CTE - Reflective Teaching

You will want to consult the three major sources of feedback on your teaching:

• Student feedback. Obviously, student feedback is integral to our teaching practices since they are the reason we teach. Their feedback on our teaching provides us invaluable insights into how we engage them in the learning process, specifically, on where we succeed and where we fail to do so. Student feedback can come in a variety of forms: end-of-term surveys, informal surveys and/or polls, emails / letters, and conferences. These provide important insights into who we are in the classroom and should considered in our reflection on teaching.

• Peer / Chair observations. Classroom observations by peers and chairs provide opportunities for feedback and dialogue on our teaching from a fellow subject matter expert. These can be excellent opportunities to share best practices, discuss the pedagogy behind the practice, and consider changes or improvements made to future lessons. These are often more formal in nature and come with a completed observation report that can be used to help build your reflection.  

• Self assessment. Before beginning a formal self-reflection process, this feedback often takes the form of notes on a particular lesson, assignment, or class period; brief ruminations on what could have gone differently for a particular lesson; and/or tweaks and changes to a course syllabus, lesson, or assignment. These informal moments of self-reflection serve as excellent building blocks towards a formal process.