Reflective Teaching: A Process for Analyzing Journals of Preservice Educators

Abstract

Researchers are attempting to establish the importance of reflection within the teaching profession. As teacher educators more frequently require journal writing as one form of reflective practice in preservice teacher preparation, it becomes important that a process be established for analyzing this type of reflective thought. In this study, a content and descriptive analysis of reflective journal entries was conducted to define operational categories of reflective thought. Six CRT students maintained weekly journals in which they were required to reflect upon their instruction in their student teaching on a daily basis. Data then were analyzed in four stages: (a) classifying entries as problems, successes, or general issues, (b) reclassifying problem and success entries into teaching categories (behavior, planning, instruction, and learning environment), (c) identifying the levels of reflective thought used in addressing a problem, and (d) identifying components of successful entries. The final outcome of the analysis at each stage was the development of reliable and operational definitions for classifying, coding, and evaluating written journals of preservice teachers.