Innovation in Language Learning

Reflective practice in teacher education has received growing attention in recent years. Before teachers step into their professional teaching career, implementing reflective thinking process can be helpful in bringing up teachers who have commitment to seek for alternative ways of improving their teaching and evaluate their own and others’ teaching process.  However, implementing a reflective practice requires careful organization and training pre-service teachers about such practice is of crucial importance. Therefore, the aim of this study is to train pre-service teachers about reflective reciprocal peer coaching (RRPC), and to find out how this training affects their reflectivity levels as well as to explore their perceptions about it. For this purpose, 12 pre-service teachers enrolled in an ELT teacher education program at a Turkish university participated in the study. A systematic training program was designed and implemented for twelve weeks with various aspects related to reflectivity and peer coaching. For the effectiveness of training, tools such as the observation forms, coaching cycle checklists and intervention session checklists are developed and used. Moreover, a peer-coaching model was implemented as part of the training. The participants were administered a reflectivity profile to detect any change in their reflectivity levels, and they wrote weekly reflective diaries to elicit their perceptions on this training process. Furthermore, focused-group interviews were conducted to triangulate the data.  Data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively by using Wilcoxon signed-rank statistics for quantitative results, and by using Constant Comparison Method for qualitative ones. Inter-rater reliability was also assessed for further reliability. The results of the study have put forward that the pre-service teachers highly benefited from the training they received on RRPC practice. There was a significant difference between their reflectivity levels before and after the study, and they asserted positive views on this practice. The results yielded enthusiasm about applying ideas of peer coaching for future development.

Key Words: Reflective practice in pre-service teacher education, language teacher education, peer coaching