Expanding the Zone of Reflective Capacity: Taking Separate Journeys Together

Abstract

Teacher education is a matter of life-long learning that begins before pre-service teaching and continues through one's career (Fullan, 1992). Diez and Blackwell (1999) advocate for graduate-level education programs that have a role in providing professional development that moves beyond teacher preparation. In recognition of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, Diez and Blackwell (1999) recommend that reflection, inquiry into one's practice, and collaboration be integrated into graduate education for teachers. Darling-Hammond (2005) asserts that graduate programs need to provide opportunities for teachers to enact theory into practice and deal with teaching complexities by learning to analyze teaching and learning. Educators world-wide have embraced the notion that engaging in action research can empower teachers as classroom researchers who improve their teaching practices and increase their students' learning outcomes (Carr & Kemmis, 1986). Our institution was aware of these recommendations and attempted to incorporate them into the design of its graduate education program when it was created. The Master of Arts in Education program at our college began in 2004 and was designed to help practicing teachers become more effective and insightful teachers through developing both their content and pedagogical knowledge and helping them to incorporate this new knowledge into their daily practices. The program was designed to culminate in a capstone project. Capstone projects have been used in graduate education as a culmination to the learning experience. The capstone course has been found to be instrumental in helping graduate students " connect theory to practice in a meaningful and collaborative way " (Brown & Bensen, 2005, p. 679). The capstone project serves as the conclusion to our master's degree in the same way as a traditional thesis, and it includes many of the traditional components of a thesis, such as a review of relevant literature, data collection, data analysis, and reflections on the data.