Enhancing student teachers’ epistemology of reflective practice while still at the university: evidence from a sheltered reflective practicum

Abstract

This article reports research evidence of the enhancement of stu-dent teachers’ epistemology of reflective practice through their participation in a formative strategy developed in the context of the Bologna Process in Portugal. Building on Schön’s conceptuali-sation of the education of the reflective practitioner, articulated with concepts such as pedagogical content knowledge, approxima-tions to core teaching practices, epistemology of reflective practice, and assessment for and as learning, the strategy was designed to be a sheltered reflective practicum to learn about language and lit-eracy education while still at the university, before moving into real class practicums. Data collected through individual reflective writ-ing, developed at the beginning and revisited at the end of the practicum, were subjected to qualitative analysis. The results evi-dence students’ awareness of their limited initial and rich final understandings as well as of critical features of the learning process, expressing positive feelings and acknowledging the relevance of their learning for future practice. The discussion argues for the relevance of offering a sheltered reflective practicum approach while still at university in the design of teacher education.