What are the Types of Reflective Teaching and Advantages and Disadvantages of Reflective Teaching

Reflective teaching is a process where teachers look back at their teaching practices and find ways how their teaching methods can be improved or changed for the better learning of students. They could find out by looking at how well students are answering in class and the results of the tests. A teacher reflects on their teaching process to learn about their practice and think if it’s working for the students’ learning process. By self-observation and self-evaluation, teachers can improve their teaching techniques. Through reflecting on one’s teaching style, teachers will be good at their job and provide an effective learning experience for the students.

Types of Reflective Teaching

Based on some of the earlier research, there are three types of reflective practice: reflection-in-action, reflection-on-action, and reflection-for-action.

Reflection-in-action

This takes place while the teacher is inside the classroom. The teacher starts observing everything as it is happening. The teacher realizes while teaching itself what is working and what is not in both the teaching and learning process.

Reflection-on-action

This takes place after the teaching session has ended. The teacher reflects on his/her teaching in the classroom and finds ways on how the teaching process can be improved.

Reflection-for-action

This too takes place after the teaching is over. But this is a more longer and critical process. In reflection-for-action, the teacher looks back at the information gathered in the classroom for improving the teaching methods to provide a satisfactory learning process to the students.

Advantages of Reflective Teaching

Following are the advantages of reflective teaching:

Professional Growth

Reflective Teaching will help the educators in their professional growth. By reflecting on their teaching process, the teachers will get a better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses and this will help in their professional development.

Promotes Innovation

Reflective teaching leads to innovative methods and techniques of teaching by the educator. Reflective teaching allows teachers to find innovative ways to make the class activities interesting and fun for the students.

Enhances Problem-Solving Skills

Reflective teaching also helps in the improvement of the teacher’s problem-solving skills. It’ll allow them to come up with new techniques and strategies to make the learning process easy and simple for students. This skill will not only help the teachers in their career growth but overcome their personal problems as well.

Improves relationship between Teacher-Student

A teacher needs to have good relations with the students for the students to look forward to his/her class and listen attentively. Reflective teaching allows us to evaluate each student’s performances and capabilities and think of each student as a unique learner. Teachers need to think of ways to connect and communicate with the students, engage them in the class lessons and improve their learning process.

Disadvantages of Reflective Teaching

The disadvantages of reflective teaching are as follows:

  1. Not all educators will have an understanding of how to follow the reflective process.
  2. It may be an uncomfortable feeling to analyze and evaluate one’s practice.
  3. Reflective teaching is a time-consuming process and teachers need to make time for it from their busy schedules.
  4. The teachers may not understand which aspects to reflect upon.
  5. A lot of thinking and reasoning is needed to follow reflective teaching.

Even though reflective teaching will require a lot of thinking and can be time-consuming, it ensures great benefits in return. Following this process will be helpful for both the teachers and students as it will lead to effective teaching as well as a learning experience. Such a teacher is on the way to a successful path as well as leads his/her students to success.

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