A Study to Explore the Teachers’ Reflective Practices to Improve the Teaching for Students with Different Needs

Abstract

This study aims to explore the effective teaching methodologies of teachers to improve the teaching of students with different needs. In this study, 12 teachers who were teaching 7th and 8th grades in their schools were interviewed. These teachers were from six private schools and in each school two teachers were taken as a sample. A qualitative approach was used in this study. Researchers developed the semi-structured interview protocol through an intensive literature review. The instrument was validated by three experts in the related field. Research data were collected through face-to-face interviews with the participants. Teachers were also asked about writing a diary to reflect on their teaching and learning process. Teachers were given four weeks to reflect on their actions and these teachers were interviewed after four weeks of writing diaries regarding the reflection of their teaching. Qualitative descriptive analysis was applied to analyze the data. The qualitative descriptive study describes the phenomenon rather than an explanation of the phenomenon. Data explored that teachers are not familiar with the use of reflective practices to improve the teaching-learning process. Teachers considered the lesson planning to be enough for them. Moreover, school authorities do not motivate teachers to be engaged in reflection on their teaching. After analyzing the diaries, it was concluded that teachers did not manage properly their reflective journals or they did not use these diaries daily. However, they thought that the process of reflection required a lot of time. Recommendations for future research have been incorporated in the article.