TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparing discourses on reflective practice in teacher education policy in Ireland and Norway
T2 - critical reflection or performance management?
AU - McGarr, Oliver
AU - Emstad, Anne Berit
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Association for Teacher Education in Europe.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Policy documents relating to teacher education in Ireland and Norway from 2008 to 2016, representing periods of change in teacher education in both jurisdictions, were analysed to explore the discursive construction of reflective practice. Employing a discourse analysis, the study found that, while reflective practice was seen as important in both countries, they differed in terms of why it should be used. Overall, reflective practice was presented as primarily a competency required by teachers to evaluate and improve their practice, however the rationale for this improvement appeared to differ in the two contexts. In Ireland reflective practice was presented primarily as a tool for self-improvement. A similar focus was evident in the Norwegian documents however they also emphasised the teachers’ contribution to the school community. The paper discusses the encroachment of performativity discourses on conceptualisations of reflective practice and discusses implications of this narrowing policy discourse on teacher education.
AB - Policy documents relating to teacher education in Ireland and Norway from 2008 to 2016, representing periods of change in teacher education in both jurisdictions, were analysed to explore the discursive construction of reflective practice. Employing a discourse analysis, the study found that, while reflective practice was seen as important in both countries, they differed in terms of why it should be used. Overall, reflective practice was presented as primarily a competency required by teachers to evaluate and improve their practice, however the rationale for this improvement appeared to differ in the two contexts. In Ireland reflective practice was presented primarily as a tool for self-improvement. A similar focus was evident in the Norwegian documents however they also emphasised the teachers’ contribution to the school community. The paper discusses the encroachment of performativity discourses on conceptualisations of reflective practice and discusses implications of this narrowing policy discourse on teacher education.
KW - critical reflection
KW - Reflective practice
KW - teacher education
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85092487434&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/02619768.2020.1832984
DO - 10.1080/02619768.2020.1832984
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85092487434
SN - 0261-9768
VL - 45
SP - 395
EP - 413
JO - European Journal of Teacher Education
JF - European Journal of Teacher Education
IS - 3
ER -