Introduction
Students face many challenges when they plan and practise teaching in another teacher's classroom. They soon discover that there are no sure-fire procedures for successful teaching, and that to be effective practitioners they have to plan and adjust constantly. The longstanding problem is how to do this in an informed and enjoyable way that will enhance their professional development.
Reflection is providing the answer. The 5 Rs Reflective Tool aims to assist student teachers to reflect deeply upon their professional practice and the broader issues confronting school education. This tool also has applications to a variety of contexts where students need to reflect on the connections between theory and practice in their subject/content/KLA areas.
The 5 Rs Reflective tool is intended for student teachers to interpret, assess and extend their reflective writing. Examples of journal entries for both primary and secondary students are provided applying the 5 Rs Framework and Assessment Scale. A subsequent modelled reflection is then provided to illustrate how the students could extend their responses.
As Bain, Ballantyne, Mills and Lester (2002) suggested writing reflections is a creative and personal experience. They highlighted that, "The writing scale was never intended to restrict the writing process to a linear structure, but to frame it by providing prompts to stimulate thinking" (p.23). With this in mind, the different components of the 5 Rs Framework and Assessment Scale can be found in any order within a journal entry (with the exception that Reconstructing requires prior Reasoning). Also the different components may occur more than once in a journal entry. Ideally you would need to have some level of Reporting, with a view to moving to the Reconstructing level.
Text and Author Details
Bain, J.D., Ballantyne, R., Mills, C., & Lester, N.C. (2002). Reflecting on practice: Student Teachers' perspectives. Flaxton, Qld, Australia: Post Pressed