{"id":19140,"date":"2022-06-11T15:13:44","date_gmt":"2022-06-11T21:13:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/?p=19140"},"modified":"2024-08-08T14:36:57","modified_gmt":"2024-08-08T20:36:57","slug":"reflective-teaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/reflective-teaching\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Reflective Teaching and Why Is It Important?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If you feel that your teaching is becoming a bit stale or you\u2019re unsure of a lesson\u2019s effectiveness, reflective teaching is the best way to regain your confidence and interest in ESL education. Let’s take a closer look at what reflective teaching entails, why it’s important, and how you can implement reflective practices in your career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflective teaching is covered in detail in the IDELTOnline\u2122 course, Bridge’s most advanced professional TEFL certification, which can be used as a pathway to an MA TESOL at more than 1,600 universities.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Reflective Teaching?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Reflective teaching is a teacher\u2019s practice of thinking, writing, and\/or speaking about their lessons and their teaching methods<\/a> and approaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s easy for teachers to get into a rut while teaching, where it feels like they’re delivering lessons on autopilot. Reflective teaching is a way to break out of that rut and become the best teacher you can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his essay, “Reflective Practice for Language Teachers,” Thomas Farrell writes, \u201cReflective practice occurs, then, when teachers consciously take on the role of reflective practitioner and subject their own beliefs about teaching and learning to critical analysis, take full responsibility for their actions in the classroom, and continue to improve their teaching practice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to read the entire essay and get a more in-depth look at reflective teaching? Take the graduate-level IDELTOnline\u2122 course.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Teachers participate in a TEFL workshop.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Why is Reflective Teaching Important?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cTeachers who engage in reflective practice can develop a deeper understanding of their teaching, assess their professional growth, develop informed decision-making skills, and become proactive and confident in their teaching.\u201d -Farrell<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It improves your lesson plans<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the main benefits of reflective teaching is that it helps you to become a better teacher who engages their students more and consistently improves their lesson plans<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By analyzing different aspects of lessons like teacher talking time<\/a> or student collaboration, you can measure your success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, if you remember that students weren\u2019t engaged during an activity, you can analyze the reasons why. Maybe you didn\u2019t set a clear context or you overexplained and slowed down student discovery. Or, maybe it didn’t have anything to do with your planning, and the students simply partied the previous night and didn\u2019t want to discuss the differences between the present perfect and past simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever the reason, reflective teaching can help you think of a solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can help you break out of a teaching rut<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The more you teach, the easier it is to get into a teaching rut. You reuse the same tried and tested activities, you tell the same old anecdotes, and you recycle the same tired grammar explanations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While reusing activities is great, you need to make sure you\u2019re not doing something that feels boring to you. When you\u2019re not having fun, you can\u2019t expect your students to have fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farrell writes, \u201cIf teachers engage in reflective practice they can avoid such burnout because they take the time to stop and think about what is happening in their practice to make sense of it so that they can learn from their experiences rather than mindlessly repeat them year after year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflective teaching gets you to think about how to modify activities and lesson plans so they’re fresh and interesting for both you and your students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Teacher Miles<\/a> uses his passion for hip-hop to inspire students while teaching English.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It inspires you to try new things<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When materials like ELT course book activities start to get boring, it\u2019s time to try something new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Online, there are tons of resources for up-to-date lesson plans. Personal favorites are Onestopenglish<\/a> and TeachThis.com<\/a>, but there are hundreds more, some free and some paid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another great way to try new things is to collaborate with a fellow teacher. This is easy when working at a language school, but you can also do this online through Facebook groups and Linkedin. Teachers even share lesson plans through Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s part of continuing professional development<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Continuing professional development comes in many forms, such as Specialized TEFL\/TESOL courses<\/a> or Micro-credentials<\/a> that offer targeted training. Reflective teaching is also an effective way to continue developing and expanding your teaching skills throughout your career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While reflecting on your teaching, you can also think back to training from TEFL courses<\/a> you\u2019ve already taken and see if you\u2019re fully utilizing what you studied in your online TEFL certification<\/a> lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about professional development for EFL teachers. <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It provides opportunities to share your experience<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Posting your teaching reflections in Facebook groups or on Linkedin helps start conversations around best teaching practices<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll be surprised to see how many teachers have had the same experiences as you or will have suggestions on how to teach in new ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This not only allows you to offer and receive great feedback but also builds your network or community of teachers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See the ways that the IDELTOnline\u2122 sets you apart as a teacher.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the characteristics of reflective teaching?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although reflective teaching can take many forms, there are a few characteristics that appear throughout all types of reflective practices:<\/p>\n\n\n