Individual and collective reflection: how to meet the needs of development in teaching

Autor: Säde-Pirkko Nissilä
Rok vydání: 2005
Předmět:
Zdroj: European Journal of Teacher Education. 28:209-219
ISSN: 1469-5928
0261-9768
DOI: 10.1080/02619760500093354
Popis: The following five core ideas explain how learning organizations function as wholes. The core ideas are central when school is examined as a learning organization. Personal mastery, mental models, team learning, shared visions and system thinking offer different angles to examine the organization. (1) Personal mastery. Without personal commitment, development is impossible. A community and an individual cannot be directed from outside. Growing means ultimately the ability to let other people grow. (2) Various deeply rooted mental models, ways of thinking and seeing things direct our daily behaviour. When evaluating teaching, the most essential thing is not to value the product only, but to value the mental processes. Individual and group reflection skills are needed there. (3) Shared vision. Appreciating views other than one's own is the most important key success factor of a team. All team members should commit themselves to sharing the vision. This presupposes plenty of discourse in the organization, because commitment cannot be imposed. (4) Team learning. The ability to genuinely learn and work together is a challenge. Collective reflection and regarding other people as esteemed colleagues fosters a good atmosphere, gives time and space to other people and will lead to a deeper understanding than one person alone can attain. (5) In systemic thinking the background is formed by system and theories. We are directed logically to only a minor extent. System thinking binds the other core factors together. This research has focused on personal mastery and mental models. The phenomena of individual and collective reflection and their prerequisites were investigated. The target group was a sample of teacher trainees in vocational teacher education. Familiarization with systematic reflection and adopting the usage of it led to a conscious professional approach, empowerment and aptness for life-long learning.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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