Entrance Slip - Grant and Zeichner's "On Becoming a Reflective Teacher"

“Not all things devaluate as they age, some become treasures”: the article of Grant and Zeichner, On Becoming a Reflective Teacher”, attests to this saying. Although the article was written more than three decades ago, the meanings that it tries to convey are still important and useful for teachers, both professional and prospective teachers. I totally agree on the idea that there is no other way to become the best teacher that you can possibly be aside from being a reflective teacher. Also, the article emphasizes the characteristics of reflective thinking (teaching), which are open-mindedness, responsibility, and wholeheartedness, are still relevant and even more relevant to consider nowadays. As a prospective teacher, it is important to be willing to accept and learn new knowledge and skills or remodel existing beliefs and principles; to accept teaching as a moral obligation and be cognizant of the consequences of our actions; and to be willing to accept all students and embrace their differences or uniqueness. For me, these three features of reflective thinking are very applicable not only in the field of teaching but also in other academic fields. So to say, these are universal ideas that never die through ages. 

Grant and Zeichner suggests that we shouldn’t just accept the reality and follow what has been traditionally done in schools. As would be reflective teachers, it is our responsibility to investigate, for instance, ask why your cooperating teacher used a lecture discussion method for teaching a certain history lesson. We should learn how to ask the “whys” behind every day-to-day undertaking in school. We should know how to distinguish a principle or belief that is pure assumption from those ones that are backed up with evidences. To be able to improve ourselves as practicing teachers, we should be reflective. To look back on what has transpired, being able to acknowledge mistakes, and think of critical and creative ways on how to improve yourself, is a very vital activity for teachers. Everything changes: knowledge, types of students, school’s curricula and policies, space of learning, etc. All these are just few among the multitude of factors that should be taken into account by a reflective teacher in developing and constantly remodeling his or way of teaching, or should I say, his or her philosophy in teaching. Grant and Zeichner suggests that it is as well important not to conform with the school’s “bureaucratic norms”. Sometimes, in order to become critical in your decision-makings and creative in generating strategies, you have to move away from what have been traditionally done and search for newer and better options. However, the article says that teaching process is an interplay of choice and constraints. We all have the freedom but we also have limitations and hence, we should consider the consequences of our actions or choices. We live in a fast-changing world and as would be responsible educators, it is important for us to embrace and cope with these changes. However, we should be also critical in coping with these new ideas or knowledge as not all of them are worth-adopting. Similarly, not all things that have aged are worth-forgetting such as the Grant and Zeichner article on “On becoming a Reflective Teacher”.