/ COMPETITIVE GRANTS SCHEME 2011
APPLICATION FORM COVER SHEET

Section 1: Project Leader Contact Details

1

Title: / Ms
First Name: / Judy
Last Name: / Adnum
Phone Ext. / 9850 8637
Fax: / 9850 8674
Mobile:
Email: /
Department: / Education
Faculty or Unit: / Human Sciences

Alternative Contact Details

Name: / Rod Lane
Phone: / 98509172
Email: /
Department: / Education
Faculty: / Human Sciences

Section 2: Department Details

Lead Department: / Education
Ongoing commitment and endorsement by Head of Department: / Name / Prof John Hedberg
Department / Education
Signature
Partner Department/s

Section 3: Faculty Details

Lead Faculty: / Human Sciences
Ongoing commitment and endorsement by Executive Dean: / Name / Prof Janet Greeley
Faculty / Human Sciences
Signature
Partner Faculty/s

Section 4: Application Details

Title: / Developing a framework for pre-service teacher reflective practice
Project Alignment: / Please circle whichever is appropriate:
  1. Teaching Standards
  2. Assessment and promotion of student learning
  3. Curriculum renewal
  4. Curriculum renewal in the light of the Moodle implementation
  5. Improving tertiary pathways
  6. Strategic approaches to learning and teaching which enhance student access and progression, and respond to student diversity
  7. ✔Research and development focusing on issues of emerging and continuing importance

Outcomes: / 1.An evaluation of how and where current reflective practice is taught in the Macquarie Teacher Education Program
2.A set of criteria to define reflective practices in Teacher Education
3.A framework to analyse pre-service teachers’ self-reflections on their professional teaching experiences.
Method: / The project will identify a total of thirty students consisting of two groups of 10 students each from the Mathematics and Business Studies methodology classes in the secondary program, and 10 students from the Human Society and its Environment methodology class in the primary program. The 30 students will be identified through a call for volunteers. The students will be asked to reflect on their teaching practice whilst undertaking their professional teaching practicums in schools.
What processes are built into the Project to enable it to be evaluated?
Involvementinthe LTC Evaluation Project will be viewed favourably. / The team will appoint Dr Heather McMaster to evaluate progress on each stage of the project, along with final outcomes. Dr McMaster has worked as a casual academic in the Department of Education at Macquarie University for many years and has an excellent understanding of the structure and aims of the Teacher Education Program. The project team is also prepared to participate in the LTC evaluation.
Does this Project require Human Ethics approval? / Yes
Key Words: / framework , reflective practice, pre-service teacher, improved pedagogies

Submitting your application

Applications are due on Friday 27th May 2011*. Submit an electronic versionof your application to:
Ms Barb McLean
Office of the Provost
E11A 208

*This is the University closing date. Different Department and Faculty closing dates might apply. Please liaise with your Department and Faculty well ahead this closing date to ensure an endorsement and signatures on the application are obtained before the University closing date.

Title: Developing a framework for pre-service teacher reflective practice

1. Project Outcomes and Rationale

Rationale

This project addresses priority vii: Research and development focusing on issues of emerging and continuing importance.

Teacher education programs across Australia are currently undergoing a process of evaluation and renewal. The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) recently published a new set of Professional Teaching Standards (AITSL, 2011) which describe the knowledge and skills teachers require at different stages in their careers. Among the Graduate Teaching Standards is recognition that new teachers improve their classroom practice by engaging in professional learning with colleagues and by developing their capacity for self-reflection (AITSL, 2011). The need to develop a framework to assist pre-service teachers to develop methods of self-reflection has emerged with the release of the National Professional Teaching Standards.

The importance of a reflective practice is also recognised in the Macquarie University Graduate Capabilities. The Graduate Capabilities include a focus on critical, analytical and integrative thinking and emphasise that graduates must be “capable of professional and personal judgment and initiative” through their “commitment to continuous learning”.

Outcomes

The project is designed to achieve the following outcomes for the Teacher Education Program at Macquarie University:

4.An evaluation of how and where current reflective practice is taught in the Macquarie Teacher Education Program

5.A set of criteria to define reflective practices in Teacher Education

6.A framework to analyse pre-service teachers’ self-reflections on their professional teaching experiences.

