Reflective collaborative practices: What is the teachers’ thinking? A Ghana case

Abstract

With advances in using the teachers’ classroom as the foreground for teacher improvement, reflective and collaborative activities provide teachers with a positive attitude towards questioning their teaching in a variety of professional development contexts. This study therefore explores how teachers within one school develop their thinking about their practices, if given an opportunity to engage in a planned series of critical dialogues relating to their own classroom teachings. Using a case study approach, four mathe matics teachers purposely and through theoretical sampling techniques were selected in a school in Ghana for the study. The field research included interviews and reflective dialogue. Key issues identified include the opportunities to systematically and rigorously diagnose their practices leading to the development of different reflective scales when reflecting. The process was found to be a tool for supporting teachers to critically think which is underpinned by social, political and cultural issues as a process to analyze com peting claims and viewpoints. Recommendations for policy and potential areas for further research were also made. Keywords: Reflective Collaborative Practices; Junior High School; Reflective Scales