Reflective practice is now seen as a major component of teacher
education and professional development programs worldwide. This book is
one of the first to show how this technique can be embraced by language
teachers. It makes sense that for those whose job it is to teach
writing, a good way to be reflective is by writing regularly about their
work. Reflective Writing for Language Teachers shows language teachers
how they can use writing as a way to subject their beliefs and practices
to critical reflection and offers them a means of using this type of
reflective practice for professional development purposes.
When language teachers write about various facets of their work over a
period of time, and then read over their entries looking for patterns,
that is, seeing their own thoughts, they may uncover aspects of their
practice that they had not realized before beginning to write
reflectively. Reflective writing develops language teachers'
understanding of their practice and also leads to a clarification of the
values and assumptions that underlie those practices.
Reflective Writing for Language Teachers explores the impact of
regular writing as a reflective tool for teachers of English as a second
language, other language teachers, and classroom English or language
arts teachers. The book begins with a discussion on professional
development and then outlines what reflective practice involves. It also
addresses such issues as self-reflection, self-discovery through
narrative reflective writing, the reflective journal, reflecting on the
first and the later years of teaching, reflecting with the aid of
teacher development groups, and reflecting for action.
This title has recently been published in Arabic by the King Abdullah
Institute for Translation and Arabization.
