No pain no gain: reflections on the promises and challenges of embedding reflective practices in large classes

The Effects of Reflective Teaching Techniques on Teachers’ Self-Evaluation for Further Lessons: Analysis through Diary Keeping

“…Very similar to the findings of the study by Genç (2010), teachers have gained autonomy while making decision for their classrooms. Throughout the process, teachers mostly regarded the reflectivity in a positive sense and the results of the study created positive changes, too which, in this sense, corroborates the other studies in the field (Genç, 2010;Yeşilbursa, 2011;Gözüyeşil & Soylu, 2014;Kayaoğlu, Erbay & Sağlamel, 2016;Bilger, 2017;Korucu-Kis & Kartal, 2019). Differently from the studies conducted in the same field by using different techniques such as videorecording where individuals learn from seeing the evidence (Tülüce & Çeçen, 2017) or peer observation and interviews where individuals learn from each other (Cebeci, 2016), the participants in this study learned from their own self-talk and faced their memories on the notebooks in front of them which are all powerful ways of learning by referring to narratives and verbal sources such as diaries and journals.…”

“…This process has helped them to identify their strong and weak points. All the findings from similar studies (Yeşilbursa, 2011;Bilger, 2017;Tülüce & Çeçen, 2017;Korucu-Kis & Kartal, 2019) are compatible with the results of this study in terms of the fact that reflective teaching practices help teachers identify their strengths and weakness. Some excerpts provided are as follows: Based on these statements from teacher diaries, it is seen that teachers have been using phrases of self-evaluation such as 'strong sides' or 'weak points' and they have mainly focused on assessing themselves as language teachers to be able to reach to the success point or become the successful teacher image on their minds.…”

“…All these findings from the study reveal that they are very similar to previous research studies alongside the different characteristics of this study. Moreover, there is a consistency in the results with the studies conducted especially in Turkish context (Genç, 2010;Yeşilbursa, 2011;Kayaoğlu, Erbay & Sağlamel, 2016;Bilger, 2017;Tülüce & Çeçen, 2017;Dikilitaş & Yaylı, 2018;Korucu-Kis & Kartal, 2019). Besides, in the study conducted by Ho and Richards (1993), the topics teachers wrote about the most are related to self-awareness, evaluating teaching and lessons, diagnosing the problems and solutions to them, very similar to the findings of this study which are mostly related to selfevaluation, awareness, and identifying problems.…”

“…Similarly, in many studies conducted recently (e.g. Genç, 2010;Korucu-Kis & Kartal, 2019;Moghaddam et al, 2019) teachers include the problems of classroom management in their journal entries or reflective teaching practices. Outstandingly, teachers in this study discovered solutions, some of them might have been the repetitions of their ideas during the class moments which naturally would engage them in a process of reflection-in-action and some of them might have been their decisions when they made while writing in their diaries and contemplating of implementing for the next lessons which would obviously engage them in a process of reflection-for-action:…”

The Views of ELT Pre-Service Teachers on Using Drama in Teaching English and on Their Practices Involved in Drama Course

“…Similarly, Başçı and Gündoğdu's study (2011) indicates that pre-service teachers think drama activities may not achieve its goal due to time limits, not being suitable for all courses, not having sufficient knowledge about drama activities and its use. In addition, drama course can be used to implement reflective practices in ELT in Turkish context (Korucu Kis & Kartal, 2019).…”