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Attitude towards reflection in teachers in training

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Attitude towards reflection in teachers in training

Alejandra Nocetti, Maite Otondo, Gladys Contreras & Cristhian Pérez

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REFLECTIVE PRACTICE
2020, VOL. 21, NO. 3, 330–343
https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2020.1748879

Attitude towards reflection in teachers in training

a
Alejandra Nocetti , Maite Otondoa, Gladys Contrerasb and Cristhian Pérezc
a
Departamento de Fundamentos de la Pedagogía, Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción,
Concepción, Chile; bDepartamento de Curriculum y Evaluación, Universidad Católica de la Santísima
Concepción, Concepciónn, Chile; cDepartamento de Educación Médica, Universidad de Concepción,
Concepción, Chile

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

In Chile, writing, dialogue and observation are used to stimulate Received 10 January 2020
reflection among teachers in training. The lack of research on the Accepted 25 March 2020
relationship between the impact of these strategies and the devel- KEYWORDS
opment of a positive attitude toward reflection poses a problem. Teaching reflection; attitude;
Therefore, the objective of this study is to analyze whether carrying teaching practice; teacher
out the Reflective Teaching Learning Cycle (CRAD for its acronym in training; higher education
Spanish) is associated with changes in attitude toward teacher reflec-
tion. A quantitative methodology with a pre-experimental scope is
used. The results show an increase in favorable conceptions of reflec-
tion and a greater affective willingness towards examining their own
interventions. They understood that reflecting means recognizing
assumptions of the teaching action and the consequences that
they have on the students’ learning and formation. It is concluded
that carrying out CRAD is positive in terms of stimulating teaching
reflection. However, further studies are required in order to measure
the effectiveness of this work model.

1. Introduction
In education, the movement advocating for professional training under a reflective scope
can be regarded as a reaction against the technical view of teaching, and represents
a rejection of the educational reforms in which teachers continue to be a passive parti-
cipant in these processes (Zeichner & Liston, 1999).
In Chile, since the 90’s we have acknowledged reflection as an activity to be encour-
aged among teachers in training. However, they still do not demonstrate a reflective
practice (Correa et al., 2013; Galaz, 2011), nor do they question their performance in terms
of social justice, equality or democracy (Erazo, 2011; Molina, 2008). Students continue
replicating practices learnt at university that do not promote reflexive thinking (Prieto,
2004). Moreover, their belief systems are not questioned, and they are not encouraged to
critically examine their actions at schools (Labra, 2011). Teacher trainers incorporate the
concepts of reflective practice in their discourse; however, their actions show an approach
that contradicts a reflexive attitude (Nocetti, 2016; Ferrada et al., 2015).

CONTACT Alejandra Nocetti anocetti@ucsc.cl Departamento de Fundamentos de la Pedagogía, Universidad

Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Alonso de Ribera 2850, Concepción, Chile
© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
 REFLECTIVE PRACTICE 331

Additionally, they practice a teaching style based on a positivist tradition that disarti-
culates theory and practice (Korthagen, 2010) with an objectivist epistemology that
promotes application of the experts’ knowledge (Domingo & Gómez, 2014; Galaz, 2011).
This privileges a theorist formation, which does not favor the critical analysis of the
context and leaning from the teaching practice (Ferrada et al., 2015). As a result, the
opportunities to reflect are limited and there is evidence of overrating the theoretical
knowledge of the educational institutions. Consequently, the technical rationality of the
formative approach hinders a reflexive practice during the initial teacher training (Nocetti,
2016; Domingo & Gómez, 2014; Grundy, 1991). The working conditions in the schools,
which do not allocate enough time for the reflexive analysis of professional performance,
must also be considered (Catalán-Ahumada & Castro, 2016).
Nonetheless, Chilean universities acknowledge the importance of reflection and study
the use of different resources to aid its development. There is evidence that the teaching
journal, the portfolio and class video observations enhance reflection, but analysis still has
a technical character (Chacón, 2008). However, a recent study about the use of videos with
in-service teachers reports a change in reflective thinking, particularly an increase of the
critical analysis in the instructional practice (Lebak, 2017). Moreover, there is an awareness
of the lack of studies about the methodological proposals for developing this skill among
pedagogy students as well as in-service teachers. (Guerra, 2009). Therefore, the aim of this
study is to describe what happens to the disposition towards reflection after participating
in the Reflective Cycle of Teacher Training (CRAD for its acronym in Spanish), particularly
in cognitive dimensions and the affective willingness towards reflection.

