Use Of The Reflective Judgment Model As A Reference Tool For Assessing The Reflective Capacity Of Teacher Educators In A College Setting

Title	: Use Of The Reflective Judgment Model As A Reference Tool For Assessing The Reflective Capacity Of Teacher Educators In A College Setting
Author Name	: Rachel Wlodarsky, Howard Walters
Synopsis	:
Among the most critical professional characteristics of teacher educators is that of reflectivity.  The ability to self-judge our own practice context, capability, and performance against the broader professional contexts of practice by teacher educators has been noted by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).  The capacity for teacher educators to demonstrate professional reflection and to inculcate this capacity in pre-licensure candidates in colleges of education is among the standards for accreditation in the NCATE criteria (NCATE, Standard 2).  As a consequence, research designed to uncover this reflective capacity, to scale it for comparative study, and to relate it to standard measures of program quality are viewed as critical to a more realistic understanding of the capability of faculty in higher education (teacher educators) to meet the reform goals for K-12 education broadly. The purpose of this study was to determine whether it was possible to distinguish among reflective strategies of teacher educators’ divergent types or levels of reflective practice.  The findings indicated that The Reflective Judgment Model (King and Kitchener, 1994) is a reliable and valid conceptual model; therefore it would be appropriate to directly compare reflective scores for teacher educators to other professions which have been studied with this same RJM.  It was determined that teacher educators were more typically at the center of the epistemic scale.  Given this finding, there is room for professional development work to enhance the evolution of teacher educators with respect to reflective capacity.

Vol. 4 No. 1

Year: 2010

Issue: May-July

Title  : Use Of The Reflective Judgment Model As A Reference Tool For Assessing The Reflective Capacity Of Teacher Educators In A College Setting 

Author Name: Rachel Wlodarsky, Howard Walters 

Synopsis: 

Among the most critical professional characteristics of teacher educators is that of reflectivity.  The ability to self-judge our own practice context, capability, and performance against the broader professional contexts of practice by teacher educators has been noted by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).  The capacity for teacher educators to demonstrate professional reflection and to inculcate this capacity in pre-licensure candidates in colleges of education is among the standards for accreditation in the NCATE criteria (NCATE, Standard 2).  As a consequence, research designed to uncover this reflective capacity, to scale it for comparative study, and to relate it to standard measures of program quality are viewed as critical to a more realistic understanding of the capability of faculty in higher education (teacher educators) to meet the reform goals for K-12 education broadly. The purpose of this study was to determine whether it was possible to distinguish among reflective strategies of teacher educators’ divergent types or levels of reflective practice.  The findings indicated that The Reflective Judgment Model (King and Kitchener, 1994) is a reliable and valid conceptual model; therefore it would be appropriate to directly compare reflective scores for teacher educators to other professions which have been studied with this same RJM.  It was determined that teacher educators were more typically at the center of the epistemic scale.  Given this finding, there is room for professional development work to enhance the evolution of teacher educators with respect to reflective capacity.