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128
Foreign Language Teaching Journal
V o l . 3 4 No . 1 Fa l l 2019 w w w . r o s h
dmag.ir L a n g u a g e Ed u c a t i o n Q u a r t e r l y

Evaluation
of Vision 1,
the New High
School
English
Textbook

The
Characteristics
of
Reflective
Teacher and
Reflective
Teaching
Foreign Language Teaching Journal
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The Characteristics of Reflective

Teacher and
ReflectiveTeaching
Classroo
R
m esearc
h

The Characteristics of
Reflective Teacher and
Reflective Teaching
Mahboobeh Joze Tajareh
Mahboobeh.Joze@yahoo.com

Mojgan Rashtchi
Islamic Azad University NorthTehran Branch, Tehran, Iran
Email: mojgan.rashtchi@gmail.com ‫هديﮑﭼ‬
‫ن‬.‫جتینیز‬
‫رباوفتم یاهراکهار و اهرازبازا روﻜف ناملعم رد ص اخ راکهار ایهیرظنکیزا هدافتسا ا‬
‫مهف یت‬
‫دننکیم هدافتسا شزومآ دنور تالکشم لح و سالکطیارشرتهب یا‬
‫ایبیطتهبرداقاهنآ تایبرجتیروآعمج ابهجیتنرد هک‬ ‫دنتسه یباختنا هیرظنﺡالصا ق‬. ‫يزروهشیدنا ربينتبم شزومآ رد دنور رد‬، ‫و نازومآشناد یاهشنکاو ن املعم‬
‫دنجنسیم ار سالکبسانم یاهراکهار ن اتفییاربو دننکهدایپلمع رد ار یشزومآ یاههیرظندیابناملعم يزروهشیدنا ربينتبم شزومآ فده و دراد زکرمت‬،
‫دنهد رارقهجوتدروم یزنار ن ازومآشناد ت ایرظن‬. ‫يزروهشیدنا ربينتبم شزومآ تیمها ربهالقم ن یا‬
‫تسا شزومآ عون نیا فلتخم یاههاگدید یفرعم نآ‬

‫يزروهشیدنا رب ينتبم سیردت اه ژ ليک‬، ‫)زروهشیدنا( روﻜف ملعم‬، ‫يزروهشیدنا رب ينتبم شزومآ‬، ‫یاههاگدید‬
‫یگنهرف‬- ‫یعامتجا‬

Abstrac
Teachers use different tools and techniques to gain an understanding of the context in which
the class is held in order to resolve problems through the process of reflection. In reflective
practice, teachers observe their students’ reactions and the results of using a particular
theory or technique in class and gather all their experiences in order to adapt or modify the
theory chosen. In the process of reflection, teachers must relate teaching theory to teaching
practice and observe the students’ responses regarding the findings of an appropriate
theory or a technique. This paper focuses on the importance of reflective teaching and aims
to introduce different perspectives involved in this issue

Key Words: reflective teaching, reflective teacher, reflective practice, sociocultural perspective

