Good teachers are not well-oiled machines, and good teaching is not just a matter of knowing the subject matter or being able to use all the latest techniques while teaching, or even being efficient. Good teaching is an emotionally charged event where teachers connect with each
(Farrell, 2019b).
student as they passionately deliver their lesson in a pleasurable environment
Have you read this book? Maybe you can help me.
I started writing this post some months ago.
It’s just notes from Thomas S.C. Farrell’s book, Reflective Practice in Language Teaching.
I really enjoyed reading it-it was just 50 pages long.
BUT, I’m not sure I understood the writer’s conclusion. That’s why this post has been in my drafts for a while. So perhaps if you’ve read it, you can help me.
What I’ve learned
Weak vs strong form of reflection
Farrell mentions a weak and a strong form of reflection:
weakest version: Thoughtful practice which does not lead to improved teaching but can lead to unpleasant emotions.
stronger form: systematically collect data and use it to make responsible decisions about teaching. This one is associated with evidence-based reflective practice.
Standing on the shoulders of giants: Dewey and Schön
Farrell summarises the perspectives and constraints of Dewey and Schön’s approach.
Dewey
- systematic, conscious reflection for self-awareness, development and growth
- Reflecting after/on action
- RP is reflective inquiry
- facing a problematic issue
- suspending judgement , taking a step back, avoiding hasty conclusions
- considering reasons for the problem (intellectualization)
- initial emotional reaction is converted into an intellectual reaction, moving from problem felt to problem to be solved
- open-mindedness, freedom from prejudice. Letting go of being right all the time.
- hypothesis testing and observation
- growth comes from a reconstruction of experience
Schön:
- reflecting during/in action
- More pragmatic approach
- practitioner-generated intuitive practice
- professionals know more than they can articulate
Constraints’ in Dewey and Schön‘s approach
- reflection must always begin with a problem/shock/interruption that upsets the routine and that needs to be solved
- It excludes situations that do not create doubt
- it’s a technical rationalist approach
- are there always solutions or answers?
- creates a distance between practitioner and the problem-standing outside looking at the problem.
- the result of a top-down reflect on demand is one of compliance , hating or faking it.
- they are both ends-based models -problems must be solved, no room for uncertainty
Farrell advises us against reflection-as-repair.
we must stand guard against intellectualizing reflection as solely a cognitive process by stepping back too far from the person as teacher who is reflecting, and instead recognize the emotional affective aspects of reflection
T.S. Farrell
The Framework
The writer introduces a five-stage approach to language teacher reflective practice.
The added dimension is: the emotional aspect of reflection.
RP should not result in technical/rational teachers but teachers who have knowledge of their
- philosophy
- principles
- theory
- practice
- beyond practice
He invites teachers to reflect on the following:
Philosophy: their self-knowledge of the teacher as person
Principles: their assumptions and beliefs about learning/teaching English as L2
Theory: The theories they construct influenced by their philosophy and principles.
Practice: Examine what they do in class and how their practice is connected to their philosophies, principles and theory.
Beyond practice: critical reflection+exploration of language for expressing : affect, judgement and appreciation
Damien’s journey
Farrell describes the journey of a teacher (Damien) through the five stages of this framework. An interesting finding was that Damien’s use of emotive language was mostly negative including words such as:
- frustrated
- conflicted
- expected
- unfair
- angry
However, when he mentioned his students and their rapport he used positive language such as:
- receptive
- caring
- fun
Farrell writes that emotional awareness can help us consider which positive emotions we value and which ones we need to avoid.
He later discovered that Damien quit his teaching job sometime after the reflecting experience.
Some questions for you
“One moves from feeling, to observing, to thinking, to doing’
Eyler and Giles
- This quote makes me think that the place of emotion is at the start of the process, or merely the trigger for the intellectual work of reflection (Felten et al. 2006))Does the added emotional dimension Farrell mentions refer to teachers trying to regulate their negative emotions at the end of the reflective process?
2) Being an emotional person, I find comfort in intellectualising reflection. Taking a ‘scientific’ approach feels less ‘threatening’, emotionally speaking. Do you feel the same way?
3) I agree that there are no simple answers and solutions. I don’t understand how uncertainty can help us though. Does that mean that we should reflect in order to just revisit the past rather than guide future action?
Could this be the answer to my questions?
Matthew Noble wrote:
This project of reflection helped me both intellectually and affectively. As for the former, I was able to clarify and consolidate more of what had been tacit teaching beliefs, turning them into more explicit, practical thinking tools. As for the latter, I was able to better and more positively appreciate the value of my early experiences as a learning teacher. As I created the transcriptions, I could recognize and value how I employed the understandings I had at the time and the sincere effort I made using what I knew. In writing the journal entries, I gave voice to confusions I remembered but also to the spirit of striving, to the sincere concern for understanding I brought with me from my very first class ever onwards and found myself truly appreciating my own path of growth.
Full article here
Perhaps I’ve failed to understand what the author ‘s trying to say. If you’ve read this book , please share your thoughts.
References
Farrell, T., 2022. Reflective Practice in Language Teaching. online: Cambridge University Press.
