Strategically Mediated Reflective Practice Framework In Terms of Task, Meaningful Learning, and Interaction

Abstract

It is widely accepted that reflective teaching in its purely cognitive and introspective sense cannot be responsive to the dilemmas and the problems with which teachers encounter during their teaching practice. Thus, the present study believes that the very tentative solution to this problem is introducing teacher education in general and reflective practice in particular from a sociocultural perspective where any sort of knowledge is dialogically constructed as a result of interaction among individuals. Although the shift in paradigm, i.e. moving from a cognitive position to a more situated and social epistemology in teacher education, has already been acknowledged and addressed by scholars such as Johnson (2006, 2009), Johnson and Golombek (2003), Golombek (2011), Freeman (2004), and Hawkins (2004), the current literature on teacher education reveals of no direct or serious attempt as a framework in which such a view has been put into practice in teacher education. As a result, the present study proposed a tentative framework under the rubric of ‘Strategically Mediated Reflective Practice’ (henceforth SMRP) framework that treats reflective practice largely as an interactive process rather than an individualistic and demonstrates how reflective practice is strategically mediated with the help of more knowledgeable others and new insights emerge resulting from dialogical thinking, highlighting the Vygotskian notion of Concept development. More importantly, examining the SMRP framework with four participants, the present study evidently reports the affirmative and constructive outcome of this framework on the utilitarian ground language teaching.