Rozwijanie zachowań autonomicznych u przyszłych nauczycieli języków obcych ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem procesu refleksji
Fostering autonomous behaviors among prospective foreign language teachers with special emphasis on the process of reflection

Summary/Abstract: Teacher professional development should be closely connected with the development of reflectivity, which provides opportunities for shaping one’s ‘personal awareness’ (cf. Underhill 1997) and for becoming more autonomous. Teacher autonomy may be understood in different ways. At the bare minimum, it may hinge on „ideas of professional freedom and self-directed professional development” (Benson 2001: 174); alternatively, it may highlight ‘critical reflection’ (Smyth 1989) and ‘transformation through dialogue’ (Shor and Freire 1987). Little (1995: 179) explains teacher autonomy when he points out that „(…) successful teachers have always been autonomous in the sense of having a strong sense of personal responsibility for their teaching, exercising via continuous reflection and analysis the highest possible degree of affective and cognitive control of the teaching process, and exploiting the freedom that this confers”. Being an autonomous educator seems to be especially important in the case of pre-service teachers who should be familiarized with techniques for developing autonomy and becoming more reflective during their teacher training. Teaching practice seems to be one of these occasions when pre-service teachers may increase their autonomy and become more aware of the educational processes occurring around them. If they miss that opportunity, it may be more difficult for them to become autonomous and reflective teachers in their future professional careers. Therefore, the study described in the article focuses on an attempt to develop pre-service teachers’ autonomous behaviors through the process of reflection during teacher-organized sessions.

• Details
• Contents