Vol. 34, No. 1, Fall 2019 |

| 7
Introduction knowing their own reactions to classroom
Reflective practice was introduced in the situations. In reflective teaching,
late nineteenth century by according to Cunningham (2001 as cited
Dewey,followed by other prominent in Juhary, 2014, p.141),observing and
scholars such as Schӧn, Kolb, and Gibbs refining teaching practices on an ongoing
(Rushton & process is a vital goal. This goal can help
Suter, 2012).As Dewey (1933) argued, a teachers to recover their teaching, and
reflective process starts with a perceived adopt suitable strategies to teach in a
conflict in a context, continues with the particular situation.
interpretation of classroom activities and
ends in making a decision regarding Characteristics of Reflective
removing the problem.Gore and Zeichner Teaching
(1991) proposed that reflection is thinking The ability to reflect upon practice is
about an action in the context; therefore, a systematic way which is considered
teaching as a reflective practice a
comprises two processes: requirement of professional practice.
1. Self-observation: in this process, Some characteristics of reflective teaching
teachers must consider their students’ are as follows:
needs, goals, interests, habits, lessons, • It is a combination of skills and
and the time of the class. enquiries with attitudes of responsibility
2.Self-evaluation: teachers make a and open- mindedness and a cyclical
decision about their classes. process in which teachers revise their
According to Nikolov (2015), self- works.
evaluation is the • It is based on self-reflection and
result of self and peer correction and teachersʼ judgment of educational
helps learners to become more reflective activities.
in the learning process. In this process • Open-mindedness is willingness to listen
both teachers and learners are to more than one side of an issue and
responsible. to give attention to alternative options.
Learners evaluate themselves and their • According to McKay (2007), three
peers, and teachers evaluate everyone in factors
the context. They can all gather together contribute to reflective practice:
and discuss their reflections and the 1.Teachers’ experiences: teachers spend
critical comments from the evaluation many hours in their classrooms; thus
exercise. In this way, teachers can they gain many experiences about the
decide on the classroom context. role of students, lessons, and
curriculum in the context. Reflective
Therefore, reflective teachers are those teachers
who promote reflection as an essential draw on these beliefs when they
tool in their classrooms and reflective make decisions about what to do in
practice is an interactive process between their own classrooms.
a teacher and students. It is not only 2. Sufficient knowledge: Teachers must
about making the teacher a better have sufficient knowledge about
educator, students’ needs in different classroom
but it is also about making the situations, learning progress and the
students aware of their learning content they want to teach, course
8 |
processes. | Vol. 34, No. 1, Fall 2019 management, the role of interaction,
Teachers engage in a continuous cycle and the goals of the course.
of self-observation and self-evaluation for Reflective
 teachers often base their choices on Values and Importance of Reflective
what they have learned in their Teaching
teacher training. Reflective teaching has a central
3. Individual values: a teacher has position in professional education and
specific educational, political, moral, teachers’ experiences signify its role in
and social values based on his/her effective teaching. Thus, three values
experiences. should be considered regarding the
These values can affect the choices importance of reflective teaching:
a teacher makes in his/her teaching • The process of reflective teaching
practices. relates to the concept of development,
education, and training. By these
Characteristics of Reflective concepts, we can understand that
Teachers in Contrast with Non- some skills, instruments, and strategies
Reflective Teachers can be taught to enable teachers to
Teachers should find the new ways of become reflective (Mann, 2005).
teaching and avoid routine behaviors • Reflective teaching is the method to
through reflective practices. Therefore, deal with classroom barriers. In this
it is necessary to specify the process, teachers should not be passive
distinctions between reflective in classroom situations; they should
teachers and non- reflective have an active role as an innovator in
teachers.Table 1 shows the distinctions the classroom (Dewey, 1993).
between the two types of teachers:
Table 1. Characteristics of Reflective and Non-reflective
Teachers
Reflective teachers: Non-reflective teachers:
Gather helpful information about students’ needs to Neglect the students’ needs
deal with the problems

Are manageable and supportive Are unmanageable and discouraging

Keep themselves up-to-date with relevant issues Use old-fashioned techniques in class
in teaching subjects
Use the same method for all
Modify their methods for a specific
classes Are unimaginative and
class Are effective and creative
conservative
Attend many workshops and study more on
related materials Have no interest in participating in
Share information with other teachers workshops Do not share their information
Take responsibility for their own professional development with anyone Are irresponsible
Work as members of a team
Sticking to their own authority in class without taking
part in the group
Foster positive working relationships
Do not pay attention to positive working relationships
Take part in overall curriculum planning
Do not take part in curriculum designing
Have time set in class
Do not manage their time in class
Focus on strengths and weaknesses of
Do not accept individual differences among students
students

