Foreign language

The Role of Reflective Practice in Turkey

In Turkey, reflective practices have also been promoted as a part of some pre- service and in-service teacher education. At Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey,Köksal and Demirel (2008) examined the contributions of reflective thinking via teaching observation forms, camera recordings, interview forms, self evaluation forms, participant journals and lesson plans to teaching practices of twelve fourth grade pre-service teachers teaching practice internships. The findings of the study indicate that reflective thinking contributed to the participants planning, implementation and evaluation processes of their teaching.

Gün (2011) conducted a study to improve the quality of teachers‟ reflective practices by providing trainings to participants on reflection. The participants were provided recordings of their classroom teaching to promote the quality of their

reflection. The study suggested that recorded videos were valuable to nurture reflective thinking; moreover, when given the opportunity to discuss the reflections on teaching, teachers could identify the problems and suggest alternative solutions in a collaborative group atmosphere.

DöĢ and Demir (2014) have also studied technology-integrated reflective practices. The researchers wanted students to reflect on their blended learning experiences via blogs and the study concluded that the participants engaged in reflection via these online platforms.

Conclusion

Reflection or reflective practices, as stated previously, can be defined as engagement in a deliberate thinking process in order to evaluate learning or teaching. Educators can engage in different types of reflection: by looking at past experiences and finding solutions or alternatives to past (reflection-on-action); reflection simultaneouslyat the time of the action orreflecting on present problems or situations (reflection-in-action); and inferring problems or situations they may come across in their future teaching or learning (reflection-for-action).

Reflective practices have been utilized intensively in several fields such as health education, and teacher education. However, their application via asynchronous discussion platforms in EFL teaching is a relatively new concept. Therefore, an investigation on their utilization in an EFL setting is needed and their effect on
teachers‟ beliefs and ideas related to teaching and learning should be examined as well.