RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW
TO WRITE REFLECTIVE ACCOUNTS
Dear Colleagues,
Have you ever met the concept «a reflective account» before? Have you ever written
such an account? Would you like to improve what you have already written?
I hope that the suggested guidelines below will help you:
• to understand what a reflective account is;
• to write a good reflective account;
• to get acquainted with the assessment criteria for reflective accounts developed
by the trainer and her trainees.
In accordance with the Program of the training courses for the teachers of the
Republic of Kazakhstan (Handbook for Teacher, p.203), the course participants on the third
(basic) level must submit the following reflective accounts for going through the assessment
process:
№
Name of the file:
Name of the reflective account:
1)
а – Reflection on how
and why one theme was
integrated into the lesson
sequence
Reflective account on how and why the theme of one
Module was integrated into the lesson sequence. (reflects
the validity and methodology of using the ideas of one
Module of the Program in the lesson sequence (2000 words)
2)
В1 – One medium term
planning of the sequence of
four lessons indicating how
the seven themes of the
Modules were integrated
Medium term planning
(includes examples of all the activities within at least 4 lessons
demonstrating technique of using the ideas of the seven
Modules of the Program in their own practice of teaching
and learning)
3)
В2 - One reflective
account on a lesson from
the sequence
Reflective account on a lesson from the planned sequence
of lessons
(includes evidence of pupil learning
(e.g. photographs of pupil activity, examples of pupils’ work
and pupil assessment records etc.)) (1000 words)
4)
В3 – Reflection on
collaborative presenta-
tion in relation to the
school based tasks
Reflective account on participating in a collaborative
presentation
(on the teaching of their subject, including what they have
learned and opinions on this assignment) (1000 words)
5)
С –One reflective account
of the complete lesson
sequence demonstrating
how changes to teaching
and learning were led
and managed
Reflective account on the complete lesson sequence
(shows the progress and methodology of implementing
changes in the practice of teaching and learning and the
process of managing them) (2000 words)
Working with my trainees, I had the opportunity to formatively and summatively
assess their reflective accounts, and these are the conclusions I came to. I found out that
teachers tend to make the following errors when writing a reflective report:
1. teachers engage in plagiarism, either completely copy someone else’s work from
the internet or do not provide links to the source of information;
2. teachers «pour the water», i.e. do not stick to the point or deviate from the subject
of their account;
3. teachers tend to write accounts of a descriptive rather than analytical matter, i.e.
write much about how something happened, but do not answer the question why
something happened (or didn’t happen);
4. teachers tend to idealize, i.e. are not able (or willing) to see areas for improvement
in their own practical work at school, do not reflect on drawbacks of lessons, and,
therefore, cannot determine over what should be changed in their practice in the
future;
5. teachers ignore a set number of words, they write too little or too much;
6. teachers do not indicate reference links and bibliography when necessary.
Dear colleagues, think, please, how can we avoid the above mentioned errors?
I think that first of all I should explain what I stipulate by the concept of a reflective
account.
A reflective account is a document which contains examples of teaching practice,
backed up by appropriate knowledge of the theoretical material and accompanied by in-
depth analysis of the outcomes of learning. Namely, it includes answers to the following
questions about own experience: why something happened or did not happen? how to turn
own “cons” in the “pros”? and how to improve own practices in the future?
John Biggs (2003), an Australian educational psychologist, said: “In order that the
student was able to get a high score, he needs to know about the expected results and learn
how to reach them.” With this aim, at one of the training sessions during the third (basic) level
courses, the teachers of my group number 2 independently came to the conclusion what the
components of a quality reflective account are and developed a “scheme of evaluation,” or as
we say in Kazakhstan – «Rubrics» that includes the criteria themselves, labels and descriptors.
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GLOSSARY
Rubrics (or a marking scheme) - a document explaining the method of estimation of
student work and suggesting the presence of criteria, labels and descriptors.
Evaluation criterion (or assessment criterion) - a key characteristic or feature of the
work on the task on which one can judge the quality of the work.
Label - characteristic of the level of the work performed. In the Republic of
Kazakhstan there are common labels of the quantified level from 1 (or 0) to 5. However,
the labels could include such quality features as “excellent”, “advanced”, “sufficient”, “not
sufficient”, “requires improvement”.
Descriptor (or standard) - a statement describing the level or the quality of work
performed by students.