Vol. 34, No. 1, Fall 2019 |

| 9
• Teachers can overcome doubts and The Sample Questionnaire for
fears to critically assess their practice Reflective Teaching
and make a meaningful change (Farrell, We suggest teachers to use the following
2008). questionnaire with a Likert scale for
estimating their reflective practice. This
Sociocultural Learning Perspective questionnaire consists of 33 items where
and Reflective Practice respondents are asked to circle the number
Sociocultural learning perspective is that describes the way they think about their
one of the most significant perspectives teaching practice on a scale of ...1 to 5. (1)
on professional development and learning strongly agree,
which has relevance to the process (2) disagree with reservations, (3) you are
of reflective practice. This neutral about the statement, (4) agree
perspective emphasizes the social with reservations, (5) indicating that you
nature and social interactions. The strongly agree. This questionnaire is
central view of this notion is that adapted from Choy and Oo (2012) that is
learners create their own published in “International Journal of
understanding and knowledge by Instruction”.The topics of the
making connections, building their questionnaire were created based on
concepts, and mental schemata research by Hamilton (2005)
through on the development of reflective
collaborative meaning-making. It thinking. The statements cover three
tries to increase our understanding major areas of development; that is,
of the theoretical underpinnings of ability to self-express,
reflective awareness of how one learns, and
practice (Mann & Walsh, 2017). There developing lifelong learning skills.Choy and
is a relationship between reflective Oo (2012) added another area,
practice and dynamic assessment which the”influence of belief about self and self-
results from the collective actions of efficacy” (p.173).We have broken down the
students and teachers together in the indicators into sub-sections. The scoring of
classroom. the questionnaire is calculated by adding
Dynamic process is the view of coming
Reflective teachers are
the scores that a teacher has gained from
to know and knowing in practice as a those
each who promote
question.
process which is distributed across reflection as an essential
participants rather than individuals. tool in their classrooms and
Knowing in practice is also a constructive
process from which those involved
reflective practice is an
remember the experience of participation interactive process between
and form the basis of participants’ a teacher and students
subjective knowledge in practice. • Scores between 33 up to 77 mean that
Therefore social practice is the outcome a teacher seldom reflects on his or her
of a dynamic process which relates to practices and would likely just follow
reflections of practitioners orders so s/he is an introductory
(Kelly, 2011). Shokouhi, Moghimi, and reflective teacher.
Hosseinzadeh(2015) indicated that • Scores between 77 up to 121 mean that
reflective practice is a kind of framework a
for sociocultural theory and it has great
10 |
advantages over| Vol.
the 34,other frameworks
No. 1, Fall 2019
in which reflective practice is treated as
an
 teacher sometimes reflects on his or her
teaching practices but not on an in-depth Teachers engage in a
level so s/he is an intermediate
continuous cycle of self-
reflective teacher.
• Scores between 121 up to 165 mean observation and self-
that a teacher reflects deeply on his or evaluation for knowing
her practices and is constantly making their own reactions to
efforts to improve them so s/he is an
classroom situations
advanced reflective teacher.

Table 2.Questionnaire for Reflective Thinking for Teachers

Ability to self-assess 5 4 3 2 1
Observing own performance
1.I always think of what I have done during my lessons so that I can improve
on it further.
2. I tend to follow orders rather than be innovative because I do not want to get
in trouble.
3. I try to think of what I teach my students in terms
of my own area of discipline so as to enhance my
lesson.
Using feedback and evidence
4. I feel very anxious about feedback given to me by students, it is as
though they are evaluating and judging me as a person.
5. I think students’ feedback is important as it will help me understand them
better.

6. I feel that students’ feedback is important as this would give me an indicator

of the areas of my strengths and weaknesses.

Finding and analyzing patterns

7. I always think that what and how I did during my lesson is an
important indicator of my effectiveness.

8. I know that in a lesson there are many areas, like content and context that
can make or break a lesson.

9. I always try to look for areas of connectivity between what and how I
teach with my life experiences.

10. Whenever I am faced with a mistake that I have made I try to make
connections and learn from my experience and then use it to move
forward.
11. I know I make mistakes but sometimes I feel I cannot do anything about it.
12. As a teacher, I know that the mistakes I
make can have an influence on the lives of my
students.
Awareness of How One Learns 5 4 3 2 1
Concepts and misconceptions
13. When students give me feedback I do not take it much into consideration
because I feel that it is just their opinions anyway. I do not worry about it as long
as I feel I am doing my job.
14. I think that it is important that I take students’ feedback into consideration as
that will help me improve on what I am doing now so that I will perform better in
the future.

