Teachers Talking, Teachers Reflecting: how do teachers reflect on their practice? A case study

Abstract

Abstract This paper describes some outcomes from a case study developed from an action research project aimed at introducing English as a first foreign language into the curriculum of four primary schools in one region of Portugal. One of the major outcomes has been a realisation that the teachers, while reluctant to reflect in writing, as suggested by the co‐ordinator of the project, are willing and enthusiastically able to reflect through talking as a group and to utilise this co‐operative talk as a means of assisting curriculum development. The teachers' feelings about this are, therefore, explored by drawing upon their discussions of the subject and some tentative explanations are provided for this by contrasting differences between the two modes of reflection. Some final consideration is made of the implications of the choice of mode of reflection for approaches to teacher thinking research and of the role of the group in teacher‐initiated approaches to curriculum innovation.