2. Approach

Theoretical framework

Reflective thinking is a conscious and active process (Gelter, 2003) in which new knowledge is transformed into new understandings that support change (Shoffner, 2008). Reflective thinking is beneficial because it enables pre-service teachers to recognise, examine and manage the many complex issues that occur in their classroom practice (Spalding & Wilson, 2002). Pre-service teachers who develop a capacity for reflective thinking become more aware of the assumptions on which their teaching decisions and actions are based (Yost, Sentner, & Forlenza-Bailey, 2000) and are better able to make connections between theory and practice (Ward & McCotter, 2004).

Dewey (1933) identified two fundamental characteristics of reflective thinking, namely a state of doubt or hesitation in which thinking originates and an act of searching or inquiry in order to resolve the doubt. Schön (1987) views professional experience placement as the ideal place for pre-service teachers to develop their reflective practice. Schön contrasts a ‘technical practicum’ where professional knowledge is viewed as facts, rules and procedures applied non-problematically with a ‘reflective practicum’ where pre-service teachers make sense of uncertain, unique or conflicted situations.

Other researchers have used models to describe how teachers’ reflective practice develops. For example, Muir and Beswick (2007) proposed a three-tier hierarchy. At the lowest level are technical descriptions of classroom events, such as delivering content or maintaining students’ attention, which fail to consider the significance of these events. Next comes a stage in which critical incidents are identified and explained, and finally is a level where other views are considered and alternative actions are contemplated.

However, the research literature currently lacks a more fine-grained description of how pre-service teachers’ reflective practice develops during the professional experience component of their university studies. The proposed project will address this shortcoming and build on recent research into the reflective practice of pre-service teachers by some of the project team (e.g., Cavanagh & Prescott, 2010; Bower, Cavanagh, Moloney, & Daoi, under review).

Strategies

The project will identify a total of thirty students consisting of two groups of 10 students each from the Mathematics and Business Studies methodology classes in the secondary program, and 10 students from the Human Society and its Environment methodology class in the primary program. The 30 students will be identified through a call for volunteers. The students will be asked to reflect on their teaching practice whilst undertaking their professional teaching practicums in schools, with the aim of fostering critical engagement with their own pedagogical methods (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009).

The Macquarie University Wordpress blogging server will be used to embed student reflections and facilitate the process of providing feedback to staff and students. This server has been successfully trialled in the Department of Education Video Reflection project that investigated how reflective blogging could be used to improve pre-service teacher communication capabilities (Bower, Cavanagh, Moloney, & Daoi, under review).

There will be two stages of the project:

Stage 1 (July-Dec 2011)

  1. Apply for university ethics approval.
  2. Interview six lecturers in the Department of Education to determine how they incorporate reflective practice into their methodology units.
  3. Based on interviews and literature, develop a set of criteria to define and evaluate the reflective practice of Macquarie University teacher education students.

Stage 2 (Jan-Dec 2012)

  1. 30 students to write reflections on teaching practice (Two groups of 10 students each from the Mathematics and Business Studies methodology classes in the secondary program and 10 students from the Human Society and its Environment methodology class in the primary program).
  2. Analyse student reflective writings.
  3. Develop a framework for students’ reflective practice.

Alignment with Macquarie@50 and the Academic Plan 2010-2014

The university’s Academic Plan 2010-2014 lists among its strategic aims and objectives the provision of “an inspiring educational experience” to support lifelong learning, while the Macquarie@50 document calls for excellence in research and teaching. The proposed project meets these challenges through its focus on enhancing pre-service teachers’ capacity for self-reflection.

Disseminating/ embedding successful strategies

1. A presentation will be given to academic staff in education that outlines how reflective pedagogies are currently integrated within the Department of Education,

2. A framework of reflective pedagogy developed by the project team will be presented to academic staff through a seminar.