Vol. 34, No. 1, Fall 2019 | | 11

 15. I like to take into consideration my past performance and integrate it with
what I am doing in the present to help me better prepare for the future.
Knowledge construction 5 4 3 2 1
16. I am only interested in getting my assigned classes done properly, I
basically do not have the time or interest in talking to my colleagues about their
strategies and goals for their classes.
17. I like to know how I do in my teaching, so every opportunity I get I ask for
feedback from my supervisors so that I can improve the way I deliver my
lessons.
18. Students learn very differently from when I was in school, I need to look
into new strategies to better deliver my lessons so that I can remain relevant
now as well as in the future.
Metacognition 5 4 3 2 1
19. I have a certain way of delivering my lessons that I am comfortable with, I
do not know why I do it the way I do it, I just do.
20. I am always interested in self-discovery so that I can apply the knowledge
to how I do things and perhaps hone myself to be a better teacher.
21. I try to reflect on what I do during my lessons so that I can enrich the
strategies I use with new and more effective ones. Sometimes I can get inspirations
by talking to my colleagues from other fields.
Developing Lifelong Learning Skills 5 4 3 2 1
Developing an identity as a learner
22. Sometimes the feedback I get from my students and supervisor are so
confusing I do not know what to make of them, I do not think it is actually going
to help me learn anything about the way I conduct my lessons.
23. I know I am still learning to be a better teacher and the feedback I get
from students and supervisors could be helpful in improving my future
performance.
24. I know that I am learning about my profession all the time and I have
already a set of practices which I am comfortable with, although the feedback I
get from students and my supervisor will help me improve those practices even
more.
Transferring learning to other contexts 5 4 3 2 1
25. I generally get good comments from students so I think I am doing quite
well as a teacher overall.

26. I know that all feedback is just opinions of others about me. There must be
some truth in what they see, if not they will not make them. I need to weigh the
feedback I get against some of the opinions and assumptions I have about
myself.
27. I know I make assumptions about a lot of things and when others give me
their opinions about how I am teaching I must put it into perspective. After all, I
can learn from all the feedback I get.
Understands learning as a lifelong process 5 4 3 2 1
28. I know what I am doing as a teacher and I do not spend much time
reflecting on my practices as a teacher.
29. I know I have my strengths and weaknesses and teaching is a difficult job
to carry out. I need to constantly look at my practices in order to be more
effective with my lessons.
30. I know how I present my classes will influence how my students will behave
towards the subject. Every time I present a class I need to be cognizant that I
need to reflect on how I have taught and made changes the next time if
necessary.
Influence of Belief about Self and Self-Efficacy 5 4 3 2 1
Developing a personal belief system
31. I believe that I need to take care of my own needs first before I can take
care of other people’s needs.
32. I know that what I believe about myself and others will ultimately control
my behaviour.
33. I am aware of my beliefs and know that these beliefs will influence
my behaviour towards myself and others.

