\nBrock University
\n<tfarrell
![\"atmark\"](\"http:\/\/www.tesl-ej.org\/atmark.png\")
brocku.ca><\/p>\nVanja Avejic<\/strong> This paper presents a case study that examined the principles and practices of one novice English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher at a prominent English language institution in Central America. More specifically, this qualitative study sought to contribute to the discussion of the perceived interdependent influences of English Foreign Language (EFL) teachers\u2019 thoughts, identities, and behaviours through five stages of self-reflection in Farrell\u2019s (2015) framework for reflective practice. The participant engaged in evidence-based reflective practice in order to subject his principles to critical analysis and interpretation expressed through his philosophy, principles, theory, practice, and beyond practice. Overall, the findings suggest that the teacher\u2019s stated principles related to his philosophy, beliefs and theory converge with his classroom practices; however, areas of divergence were also observed. Results suggest the need for all EFL teachers to explore their principles in relation to their classroom practice through reflective practice so that they can make informed decisions about their practice.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Reflective practice has proliferated in recent times throughout various fields of professional practice and education as a mark of professional competence. Within different disciplines, however, what is understood by \u2018reflective practice\u2019 and how it should be implemented varies considerably. Thus, over the years \u2018reflective practice\u2019 has been called a \u201cfuzzy concept\u201d (Collin & Karsenti, 2011, p. 570) because of the plethora of approaches and frameworks that have (re)emerged since the mid 1980s (Farrell, 2018a,b). Although the concept has also gained recognition in the field of TESOL as an essential component of language teacher education, scholars have continuously struggled to come to a consensus on how to implement or operationalize reflective practice for language teachers (Mann & Walsh, 2013). One problematic issue that Farrell (2019) has recently highlighted is that many of the frameworks that have been offered thus far limit reflection to a retrospective activity where the participants engage in answering questions about what has happened in their classrooms without much reference or awareness of the teacher who is doing the reflection. Such a focus on \u2018post-mortem reflection\u2019 according to Freeman (2016), \u201climits reflection to a process of problem solving rather than reflection to achieve self-awareness and understanding\u201d (p. 201). Such a narrow, one-dimensional approach to reflection neglects the being or person who is teaching and engaging in reflection and has led to the separation of mind and body in many of these approaches and frameworks (Erlandson, 2006).<\/p>\n With the above in mind, Farrell (2015) developed a more holistic framework for reflective practice specifically for teachers of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) that includes spiritual, moral, and emotional non-cognitive aspects of the inner life of teachers who are doing the reflection. Whereas many other approaches limit reflection to intellectual, cognitive, and meta-cognitive aspects of practice, Farrell\u2019s (2015) approach includes reflection on the teacher\u2019s identity through reflection on philosophy, a more heightened awareness of principles, intuition into appropriateness of lesson design through reflection on theory, self-monitoring of their teaching practices, and critical thinking skills to understand problems beyond teaching practice. This paper outlines and discusses a case study of an EFL teacher in a central American country using Farrell\u2019s (2015) framework to reflect on his practice.<\/p>\n In general education studies, reflective practice as Zwozdiak-Myers (2012, p. 3) has pointed out, is crucial to a teacher\u2019s development because it helps practitioners \u201cto analyse and evaluate what is happening\u201d in their lessons so that they can not only improve the quality of their instruction, but also provide better opportunities for their students to learn. Reflective practice in TESOL generally means that language teachers take on the responsibility of examining their professional practice, and their underlying philosophy, beliefs, and theories that shape that practice, both inside or outside the classroom, so that their professional practice can become personally meaningful to them (Farrell, 2015, 2018a,b). Such reflective practice offers a way into the \u201cless accessible aspects of a teacher\u2019s work\u201d according to Freeman (2016, p. 217). However, just as in the field of general