Date of Award

1-1-2012

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Educational Administration and Policy Studies

First Advisor

Susan Korach, Ed.D.

Second Advisor

Kent Seidel

Third Advisor

Lyndsay Agans

Fourth Advisor

Frédérique Chevillot

Keywords

Critical-level reflection, Dialectical-level reflection, Reflection, Reflective practices, Reflective teachers, Reflective teaching

Abstract

The literature leads us to believe that an educator must be reflective in order to improve one's practice, and in terms of reflection, Van Manen's (1977) highest level of reflection, the dialectical-level, is presented as a worthy aim for all educators. But should this type of reflection truly be a goal for all educators? This study sought to uncover the phenomenon of dialectical-level reflection. Dialectical, or critical-level, reflection is the process of analyzing, reconsidering and questioning experiences in order to continually adjust one's practice with an eye towards improvement. This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of five middle school educators who exhibit dialectical-level reflective traits. In-depth interviews as well as a videotaped classroom lesson and reflection were utilized in order to determine the dialectical-level reflective habits and tacit knowledge of experienced educators. The findings of this study revealed both positive and negative characteristics of dialectical-level reflection.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

Rights holder

Tina Humphrey Boogren

File size

176 p.

File format

application/pdf

Language

en

Discipline

Education, Teacher education

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