Reflection : Journals and Reflective Questions : a Strategy for Professional Learning

Reflective journals have been used widely in teacher education programs to promote reflective thinking (Freidus, 1998; Carter & Francis, 2000; Yost, Senter & ForlenzoBailey, 2000). Smyth (1992) advocated that posing a series of questions to be answered in written journals could enhance reflective thinking. It was for this reason that reflective responses to directed questions were introduced in 2002 and subsequently in 2003 in the Bachelor of Education 4th year primary internship program at the University of Western Sydney, Australia. The internship program provided a sustained ten-week period of time in a school that afforded student teachers the opportunity to examine their practice in an authentic setting of teaching. This paper reports on the process undertaken to assist internship students to understand the reflection process and their responses to reflective questions. These responses are analysed in relation to the internship students’ professional learning using a framework described by Dietz (1998).