Who gets it?

Abstract

A tension exists between institutional requirements of reflective thinking among teachers and the realities of the classroom. The former is often ambiguous, complex, and difficult. Without laying much groundwork, there is little incentive for student teachers to take on such a challenge. This article offers four vignettes of student teachers' attempts at conducting action research in a Zimbabwean context. With minimal familiarity, preparation, and support, each student's success varied: one student completed the task without a deeper understanding; a second did not conduct much of the research; another was able to integrate the research process with his teaching practice; and the last student already possessed the skills and disposition needed to be successful. This article helps name some of the common enablers and obstacles to promoting reflexive thinking among student teachers. It starts first and foremost by establishing issues that need to be part of any dialogue on the meanings and ideals of action research in support of teaching in a development context.