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Sharing personal teaching stories provides opportunities for enhanced wellbeing and learning for both experienced and pre-service teachers. This paper shares the results of a qualitative pilot study that used narrative inquiry to collect and share teacher stories. The research was conducted in two phases. The first phase collected humorous stories from experienced teachers recalled from the first years of their teaching career. Thematic data analysis investigated the wellbeing and learning impact on those teachers when sharing their stories. The second phase invited pre-service teachers to read and evaluate the impact of humorous stories when preparing for their first school placements. Thematic data analysis investigated the wellbeing and learning impact on pre-service teachers reading these stories. The analysis from both phases demonstrated recurring themes regarding the importance of teacher-student relationships for teacher wellbeing. The results also showed that the sharing and reading of stories had beneficial outcomes such as enhanced wellbeing and enhanced learning for both the teacher storytellers and the pre-service teacher readers. This study provides evidence that the inclusion of real-life stories offers a valuable addition to Initial Teacher Education programs as a way of developing professional and reflective practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This two-stage study was conducted to examine the awareness of policy and underlying pedagogy as well as the use of reflective practice by teaching staff (faculty) within a Scottish university. In the first stage, teaching staff completed a questionnaire; of these 14 then took part in stage two, semi-structured interviews. Interview transcripts were subject to thematic analysis and three main themes emerged: (1) The methods and processes of reflection ('How'); (2) The personal and organisational drivers for employing reflective practices ('Why'); and (3) The barriers to reflection ('Why not'). Significant findings included the dominance of traditional (paper-based as opposed to computer mediated) reflective writing in teaching staff's own reflection, and the importance of both formal and informal group reflection in methods and process. Reasons for reflection focused on the importance of both organisational drivers such as professional standards and awarding bodies, and personal drivers such as personal growth, identity, and psychological wellbeing. Barriers to reflection included both the concrete such as insufficient time and lack of opportunities to share resources, as well as the attitudinal and cultural. Possible ways of tacking these barriers also emerged. Implications for organisational and individual practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflective practice, in simplest form, means recalling about one's experience to learn from it and plan future course of action. Reflective practice is quite popular in educational field to impart deeper insights to the students. However, there is a scarce understanding of how students reflect during online internships (on their own), outside the realms of traditional classroom. Hence, this paper endeavors to study how students reflect during internships and subsequent impact of reflective practices on students' learning during internship. The study was conducted on nine voluntary students who participated in reflective practices during their eight-week internships. Their experiences, post internships, were analyzed (using thematic analysis). The analysis generated three themes for reflection among students. They are hypothesis testing during uncertainty, metacognition, and future planning based on the lessons learned. The empirical study also uncovers how reflective practice leads to self-awareness, self-regulation, and professional grooming, stress relief during internship. The managerial implication for educational institutes is to include faculty guided and group led reflective assignments in curriculums for better experiential learning. Our study contributes to growing literature of reflective practices in educational field outside the conventional classroom setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper advances discourse pertaining to the development of a reflective practice model in engineering leadership. It is based on reflective experiences over a four-year period that were developed as part of a Doctoral in Business Administration module. It is contextualised within an engineering consultancy and the narrative is described from an Engineering Leadership perspective; the narrative is also woven with theory and there is the inclusion of a DBA Practitioner lens on the findings. The paper identifies the model developed for reflective practice and presents evidence of personal learning and thinking styles as its outcome. The paper concludes that reflective practice is a personal journey of learning and that model development is a choice of what suits the individual. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this conceptual paper, we present a professional practice-oriented Multidimensional Model of Reflective Practice (MMRP) and a Critical Incident Reflection (CIR) protocol as worthwhile tools for supporting teacher candidates (TCs) to become more self-directed, multi-faceted, and holistic in their reflective practice. The model presents reflection as a complex endeavor situated in a dynamic milieu. It emphasizes the complementary nature of professional competencies of knowledge, skills, and disposition, and the interrogation of an incident through technical, contextual, and critical reflection as well as reflection-in, -on, and -for-action. The CIR protocol provides scaffolding support for TCs as they move toward becoming independent reflective practitioners. Together, the MMRP and CIR protocol facilitate multidimensional reflection. We present a case for providing a more deliberate support for reflection. In doing this, we define reflection, highlight its common frameworks, and discuss the significance of intentional and systematic reflection on professional competencies. In the conclusion, we bring these ideas together to discuss the implications for a self-directed and agentic approach to reflection and professional growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following study was an exploratory journey to examine reflective practice amongst students taking the undergraduate paper ‘Communities and Addiction’. This paper has been an elective paper within the Health Sciences for third year students at the University of Auckland for three years. The students were instructed to reflect on two assignments after they had written each one. The first assignment focused on addiction models and the second assignment focused on social marketing as a public health approach to potentially addictive behaviour (e.g. substance abuse, gambling, and eating disorders). The findings from the first assignment suggested that students developed (or enhanced) empathy towards sufferers of addiction. The findings from both of the assignments revealed that many of the students were developing reflective skills, though often this was at quite a basic level. These findings suggested that more guidance and feedback is needed to aid students in the reflective journey. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores the complexity of developing decision-making skills in elite netball. Using the attacking centre pass as a theme, we present a framework designed to develop decision-making capabilities of the coach, performers and the players collectively as a team. The paper exemplifies the integration of reflective practice principles into coaching strategies, as the cyclic link between the ‘off-court’ slow deliberate environment and the ‘on-court’ applied performance environment. Using a five-stage framework adapted from field hockey, we describe various reflective mechanisms which can be used and incorporated into coaching strategies to develop effective team decision making. The paper utilises a period of preparation from a world cup programme to demonstrate how a coach can empower players individually and collectively as a team to reflect ‘on-action’ which, in turn, facilitates the coach, players and team ‘reflecting-for-action’ and ultimately ‘in-action’. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article presents some recent experiences of reflective practice within a UK university business school by two lecturers who are currently reading for doctoral degrees in education, and is partly based on material presented at 'The First International Theorising Education Conference' at the University of Stirling in June 2010. It describes how, having agreed to meet regularly to discuss the implications of postmodern educational theories for their practice, the authors set about holding a series of 'learning conversations', each beginning with a presentation and discussion of a reading from educational theory or philosophy of education and with no further agenda than a 'live encounter with the other'. The paper includes a review of some useful texts dealing with both the practicalities and some theoretical frameworks within which to locate reflective practice. There follows a discussion of the rationale for using unconventional ways of presenting (and re-presenting) experiences of this kind of activity. The authors use a layered text technique to illustrate one way of doing this, and to present (re-present) parts of learning conversations held between January and June 2010. The essential claim of this paper is that while a great deal of literature on reflective practice seems to concentrate on 'reflection on practice', there is also a need for discussions about the interface between educational theory and pedagogical practice as a particular means of moving ourselves beyond the limits of a self-referential context into a more open-ended and critical space in which we learn to name our experience in new ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this paper is a development process of 'Personas'; fictitious characters are used to reflect on norms and perspectives of practice. Although reflective practice is a well-known process to enhance and support learning, improvement, development, etc., it is not easy to implement. Drawing on theories of action, this paper describes learning gained through using the Persona method within a research project called the Future Factory. The process of developing a Persona includes a reflective examination of the case approached and an analysis and Persona creation development that go hand-in-hand. Lessons learned are that the process of creating Personas has contributed to a critical reflection of investigation contexts and that both the technique itself and the process of creating Personas has contributed to re-framing practice among participants in the Future Factory project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, two adult educator professors share reflections on their dialogues, spanning 15 years, focusing on their journey of work and learning at a research-intensive university. Authors refer to intrinsic principles, values, and a shared commitment to contributing to a community shaped and influenced by an intentional focus on 'relationality' in support of individual and collective well-being. By reflecting on dialogues, past and ongoing, an enduring commitment to co-creating learning spaces sustained by care, compassion, and positive regard for colleagues and students is realized. Authors advance a commitment to community as essential to support work and learning spaces that thrive. This discourse is located in the current neoliberal milieu where a focus on performance germane to teaching, securing research funding, scholarship productivity, and compliance pervades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to expose the definition of reflective practice from its seminal roots through the lens of a critical review underpinned by epistemological perspectives of the Vygotsky Principle, Temporality and Socio-Cultural Theory. The discussion includes the framing of reflective practice and the models that have been developed from discourse over time, concluding that reflective practice is a personal interpretation driven by the individual’s choice of reflective practice model. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports on an action research study conducted in 2015 with five in-service English language teachers from an ELT undergraduate programme of a university in the central part of Mexico over a period of 9 weeks by means of two video recorded classroom observations and different spaces for professional dialogue (a focus group, one on one feedback discussions and personal interviews). Overall, the study revealed that teachers have the ability to be critically reflective about their teaching given the appropriate conditions which Reflective Practice (RP) necessitates such as opportunity, time, and assistance from others, often lacking in everyday teaching scenarios, traditional evaluative classroom observations and conventional teacher education programmes. Hence, by challenging the 'status quo' of classroom observations in this context, the RP processes carried out helped teachers understand and reconstruct their teaching knowledge especially in terms of students' responses to their instructional decisions and the impact this had on how their classes unfolded. It promoted an alternative way to fulfil the goal of teacher development, not through a 'transmission' model of education but through a process in which teachers learn and continue to develop their skill in dialogue within a professional community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that interviewing is a process in which interviewees can reflect on critical decisions about their academic careers. Reflective practice is a course of action where a person ponders significant incidents in her or his life. In so doing, she or he can make critical decisions about her or his own well-being. Drawing on our experiences collecting qualitative data for ADVANCE Purdue, an NSF-funded project to increase the number and success of women faculty in STEM academic disciplines, we illustrate how interviews triggered our interviewees to think differently about accessing or interpreting promotion and tenure policies of the university. Hence, we argue that interviews can be considered as a form of reflective practice where interviewees decide to take alternative actions to enhance their well-being. In this paper, we ask: (a) How do interviews trigger new realizations among interviewees?; and (b) How do interviews act as agents of potential social change? Data are derived from semi-structured interviews with faculty members from science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and agriculture disciplines at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. We interpret the data qualitatively in the context of reflective practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings of a five-month graduate consulting project in a psychiatric clinic. The project was distinguished by the fact that I, the student consultant, had been a clinician in this system for several years, eventually leaving to practice in a larger university setting. Issues related to managing biases and maintaining the integrity of the consulting role will be an area of inquiry. Paradoxes that exist in the two systems will be highlighted in the context of bureaucratic obstacles and the ongoing stress of offering care in psychiatry. The paper will discuss factors that influence reflective practice using theoretical perspectives by Argyris and Schon, as well as exploring the conscious and unconscious forces that influence organizational learning. Using the metaphor of Plato's 'Allegory of the Cave' the paper will describe how the journey back to the system helped to inform my understanding of the various ingredients involved in transforming practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical thinking (CT) has long been a valued curriculum outcome requirement for Nursing. In the early 1990s conceptualization of CT including two lists: cognitive and affective definitions. A decade later a Nursing expert panel added prediction and transforming knowledge, to the cognitive skills and intuition, open-mindedness and creativity to the affective definition of CT. Yet, there is still concern over how to teach nursing students to be creative, intuitive, and transform their knowledge. In this paper I used a geography of health concept to guide a series of general questions to help nursing students reflect on the physical and social environments to see ethical issues in their community practice. Fostering students' abilities to integrate their learning will nurture the essential affective (for example, intuition, creativity) and cognitive (transforming knowledge) skills that prepare them to make informed personal, professional and civic decisions throughout their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides insights into the doctoral journey of a supervisee by analysing written feedback provided by supervisors and thesis examiners. As one aim of doctoral education is to train scholars to become independent researchers, that is highly self-regulated learners, this study paves the way for an understanding of the link between written feedback and the self-regulated learning process. Based on an analysis of speech functions, written feedback provided by two supervisors and three examiners were classified into three main categories: referential, directive and expressive. The results indicate the value of expressive feedback for the development of self-regulated learning in doctoral supervision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is common in many professional subject areas for students to undertake periods of work-based experience as part of their studies. Research suggests that by reflecting on their experience, student learning can be enhanced. As a result it is common for students to produce reflective diaries, journals, logs or e-portfolios during their placements. The paper reviews literature on reflective practice and relates it to the findings of a number of small-scale studies investigating students' perceptions of recording and reflecting in the built environment professions, principally architecture and construction management. The findings suggest that the levels of reflection that students achieve are likely to be influenced by their individual propensity and willingness to reflect, the focus of reflection that students perceive they need to adopt, and the structure and support students are provided with to help them reflect. The paper concludes by proposing a hypothetical model that relates these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facilitation is a key ‘ingredient’ in the success and sustainability of communities of practice. Yet, little attention has been given toin situexperiences of facilitators of these communities. This paper takes up the challenge to explore these experiences using reflective stories written by seven TATAL (Talking about Teaching and Learning) facilitators (the authors) from different disciplines in five different Australian universities. The authors’ collaborative analysis of their experiences suggests reframing the role of facilitator to include the role of alchemist, a promoter of transformation. This reframing has the potential to change the way higher education community of practice facilitators think about and enact their role. The story-based reflective process used in this self-study could also be used by facilitators to investigate their own practice, as a component of facilitator education programmes or by academics and researchers in other contexts who seek a participatory, collaborative approach to evaluate their practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper is concerned with the ways in which reflective practice is learnt, taught and assessed within the profession of occupational therapy. It utilises individual experiences of reflection of both students and staff members in university and practice placement settings. The discussion places reflection within learning a profession’s way of being and individual learner’s relation to this ‘sense of being’. It concludes that the ‘rote’ way in which reflection is currently used to demonstrate evidence of reflective practice is detrimental to the development of a reflective professional, in this instance, an occupational therapist. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper gives an embodied perspective on the use of judgements of reflective practice and reflective writing for professional development in Higher Education. Programmes for professional development in Higher Education and recognition processes for academics have become prevalent in the UK and internationally. These programmes and processes often assume, implicitly or explicitly, development or evidencing as a ‘reflective practitioner’ through pieces of reflective writing which is then judged against competencies or attainments. However, this focus on reflective practice and reflective writing is not always critical, and does not examine the different theoretical and practical interpretations of what it means to reflect, or the impact of assessing such reflections. Taking an embodied stance allows a new view into a contested area that is more habitually connected with cognitive rather than corporeal processes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines four models of debriefing practices applied by the team of authors in settings working with conflict resolution and peacemaking practitioners. It examines the effectiveness of these methods in particular, and of the practice of debriefing as a reflective tool in the context of peacemaking practice. All research was conducted as part of an Applied Practice and Theory team, under the supervision of Dr. Susan Allen, at George Mason University's School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores the use of painting with a group of pre-registration nursing students, as one-approach educators might use to encourage deeper thinking and reflection. During the second week of their course, the students were asked to paint a picture of what they believed nursing to be, using colour to capture their feelings associated with nursing. On completion of their paintings, the students shared their ideas and beliefs with the group. This process was repeated at the start of the second year when, on completion of a second painting, their first picture was returned; with time devoted for the students to analyse both paintings and write a reflective account. Analysis was required on three levels: (1) to examine the content of each picture; (2) to explain why they had painted particular images, and explore factors influencing changes or similarities between pictures; and (3) at a deeper level, begin exploring how their values and beliefs had shaped their paintings. Through a facilitated group, students shared their analysis and associated feelings with their peers, the latter being encouraged to ask questions and discuss arising issues to develop their reflective and analytic skills. Examining personal and peer experience enables students to begin to recognise where, in terms of self and self in relation to others, they need to focus their attention. The findings provide tentative evidence that such innovative approaches, together with careful facilitation, can promote deeper insight into self and their chosen career. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As a self-employed sports consultant, I was overwhelmed when three of the athletes I work with were selected for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Working in a minority sport, I knew there would not be scope for me to attend to every step of the way; but like all good sports consultants, I was committed to doing the best I could to ensure these athletes performed at their peak when required. This paper follows my journey as performance coach with one Olympic athlete and the National coach, reviewing practice along the way through interviews, conferences, research, journal entries and the social media. It has led me to what some will see as a surprising conclusion; namely, that most sports science is not used in a functional way. Although my analysis is qualitative, I hope this account of what I did or observed will help us to rethink strategies going forward to Rio 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper discusses the beginning steps of the author as a special education teacher in a large Southwest public school district in the US. The author discusses his first year of experience in a large US middle school as an inclusion teacher by using self-reflective practice in the form of excerpts from his learning journal to become aware and understand the complexities of becoming a special education teacher. The metaphor of the maze is introduced and used as the lens through which the author experienced his becoming a special education teacher and how the metaphor of the maze dominates the professional growth and identity of the author in the field of special education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a retrospective reflexive narrative of my experience of sensemaking and identity on a Professional Doctorate Programme. It discusses some of the challenges of professional doctoral learning, and some of the nuances of following a 'practitioner doctorate'. Sensemaking and habitus provide a method of conceptualizing how I positioned myself in relation to particular pre-existing discourses, and how this in turn influenced my identity as student/researcher/practitioner. The complexities of practitioner focused doctorates involve dealing with the ambiguity and uncertainty of multiple identities. Concluding comments include considering a Chair of Learner Identity, which is influenced by both structural and individual factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the constraints of managerialism and high caseloads, I suggest that probation should still be committed to working creatively with vulnerable individuals, many of whom exhibit strong negative emotions. Reflective practice enables practitioners to deal with these feelings sensitively, then move on to effect change. However, imparting skills and knowledge for reflective practice is not straightforward and is further complicated by distance learning. Two studies were embarked on to discover from Trainee Probation Officers (TPOs) themselves how learning about reflective practice could best be accomplished. The main themes of the studies, the ability to handle and learn from anxiety; negotiating academic and organisational barriers; and the parallels to Trainees' work with offenders, are explored. This paper argues reflective practice is integral to effective probation practice and should continue to hold a key position in offender manager training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how student reflections guided by activity systems analysis in an online instructional technology graduate course can provide insights to participants and instructors for a better understanding of participant course activities. The course topic was about distance education and was facilitated in a blended format using Second Life and Blackboard for synchronous and asynchronous activities. Participants were introduced to the activity systems framework as a holistic tool for engaging in four periodic course reflections related to activities and learning experiences during the semester. We analyzed systematic issues that participants reported which influenced their learning experiences. Our research findings indicate that by using the activity systems framework as a guide in reflections, participants were able to demonstrate how they wrestled with becoming an active member of an online course while they explored how they could shape course experiences into optimal professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is set in the context of a postgraduate course for pharmacists where the participants were exposed to a systematic reflective learning strategy facilitated by a structured, written Reflective Portfolio. Data were generated using focus groups and individual interviews. An inductive approach to data analysis resulted in a Multi-dimensional Model of Reflection that has not previously been presented elsewhere. It illustrates the complexities of reflective learning and therefore challenges the simplicity with which 'reflection' is often portrayed in the literature. It is argued that the research provides a significant contribution to an understanding of reflection for learning and professional practice development. It is further argued that the model of reflection is transferable or relatable to other professional areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflection is recognised as a significant goal in teacher education. Digital portfolios have considerable potential for developing teacher reflective capacities, but more research is needed for documenting the content and quality of the reflections within it and for understanding the factors related to its occurrence. Many schemes of analyses have been developed. However, they do not accord sufficient attention to the situated nature of reflection and the sociocultural context within which reflection occurs. In this study, we seek to analyse and understand student teacher reflections as captured in digital portfolios. We propose using a lens that combines a framework on types of reflection with a situative perspective. Results suggest that student teachers do not typically reflect at deep levels, unless the situation legitimizes or privileges it, even if they may be able to do so. Findings are discussed in relation to contextual factors. It is surmised that student teacher reflections may be tied to the sociocultural context in which they learn and in which reflection is enacted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to examine the affordances of images to prompt reflective processes of preservice teachers writing in a digital environment. The study was conducted over three academic years and a total of 180 preservice teachers were asked to write a blog post to reflect on how they learn to write and their approach on teaching children how to write. This study analyses the type of images used in the blog posts and the logico-semantic relationships between the images and the written text. The core data were gathered from the preservice teachers' blog posts, and then triangulated with the individual written reflections and with the group recordings analysing their respective posts. The results indicate that the blog posts in which preservice teachers use images either connected to personal experiences or with a metaphorical effect, the image-text relation enhances their reflections; whereas the most neutral images that illustrate the act of writing give no added value to their reflections. The discussion addresses the issues on how to help preservice teachers to use images in digital writing in a meaningful way that can deepen their reflective processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflecting on teaching is widely regarded as beneficial and has become a key component in teacher preparation programs. However, teacher educators can struggle to get teachers to engage in meaningful reflection, and teachers differ in their experiences with reflection. One lens for understanding differences in reflective experiences is that of adult development. Employing the constructive-developmental theory of adult development, this study investigated reflection on teaching experiences of seven novice Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) teachers. Findings showed that teachers differed in their experiences depending on their different developmental perspectives. For example, some teachers valued written reflection on teaching as critical for reflection itself, while others experienced it as redundant. Implications for supporting meaningful reflection experiences among developmentally diverse novice teachers are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflective writing is a proven way to increase the quality of learning and knowledge construction. However, its use in computer science education has received little attention. In this mixed-methods study, we investigated the effect of reflective writing practices, including peer review, on students' reflective writing and writing quality scores in a computer science education context. Three reflective writing assignments were required in a Human Computer Interaction course and two peers reviewed each assignment to give feedback. Rubrics were used to measure the reflective writing and writing quality characteristics of student work, and a peer feedback coding scheme was used to determine the characteristics of the feedback students provided to one another. Results revealed that students' reflective writing and writing quality did not differ across projects and they offered solutions as their most common type of feedback. Our results revealed further studies need to keep investigating new approaches in terms of timing, guidelines, and supportive tools to promote reflective writing to determine which activity designs facilitate student improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher candidates (TCs) must navigate personal, experiential, and theoretical discourses of learning to teach to establish a teaching identity. This article describes a critical case example of digital storytelling to imagine a future classroom. The qualitative research design situates the TCs' digital stories as a performance and analyzes the art form to consider how they might use these texts to imagine and make visible this negotiation. The critical case shows how the TCs used the digital story to make sense of personal experiences, their image of an ideal teacher, methods coursework, and the personal struggle inherent across these sometimes disparate voices of learning to teach. Findings indicate that digital storytelling expands TCs' reflective practice in the supportive environment of a teacher education program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the results of a 2-year faculty professional growth project in which a library faculty employed reflective and deliberate practice techniques regarding their instruction of information literacy outcomes. The faculty submitted reflections through a Google-forms tool, which was used to identify and assess essential elements of effective teaching and learning. The project's longitudinal data was analyzed each semester and academic year, and evidence was found of faculty growth in their application of active learning techniques as well as growth in their reflective writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we present and outline depth-hermeneutics as a new application of a theoretically founded psychosocial approach, with the ambition of inspiring teachers to explore challenging aspects of their relational work with students. Empirical knowledge and psychodynamic theory suggest that teaching and learning are profoundly rooted in relationship based processes. Hence it is a prerequisite for improving learning and supporting teachers' professional development that challenging aspects in the student-teacher relationship be taken seriously by being examined, with the aim of enabling and supporting learning from experience in reflective practice. We suggest that group-based depth-hermeneutics, a qualitative psychosocial method, may allow for analysis and interpretation of situations and relations in school that may be experienced by teachers as difficult or incomprehensible. Drawing on an empirical example from fieldwork in a Norwegian middle school, we illustrate the nature of a challenging situation and relation in teaching and show step-by-step how depth-hermeneutics can be adapted, adopted, implemented, and facilitated in teacher groups, to increase scenic understanding of such complex phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is an autoethnographic study that inquiries into my own journey as an aspiring educational researcher throughout the second course of my Master’s Program at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. My experiences take place in the context of a group of real educational researchers and their on-going research project at the faculty of education called ‘Beyond Plant Blindness: Seeing the importance of plants for a sustainable world’ (BPB). All of the experiences included in this study are expressed in the form of chronologically ordered narrative vignettes. In order to bring theoretical meaning to these experiences, the vignettes were critically reflected upon and interpreted through the concept Communities of Practice (CoP), which is central to situated learning theory. Through this conceptual lens, my experiences revealed that an aspiring educational researcher may feel emotional and intellectual growth as a newcomer who is granted legitimate peripheral participation in the ‘real’ researcher CoP. Consequently, this study sheds light on ways that real researchers may play a part in shaping the identities of aspiring educational researchers through learning experiences. However, more generally, this study may facilitate fresh conversations about the complexities of learning, identity, and inclusion in the field of educational research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The continuing professional development of ordained ministers is an important concept given the ever-changing nature of ministry and society as a whole. Within such a context, professional development needs to cope with continuous change through reflective practice in order to challenge and renew expertise. The proposed scenario for change seeks to embed reflective practice as the central method for the professional development of ordained ministers, thereby extending reflective practice from training and into the mode of lifelong learning. Components of this approach will include:• Intentional reflective practice as the central methodology.• Communities of practice as the central location for reflective practice.• Facilitation as the central mechanism for reflective practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Simulated teaching practice and oral interviews were integrated into the English Teaching Observation and Practice class in a language teacher education program in a northwest city in Taiwan. This study discusses 43 pre-service elementary school English teachers’ learning and reflections from simulated teaching practice and oral interviews from videos, peers’ response cards, and reflections. The study has the following findings. First, the participants had never before experienced simulated teaching practice and oral interviews. Their contextual reflection was cultivated and was situated in a social context where they used reflection tools (their peers’ comments, instructor’s comments, and observation of classmates’ presentations) to help them examine their own strengths and weaknesses. Participants’ reflections mainly focused on knowledge and skills, but there were a few reflections on disposition. Suggestions on the effective design and implementation of simulated teaching practice and oral interviews for pre-service elementary school English teachers are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Art-based learning is a way of engaging the intellectual, affective, visual and kinaesthetic domains modelling creative, lateral thinking and personal meaning-making through metaphor as well as coaching dialogue. It is a form of experiential learning involving learning cycles to entice deep reflection in and on practice and deep, transformative learning. Art-based learning is essential to the studies of Expression and Communication and of Transpersonal Art Therapy (TAT). This journal-type essay explores what happened during an arts-based activity as part of the author’s study in TAT practice. The activity concerned finger-painting ‘the journey of self-realisation’ and the resulting imagery was used to coach dialogue. Describing the process through a series of steps, the author discusses the experiences and insights that emerged during and after the process. Though subjective and not necessarily applicable to all situations, this essay may encourage tertiary educators of studies in Education and Health to employ similar arts-based learning exercises to effectively benefit their own development, that of their students, and effectively the learning community. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Working with young people in alternative schools poses particular challenges for the professional identity of educators. This research explored educator identity and development in practice in a network of alternative schools re-enfranchising young people. There was a focus on educator induction in the study. Different ways of being an educator were required in order to re-engage young people facing multiple complexities in their lives. A three-stage design experiment methodology was employed to investigate how ways of working, valuing and professional learning influenced educator identity and development. Iterative cycles of reflection embedded in the methodology allowed practitioners’ perspectives to influence the design of enhanced induction processes, leading to the prototyping of reflective practice groups as an induction strategy. Findings provide insights into the influence of reflective practice on educator identity and development in relation to two overarching themes synthesised in thematic analysis of interview data: relationships, and changing perspectives through reflection. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This reflection, using auto-ethnography as method, explores the value of attunement to feedback in the teaching of a professional postgraduate course for allied mental health professionals. This is, therefore, a story of two halves: a narrative of my learning based on my reflections of my own teaching, and a story of how I have integrated feedback from students and their clinical supervisors to refine my teaching and course development in the programme. The resulting model of teaching and learning I have developed involves a process of 'creative attunement'. 'Attunement' is a psychodynamic concept involving 'contact' or a quality of relationship based on availability, presence, empathy, respect and selective disclosure. The learning activities of the programme aim to develop an awareness of the students' own 'craft knowledge' as graduate social workers and occupational therapists during their intern year in the health services. Through a process of growing the students' awareness of self in the clinician's role by attuning to students' feedback, learning from undergraduate education becomes more available to be applied in a new field of practice. Designing learning activities that incorporate stories of practice and align with clinical supervisors and service user narratives provides access to a variety of learning experiences. I explore the implications for developing critical-reflective practice within a 'community of learners' model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are emerging links between reflection and humanistic, patient-centered practice. We created the Family Centered Experience (FCE) to help students understand the experience of illness from the patient's perspective. The FCE centers on students' reflections of their conversations with their volunteer patients and families - these conversations and reflections are at the core of small group activities. The FCE Interpretive Project provides students with a chance to reflect on their volunteer's illness experience. Students reflect on how the volunteer's experience has influenced the way they understand the unique experience of illness and its impact on individuals, families and friends. Projects have included poems, songs, collages, paintings, quilts, sculptures, books, slide presentations, and games. By carrying forward into clerkships what they have learned from their patients and in their discussions, students are better equipped to handle the challenges of the hidden curriculum and to preserve the values of humanistic medicine espoused in the FCE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years teachers have been encouraged to take up reflective practice because of its perceived ability to improve teaching and learning, but this has largely been limited to the West. The emphasis has not been widespread in developing countries and many educators are largely unaware of reflective practice and its perceived potential as a teacher development strategy. This article reports a study undertaken to understand and explore the process and consequences of engaging teachers in reflective conversations in Karachi, Pakistan. It describes how two English language teachers and a reflective coach reflected through conversations on their practices. The findings suggest that teachers in such contexts need to engage in reflective conversations if their practices are to improve. Also, the role of the reflective coach in this context appears to be fluid and evolving. The article also presents possibilities and tensions that are likely to emerge if reflective conversations are implemented as a teacher development strategy and a framework for using reflective conversations as a teacher development strategy in developing country contexts. Finally, implications of the study for schools and teacher development in Pakistan and similar contexts are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]