1. I.F.D.C. Lenguas Vivas
Taller de Práctica Docente
Dimensions of Reflective Learning
Student:Lorena A Campos
Adaptedfrom Karen Barnstable (2009)
These fourdimensionsare intendedto help teachers gaina deeper understandingofthemselves
and oftheir actions.
ThinkingBack
Thinkingabouta pedagogical experience retrospectivelymayallow teacherstorevisitthe entire
experience fromadifferentperspective. Theymayask
What was the original aimof thisproject/experience?
Were the objectives,activitiesandthe use of resourcescoherentwithapedagogical
perspective?
Was it significantforlearners?Why?/Why not?
What specificskills/knowledge/attributeswere necessarytodevelopthisteaching
experience?
What didI learnfromthis experience?
ThinkingForward
Reflectingonhowtoact differentlyinthe future mayhelpteacherstotransformand
improve theirteachingpractices.
Questionsthatmayfosterunderstandingof future implicationsaboutteachingare:
If I hadthe chance to developthisproject/practiceagain,whatchangeswouldImake?
How mightthisproject/experience influence myfuture goals?
How mightthisproject/experience affectmyfuture pedagogical decisions?
2. ThinkingInward
Turninginwardscan raise teachers'awarenessof theiremotions.Introspectivereflectionshelp
teachersundergomeaningful teachingexperiences.Questionsthatmaytriggerintrospective
reflectionsare:
Why wasthisproject/experiencemeaningful tome?
What are mypersonal beliefsregardingthisexperience?
Am I satisfiedwiththe wayIdevelopedthispractice?Why/Why not?
What differenceshasthe experience made inmyintellectual,personal orethical
development?
How didI feel duringthisexperience?
ThinkingOutward
To reflectonthe worldaroundus, we shouldbe aware of others'viewpointsand
attitudes.Thinkingoutwardmayencourage teacherstoexpandtheirownviewsorto
reaffirmtheirpositions.Questionsthatmayallow teacherstoreflectoutwardlyare:
What ismy viewregardingthistopic,problemorsituation?Are there any
alternative viewpoints?
Whichof these viewpointsmake the mostsense?
Is itpossible toarticulate theminordertoanalyse the complex nature of realityandgaina
deeperunderstandingof it?
Is mycurrent viewbeneficial toothers?Why/Why not?
Doesthe situation/problemhave social,political,economic,ethical implications.
The original aimof thisexperiencewastoteach childrenatprimary level successfully. Considering
my tutor’scomments,the local teacher’scomments andmypersonal observation Icansay that
my objectives,activitiesandresourcestoteachwere good.Icouldcatch students’attention
duringall the lessons,because I workedwithcolourful andsuitable postersthathelpedthemto
learnthe vocabularyandsome grammatical structures.Itriedto choose famous charactersthat
were familiartothem.
Theywere interestedinlearningthe new topicsand vocabularyinEnglish,they participatedinall
the activitiesproposedbyme.
To developthisteachingexperience,Ihadto put intopractice all the knowledge thatIhad studied
duringthe fourpast yearsin ‘Didactics´ ‘Psychology forchildren’and ‘Psychologyforteenagers’
3. subjects.(Insidethislastsubject thatImentioned, we studythe Pre-teenstage).Mygroupof
studentsbelongedto6th
grade,so theywere inthe middle of childhoodandpre- adolescence.
Apart fromthat,I alsotookintoaccount my teacher’sandthe local teacher’s advice.
Once,I workedwith children atprimaryschool,butnotfor a longtime…I only worked fortwo
daysas a replacementteacher!(I didn’tlikethatexperience because childrenhadmanybehaviour
problems!). So,doingmypractice atPrimarylevel waschallengingforme.Atthe beginning, Iwas
so nervous.However,Ihave tosay it wasan amazingexperience. StudentsatNiñoJesus School
were verycalmand respectful.Thiscontributed tocreate acomfortable atmosphere towork.
If I hadthe chance of doingthispractice again,I wouldworkwithsongs,I would give themmore
gamesinwhichtheycan use the language orallylike ‘charades’(due tothe facttheyenjoyedthese
typesof activitiesverymuch.)
Thisexperience influenced myfuture goals,because now Iknow thatI’mcapable of workingwith
childrenatprimary school. I mean,Ifeel more confidenttoworkatthis level!Italsoshowedme
that it’strue we can successif we applydifferentteachingstrategiesthatare accordingto our
students’age,levelandinterests.
Thisexperience wasreallymeaningful tome, due tothe fact that inthe past, I hadhad a bad
experience atprimaryschool.Now,Ihave anotherpointof view. Throughthese lessonsI
experiencedapersonal development,Idiscovered thatIhave tobe more confident regardingto
whatI learntduringmy careerand trust a bitmore on my capacities.
I’msatisfiedwiththe wayIdevelopedmypractice.Duringthese lessons,Ifeltverywell.Ilikedthe
institutionvery much!The teacherandthe headmistressare nice people,sothiscontributedto
create a goodworkingrelationship.
Unfortunately,there wasaproblematicsituationinmygroupof students.Duringmythree
observations andmysix lessons Inoticedthatone of the students‘Dante’neededmore attention,
neededbeingmore guidedbythe teacher thanthe restof the students.Dante gotdistractedvery
easily, he talked all the time about video-gamesandcartoons. Iaskedthe teacherabouthim.She
toldme that Dante didn`thave anykindof problem,he justgotdistractedveryeasily.
In myopinion, he hasADD (AttentionDeficitDisorder). Ibelievethe teacherhadtopay more
attentiontohim,andattendedhisneedswhenhe askedfora secondexplanationorforhelp.
WhenI gave my lessons,Imade posterswithcharactersandpicturesthatwere attractedfor all
the students.Besides,I triedtocatch Dante’sattention bytellinghim‘DoyouunderstandDante?
Do youneedhelp?’ alsoIansweredall hisrequirements.Ibelievethishelpedhim,because he
showed himself more motivatedtowork anda bit more concentratedonthe lesson.
Thissituationhasa social implication.Often, manyteachersaren’tpreparedtodeal withthiskind
of situations.I’mnote tellingthatI’man expertonthistopic,I justdid a short course regardingit.
The thingis that we as teachers, have togive the bestof ourselvestoourstudents.We can’t think
‘If he pays attentionandlearns it`sgreat,if not it’sok too’we have to helpeachchildto overcome
theirproblems,we have toencourage andmotivate themduringtheirlearningprocess.
Finally, Ibelieve we have to informourselvesaboutthe differentsyndromespresentedinour
society,inorderto knowhowinclude andhelppeople withthese conditions.