3. Presentation will be delivered to the Australian Teacher Education Association

4. Research paper will be published in a significant journal

Value/ Need for the project

Developing a framework for reflective practice and ensuring its alignment with the Professional Teaching Standards (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, 2011) will ensure that beginning teachers comply with the standards of the profession. The framework itself will provide lecturers within the Department of Education with a rubric with which to evaluate pre-service teaching practice in both the primary and secondary programs. Importantly, it will provide pre-service teachers with a framework to evaluate and improve their own pedagogical practice, independently of university supervision (Goal 3: Fostering Student engagement).

Ways in which the project utilises and advances scholarship of learning and teaching

This project engages students in managing and evaluating their own learning for teaching whilst on professional placements. It will foster critical engagement with their own practice so that they play an active role in their own learning and are capable of improving their own practice, independently of the university lecturer (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009).

Strategies to extend this pilot project University-wide

This pilot project will be extended to a competitive grant application, which will aim to expand it to the Departments of Education at eight universities in New South Wales. Delegates from these universities will be briefed on the proposal at the 2011 Teacher Education Council Conference at Macquarie University.

Project management and budget

Phase 1:
(July-Dec 2011) / Phase 2:
(Jan-Dec 2012) / Total
Research Assistant / $1290.80 / $5163.20 / $6454.00
Teaching relief/ marking / $3504.48 / $3504.48
Total / $1290.80 / $8667.68 / $9958.48

Project management

As project leader, Ms Judy Adnum will be responsible for managing the role of the research assistant and overseeing the development of the project. The project team as a whole will be responsible for the achievement and dissemination of outcomes. The project will be monitored and evaluated by an academic and teacher MrRodLane.Ms Adnum will develop key benchmarks against which the outcomes will be assessed. Dr Neil Harrison, Dr Michael Cavanagh, Dr Matt Bower and Dr Greg Robertson are also part of the project team.

Evaluation plan

The team will appoint Dr Heather McMaster to evaluate progress on each stage of the project, along with final outcomes. Dr McMaster has worked as a casual academic in the Department of Education at Macquarie University for many years and has an excellent understanding of the structure and aims of the Teacher Education Program. The project team is also prepared to participate in the LTC evaluation.

Budget justification

Research Assistant: HEW Level 7, Step 1 @ $46.10 per hour (including 17% on-costs as from 24/3/11). 14 hours per week over 10 weeks = $6454.00

A research assistant is required to assist with ethics application, interviewing six lecturers with professional knowledge of reflective practice in the Department of Education, developing a rubric of criteria with which to assess reflective practice, and collating student data (students reflecting on their teaching practice).

Marking relief: 1 assignment per semester for 28 students x 6 team members = 168 assignments @30 minutes per assignment = 84 hours x $41.72 (including 17% on-costs) = $3504.48

Marking relief is required so that the team can meet, plan and evaluate progress and interpret student data.

References

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2011). Professional Teaching Standards. Sydney: Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership.

Bower, M., Cavanagh, M., Moloney, R., & Diao, M. (Under review). Developing communication competence using an online video reflection system: Pre-service teachers’ experiences. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education.

Cavanagh, M., & Prescott, A. (2010). The growth of reflective practice among three beginning secondary mathematics teachers. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 38, 147-159.

Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. (2009). Inquiry as stance: Practitioner research for the next generation. New York: Teachers College Press.

Dewey, J. (1933). How we think. Buffalo, NY: Free Press.

Gelter, H. (2003). Why is reflective thinking uncommon? Reflective Practice4, 337-344.

Schoffner, M. (2008). Informal reflection in pre-service teacher education. Reflective Practice, 9, 123-134.

Muir, T., & Beswick, K. (2007). Stimulating reflection on practice. Mathematics Teacher Education and Development, 8, 74-93.

Schön, D. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Spalding, E., &Wilson, A. (2002). Demystifying reflection: A study of pedagogical strategies that encourage reflective journal writing. Teachers College Record104, 1393-1421.

Ward, J. R., &McCotter, S. S. (2004). Reflection as a visible outcome for pre-service teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education20, 243-257.

Yost, D. S.,Sentner, S. M., &Forlenza-Bailey, A. (2000). An examination of the construct of critical reflection: Implications for teacher education programming in the 21st century. Journal of Teacher Education51, 39-49.

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