education, in TESOL we still cannot agree \u201cwhat it actually is and how it might be developed\u201d (Walsh & Mann, 2015, p. 351), and additionally, we still cannot agree on what TESOL teachers should be reflecting on (Akbari, 2007). For example, many of these approaches are retrospective in nature and purport to offer a structured way for teachers to reflect on their practice by asking them to answer simple questions mostly focused on their teaching behaviors, but nothing about themselves as teachers (Farrell & Kennedy, 2019). Reflective practice is not just simply wondering about a situation or a means to emphasize power relations, it involves teachers gathering evidence about practice both inside and outside the classroom in their particular context (Farrell, 2015). Thus, a more holistic approach to reflective practice is necessary – where language teachers are considered whole people, and language teaching is multi-dimensional including reflection on the moral, ethical, and political aspects of practice. One such holistic approach that focuses reflective practice in the field of TESOL for language teachers is Farrell\u2019s (2015) framework for reflecting on practice<\/em>.<\/p>\n The inspiration for Farrell\u2019s (2015) framework for reflective practice can be drawn back to the works of John Dewey and Donald Sch\u00f6n. Dewey (1933) recognized that teachers who do not reflect become slaves to routine as their decisions are made based on authority, tradition, and impulse. In order to overcome this, informed decision making from Dewey\u2019s (1933) point of view needed to be systematic and conscious. This rational approach leads to practice that is aware, developed, and open to growth which is similar to the evidence-based approach of Farrell\u2019s (2015) reflective practice framework. In the 1980\u2019s, reflection was used to prevent teacher burnout (Farrell, 2018a,b). Sch\u00f6n (1983, 1987) noted the importance of how professionals in the medical field think in action and that these implicit beliefs can only be inferred from observable actions \u2013 something which is also present in the framework for reflective practice outlined by Farrell (2015).<\/p>\n Farrell\u2019s (2015) framework acknowledges the inner life of teachers and thus includes the spiritual, moral and emotional non-cognitive aspects of reflection. Such an approach to reflective practice has benefits such as exploration of teacher identity through reflection on philosophy (Lim, 2011), heightened awareness of principles (Farrell & Bennis, 2013), intuition about the appropriateness of lesson design through reflection on theory (Wyatt, 2010), self-monitoring of their teaching practices (Fahim, Hamidi, & Sarem, 2013), and critical thinking skills to understand problems beyond teaching practice (Chi, 2010). By participating in reflective practice, teachers take responsibility for examining their practice so that it can be personally meaningful to them and they can reap benefits not available in top-down approaches. Farrell\u2019s (2015) evidence-based framework for teacher reflection includes five interconnected levels: philosophy, principles, theory, practice, and beyond practice. This framework involves teachers clarifying and understanding their principles, beliefs, values, and how these relate to their practice (Farrell, 2019) as well as, \u201cenhancing subject-matter knowledge, pedagogical expertise, self-awareness, understanding of learners, curriculum and materials, career advancement, and language upgrading\u201d (Cirocki & Farrell, 2019, p. 2).<\/p>\n The first stage of the framework, philosophy<\/em>, examines the teacher-as-person<\/em> because a teacher\u2019s basic philosophy has developed since birth. This stage can be considered a \u201cwindow to the roots of a teacher\u2019s practice because a philosophy of practice means each observable behavior has a reason that guides it even if it is implicit\u201d (Farrell, 2019, p. 84). By talking about past experiences that may have shaped their philosophy, teachers obtain self knowledge by reflecting on their background (i.e., heritage, ethnicity, socioeconomic background, family, and personal values) (Farrell, 2015). While teachers can simply write an in-depth autobiography, one way to engage teachers in this stage is through narrative frames where they tell a story of their experience or accounts of their life through prompts (i.e., I became a teacher because\u2026). Narrative frames offer insight into the past \u201cto uncover preconceived theories about teaching and learning\u201d (Taggart & Wilson, 1998, p. 164) as well as to help second language teachers answer, \u201cwho am I?\u201d through making sense of claims about identity. Philosophy includes the teacher in a personal manner because teaching is multidimensional as it matters who the teacher is.