This was the presentation given at the ATEA conference in 2015 in Darwin. If you have any feedback or questions, please contact me via my website paulinekroberts.com

1. School of Education
Edith Cowan University
Centre for Research in Early Childhood
Renewed Focus for an Existing
Problem in Teacher Education
Dr. Pauline Roberts
Edith Cowan University
School of Education
Centre for Research in Early
Childhood
pauline.roberts@ecu.edu.au
Reflection

2. School of Education
Edith Cowan University
“a fixing of the thoughts
on something; careful
consideration” (The
Concise Macquarie Dictionary,
1982)
reflective thinking (Dewey, 1933)
reflective learning (Boyd & Fales, 1983)
reflective teaching (Bailey, 1997)
critical reflection (Mezirow, 1997)
mindfulness (Tremmel, 1993)
“active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or
supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that
support it and further conclusions which it tends” (Dewey, 1933, p. 9)
“complex process that strongly influences learning by increasing
understanding, inducing conceptual change, and promoting
critical evaluation and knowledge transfer” (Strampel & Oliver, 2007, p.
973)
What is Reflection?

3. School of Education
Edith Cowan University
Why Reflection?
Why a renewed focus?
• Part of practice for many years
• Scholarship of teaching
• Theory to practice
• Professional knowledge of teaching
• Increasingly complex roles
• Diverse needs of learners
• MEET ACCREDITATION REQUIREMENTS
Centre for Research in Early Childhood

4. School of Education
Edith Cowan University
National Professional Standards
6 Engage in professional learning
6.1 Identify and plan professional learning needs
6.2 Engage in professional learning and improve
practice
6.3 Engage with colleagues and improve practice
6.4 Apply professional learning and improve student
learning
7.4 Engage with professional
teaching networks and broader communities

5. School of Education
Edith Cowan University
Early Years Learning Framework
The EYLF asks educators to:
investigate why they act in the ways that they do
discuss and debate theories to identify strengths
and limitations
recognise how the theories and beliefs that they
use to make sense of their work enable but also
limit their actions and thoughts
consider the consequences of their actions for
children’s experiences
find new ways of working fairly and justly. (p.11)
Centre for Research in Early Childhood

6. School of Education
Edith Cowan University
National Quality Standards
1.2 Educators and co-ordinators are focused,
active and reflective in designing and
delivering the program for each child.
7.2 There is a commitment to continuous
improvement.
7.2.3 An effective self-assessment and
quality improvement process is in place.
Centre for Research in Early Childhood

7. School of Education
Edith Cowan University
So what is the problem?
“It has been argued that “unless reflection
is taught and assessed…then reflective
practice in the higher education context
will remain superficial” (Barton & Ryan,
2013, p. 2) and the results will continue to
be a reaction to events rather than a
reflection towards improved practice
(Gün, 2011)” (Roberts, 2014a, p. 20).
Centre for Research in Early Childhood

8. School of Education
Edith Cowan University
Investigating a solution - Implementation
• WA University
• 4th Year Bachelor of Education students
(Early Childhood and Special Education minor)
• Action research projects
• Scaffolded in ePortfolio environment
• Cyclic implementation
eLearning Lifecycle (Phillips, McNaught & Kennedy, 2011)
– across 3 cohorts of students
Centre for Research in Early Childhood

9. School of Education
Edith Cowan University
Investigating a solution - Implementation
Cycle 0
•Identify the
problem
Cycle 1
•Design the
environment
Cycle 2
•Initial trial
Cycle 3
•Pilot the
environment
Cycle 4
•Revise the
environment
Cycle 5
•Deploy revised
environment
Cycle 6
•Suggest
further
refinements
Prompts were placed in the
ePortfolio to scaffold the
students development of
reflection.
3 categories:
Exemplar prompts – best
practice for reflection
Activity prompts – to complete
as part of developing skills
Interaction prompts - to
expand group interaction.
(Tishman, Jay & Perkins, 1993:
Enculturation Teaching Model)

10. School of Education
Edith Cowan University
Investigating a solution – Data collection
• Focus group interviews
• Online survey
• Individual interviews
• Document analysis
• Usage analytics
• Email and discussion board feedback
Centre for Research in Early Childhood
www.istockphoto.com

11. School of Education
Edith Cowan University
Suggestions for improvement
• Strong Model for Reflection
– The 4R model was used here and students
found this a positive
I think that (the 4R model) had a big impact in making it (reflection)
improve because throughout the past, like, in all the different units,
they told us how to reflect and gave us little things that we are
supposed to do but they didn’t actually explain like how to properly do
it.
– The model needs to be consistent throughout
the degree, i.e. all units use the same framework
If someone had given us that framework when we did [the introductory
unit] life would have been a lot simpler.

12. School of Education
Edith Cowan University
Suggestions for improvement
• Reflection needs to be embedded in practice
– Students felt that reflecting on readings and
imaginary situations was too passive
At uni sometimes you are told [to] reflect on readings and its really
passive. It’s like you have sat there and gone – this is what somebody
else says and this is what I feel about what they have said.
– Need authentic opportunity to not only reflect but
to take ACTION based on these reflections
They need to provide more authentic opportunities for students to reflect on a
situation, such as a lesson, and the opportunity for the students to redo the
lesson with the changes made (even in a tutorial based environment)…I think
definitely have more formalised 'reflective' components of units earlier on in the
degree to refine the skills.

13. School of Education
Edith Cowan University
Suggestions for improvement
• Assessment changes the reflection
– As soon as an assessment value is placed on
reflection, it is no longer just about the student
experience – it is about what the tutor wants
If you weren’t writing about what you had done wrong, you weren’t
getting marks for it.
It was an assignment at the end of the day. It wasn’t necessarily about
what I was thinking.
– Need to look at alternatives for assessing
reflective thinking without marking written
reflections (e.g. self-assessment)
(Roberts, Farley & Gregory, 2014)

14. School of Education
Edith Cowan University
References
Bailey, K. M. (1997). Reflective teaching: Situating our stories. Asian Journal of English Language Teaching, 7(1), 1–19.
Barton, G., & Ryan, M. E. (2014). Multimodal approaches to reflective teaching and assessment in higher education. Higher
Education Research & Development, 33(3), 409-424.
Boyd, E. M., & Fales, A. W. (1983). Reflective learning. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 23(2), 99–117.
Dewey, J. (1933). How we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process. Lexington,
Massachusetts: D.C. Heath and Company.
Mezirow, J. (1997). Transformative learning: Theory to practice. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, (74), 5–12.
Phillips, R., McNaught, C., & Kennedy, G. (2011). Evaluating e-learning: Guiding research and practice. New York: Routledge.
Roberts, P. (2014). Investigating an ePortfolio-based learning environment for developing reflection with pre-service teachers.
Murdoch University, Perth, Australia. Retrieved from http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/22150/
Roberts, P., Farley, H., & Gregory, S. (2014). Authentic assessment of reflection in an ePortfolio: How to make reflection more
‘real’ for students. In B. Hegarty, J. McDonald, & S.-K. Loke (Eds.), Rhetoric and Reality: Critical perspectives on educational
technology. Proceedings ascilite Dunedin 2014 (pp. 441-445). http://ascilite2014.otago.ac.nz/files/concisepapers/80-Roberts.pdf
Strampel, K., & Oliver, R. (2007). Using technology to foster reflection in higher education. In ICT: Providing choices for learners
and learning. Proceedings ascilite Singapore 2007.
Tishman, S., Jay, E., & Perkins, D. N. (1993). Teaching thinking dispositions: From transformation to enculturation. Theory into
Practice, 32(3), 147–153.
Tremmel, R. (1993). Zen and the art of reflective practice in teacher education. Harvard Educational Review, 63(4), 434.
(1982). The Concise Macquarie Dictionary. Lane Cove: Doubleday Australia
NQS: http://www.acecqa.gov.au/national-quality-framework/the-national-quality-standard
EYLF:https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/belonging_being_and_becoming_the_early_years_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf
AITSL: http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers/standards/list

15. School of Education
Edith Cowan University
Contacts
Dr. Pauline Roberts
Edith Cowan University
School of Education
pauline.roberts@ecu.edu.au
(08) 6304 6433
www.paulinekroberts.com
#paulinekroberts
Centre for Research in Early Childhood
http://www.ecu.edu.au/schools/education/research-activity/centre-for-
research-in-early-childhood