Felten, P., Gilchrist, L. Z., & Darby, A. (2006). Emotion and learning: Feeling our way
toward a new theory of reflection in service-learning . Michigan Journal of Community
Service Learning , 12(2), 38–46.
image credits
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The TEFL Zone 
Reading this at the moment and got the review in the pipeline. Great to see that we’ve picked up on many of the same points. I’m also reading Jon Roberts’ Language Teacher Education at the moment (highly recommend btw), and one thing I’ve found really interesting is how critical Roberts is of Schon’s reflection-in-action (among other things) – he posits that teachers are attending to too many variables at the time of teaching to be able to effectively reflect-in-action, especially early-career teachers, when teaching routines and ‘schema’ are being developed. He also notes that Schon’s model was not created with teachers in mind, and quotes Schon as saying that teaching wasn’t included in the career types of the initial model. Personally, I think that Farrell’s model takes on the ‘best’ parts of Dewey and Schon, but I’m still skeptical about our abilities as teachers to ‘effectively’ reflect-in-action, especially when teaching new ‘areas’. I also think the idea of reflection-in-action is still vaguely defined.
The emotional element of the Farrell’s model is quite interesting – but I did find it a little strange how the analysis was carried out. I would need to read White’s approach, but from a training perspective I found this part of the model the hardest to imagine in an ‘operational’ sense. It does seem like the analysis was done at the end, but (I think) it encompassed all the notes and conversations that focused on all the ‘areas’ of the reflective model. Will have to read this part again to get a better understanding.
Got about 10 pages to go. When I get to the end of the Element, hopefully I’ll be able to share my answers to your questions in more detail! Will let you know 🙂
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Great, I’ll wait for the review! I read Roberts’ book when doing MATD and I absolutely loved it! Thanks, Jim 🙂
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Sorry, but I thought I would try something different; hence, below, you will find the link to my audio comment 🙏🏿
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pC08YHUZ5R67Rk6dhSFjNi2eh4_wLPA5/view?usp=sharing
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Hi Girish! Thanks so much for sharing. Quoting your last sentence here: ‘If reflection was a canvas, the first (or strongest) colours on that canvas would be emotionally driven. However, they would not be the only colours.’
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Hi Rachel
I am so full of respect to you for the reflective posts on your blog, and for the continued and continuous professional development work you have been doing and generously sharing. Thank you for writing this post!
In my response here, I would only try and share my own perspective on the 3 questions you asked. Not to mean that they are ‘the’ answers, and not to even try to say that there is a specific ‘right’ one in the field of reflective (thinking) practice. So…
1) The quote: “One moves from feeling, to observing, to thinking, to doing’. Here (IMO), we can actually start from what seems to be more relevant at the moment of reflection. For example, a teacher may not be sure about the action (setting a task), or was thinking about smth in the lesson s/he wanted to discuss, etc. It may or may not be the ‘feelings’ that trigger the reflection.
‘Does the added emotional dimension Farrell mentions refer to teachers trying to regulate their negative emotions at the end of the reflective process?’ – I think the added dimension is to emphasize the importance of seeing the whole person in ourselves, then in our students. And honestly, I don’t think the feelings in the reflective process need to be negative. Even on an intensive course. It can be so much openness and learning (what he talks in Conclusions about the attitudes).
2) Being an emotional person, I find comfort in intellectualising reflection. Taking a ‘scientific’ approach feels less ‘threatening’, emotionally speaking. Do you feel the same way? – Yes and no to me: the more I work with the reflective thinking skills with teachers, the more I notice how differently people see this, depending on their culture, L1, educational context, motivation to be in the course/training, etc. Some really like to ‘dig deeper’ into feelings, explore how their emotional self impacts teaching. Is there a time for this at a language school or on a course? Not sure (or not always?). Another thought: you mentioned ‘intellectualising’, and it sounds like a way to ‘protect’ yourself from the negative feelings reflection may cause? Maybe, it is about mindset and attitude?
3) ‘I agree that there are no simple answers and solutions. I don’t understand how uncertainty can help us though’. I love this part, and I think appreciating uncertainty can be indeed very tough for us in ELT (or education in general?). Can we learn to enjoy the exploration itself? I checked the list of references the author brings and noticed that he did not cite the new book by Rodgers ‘The Art of Reflective Teaching’ (2020). You may enjoy reading it as I think she is answering the questions you are asking by showing how reflection is being present (for ourselves and students, for learning and doubts, etc.) I love her writing, but am aware that I am biased (as she was an SIT Grad Institute Professor and we are using her ideas in the SIT TESOL Cert Courses).
Rachel, I apologize for this long post! If your settings don’t allow me to post it, I will add it to my blog and link to you! 🙂
This year with what is going on in Ukraine reflective practice hold a totally new meaning and mission for me as an educator and human, and I am grateful for such conversations. Keep on your beautiful blog, and your learning and sharing through which you enrich us readers.
Zhenya
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Dearest Zhenya, thank you so much for taking the time to read and write -as always- such an insightful comment.
I love what you said that perhaps we need to start from what seems to be more relevant at the moment of reflection.
And yes, intellectualising reflection does protect me from negative emotions especially self-criticism. This way I create a distance between the observed Rachel and the observer Rachel, if that makes sense. I can let go of my ego when I ‘listen’ to the observer Rachel and I don’t get defensive. I wonder how normal that is!
Also: Can we learn to enjoy the exploration itself? A good question – I need to think about it. I have mostly been doing the so-called reflection-as-repair.
Wishing you all the best and sending big hugs your way. Huge. Look forward to the day we can meet up and spend some time together. 🌼🌼
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