The challenge of producing progressive teachers in Malaysia: a case study of reflective writings among UPSI student teachers
Because Malaysia is determined to produce high quality teachers who are able to become agents of change and empowered decision makers about their teaching practices, it becomes the responsibility of teacher education institutions in the country to train teachers to be reflective. This study examin...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, UKM,Bangi
2015
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/9165/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/9165/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/9165/1/3x.geografia-jul15-wong-bi-edam.pdf |
| Summary: | Because Malaysia is determined to produce high quality teachers who are able to become agents of change and
empowered decision makers about their teaching practices, it becomes the responsibility of teacher education
institutions in the country to train teachers to be reflective. This study examines 428 self-reflection notes (SRNs) of
seven student teachers (STs) sampled from Sultan Idris Education University (UPSI) during their teaching practicum.
Semi-structured interviews were carried out to gauge the STs’ perceptions of the SRNs and identify the problems
faced by them during reflection. The main aspects of the SRNs were feedback and assessment, lesson
implementation, lesson preparation, classroom management and professional attributes. The reflection level of the
STs was analyzed based on Van Manen’s categorization using content analysis of the SRNs reflective components.
The findings revealed that majority of the research participants were barely reflective as their SRNs were mostly
exhibiting at technical level. There were also SRNs that were at practical level but none of them had achieved the
highest (critical) level of reflection. Among the problems encountered by STs when reflecting were the absence of a
given format in writing SRNs, time constraints, workload problems, difficulty in suggesting recommendations to
overcome problems, lack of guidance from supervising lecturers, and problems in determining aspects of focus in
the SRNs. |
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