Learning Journals as a tool
to develop subject pedagogyan initial review
Simon Hoult
Canterbury Christ Church University
The Christ Church context
• Journal at heart of development and
assessment process
• Range of quality of reflections
• Aim to develop quality of reflections
across the programme
• Own specific focus…can you identify
a student teacher of geography by
his/her journal?
• i.e. Can/do Journals develop subject
pedagogy?
Philosophies of Reflection
Reflection is…
…the elucidation of the education process
and general understanding of human function.
Dewey (1933)
Philosophies of Reflection
Reflection is active, persistent and
careful consideration of any belief or
supposed form of knowledge in the
light of the grounds that support it
Dewey (1933)
Philosophies of Reflection
…the kind of thinking that consists in
turning a subject over in the mind
and giving it serious thought.
Reflection is a chain of linked ideas
that aim at a conclusion and is more
than a stream consciousness.
Dewey (1933)
The place of reflection in
learning
When situations are complex and ambiguous
the ability to “simply contemplate a situation
without, for the moment trying to come to a
conclusion about it, is an essential learning aid”.
Claxton (1999)
We literally write our own stories,
simultaneously incorporating our own future
as we reconstruct our past.
Cooper (1991)
Reflection- in summary
•Lies in the process of learning and the
representation of learning
•How do we support student understanding of
this dual role?
•To be of significance we have to regard
reflection as implying purpose
•How do we support students’ purposeful
/focussed reflection?
•Involves complicated mental processing of
issues for which there is no obvious solution
•How do we maintain student motivation to
reflect?
The place of reflection in
learning
Dewey’s approach to reflection and
reflective thinking are the
generation of the process through
'perplexity’, a sense of goal
directedness and the notion of
testing or evaluation, which brings
Dewey’s approach into the realms of
experiential learning
(Jaworski, 1993).
Kolb’s Learning Cycle (as
simplified by Moon)
Concrete
experiencing an
experience
Active
experimentation
Reflective
Observation
Abstract
conceptualising
How do we ensure reflections are put into action?
Developing the ideas of
Dewey…
The key to good quality reflection
is ‘the controlled use of sentiency,
memory and imagination…
Hullfish and Smith (1961)
How do we support students to unlock/
direct their feelings to promote
professional based reflection?
The reflective process in context
•Behaviour
•Ideas
•feelings
•
•
•
Return to experience
Attend to feelings
– Utilise positive feelings
– Remove obstructive feelings
Re-Evaluate experience
•New perspectives on
experience
•Change in behaviour
•Readiness for
application
•Commitment to action
Boud, Keogh and Walker (1989, p36)
Donald Schön: The Reflective
Practitioner
•Practitioners draw on context specific,
theories in use’ more than than espoused
theories.
• Should we expect reference to overt
theoretical concepts in journal reflections?
•Reflection on action occurs after action via
informing future actions and theory building.
•Is target setting the best way to develop
future actions and theory building following
reflection?
The Christ Church
Learning Journal
1) Initial Statements
2) Weekly entries• areas for development linked to school based
programme
• mentor comments
• achievements and evidence (QTS Stds.)
• Reflection
2)Statements of Development, Concluding
Statements and Meta-reflections
3) Audit of progress towards QTS
All supported through weekly mentor meeting,
subject and prof. tutor tutorials and formal/
informal peer support
The weekly process…
Key achievements
Targets this week
Specific areas for
development
School based
development programme
Achievements and evidence
Reflection
Mentor comment
Standards addressed
The weekly process…
reflection
• Reflection Please use the space below to reflect on
issues that particularly concern or interest you at
the moment. You might use one of the headings
below to guide you.
• What have been the most significant events this
week? Why?
• What have you learned? How did this learning take
place? How has this helped your development?
• What further questions has this prompted you to
ask?
• What theoretical concepts have influenced your
learning this week? How have these been illustrated
in school? What are the strengths and weaknesses?
The termly process…
Meta-reflection
• Thinking about using this journal.
– In what ways has completing this journal
helped you learn?
– What would make it better for you?
– Do you find it useful to reconsidering
reflective comments you have made in
the past?
– What further guidance would you like
from the partnership?
The termly process…
Meta-reflection
• Please select a reflection that you
have written previously.
• What are your perspectives on that
issue now?
• What do you feel you have learned
from this?
• What questions has this prompted
you to ask?
The termly process…
Target setting
• Reflection
• In the light of your development and
reflections on this through journal
entries, statements of development,
reviewing a journal entry and going
through the process of the interim
assessment and RoD1 assessment,
what are the main issues for you to
develop in the coming term and why?
Weekly Student Reflections (1)
pupils do a self assessment to assess
how confident and comfortable they
feel about what has been taught in the
lessons…A4L lets pupils identify their
strengths and weaknesses. They have
to set a geographical target for
themselves…this is a good way for me
to see how well I have taught the
pupils and what I may have to change…
(Student A w/b 5.12.05)
Weekly Student Reflections (2)
It is dept. policy that pupils’ books
are marked at the end of term… this
does not allow problems to be
resolved and they do not get any
feedback be it encouragement or
corrections until the beginning of
term.
