Learning about Reflection in Teaching

This chapter explores our learning about teaching through reflection. My discussion is framed around my assumption that through the integration of multiple reflective practices in the Learning and Teaching Mathematics units, pre-service teachers would be encouraged to reflect critically on their learning. Reflective practices included an introduction to multiple reflective tools (the ALACT cycle of reflection, Freewrites and Critical Incident Questionnaires) and I discuss why and how reflective tools were introduced and utilised; what we learnt from their implementation and examine the ways in which my initial assumption was supported and/or challenged. I begin this chapter with a brief review of the literature relating to the impact of reflective practice in teacher education programs and the ability (or inability) of programs to succeed in the development of critical reflection, in particular.