After the sessions, we were able to develop rubrics with descriptors for the criteria
and labels proposed by the Examination Board of the University of Cambridge. In this
chapter you will find descriptors for the following reflective accounts: «Reflective account
on how and why the theme of one Module was integrated into the lesson sequence»,
«Medium term planning», «Reflective account on a lesson from the planned sequence of
lessons», as well trainer’s explanations to the proposed descriptors. Additionally, you will
receive a piece of «feedforward» to such reflective accounts as: «Reflective account on
participating in a collaborative presentation» and «Reflective account of the complete lesson
sequence demonstrating how changes to teaching and learning were led and managed». In
addition to the descriptors «feedforward» is also given to the following reflective accounts:
«Reflective account on how and why the theme of one Module was integrated into the
lesson sequence», «Reflective account on a lesson from the planned sequence of lessons».
At the moment, the proposed rubrics and recommendations are used by me and my
trainees for formative assessment of reflective accounts.
Rubrics to:
Reflective account on how and why the theme of one
Module was integrated into the lesson sequence
Knowledge and
Understanding
Application
Reflection
Good Pass
The account reflects
the
knowledge
and
understanding of how the
ideas of one module are
used in teaching practice.
The account contains
logically traceable refe-
rences to the Program and
additional recommended
material.
The account demonstrates
the methodology of
using the ideas of the
module in own teaching
and learning practice.
There is a lot of valid
evidence of teacher and
students’ learning in the
subject matter of the
module.
The
work
is
of
analytical
matter.
The
work
contains
answers to such questions
as
why
something
happened/ did not happen?
In the paper there are
findings and conclusions.
The author’s points of
view is clearly traced.
The paper contains plans
for future actions.
Pass
The account reflects
the
knowledge
and
understanding of how the
ideas of one module are
used in teaching practice.
The account contains
logically
traceable
references
to
the
Program and additional
recommended material.
The account demonstrates
the methodology of
using the ideas of the
module in own teaching
and learning practice.
There is a lot of valid
evidence of teacher and
students’ learning in the
subject matter of the
module.
The
work
is
of
analytical
matter.
The
work
contains
answers to such questions
as
why
something
happened/ did not happen?
In the paper there are
findings and conclusions.
The author’s points of
view is clearly traced.
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Borderline The account reflects
the
knowledge
and
understanding of how the
ideas of one module are
used in teaching practice.
The account demonstrates
the methodology of
using the ideas of the
module in own teaching
and learning practice.
The
evidence
of
learning are missing or
inconvincible.
Analysis is missing or
limited, the work is of a
descriptive matter.
The work contains ans-
wers to the question how
something happened?
But, there are no
answers to the question:
why
is
something
happening/ happened?
The ideas expressed in the
account are not consistent
and logically connected.
The account contains
vague
examples
of
teaching practice (there
are vague words such
as:
various
tasks,
different methods etc.).
The paper’s conclu-
sions
are
absent.
The author’s opinion
is absent or limited.
The paper doesn’t contain
plans for future actions.
Failed
The reflective account
was not handed in.
The reflective account is
an example of plagiarism.
The reflective account
was not handed in.
The reflective account is
an example of plagiarism.
The reflective account
was not handed in.
The reflective account is
an example of plagiarism.
Rubrics to:
Medium term planning
Knowledge and
Understanding
Application
Reflection
Good Pass
The account reflects
the
knowledge
and
understanding of how
the ideas of the seven
modules of the Program
can be integrated into
teaching practice within
the sequence of lessons.
The account contains
logically
traceable
references
to
the
Program and additional
recommended material.
All the tasks listed in the
manual «School-based
tasks» have been tested in
practice, and the medium
term plan demonstrates
the methodology of using
the ideas of the seven
modules of the Program
in teaching practice.
There is a lot of valid
evidence of teacher and
students’ learning.
The
work
is
of
analytical
matter.
The
work
contains
answers to such questions
as
why
something
happened/ did not happen?
In the paper there are
findings and conclusions.
The author’s points of
view is clearly traced.
The paper contains plans
for future actions.
Pass
The account reflects
the
knowledge
and
understanding of how
the ideas of the seven
modules of the Program
can be integrated into
teaching practice within
the sequence of lessons.
The account contains
logically
traceable
references
to
the
Program and additional
recommended material.
All the tasks listed in the
manual «School-based
tasks» have been tested in
practice, and the medium
term plan demonstrates
the methodology of using
the ideas of the seven
modules of the Program
in teaching practice.
There is a lot of valid
evidence of teacher and
students’ learning.
The
work
is
of
analytical
matter.
The
work
contains
answers to such questions
as
why
something
happened/ did not happen?
In the paper there are
findings and conclusions.
The author’s points of
view is clearly traced.
Borderline The account reflects
the
knowledge
and
understanding of how
the ideas of the seven
modules of the Program
can be integrated into
teaching practice within
the sequence of lessons.
