Teaching and Learning through Reflective Practice

Book excerpt: Now in its second edition, Teaching and Learning through Reflective Practice is a practical guide to enable all those involved in educational activities to learn through the practices of reflection. The book highlights the power that those responsible for teaching and learning have to appraise, understand and positively transform their teaching. Seeing the teacher as a reflective learner, the book emphasises a strengths-based approach in which positivity, resilience, optimism and high performance can help invigorate teaching, enhance learning and allow the teacher to reach their full potential. This approach busts the myth that reflection on problems and deficits is the only way to better performance. The approach of this new edition is an ‘appreciative’ one. At its heart is the exploration and illustration of four reflective questions: What’s working well? What needs changing? What are we learning? Where do we go from here? With examples drawn from UK primary teacher education, the book reveals how appreciative reflective conversations can be initiated and sustained. It also sets out a range of practical processes for amplifying success. This book will be a must have for undergraduate and PGCE students on initial teacher training programmes. It will also interest practising teachers, teacher educators and those on continuing professional development courses.