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Collaborative Action Research for Preparing Teachers as Reflective Practitioners

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Abstract

The study focuses on using collaborative action research projects to promote reflective practice of pre-service teachers during the internship. Research groups were composed by school tutors and pre-service teachers, assisted by the teacher educator. Twelve pre-service teachers and six school tutors were organized in three groups, two tutors and four pre-service teachers per group. Each group worked with a topic coming from problems found in the internship experience. Pre-service teachers conducted classroom observation of their tutors and classmates as well as classroom teaching by themselves. They also wrote reflective diaries of these observations and their own teaching, and participated in a learning community which was a nurturing collaborative atmosphere that provided time, space and collegial peers to share experiences and solve problems. By examining the research experience, there are some important results: a) Collaborative action research helped pre-service teachers to study and develop reflective practice abilities while participating in a learning community which somewhat filled the gaps left by the lack of some tutors’ good role modeling; b) The role of the teacher educator for improving relationships between school tutors and pre-service teachers seemed crucial in both the preventive role and remedial role; c) There is still room for improvement, especially concerning tutors’ modeling and scaffolding high quality reflective teaching practices; d) Therefore, the training of competent internship tutors is significant, and relevant incentive policies should be formulated to motivate middle school teachers to act as internship tutors.

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Acknowledgment

The research for this article was supported by Humanities and Social Science Research Fund setting by Chinese Ministry of Education (Grant Nos. 15XJA880001).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography and Tourism, Shaanxi Normal University, No 620 West Chang’an Avenue, Chang’an District, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China

    Hu Qing-li

  2. Curriculum & Instruction Department, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA

    Myriam N. Torres

  3. Faculty of Education, Guangxi Normal University, NO. 15 Yucai Road, Guilin, Guangxi, China

    Feng Shi-Ji

Authors
  1. Hu Qing-li
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  2. Myriam N. Torres
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  3. Feng Shi-Ji
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Myriam N. Torres.

Additional information

The research for this article was supported by Humanities and Social Science Research Fund setting by Chinese Ministry of Education (Grant Nos. 15XJA880001).

Appendices

Appendix 1. Interview questions on pre-service teachers’ reflective practice during internship

Interview questions at the beginning stage of internship

  1. 1.

    What do you want to gain from this internship?

  2. 2.

    What do you think of your teaching knowledge and skills?

  3. 3.

    What is the biggest dilemma you are facing right now?

Interview questions at the middle stage of internship

  1. 1.

    Since the beginning stage, what aspects of you have undergone significant changes or greater progress?

  2. 2.

    What are the problems you are facing now?

  3. 3.

    What is your focus of the development and enhancement of teaching skills in the next phase?

Interview questions at the end stage of internship

  1. 1.

    Please comment on the development and change of your professional ability since the practice.

  2. 2.

    In your mind, what is the difference between a high level of teacher and a general level of teacher?

  3. 3.

    Is there anyone in your group who hasn’t made any progress? If so, what are the reasons for this?

Appendix 2. Questionnaire for pre-service teachers and school tutors about support strategies during internship

The primary purpose of this data gathering is for internship supporting quality analysis. The management of the data is anonymous. Please fill out a “✓” in the form which you feel it is the most important factor for the internship quality of pre-service teachers.

Questionnaire for pre-service teachers and school tutors about internship support strategies.

Internship support strategies

Degree of importance

Extremely

Very

Fairly

Minimally

Providing information about internship school

    

Providing teaching reference books

    

Life care

    

Instruction on the new curriculum theory

    

Guidance on teaching preparation

    

Guidance on courses and teaching materials

    

Guidance on classroom management skills

    

Guidance on communication skills with students

    

Guidance on teaching skills and instruction methods

    

Guidance on interpersonal experience

    

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Qing-li, H., Torres, M.N. & Shi-Ji, F. Collaborative Action Research for Preparing Teachers as Reflective Practitioners. Syst Pract Action Res 32, 411–427 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-018-9461-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-018-9461-z

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