<\/p>\n The second stage, principles<\/em>, encompasses a teacher\u2019s reflections of assumptions, beliefs, and conceptions about teaching and learning \u2013 reflection-on-practice<\/em>. According to Farrell (2015), assumptions are ideas that we accept as being true despite a lack of evidence. Although assumptions are somewhat difficult to articulate, it can be described as having an intuition about what makes \u2018good\u2019 or \u2018bad\u2019 teaching. To access assumptions, teachers can reflect on teacher maxims<\/em> as these guide instructional decisions (i.e., maxim of empowerment \u2013 give learners the control). In contrast to assumptions, beliefs are accepted to be true by an individual, can be unconsciously held, originate from a number of sources, and may or may not converge with practice (Phipps & Borg, 2009). To articulate beliefs, teachers can use images, metaphors, or choose statements that best reflect their beliefs about teaching and learning. Clandinin (1986) noted that metaphors can be valuable clues to the way teachers view teaching and a guide to the way they act in the classroom. When teachers interact with this stage of reflective practice, they have an opportunity to explore whether their values are transferable to practice.<\/p>\n The third stage requires teachers to reflect on theories that underlie their practice, whether those are based on hunches, teacher training, books, journals, etc., to see how they translate in the classroom. A theory is \u201csomething we use to give understanding and attempts to answer the question \u2018why?\u2019 in order to increase knowledge of practice and realign thoughts regarding this\u201d (Farrell, 2015, p. 67). At this stage, the teacher focuses on how they plan their lessons, more specifically, their planning (i.e., backwards, forwards, or central planning) and choice of activities, techniques, and methods. By reflecting on theory<\/em>, one is able to label what happens in the classroom and understand how it influences the role of both the teacher and students during a lesson.<\/p>\n The fourth stage, practice<\/em>, is what constitutes the tip of the iceberg and examines observable actions while teaching. This stage is strongly connected to the first three stages as development of awareness of the convergence or divergence between belief and practice is the start of \u201ca process of reducing the discrepancy between what we do and what we think we do\u201d (Knezevic, 2001, p. 10). The convergence of beliefs and practice can be impacted by situational constraints, experience, changes in beliefs preceding changes in practice, incompatible propositions, conflicting beliefs and tensions between core and peripheral beliefs (Breen et al., 2004; Fang, 1996; Phipps & Borg, 2006). Classroom observations can be used to compare what a teacher says they do and what they actual do using category instruments, or audio and video recordings. This stage of practice can bring to light the reasons for convergence or divergence by helping teachers draw connections between their philosophy, principles, theory, and practice to develop the ability to reflect during a lesson (reflection-in-action), after a lesson (reflection-on-action) and reflect prior to teaching (reflection-for-action).<\/p>\n The final phase, beyond practice <\/em>or critical reflection<\/em>, explores the moral, political, emotional, ethical, and social issues that impact teachers practice both inside and outside the classroom. These issues are not examined much in TESOL; however, teachers deal with them on a daily basis. In fact, \u201cTESOL classrooms are embedded in and reflect important institutional, societal, and global discourses in subtle and nuanced ways\u201d (Rich & Troudi, 2006, p. 616). All teachers hold beliefs about their work, students, subject matter, and roles and responsibilities (Pajares, 1992), however this stage of reflection helps teachers understand the deeply-rooted power dynamics in education and question beliefs which may have been externally imposed (Farrell, 2015). With the knowledge gained from this stage, teachers can \u201ccontribute to social change for the betterment of students, colleagues, community, and society at large\u201d (Farrell, 2015, p. 86) as well as reflect well beyond classroom teaching practice (i.e., textbook, syllabus, curriculum, working conditions).<\/p>\n This study utilizes a qualitative research approach in order to gain insight about how reflective practice affects novice teachers\u2019 experiences in Central America. An exploratory case study approach (Merriam, 2009) was the chosen research method due its consistency with the descriptive and heuristic nature of reflective practice (Maxwell, 1992) as well as the ability to shed light on complexities of teacher reflections due to the rich contextualization within a specific population and setting. Although generalizability of case study research to the general population can be difficult (Mackey & Gass, 2015), it has been successfully applied by other TESOL scholars (e.g., Lamb, 2007) and researchers investigating reflective practice (e.g., Farrell & Kennedy, 2020; Farrell & Yang, 2019) as those using Farrell\u2019s (2015) framework (e.g., Farrell & Kennedy, 2019; Farrell & Macaplinac, 2021).