12 | | Vol. 34, No. 1, Fall 2019

 A characteristic that attend are also different, too. So
what
might apply in one class might not be
distinguishes a reflective
practicable in another. A reflective teacher
teacher from a non- constantly seeks feedback from different
reflective one is the sources. These references can include
analysis a teacher does other teachers, managers and
over what has been done in administrators, parents, and most
importantly classroom students. Finally yet
the classroom. A reflective importantly, a reflective teacher knows well
teacher considers the that teaching is not
probable diary or report of an easy job to be done solo. There are
the activities done in factors other than the teacher
him/herself that influence the efficiency
the classroom to find the of whatever is practiced in the class.
weaknesses and attempts Reflective teaching is a collection of
to change them into factors that optimize a teacher’s
strengths efficiency, and that is what a reflective
teacher knows well.
References
Conclusion Choy,S. C., & Oo P. S. (2012). Reflective thinking and
teach- ing practices: A precursor for incorporating
Reflective teaching poses the question, critical think- ing into the classroom. International
Journal of Instruc- tion. 5(1). 167-182.
‘who reflects on what?’. It is the Dewey, J. (1993). How we think: A restatement of the
rethinking of teachers over what they relation of reflective thinking to the educative process.
Boston: D.
have done in a classroom situation. C. Health.
They analyze what Farrell, T.S.C. (2008). Novice language teachers:
Insights and perspectives for the first year. London:
they have taught and how they can step Equinox.
Gore, J., & Zeichner, K. (1991). Action research and
up what they have done for a better Education,
reflec- tive 7(2), 119-136.
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A caseS.studyJ. (2005). Development
from the in reflective
United States. Teaching and
Abstract
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thinking.
learning more about what a teacher has http://www.reap.ac.uk/reap07/ portals/2/csl/trydy
tion_Thinking.pf
%20bant/Development_in_Reflec-
done through reflecting on it. In the Juhary, J. (2014). English language teaching: The
practice of reflectivity, the teachers can tive practices of an oral communication class.
reflec-
Center of Science and Education Journal, 7(4), 136-
Canadian
improve their effectiveness in their Kelly, P. (2011). Unconsidered activity, craft expertise and
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classes. However, reflectivity is not re- flective practice in teaching. Reflective Practice
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possible on the side of McKay, S. L. (2007). CAPE alumni internet connection:
English teacher talk. Retrieved from
a teacher unless s/he possesses some www.cape.edu/docs/ TTalk0014.pdf.
characteristics. Mann, S. (2005). The language teacher’s development.
Language Teaching, 38, 103-118.
A characteristic that distinguishes a Mann, S., & Walsh, S. (2017). Reflective practice in
reflective teacher from a non-reflective language teaching, research-based principles, and
English
practices. New York: Routledge.
one is the analysis a teacher does over Nikolov, N. (2015). Drama and language self/peer-evalua-
tion: An innovative tool for fostering EFL students’
what has been done in the classroom. A ing skills. Journal of English studies, 6 (2), 113-
speak-
reflective teacher considers the probable Rushton,
132. I., & Suter, M. (2012). Reflective practice
for teaching in lifelong learning. Cambridge: Open
diary or report of the activities done in Press.
University
the classroom to find the weaknesses Shokouhi, M., Moghimi, S. A., & Hosseinzade, S.
(2015).
and attempts to change them into Introducing reflective practice from a sociocultural
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teacher notices and keeps in mind is Vol. 34, No. 1, Fall 2019 | | 13
that not
all classes are the same. As people
 IN THE NAME OF ALLAH
Roshd Foreign Language Teaching
Managing Editor: Journal
Masoud Fayazi
 Editor -in - Chief:
Mohammad Reza Anani Sarab,
Associate Professor of TEFL
Shahid Beheshti University
 Executive Director
Shahla Zarei Neyestanak, MA
(Educational Planning)
Organization for Educational
Research and Planning,
Editorial Board  Nader Haghani, PhD (Teaching
Ministry
 ParvizofBirjandi,
Education,
PhDIran
(TEFL) German through E-Learning)
Allame Tabatabaa’i University University of Tehran
 Hossein Vossoughi, PhD  Mojgan Rashtchi, PhD
(Linguistics) Kharazmi University (TEFL) Islamic Azad
 Parviz Maftoon, PhD (TEFL) University, North Tehran
Iran University of Science and Branch
Technology  Seyed Behnam Alavi
 Jaleh Kahnamouipour, PhD (French Moghadam,
Literature)
University of Tehran
 Hamid-Reza Shairi, PhD (French,  Akbar Abdollahi, PhD (FLT),
Semiotics) Tehran University
Tarbiat Modares University
 Advisory Panel
 Gholam Reza Kiany,
PhD (TEFL), Tarbiat Modares University
 Mahmood Reza Atai,
PhD (TEFL), Kharazmi University

Roshd Foregin Language Teaching Journal (FLTJ), as a quarterly journal,

is published three times a year under the auspices of the Organization
For Educational Research and Planning, Minsitry of Education, Iran.
 Contribution to Roshd FLTJ: