1. Novice Teachers' Reflectivity upon Their Classroom Management.
- Author
-
Gibbons, Louel and Jones, Lynn
- Abstract
The goal of this study was to develop theories about how novice teachers connect the process of reflectivity to their classroom management. The study focused on whether novice teachers connect their observations about situations which occur in case studies to their own experiences, whether they reflect before or after their actions, and whether they feel capable and/or empowered enough to cope with day-to-day discipline problems in the middle school classroom. Three middle school student teachers--all secondary science student teachers--nearing completion of their program of undergraduate study, were selected as study participants. Data were collected through face-to-face conversations with them, from their written responses to a case study depicting a second-year high school mathematics teacher with a classroom management problem, and from responses to a questionnaire. The participants responses to the case study indicated that they were reflecting on problems that teachers face; however, their written responses indicated a greater sense of reflectivity compared to what they displayed when discussing the problems they faced within the classroom each day. Participants reported that in the early stages of their placement their concerns were primarily content-oriented, while toward the end of their placement their concerns were about discipline and whether or not students were learning what they wanted them to learn, and they were more willing to change a lesson if they felt it was not effective. Gaining credibility was important to the participants, since they stated that being recognized as a "good teacher" and authority within the classroom was their most prized accomplishment of the internship. Overall, they recognized that trial and error is always necessary, even in the most experienced teacher's classroom. While the novice teachers reflected more as their internship progressed and gained more confidence in their ability to manage their classroom, they continued to voice concerns about the problems of increased violence within schools. (ND)
- Published
- 1994