Reflective Practice

The paper discusses the structure of the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Digital Arts degree at the University of Malta, with particular focus on the converging methodologies of art and design research which reflect contemporary art and design production. Through discussing two students’ works, it comments on the expectations of current academic art and design research.

The knowledge of the importance of reflection in the field of teaching is crucial for an understanding of teacher development. There has been a considerable amount of literature published on reflective practice highlighting the need for quality reflection in various fields of study. Questions have been raised about the challenges or obstacles which might occur on the way towards successful realization of teacher trainees' reflection. Factors found to be influencing its effectiveness and meaningfulness have been explored in several studies. Debate continues about the best strategies for meaningful reflection which would lead towards professional development of English language teachers. Despite the fact that the issue of reflective practice is widely recognised as a serious concern, research has consistently shown that many English language teacher trainees lack knowledge of meaningful reflection on their teaching. Therefore, the paper intends to focus on reflective practice in English language teaching, especially during teaching practice. In addition, it seeks to discuss its importance, successful realization and possible challenges in the process. Moreover, the paper presents partial research findings based on qualitative data obtained from feedback sessions conducted on a sample of pre-service English language teacher trainees.

Lesson study or Jugyokenkyu is based on a Japanese model of teacher professional development (PD). This PD model fosters reflective practice and can help teachers to become more effective practitioners. It involves a collaborative process of planning, teaching, observation, evaluation and reflection. This lesson study, which involved two lesson trials, aimed to improve teaching and learning the Maltese language, targeting two classes of Year 3 students, aged 8 years. Each lesson was 70 minutes long and involved students in speaking, listening, reading and writing tasks. The focus was to improve their vocabulary and facilitate comprehension. The tasks supported reading comprehension by enabling students to learn new vocabulary through a multi-faceted approach. Discussions in pairs presented ample opportunities for collaborative learning and to use the vocabulary in context. Furthermore, posing higher order questions stimulated student thinking and promoted critical thinking skills, encouraging students to use more complex vocabulary. The results show that lesson study was beneficial for teachers to plan a well-structured lesson through ongoing collaboration and group reflection. The knowledgeable other was instrumental in lesson design, and in fostering teachers' professional growth.