Most of the tasks listed
in the manual «School-
based
tasks»
have
been tested in practice,
and the medium term
plan demonstrates the
methodology of using
the ideas of the seven
modules of the Program
in teaching practice.
The
evidence
of
learning are missing or
inconvincible.
Analysis is missing or
limited, the work is of a
descriptive matter.
The
work
contains
answers to the question
how
something
happened?
But, there are no
answers to the question:
why
is
something
happening/ happened?
The ideas expressed in the
account are not consistent
and logically connected.
The account contains
vague
examples
of
teaching practice (there
are vague words such
as:
various
tasks,
different methods etc.).
The
paper’s
conclusions are absent.
The author’s opinion
is absent or limited.
The paper doesn’t contain
plans for future actions.
Failed
The reflective account
was not handed in.
The reflective account is
an example of plagiarism.
The reflective account
was not handed in.
The reflective account is
an example of plagiarism.
The reflective account
was not handed in.
The reflective account is
an example of plagiarism.
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Rubrics to:
Reflective account on a lesson from the planned sequence of lessons
Knowledge and
Understanding
Application
Reflection
Good Pass The account reflects
the
knowledge
and
understanding of how
the ideas of the Program
can
be
integrated
into teaching practice
within
one
lesson.
The account contains
logically
traceable
references
to
the
Program and additional
recommended material.
The account demonstrates
the methodology of using
the ideas of the seven
modules of the Program
in own teaching practice
within one lesson out of
the sequence.
Learning
aims
and
objectives
formulated
in accordance with the
SMART acronym.
The account demonstrates
the
reflection
on
the
lesson
from
different
perspectives.
There is a lot of valid
evidence of teacher and
students’ learning.
The
work
is
of
analytical
matter.
The
work
contains
answers to such questions
as
why
something
happened/ did not happen?
In the paper there are
findings and conclusions.
The author’s points of
view is clearly traced.
The paper contains plans
for future actions.
Pass
The account reflects
the
knowledge
and
understanding of how
the ideas of the Program
can
be
integrated
into teaching practice
within
one
lesson.
The account contains
logically
traceable
references
to
the
Program and additional
recommended material.
The account demonstrates
the methodology of using
the ideas of the seven
modules of the Program
in own teaching practice
within one lesson out of
the sequence.
Learning
aims
and
objectives
formulated
in accordance with the
SMART acronym.
The account demonstrates
the
reflection
on
the
lesson
from
different
perspectives.
There is a lot of valid
evidence of teacher and
students’ learning.
The
work
is
of
analytical
matter.
The
work
contains
answers to such questions
as
why
something
happened/ did not happen?
In the paper there are
findings and conclusions.
The author’s points of
view is clearly traced.
Borderline The account reflects
the
knowledge
and
understanding of how
the ideas of the Program
can
be
integrated
into teaching practice
within
one
lesson.
The account demonstrates
the methodology of
using the ideas of some
modules of the Program
in own teaching practice
within one lesson out of
the sequence.
Learning
aims
and
objectives formulated not
in accordance with the
SMART acronym.
The
evidence
of
learning are missing or
inconvincible.
Analysis is missing or
limited, the work is of a
descriptive matter.
The
work
contains
answers to the question
how
something
happened?
But, there are no answers
to the question: why is
something
happening/
happened?
The ideas expressed
in the account are not
consistent and logically
connected. The account
contains vague examples
of teaching practice (there
are vague words such as:
various tasks, different
methods etc.). The paper’s
conclusions are absent.
The author’s opinion
is absent or limited.
The paper doesn’t contain
plans for future actions.
Failed
The reflective account
was not handed in.
The reflective account is
an example of plagiarism.
The reflective account
was not handed in.
The reflective account is
an example of plagiarism.
The reflective account
was not handed in.
The reflective account is
an example of plagiarism.
In order the reader could understand more clearly what is stipulated by the separate
descriptors, the trainer may suggest the following explanation:
Knowledge and
Understanding
Trainer’s notes
Good
Pass
The account reflects
the knowledge and
understanding of how
the ideas of the Program
can be integrated into
teaching practice within
one lesson.
The account contains
logically
traceable
references to the
Program and additional
recommended material.
The teacher shows knowledge of the ideas of the Program by
presenting in the account the correct wording of the concepts
and terms used in the Program.
The teacher expresses his own opinion on one or another idea
of the Program.
The teacher explains how and why he used this or that idea of
the Program in his teaching practice.
The teacher refers to the Handbook for teachers and additional
recommended material, draws links in accordance with the
requirements (Handbook for Teacher, p.198).
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