<\/p>\n The participant in the study, Felix (a pseudonym), a male English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher, had been teaching in a prominent institution in Central America (for anonymity we will not name the country) for two years. Felix always wanted to be a teacher since he was a child and completed a bachelor\u2019s degree in English teaching. EFL teachers are contracted to teach up to three, three-hour length classes, every day except Sunday. Classes typically had ten students and were taught fully in English, occurring up to three times a week depending on the level and course. He expressed that he would love to teach for the rest of his life but that it depended on job security, and the stability of the local economy.<\/p>\n The study commenced in 2020 shortly after the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Felix had already been teaching in traditional classrooms. Upon receiving news of government-mandated school closures, Felix and his colleagues transitioned all instruction to synchronous online learning beginning in March 2020. Students in existing classes were expected to participate in virtual classes from their home computers using a video conference platform for the remainder of the academic term.<\/p>\n Data collection was one-month long and included transcribed semi-structured interviews and follow-up interviews, written reflection tasks, and virtual classroom observations in line with the reflective framework (Farrell, 2015). A total of six interviews were conducted: one pre-interview to clarify basic information and five follow-up interviews following each stage of reflective practice framework. All interviews were conducted and recorded via zoom technology and lasted between 30 to 45 minutes and then transcribed (Maxwell, 1992). In addition, three different classes per week were observed and recorded on zoom and each class was later transcribed. Felix also completed 6 written reflection tasks that explored his philosophy, principles, theory, and beyond practice. Written work was then emailed to the researchers and later used as a springboard for questions to be asked in follow-up interviews.<\/p>\n Data analysis consisted of seeking responses to Felix\u2019s reflections on his philosophy, principles, theory, practice, and beyond practice. Data analysis started with inductive discovery to primarily deductive (Merriam & Tisdell, 2009) while coding. In order to make sense of the data, recurring patterns were then grouped and compared against the research question. Member checking was used as a means of confirming the validity of the data (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). In this stage of the process, the findings were shared with the participant to allow him to confirm or refute the accuracy of the data reported in each section of the findings.<\/p>\n The findings are presented as answers to the main research question: What are one novice EFL teacher\u2019s reflections as expressed through his philosophy, principles, theory, practice, and beyond practice?<\/p>\n This philosophy section examines the findings from Felix\u2019s reflection on the self. Overall, Felix describes himself as an extrovert and empathetic due to past experiences. Felix remembers that as a child he loved explaining things to his mother as a technique to study. He believes that this helps him as a teacher now because he has \u201cdeveloped a lot of patience\u201d to describe concepts to a diverse set of students in different ways until they understand them. Felix described a positive role model during high school. He said that he developed a sense of \u201cavailability and openness for students to come to you and talk to you about who they are\u201d because of a teacher that cared for him when a close family member passed away. This moment was critical for him, as it gave him the strength to enroll in university and complete a degree in English Language Teaching.<\/p>\n Table 1. Felix\u2019s Principles <\/strong><\/p>\n
\nBrock University
\n<avejicvgmail.com><\/p>\n\n
Abstract<\/h3>\n
Reflective Practice<\/h3>\n
Framework for Reflecting on Practice in TESOL<\/h4>\n
Philosophy<\/h4>\n
Principles<\/h4>\n
Theory<\/h4>\n
Practice<\/h4>\n
Beyond Practice<\/h4>\n
Research Methodology<\/h3>\n
Participant & Context<\/h4>\n
Data Collection & Analysis<\/h4>\n
Findings<\/h3>\n
Philosophy<\/h4>\n
Principles<\/h4>\n