Is the reflecticity of teacher students changeable?

A study on the constribution of the Reckahner Refelctions on the Ethics of Pedagogical Releations to teacher education

Abstract

Problematic behavior by teachers towards pupils is not a rare phenomenon as empirical studies have shown (Krumm, Lamberger-Baumann & Haider, 1997; Schubarth & Ulbricht, 2015). To encourage teachers in their capability to reflect their own but also their colleagues’ behavior, the Reckahner Reflections on the Ethics of Pedagogical Relations were developed. It is an open question if the “Reckahner Reflections” can indeed stimulate teachers’ and teacher students’ reflectivity. Based on the model of reflectivity as learning to notice (van Es & Sherin, 2002), we implemented a pre-post design investigating N = 77 teacher students. We tested if the confrontation with the Reckahner Reflections relates to noticing problematic teacher behavior and if the teacher students evaluate possible actions against problematic teacher behavior more positively. Further, we investigated if noticing teacher behavior as more problematic relates to the general sensitivity with regard to unfairness and the evaluation of possible actions. The study revealed that the teacher students noticed the teacher behavior as more problematic after the confrontation with the Reckahner Reflections. Moreover, there were relations between noticing problematic teacher behavior and the evaluation of possible actions, but not to the general sensibility to unfairness.