1.1. Towards a notion of teaching reflection

First, it is necessary to review some of the literature in order to understand the concept of
reflection used in this study.
Schön (1992) links thinking and action, developing the notion of reflective practice and
thus the proposal to form reflexive professionals, who will stand out because of their
practical thinking that considers the concepts of: knowledge in action, reflection in action
and reflection on the action.
It is worth mentioning that teacher trainers leave the responsibility of reflection on
action to their students, assuming they know what reflexive analysis is and how to carry it
out. This idea contradicts reality. In fact, students and in-service teachers declare that
reflection is important, but that they have difficulties in defining and developing it
(Nocetti, 2016).
Meanwhile, Perrenoud (2004) proposes two concepts: retrospective and prospective
reflection. The former refers to reflection on what has happened, and its purpose is to learn
from the experience and get prepared for a professional performance. The latter refers to
the analysis of future actions and its purpose is to predict performance and intention.

1.2. Attitude towards teaching reflection

In Latin America, there are few references of the factors that affect reflection skills. In Chile,
a study reported internal and external factors that hinder the reflexive performance and the
development of a positive attitude towards it (Nocetti, 2016; Castro et al., 2012). They
332 A. NOCETTI ET AL.

observed an indifferent attitude towards reflection among new Biology teachers, regardless
of the university experience they took part in to develop an early reflexive practice. These
results not only call into question the effectiveness of the resources used to stimulate this
skill: teaching journals, class video recordings, and virtual portfolio (Catalán et al., 2017) but
also demand the validations of methodologies to develop this skill.
Attitude is a construct widely studied in social psychology (Allport, 1924; Watson, 1925). It
is defined as a tendency acquired and organized through one’s own experience, that leads
the individual to assess an idea, person or situations in a given way, performing accordingly
(Wander, 1994). Meanwhile, Moscovici (1986) states that attitude corresponds to a set of
beliefs, feelings that give rise to a determined behavior displayed in human practice.
It is important to mention that attitude is acquired (Baron & Byrne, 2005; Barra, 1998), and
therefore people learn to have a favorable, indifferent or unfavorable attitude. That is, we
learn to positively value a given object, expecting it to preform accordingly with such
assessment.

1.3. The Reflexive Cycle of Teaching Learning (CRAD)

A new model was implemented and designed at an institutional level: Reflexive Cycle of
Teaching Learning (CRAD). This model is based on Donald Shön’s concepts of reflection
and knowledge in action. Its purpose is to promote the reflection on one’s own teaching
action, mediated by peers and a trainer, in order to improve teaching practices (Nocetti,
2016; Nocetti & Medina, 2018). According to Figure 1: in Stage 1, each student films a class;
in Stage 2, they analyze their intervention based on a set of questions; during Stage 3,
they analyze the class with their peers, supervised by their instructor; in Stage 4, they
design a plan of action for improvements; in Stage 5, they implement their plan for
improvement; and in Stage 6, students again film a class, in order to analyze the achieved
change in teaching practice or commence a new cycle of learning and professional
reflection.

2. Method
In order to analyze whether the students’ participation in CRAD is associated to changes in
attitude towards teaching reflection, an experimental quantitative study was done,
introducing CRAD as an intervention in traditional teacher training. However, for reasons
of viability, a pre-experimental (with pre- and post-tests) design was used, as a control
group was not available (Vieytes, 2004). A sample of 46 education students was used
(Table 1). They were mostly women and were studying Special Education or Secondary
Education with a mention in Biology and Natural Science. The subjects were doing their
student teaching placements at the time of this study.
The independent variable was the use of the CRAD in the student teaching placements
during one academic semester, which included 16 sessions of a weekly workshop. The
dependent variable was the attitude towards teaching reflection. According to the literature
(Morales, 2000; Morales et al., 2003), the operational definition of attitude has three
components: 1) the cognitive dimension, which refers to the comprehension and concep-
tion, in this case, of teaching reflection, 2) the affective dimension, understood as feelings
 REFLECTIVE PRACTICE 333

Figure 1. Reflective Cycle of Teaching Learning (CRAD) taken from Nocetti (2016).
The cycle consists of six phases that are based on observation, reflection and teaching action.

