Views of Prospective Teachers About Reflective Journals on Teacher Education

Abstract

Reflective thinking skill helps prospective teachers to learn “thinking and acting like a teacher” with different ways and therefore has an important role on teacher education. The aim of this study is to determine the views of prospective teachers on their reflective journals in “Teaching Practice” course. Study group consisted of twenty prospective teachers who were enrolled in Teaching Practice course in Hacettepe University, Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology at 2013-2014 Spring semester. Data were collected with an open ended questionnaire which had six items in this case study. Besides, in order to see the long-term impact of reflective journals on their professional life, researchers carried out an interview with three of prospective teachers who worked as ICT teachers on the following year. Interview data were analyzed with content analysis method and examined under themes that matched with the research questions. Prospective teachers underlined that they have evaluated themselves as a holistic way, watched their own development, gained a critical perspective, expressed their sense of responsibility and developed their writing skills with the help of journals. Results also showed that they gained new experiences through others’ blogs. Moreover, interview results showed that reflective journals contributed their personal and professional development.