CRITICAL REFLECTION FOR CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: using the SOAP strategy to analyze pedagogical experience Padmini Boruah Department of English Language Teaching Gauhati University 23.02.2014
Dec 25, 2015
CRITICAL REFLECTION FOR CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
using the SOAP strategy to analyze pedagogical experience
Padmini BoruahDepartment of English Language Teaching
Gauhati University23.02.2014
Reflection
• Definition: recording and analysis of
experience
• Includes: experiencing, observing,
analyzing, hypothesizing and application
• Requires: self knowledge, meta cognition,
hypothesization, synthesis of experience
Models of reflection
• Bloom’s taxonomy of reflection (1956): Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, Creating
• David Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model (1976): Concrete experience, Observation and reflection, Formation of abstract concepts, Testing in new situations
• Gibb’s reflective cycle (1988): Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion, Action Plan
The SOAP Strategy • Subjective narration• Objective data and observation• Assessment• Planning
Imp difference: Includes inputs from others
(From the UCSF LEaP Guidelines developed by
Aronson L, Kruidering M, Neihaus B, O’Sullivan P. MedEdPortal; 2012, available from: www.mededportal.org/publication/9073)
The acronym: SOAP– Subjective: exploring your experience - your
thoughts, feelings, and perception of events
– Objective: incorporating inputs from others, additional research
– Assessment: analyzing the experience to integrate the subjective and objective data, so that it leads to new understanding and more focused learning goals
– Plan: evolving an action plan that is specific, detailed, achievable and measureable
Step 1: Subjective (narration)
• Describe what happened : the events, your thoughts and feelings (content)
• Describe how it happened: how you acted, how students acted, what went well, what didn’t (pedagogical process)
• Discuss why it happened: what were your assumptions, what were your students’ assumptions, how did the physical / linguistic / social environment contribute to it (context)
Step 2: Objective interpretation
Reconsider the experience and identify key issues
• by eliciting opinions, perspectives and feedback from other professionals (colleagues / peers)
• by consulting objective data from the literature
Step 3: Assessment
• Analyze the data gathered from subjective experience and objective inputs
• Synthesize the learning obtained
• Identify strengths and weaknesses
• Relate this experience to past experiences to identify patterns and challenges
Step 4: Plan
Make a SMART plan
• Specific next steps
• Measurable goals
• Attainable objectives
• Relevant action
• Timely intervention
Language of reflective questions
• Vague generalizations– I need to give proper instructions
• Specific comments– The pair work activity took more time than
planned – I should have given instructions before giving away the worksheets and made students repeat instructions; this would have made students do it quickly
Statements about teacher beliefs
1 Good teaching involves explaining the lesson to students; they would otherwise not understand what it contains
2 Pair and group work sounds like a good idea; but try it in your own classroom – it’s noisy, messy and unmanageable
3 Reading aloud has many benefits; when the teacher reads aloud, students get an opportunity to hear the spoken form of the language. When students read, they get pronunciation practice.
Statements about teacher beliefs
4 English classrooms are unbelievably large and noisy – there’s no question of using an activity based approach to develop language skills
5 It’s okay to talk about developing the language skills (LSRW) at Primary level; but after that, students are expected to use these skills, not learn them.
6 Many things can go wrong in a class – I can’t possibly take care of everything that doesn’t work – I don’t think a good class is my responsibility alone.
Statements about teacher beliefs7 No matter what people say, I still feel formal
grammar teaching is important; if we only focus on fluency, chances are that students will always speak and write ungrammatically.
8 My students know so little English that I need to translate every sentence, every word into the local language – the syllabus has to be finished - where’s the time for special language activities?
Statements about teacher beliefs
9 Most of my students understand English, but cannot speak or write it. Making them pass exams is my responsibility, so I cannot afford to let them write whatever they like. I dictate answers and make students memorize them – this way they learn at least a few sentences in English.
10 Frankly, my own English is not very good – so it is better to use the local language to teach English – at least I can make them understand the lesson.
Demonstrating SOAP
Types of statements for SOAP steps
Practising SOAP reflection
Practising SOAP reflection
Tips for effective reflection
• Pick an experience that evoked a strong emotional reaction in you.
• In your subjective analysis, avoid making excuses for your actions and do not indulge in self pity or self-congratulation.
• Adopt an attitude of suspended judgment until you get more data
Tips for effective reflection
• Follow every step because this is a cyclic process, and each step builds from the previous
• Work with an open mind, so that you can accept a new perspective and a new set of skills or attitudes.
• Remember that the aim of critical reflection is professional development, not writing a good narrative or advertising your skills
Thank you!