Table 1. Sample distributions according to personal and academic variables.

n %
Students’ sex Male 5 10.9
Female 41 89.1
Programme Pedagogy in Biology 17 37
Pedagogy in Special Educational Needs 29 63
Type of internship Teaching internships 17 37
Professional Teaching internships 29 63
Type of School Administration Municipal 9 19.6
semi-public schools with state subsidies. 36 78.3
Private School 1 2.2
Source: Own elaboration based on 43 valid cases.

and preferences that teaching reflection triggers, and 3) the behavioral dimension, which
represents the actions carried out by the subject in reflective terms.
The Likert-type questionnaire (Morales, 2000) was created by generating a matrix repre-
sentation from the theoretical model of reflection (Schön, 1992), in order to measure
attitudes towards it. The survey was designed by the authors, and then subjected to expert
judgement from eight professors, who evaluated the adjustment for each item and the
established dimensions for the variable. Then, a pilot was developed with students who had
similar characteristics to the studied group, in order to carry out a discriminatory analysis of
the items. The procedure consisted of comparing the measurements of the highest 25% and
the lowest 25% of scores. Both measurements were subtracted in order to detect
334 A. NOCETTI ET AL.

differences. The greater the difference, the better the discrimination. Then, the correlation
coefficient between each item and the corresponding total points for each dimension was
calculated. The items that showed a low correlation were dismissed, understanding that
these do not discriminate between a favorable or unfavorable attitude.
The final instrument was formed by three subscales: cognitive, affective and beha-
vioral, with a total of 26 items. Table 2 shows the lower and higher scores for the reflection
scale with their corresponding subscales.
The reliability of the instrument was assessed with Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient, with
the instrument obtaining a value of 0.82. As for the subscales, the following values were
obtained: 0.72 for the cognitive subscale, 0.73 for the affective subscale and 0.73 for the
behavioral subscale.
The Wilcoxon test was used to evaluate the change in attitude towards teaching
reflection. The null hypothesis establishes that the samples come from populations with
the same distribution. The alternative hypothesis states that there are differences regard-
ing the central trend of the populations which could be directional in character. The
contrast is based on the behaviors of the differences between the punctuation of the
elements of each associated pair, considering not only the sign but the magnitude of the
difference as well. First, the general scores for attitude before and after participating in
CRAD were compared. Then, the scores for the subscales, measured at the beginning and
the end of the semester, were compared, in order to explore the differences in the
cognitive, affective and behavioral dimensions.
This study complied with the ethical criteria for educational research: anonymous and
confidential data management, as well as free and voluntary participation after signing an
informed consent. Additionally, researchers did not work directly with the students, in order to
avoid pedagogical power bias and the academic advantages associated with participating in
this study.

3. Results
According to the study’s objective, the students’ attitude towards reflection before and
after carrying out the CRAD is described. In addition, subscales corresponding to the
cognitive and affective dimensions of the attitude towards reflection are analyzed.

3.1. Attitude towards reflection after the intervention

Table 3 shows that at the beginning of the semester, the scores of the attitude toward
reflection fluctuated between 49 and 107 points. At the end of the academic period,
scores increased from 80 to 120 points, respectively.

Table 2. Highest and lowest scores in the Likert Teaching Reflection scales and their subscales.
Dimensions in the Likert scale
Total Score Scale Cognitive Affective Behavioral
Category Expected Expected Expected Expected Expected Expected Expected Expected
Lowest Highest Lowest Highest Lowest Highest Lowest Highest
score score score score score score score score
26 130 9 45 9 45 8 40
Source: Own elaboration.
 REFLECTIVE PRACTICE 335

Table 3. Descriptive statistics of the total scores in the teaching reflection scale.
N Minimum Maximum Mean DE
Pre-test attitude towards reflection 46 49 107 87.67 12.979
Post-test attitude towards reflection 43 80 120 97.20 10.652
Source: Own elaboration based on 43 valid cases.

The Wilcoxon test established significant statistical differences between the attitude
score towards teaching reflection before and after their CRAD experience of Z = −3,853,
p <.000. Hence, it can be assumed that the use of CRAD is associated to a more favorable
attitude towards teaching reflection among the students who took part in the study,
without being able to establish causality among the variables.

3.2. Conceptions of reflection

At the beginning of the study, the most rooted idea among the students was: Teaching
reflections improve professional action (97.6%). They also indicated that: Reflection
should be strengthened during the practical formation (93%). It is observed that fewer
of the people surveyed initially acknowledged: I understand how to develop a reflexive
analysis (47.9%) and they accepted that: Theory is useful to explain what happens in the
classroom (43.5%). They thought less than: to reflect means to identify the grounds which
support professional action (39.1%).
Adhesion to negative beliefs was observed. For example: Reflexive analysis should be
left for the professional exercise (82.7%), