The aim of this study was to investigate the professional development of a science teacher through structured reflection. The participant in this case study is a junior high school science teacher who has taught science for 6 years. Before teaching, the participant needed to write the resource folios and to design teaching strategies; after teaching, the participant reflected the teaching practice by comparing the design of teaching strategies with resource folios. Data collection includes resource folios, classroom observations, students’ feedback, and interviews. The results show: (1) The science teacher had two viewpoints of teaching. The first point of view is to identify the role of teachers as learning promoter and students’ learning motivation needs to be promoted. However, the strategies employed during teaching practice did not reflect his viewpoints of teaching. The second viewpoint is to use frequent testing as the main teaching strategy, however without thorough discussion of important concepts, students fail to learn from the tests; (2) by using structural reflection instrument the science teacher in this case study could focus on the reflection of the conflicted views of teaching and teaching practice, and this reflection can improve professional development. Some suggestions are discussed in this study.
|
An Exploration of the Professional Development of a Science Teacher Through Structured Reflection
Download
