Learning to Teach: Patterns of Reflective Practice in Written Journal

Abstract

Reflective practice is essential for teacher education and pre-service teachers (PSTs) often reflect on their learning and teaching experiences to develop themselves into effective teachers in school later. In a case study of a PST in an institute of teacher education in Malaysia, this paper presents the levels of reflection practiced by the PST in his written journals after his digital storytelling presentation in a micro-teaching session. A six-level framework for reflective practice was derived from the written journal. The findings showed that the PST tended to reflect descriptively on the surface level rather than at the deepest level. It is recommended to provide more real teaching contexts for PSTs during teacher education in order to connect theoretical learning to practice.