Investigating the Role of Critical Reflection in Teachers' Ability to Effect Change

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 37
  In Roundtable Session: Studying Teacher Dispositions, Self-Efficacy, and Action for Change Through Reflection

Abstract

This study investigates teachers’ reflections on culture in their educational settings as a result of engaging in cultural inquiry research, and examines follow-on interview data after program completion, as reported in post-program interviews. Participants included 33 in-service teachers enrolled in an advanced master’s degree program that calls on teachers to develop and engage in critical reflective inquiry to purposefully examine assumptions regarding culture and second language learners as the basis for finding solutions to existing dilemmas in their classrooms. Through active research on and engagement in critical reflection and its resulting actions for change, both teachers and teacher educators can hold a deeper understanding of the role that critical reflection plays as both a program goal and a systematic process.

Authors

• Rebecca K. Fox, George Mason University

• Kelley E Webb, George Mason University

• Nancy Holincheck, George Mason University

• Stephanie L. Dodman, George Mason University