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In both Australia and Malaysia where there is strong central oversight of education, reflective thinking is promoted as integral to an effective pedagogy that leads to good quality learner outcomes. Besides providing tools and resources for teachers and pre-service teachers to use, increasing the systemic procedures for teacher advancement and accreditation require documented evidence of reflective practice. While the idea of the reflective practitioner has taken hold in the Australian and Malaysian education sectors, there are questions about the value of externally driven approaches for developing the internalised and meaningful reflective practices that are sought. This scoping review seeks to draw together the existing literature, and to identify emerging themes, opportunities, barriers and challenges for researchers in relation to the way reflective practice is manifested in Malaysia and Australia; how widespread its adoption is; and the effectiveness of different practices. The overarching finding is that this area is under researched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the perceptions of visual art teacher educators of what constitutes good visual art teaching in a Malaysian higher education setting. The aim of this study is to deepen our understanding of the characteristic features of good visual art teaching. The study adopts a qualitative case study approach and draws on the principles and practices of narrative inquiry. In this study four visual art teacher educators were interviewed and observed. Findings suggest that teaching is shaped by prior experiences and understandings of the professional teaching situation. For studio-based participants, mastery of art skills and knowledge is of primary importance in good visual art teaching. For theory-based participants, good visual art teaching also involves mastery of pedagogical content knowledge and practical knowledge. For all participants, lifelong learning through self-reflection, inquiry, peer reviewing, involvement in on-going professional development and continuing education is a hallmark of good visual art teaching. In addition all visual art teacher educator participants view good visual art teaching as a relational activity. Through this study an understanding of the beliefs, values and life-shaping factors that underpin and inform these visual art teacher educators' teaching practices provides us with new understandings of their work in Malaysian teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]