Theory into practice: The content of pre-service teachers' reflections in North Cyprus

Abstract

Although reflection is usually seen as a practice for in-service teachers, reflective practices are increasingly becoming popular in the field of teacher education as educational and transformative tools. Internship programmes require interns to reflect on their teaching practices with the aim of improving their performances. These reflections often pinpoint to a gap between what the interns expect based on the theories they have been introduced to during their training at the university/college and what they actually observe as 'best practice'. The following chapter explores what some pre-service English language teachers in North Cyprus have been reflecting on during their internship programme to understand how they approach the whole process and whether they use it as a way to empower themselves. It was found that these pre-service teachers focused mostly on their use of class activities, instructional materials, classroom management and teaching methods in their reflections on their practice teaching sessions. Students' reactions to the use of particular materials in class tended to influence the pre-service teachers' evaluation of their practices in their reflections.