(Student A w/b 5.12.05)
Weekly Student Reflections (3)
I used ICT with a yr.10 class studying site,
situation and sustainable development in
Ashford. My own Uni. Dissertation was on…
this (and) enabled me to bring a large
amount of my own material and knowledge
to the lesson. The ICT enabled me to give
pupils almost a tour of the site to help build
a picture in their minds of what Ashford is
doing to create sustainable developments.
(Student B w/b 5.12.05)
Weekly Student Reflections (4)
I think the lessons went well because they
involved several different tasks and moved
along at a good pace…varying the learning
activities does seem like a very important
strategy to maintain good behaviour and
improve learning.
this (is) a different experience to a ‘normal’
lesson…pupils are very much in charge of
their own learning when using ICT in a
lesson.
(Student C w/b 5.12.05)
Weekly Student Reflections (5)
I am trying to stretch them in line with the
zone of proximal development but it seems
some pupils just don’t want to be stretched.
(Student D w/b 12.12.05)
Statements of Development (1)
Teaching geography at all key stages
has made me revise geographical
concepts …
I am enjoying teaching KS5 because
it tests my subject knowledge and I
have to research…
(Student A Dec 2005)
Statements of Development (2)
I was advised to praise the pupils for
anything good…I tried this and the
reaction was v. positive. A lot of the
time pupils misbehave because they
just want attention…
A way is to either give praise so the
pupil get’s attention in a constructive
way or to give instruction and walk
away…
(Student A Dec 2005)
Statements of Development (3)
…it has taught me a lot not only about the
importance of the role of the teacher, but
also…about myself.
…there is always something new to learn. I
have learned new topic areas such as weather
and climate…I now know more about the
subject which in turn has boosted my
confidence in my teaching ability.
(Student B Dec 2005)
Statements of Development (4)
churning out of lesson plans (is) very
interesting…trying to keep thinking of new
and fun ways to teach are very challenging…
Why can children behave one lesson and be
very poorly behaved the next? Is it the
teacher, the children or an external
factor? I think it is probably a combination
of factors
(Student C Dec 2005)
Statements of Development (5)
I’m finding the AEN side of things most
interesting… they really want to learn and
show great application to learning. I get
great satisfaction out of working with them
and seeing them progress.
My views on education have changed… It is
nice to follow high level debate regarding
education and have a deeper level of
engagement through academic learning and
practical experience.
(Student D Dec 2005)
Statements of Development (6)
There have been some good experiences
and some not-so-good (I’m reluctant to say
‘bad’ because I feel they have been part of
my learning curve) experiences...
The time spent observing allowed me to
construct my own opinions about what
strategies worked and to develop my own
method of teaching.
(Student E Dec 2005)
Statements of Development (7)
I found behaviour for learning and
assessment for learning invaluable in my
subject area. Clear instructions and LOs
have helped me to focus students and make
the teaching and learning in their classes
purposeful. I have also aimed to make my
lessons as fun and interactive as possible
using a variety of different resources. I
have used the IWB where appropriate and
also provide kinaesthetic tasks for
starters. In order to do this I have found
lesson plans invaluable…
(Student E Dec 2005)
Statements of Development (8)
The use of theory from college to practice
to reflection has become part of my daily
routine and I feel is a completely cyclical
process that is very important for me to
progress from a teacher to an effective
teacher.
Overall it has been challenging and the
learning curve steep leading to reflection
followed by a re-think of my approach.
(Student E Dec 2005)
Initial thoughts (1)
• Only 3 months of course completed…
• Varied quality of reflections
• Suggest need for tutor/mentor dialogue
not comment to move thinking deeper
• Some subject specific- many not
• Suggest subject tasks to include specific
reflections to undertake a point in the
programme
• Deciding the focus for reflection?
Initial thoughts (2)
• Vocabulary to express complexity?
• Theoretical expectations?
• Moving the reflection into informing future
practice?
• Meta-reflection- a developmental process?
1.
Back to the questions…
How do we support student understanding of this
dual role? (learning as well as representing
learning)
2.
How do we support students’ purposeful /
focussed reflection?
3.
How do we maintain student motivation to
reflect?
4.
How do we support students to unlock/ direct
their feelings to promote professional based
reflection?
5.
Should we expect reference to overt theoretical
concepts in journal reflections?
6.
Is target setting the best way to develop future
actions and theory building following reflection?
References
• Boud,D. Keogh, R. Walker,D. (1989) Promoting
Reflection in Learning: a model. In ‘Reflection;
Turning experience into learning.’ Boud, Keogh and
Walker (eds). London, Kogan Page.
• Boud,D. Cohen, R. and Walker,D. (eds) (1993) Using
Experience for Learning. London, Kogan Page.
• Claxton, G. (1999) Wise up; The challenge of life
long learning. London, Blooms bury.
• Cooper,J. (1991) Telling our own stories, in Stories
Lives Tell, Narrative and dialogue in education,
Whitehead, C. and .Noddings, N. (eds) New York,
Teachers College Press.
References II
Moon,J. (1999) Learning Journals; A handbook for academics,
students and professional development. London, Kogan-Page.
Moon, J. (1999) Reflection in Learning and Professional
Development. Abingdon. Kogan Page.
Schön, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner. London, JosseyBass.
Schön, D. (1987) Educating the Reflective Practitioner. London,
Jossey-Bass.