Using Problem Solving and Effective Teaching Frameworks to Promote Reflective Thinking in Preservice Special Educators

As the number of teacher preparation programs that focus on developing reflective practitioners increases, there exists a need to define the components of reflective practice and to examine how various techniques affect preservice teachers' reflective thoughts. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of training and reflective frameworks on the reflective patterns of preservice teachers. The frameworks (a series of questions that allow for systematic reflection on teaching) and training focused on aspects of effective instruction and problem-solving. A multiple baseline design across subjects was used to evaluate the effectiveness of training and reflective frameworks on levels of problem-solving in daily journal entries. Results of the study indicated that the effective teaching frameworks had minimal impact on preservice teachers' levels of problem solving. In contrast, direct training and the use of a problem solving framework increased the degree to which preservice teachers reflected on problems encountered in classroom instruction.