Stierer Atkinson Loveless July 15 L&T Conf Session

8/9/2019 Stierer Atkinson Loveless July 15 L&T Conf Session

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Assessing reflective

writing: A case study

Barry Stierer (CLT), Alison

Atkinson & Avril Loveless

(School of Education)


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The programme

An accelerated two-year u/g programme

leading to qualified teacher status (QTS)

The programmeprovides an opportunity for mature students, possessing

relevant, advanced qualifications and experience, to

develop the personal and professional qualities required

to qualify as graduate teachers in shortage secondarysubject areas. The course covers the 11-18 age range

and leads to an honours degree with a professional

teaching qualification.


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The students

Mature learners with considerable work

experience and a range of non-traditional

educational qualifications Engaged in an intensive transition to a

new professional identity that of

secondary school teachers in shortage

subjects (Design & Technology, IT, Maths,

Science)


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The module

An Education Studies module, taken in

the first semester of Year 1, but described

as Level 2 The only Education element of Year 1

(everything else is subject-based)

The aim of the module is

to support the development of students professional

values through an informed and critical awareness of

current issues in learning to teach


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The assignment

A reflective essay on the theme:

How might my experiences as a learnerinform my professional development as a

teacher in the current context of formal

education? (2000 words)


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Assessment criteria for the

assignmentThe work should provide evidence that you have:

critically reflected on personal experience of

learning and the relationship with theories of

learning

critically discussed the identity and roles of the

teacher in the context of formal education

evaluated strategies, resources and networksused to inform critical discussion


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The problem

Tutors troubled by:

the great difficulty students appeared to

have in (a) understanding the idea ofreflection and (b) doing reflection in their

writing

the great difficulty tutors had in assessing

the quality of students reflection some

of which was highly personal/revealing


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My role

Alison (the module tutor) approached

Barry for advice in his role as an

Academic Developer

Barry has a long-standing interest in the

growing use of personal forms of student

writing in academic contexts

We agreed to treat The Problem as a

research opportunity


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The data

Various course documents

Module Tutors feedback sheets andgrades for all 25 students assignments

Discussions with tutor and moduledesigner

For6 students in 2004-05 cohort (of 25):

Their assignments, as submitted forassessment

1-hour interviews with each student (tapedand transcribed)


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Emerging themes

1. Ambiguities and inconsistencies in the

design of the module, and in the setting of

the assignment


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What precisely is the function of this

module?

Is it to help in the transition from

lay person to teacher (overt purpose),

or from non-student to student?


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What precisely is the concept of

reflection and reflective practice that

underpins the module and the

assignment?

Disparities between course documents,

tutor accounts and tutor feedback on

assignments


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What precisely is the purpose of the

assignment?

Disparities between course documents

and tutor accounts


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Why were students expected to write

autobiographically?

Was this the reflective element?

Or was this merely the material upon

which they were expected to reflect? High marks for personal revelation?


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How precisely will students analyses of

their experiences as learners prepare

them to be reflective practitioners when

they begin teaching in the classroom?

Is there an implicit assumption that writing

about experience and analysing

experience are the same?


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Emerging themes

2. Students struggles with the assignment


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Students struggles with the

assignment The essay was their first piece of

assessed writing on the programme.

Few of them had previous experience ofwriting in a personal style within

academic contexts, or of writing about

educational ideas, or in some cases of

writing essays of any kind (most haveScience/Technology backgrounds)


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assignment No separate provision of induction to HE, or

study skills support for this group of students,

since they are deemed to be Level 2

No specific attention to writing within themodule though tutor offered to comment on

drafts

A few students had previous experiences that

enabled them to recognise the assignment task

otherwise they were pretty bewildered


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assignment Writing the assignment was variously

described as agony, nightmare, awful,

hated it

Writing about education a distraction

from the job of becoming a teacher?

Were particularly perplexed (and often

irritated) by the terms reflection,

reflective practice and reflective essay.


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assignment

They offered a wide range of definitions of

these terms often drawn from

discussions with family members or fellow

students

Several claimed to have no idea what the

terms meant even after successfully

completing the task, and despite havingreceived high grades on the assignment


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assignment

Analysis of their assignments suggests

that their writing was informed by a

number of different models of reflection,

ranging from linking theory and practice

to personal confession

Found it especially difficult to make links

between their previous learning and theirfuture development as teachers


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Emerging themes

3. Students accounts of the actual process

of writing their assignments


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Students were much more inclined to seek

help from, and show drafts to, their

spouses, children and fellow students,

than from the module tutor, despite the

offer of feedback on drafts.

Few students felt that they had learned

anything from the writing process itself.


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The ambiguities and inconsistencies in the

design of the module and in the setting of

the assignment came to be experienced

by students aspersonal inadequacy


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Emerging themes

4. Where and how do students learn to

do reflection?


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From tutor feedback

You have a naturally reflective approach to

learning and have used this to very good

effect.

Your opening comments suggest that you are

not a naturally reflective thinker and this has

probably made this assignment a difficult one

for you, which is reflected in the final grade.


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From tutor feedback

Although you say you do not like discussing yourself(and this is fine so long as you know yourself) what

you demonstrate within this assignment is the ability

to reflect on your learning and on your schoolenvironment. You make some very pertinentcomments about your learning experiences

particularly in terms of the teaching you received.You have also reflected on the learning of another

group of pupils with whom you had little in commonbut for whose schooling you clearly have someaffinity.


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From tutor feedback

You have not really made explicit use of any of

the reflective tools we considered within the

module such as rich picture analysis, the

learning styles inventory etc. This would have

helped you to more effectively address the

assignment criteria.


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From interview with student

[speaking about experience as a volunteer on ayouth development programme]

[The programme] does it [reflection] as well.The purpose is not to provide kindergartens, it isto provide development for really, for the youngpeople, but also for the staff that go on it. Thatswhen they take you out of your comfort zone.

But then you talk about it afterwards, they do alot of reflection and after every activity you hadto discuss what you had done and how was itfor you?


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From interview with student

I went back to the first one or two [diary

entries] that I had done and looked at

them and talked to my wife about it and

she went This isnt reflective. You are not

putting down how you are feeling about it.

You are not putting down what did you

think about you had done. And I dontknow if thats right. But thats what she

seemed to think it was.

Stierer Atkinson Loveless July 15 L&T Conf Session

Documents