Critical Incidents to Promote Reflection in Teaching Practices

  Many teachers and educators consider that a person, who masters the concepts of a field, is able to teach it, while others emphasize the importance of reflecting and analyzing the situation deeply. Reflection on teaching practice is then, understood as a formatting strategy which “outlines procedures for collecting observed incidents having special significance and meeting systematically defined criteria” (Flanagan, 1954, para.2). But why do inexperienced teachers fail to solve unexpected incidents in classrooms? Is experience the key to face those situations?

  According to Fernández González, Elórtegui Escartín and Medina Pérez (2003), critical incidents provide the tools for teaching practices analysis. Through this means, an efficient analysis strategy is developed not only for students but also for teachers evaluating the situation. Hence, being observed when you are still an apprentice may become a very fruitful experience since by analysing and interpreting professional practices, autonomy and leadership to encounter unpredicted teaching situations would be enhanced.

  A wide variety of alternatives to overcome everyday life controversial classroom situations are provided by the perspective of the observer and the person delivering the class. In this perspective, the numbers and ways of tackling and solving the problems will vary according to the teaching context, the students and the problem in itself. When reading the article, lots of memories came into my mind. Mainly, those related to my practices at the Teaching Training College and the comments of my teachers and my feelings towards those comments. I wanted everything to develop smoothly and precisely, but I could see I did not have the tools to do so. But I am convinced that those comments and critics made me grow as a professional.

  All in all, critical incidents do deserve to be taken into consideration for bettering teaching practices. Through this technique, the problem in itself is careful analyzed considering the context and the main causes. On the findings of this research, an ample diversity of possible solutions is reflectively discussed. And most importantly, teachers’ training colleges appear to be the keystone in the field of education to fulfill this mission for teacher development purposes.

References

Flanagan, J. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin, 51-4. Retrieved September 2011, from  http://www.analytictech.com/mb870/Readings/flanagan.pdf

Fernández González, J., Elórtegui Escarlín, N. and Medina Pérez, M. (2003). Los incidentes críticos en la formación y perfeccionamiento del profesorado de secundaria de ciencias de la naturaleza. Revista universitaria de Formación de Profesorado, 17- 001. Zaragoza, España: Universidad de Zaragoza. Retrieved September 2007, from http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/src/inicio/ArtPdfRed.jsp?iCve=274 17107