Do reflective teachers teach better?
There is very little empirical evidence on the relationship between teacher reflection and the quality of their classroom instruction. However, reflective teachers might just have the edge in instructional quality and engagement.
In this new research, the study explores the relationship between teachers’ personal growth (reflection) and teacher engagement and instructional quality.
Why is this significant?
In an era demanding more from educators, this isn’t just about theoretical competency. Huang et al.’s 2023 study of 998 teachers in North East China pinpoints a significant correlation between proactive personal growth and enhanced instructional quality.
So, how does the relationship between teacher proactivity, improve engagement and instructional quality?
Instructional quality concerns the features of teachers’ instructional behaviour associated with student learning and motivation.
Engagement refers to an individual’s “positive, fulfilling and work-related state of mind” regarding the teaching and the extent to which individuals experience their work energetically, wanting to develop more time and effort …
Personal growth initiative (referenced as PGI in the research) is those interested in personal reflection in an active and self-initiated manner instead of reactive.
Teachers from Jilin, North East China participated in an anonymous survey. The average teaching experience was 15.25 years (82.9% female) with participants responding to a six-point scale.
Teachers evaluated:
- cognitive engagement,
- emotional engagement,
- social engagement with the students and,
- social engagement with colleagues.
These conceptual models were reviewed against instructional quality; classroom management, cognitive activation and climate support.
Conclusions
This research highlights the importance of teachers’ proactivity to their teaching performance.
To support teachers, the research recommends that schools and teacher training days provide new approaches to help teachers become proactive rather than reactive.
“Social learning” is used as an expression, and what I take away from this, is in schools where school leaders bring their teachers together to talk about teaching and learning on a regular basis; an opportunity to learn from one another during directed time.
Improving teaching is more than just consuming in-house CPD, but attending events, reading books and research; writing and contributing to the profession independently from your employer.
Questions for teachers
- How often do you actively seek revised teaching methods?
- What resources outside your school environment could aid your development?
- How do you integrate cognitive, emotional, and social engagement into your teaching?
- How proactive are you in understanding and implementing the latest teaching research?
- Could your teaching benefit from more self-initiated reflection?
Teachers’ instructional quality is critical to student learning and development. Personal reflection has the strongest relationship with a supportive classroom environment, cognitive activation and behaviour management …
Download the full paper.
