachers’ use of reflective practice.
Teachers’ use of journals. Results of analyzing reflective journals. 30 vii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Results of interview.
Effectiveness of journal writing. Difficulties in reflection process. 35 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS 1. 39 PART III: CONCLUSION 1.
Limitations and suggestions for further study. 44 APPENDICES viii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Reflective practice has become a major focus in ESL/EFL teacher education programs worldwide since it is undoubtedly beneficial and essential for professional growth and more effective teaching. As cited in Maat and Zakaria (2010), reflection has contributed to self improvement (Schon, 1983).
This will lead to the changes in teachers’ cognition and teaching practices (Cooney, Shealy & Arnold, 1997, cited in Maat & Zakaria, 2010). According to Cohen and Hill (2000), reflection can be used as a tool to investigate teaching practices in order to achieve meaningful educational reform. Some people may argue that experience is the key to professional growth as teachers form routines and strategies to deal with recurring situations of teaching. However, according to Parker (1984), research shows that “for many experienced teachers, many classroom routines and strategies are applied almost automatically and do not involve a great deal of conscious thought or reflection” (cited in Richard and Lockhart, 1996, p.
These researchers asserted that it is vital to examine experience in a systematic way so that it can play a productive role. Sharing the same viewpoint, Odeh, Kurt, and Atamtürk stated that reflective practice allows teachers to “think about what, how and why they do it” and therefore “step out of routine action and make adaptations to match the needs of the learners” (p. Larrivee and Cooper (2006) also insisted that there are many reasons why teachers should be reflective. One of the obvious reasons is that they have to cope with a wide range of situations and make several decisions regarding their students.
Being reflective and critical will help them effectively deal with complexities of classrooms. Another reason is that there are growing demands on teachers, which may cause them to feel isolated. Systematic reflection could help teachers take 1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com control of their teaching and feel self-confident. In addition, reflective practice helps teachers avoid routines and promotes responsibility for their actions.
As can be seen, the importance of reflection to professional development of teaching is undeniable. However, although teachers are aware of the benefits and importance of reflective practice, they do not apply it to their teaching practice. The fact that several procedures take place simultaneously during a lesson makes it difficult for teachers to be aware of their own teaching mistakes in classrooms and why they happen. This is illustrated by Richard and Lockart (1996) when he quoted the comments by a number of teachers after watching their own videotaped teaching: I had no idea I did so much talking and didn’t let students practice.
My pacing was terrible. I didn't give students enough time to practice one task before going on to another. I did a bad job on the group work exercises. The students didn't understand what they were supposed to do.
I seemed to ignore half the students in the class. Concerning the use of reflective practice, the research by Odeh, Kurt, and Atamtürk showed that “there is a gap between theory and practice” and that the majority of participating teachers practice reflection-in-action and ignore reflection-on-action – a deeper level of reflection. The case of EFL teachers at the Faculty of English, Hanoi National University of Education (FOE – HNUE) is no exception. As a novice teacher, the researcher finds that reflective practice is of great value to professional development; however, from her own experience and observation as well as discussions with her colleagues, this activity is not popular despite the teachers’ awareness of its benefits.
Reflection is especially of great significance because teachers in this context are training teachers-to-be, and it is stated by Scales that “Reflective teachers are more likely to develop reflective learners. If we practice reflection we can more effectively 2 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com encourage learners to reflect on, analyze, evaluate, and improve their own learning.14) Due to the importance of reflective practice in professional self-development and the above-mentioned current situation, it is desirable to introduce activities to promote teachers’ reflection-on-action. In this action research, journal writing is introduced as a means of reflection to hopefully enhance teachers’ reflective practice and teaching quality. Aims of the study This study is an attempt to promote teacher’s reflection-on-action in FOE-HNUE via the use of journal writing.
It will investigate the effectiveness of this activity and the teachers’ difficulties when using journals as a means of reflection-on- action. To fulfill this purpose, the study aims to answer the following question: How effective is journal writing as a means of reflection-on-action effective in promoting teaching quality as perceived by teachers? 2. Scope of the study This study focuses on enhancing teachers’ reflection-on-action of teachers at FOE – HNUE using journal writing. Within its scope, the research aims at justifying the effectiveness of using this means of reflection as perceived by the participants and investigating their difficulties in their reflective practice.
Methods of the study This study is conducted as an action research because it aims at promoting teachers’ reflection-on-action within a certain context, namely the Faculty of English, Hanoi National University of Education. In order to fulfill that aim, journal writing is utilized by the participants. Interviews and teachers’ reflection journals are employed in order to get data which are analyzed by qualitative method. 3 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.
Significance of the study This research provides an opportunity for the participants in the target context to systematically reflect on their teaching, from which they can have their own assessment of the effectiveness of journal writing as a means of reflection-on-action. This will accordingly lead to their decision on whether to continue using journals in their professional development process or not. In addition, the findings on teachers’ obstacles when using this means of reflection will hopefully help to improve the effectiveness of this activity, which eventually aims at enhancing teachers’ self- development and teaching quality. Overview of the study This paper is divided into the following main parts: Part I: Introduction - presents the rationale, aims of study, research questions, scope, method, significance, and organization of the study.
Part II: Development - this part is divided into 4 chapters as follows: Chapter 1: Theoretical background – provides the theoretical framework of reflective practice and journal writing. Chapter 2: Methodology – describes the study population, the research design as well as data gathering instruments. Chapter 3: Results and discussion - analyses and discusses data Chapter 4: Findings and implications - presents findings and implications. Limitations and suggestions for further research are also provided.
Part III: Conclusion – gives summary of the research and limitations as well as suggestions for further study. 4 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1. Definition In teaching, reflective thinking, reflective inquiry, reflective teaching, reflection and reflective practice are used more or less as synonyms. In this study, these terms are understood interchangeably.
Since originated by John Dewey (1933), the concept of reflective practice has been defined in many ways by various researchers. According to this educator, it is when people face a complex situation and wonder what needs to be done that they begin to reflect on that situation. He stated that the purpose of reflective practice is to direct the teacher in taking actions and in making decisions. In order to clarify his ideas, Dewey provided a distinction between routine actions and reflection actions, between unsystematic thoughts and reflective thinking.
In Dewey’s view, teachers who act routinely react to circumstances without thinking about the reasons or different alternatives. These teachers often take things for granted and do not try to justify their teaching methods, resulting in limited numbers of solutions. As a result, non-reflective teachers often fail to recognize problems, have little motivation for improvement, and are therefore unlikely to fulfill their professional potential. In contrast, reflective teachers do not follow habitual ways of teaching.
They spend time considering what happens in classroom and the consequences of their actions with the aim of improving their performance. Reflective teachers engage themselves in thoughtful consideration of dilemmas in their own teaching practice and think about these dilemmas in relation to several factors and contexts. This distinction between mere thinking and reflection is also emphasized by Scales with a list of features of reflection in professional settings as follows: 5 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Deliberate Purposeful Structured About linking theory and practice To do with learning About change and development – becoming a reflective teacher (http://www.uk/openup/chapters/9780335222407.pdf) Dewey, as cited in Odeh, Kurt, and Atamtürk, finally came to the conclusion that reflection “emancipates us from merely impulsive and routine activity.enables us to direct our activities with foresight and to plan according to ends-in-view, or purposes of which we are aware. It enables us to act in deliberate and intentional fashion to know what we are about when we act” (p.2) Larrivee and Cooper (2006, p.4) cited different definitions for this concept by several authors, some of which are as follows.
Reflective practice is: A process that helps teachers think about what happened, why it happened, and what else could have been done to reach their goals (Cruickshank & Applegate, 1981, p.