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Oneofthemaingoalsofthecontemporaryeducationshouldthefacilitation
ofchangeandlearning.Inthemodernclassroomlearninghowtolearnis
moreimportantthanbeingtaughtbyateacherwhounilaterallydecideswhat
shouldbetaughtandlearnt.Suchanapproachtowardseducationcreatesnew
demandsformodernclasroomteachers.Itrequiresfromthemtobecomereal
facilitatorsoflearning,andonecanonlyfacilitatebyestablishinganinterper-
sonalrelationshipwiththelearner.Teachers,inordertobefacilitators,must
berealandgenuine,discardingmasksofsuperiorityandomniscience.
Teachersmustalsohavegenuinetrust,acceptance,andapprovalofthestu-
dent,asaworthy,valuable,readytocooperateindividual.Contemporary
teachersneedtodevelopreflectiveawarenessofthemselves,andtocom-
municateopenlyandemphaticallywiththeirstudents.Theyneedtobecome
reflectivepractitioners.Suchteacherswillnotonlyunderstandthemselves
betterbutwillalsobeeffectiveteachers,who,havingsetthestageandcon-
textforlearning,willsucceedinthegoalsofeducation.
Cruickshank(1981:4)definesreflectiveteacheras:“theteacher’sthinking
aboutwhathappensinclassroomlessons,andthinkingaboutalternative
meansofachievinggoalsoraims;heseesitasmeanstoprovidestudents
withanopportunitytoconsidertheteachingeventthoughtfully,analytically
andobjectively”.ZeichnerandListon(1985)proposeadifferentperspective.
Areflectiveteacherisdefinedasonewhoassessestheoriginsandconse-
quencesofhisorherworkatalllevels.Inteaching,ifthediscrepancybe-
tweentheteacher’sexpressedbeliefsandthewaysinwhichthatteacheracts
professionallyislarge,learnersarelikelytoreceiveconfusedandconfusing
messages.Inanefforttoimproveteachers’criticalself-awarenessinthis
respect,someeducationaltheoristsintroducedthenotionofcriticalreflection
(Boud,KeoghandWalker1985).
Schon(1983:49)drawsadistinctionbetweenreflection-in-actionandre-
flection-onactionandhecontendsthat“eachindividual’sknowledgeis
mainlytacitandimpliedbythewaysinwhichtheyact,suchthatourknow-
ingisinouraction”.Wedonotnecessarilyhavetothinkabouthowtoact
appropriatelyasteachersinanysituationbeforewedoso.Whenwe‘thinkon
ourfeet’ormakespontaneousdecisionsabouthowtoact,thenwecanbe
seenasreflecting-in-action,whichinturngivesrisetotheapplicationof
‘theories-in-action’.Suchtheoriesunderpineachprofessional’sownunique
wayofworkingratherthanexternallyimposedknowledge.Themaintaskof
thereflectivepractitioneristodevelophisorherreflectiveawarenessby
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