Enhancing Teacher Professional Development Through Reflective Teaching Approach (Reflective Practices: A means To Teacher Development)
- February 15, 2021
- Posted by: RSIS Team
- Categories: Education, IJRISS
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue I, January 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186
Olufunke O. BORIS1 & Uche E. EKIUGBO2
1,2School of Education, Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology, Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria.
Abstract:–Education is meant to enable learners to inquire not only without but within. This aim can be achieved only if the teacher can create a situation in which such an inquiry is possible. Through reflection, teacher can explore themselves and that of others. Reflective practice is a process that brings about changes in teaching, learning and understanding and it also has an important role to play in professional development. Students understand themselves better when they carry out systematic enquiry into themselves and also into their practices and their students. They professionally grow on their own by constantly looking into their own actions and experiences. In this study, a quantitative research was conducted to see the effectiveness of reflective practices in the development of student teachers to develop their reflective practices during their practice teaching sessions. The paper attempts to establish that reflective practice is a tool for student teachers to explore themselves and thereby leading to their professional development.
Keywords: Reflective teaching, Reflective practice, Student Teachers, Teacher development
I. INTRODUCTION
The importance of education and the roles of teachers in the implementation of the curriculum cannot be overstated. No nation can develop beyond the capacity of its human resource; the survival of any society depends largely on the quality and perhaps quantity of human resource at its disposal.
Therefore Mujibu (2008) sees a teacher as an expert who is capable of impacting knowledge that will help learners to build, identify and acquire skills that will be used to face challenges of life.
Federal republic of Nigeria realized that no education system can arise beyond the qualities of its teacher. The society today is full of graduates who parade paper qualifications but lack the skills and competence needed in the labour market. The best teachers contemplate the manner in while they all present a topic and have a wide variety of instructional strategies at their disposal. A teacher with training is more mature and confident to perform is task more efficiently. The quality of our human capital depends on the quality of our teachers. What students learn is directly related to what and how teachers teach depends on the knowledge, skills and commitments.
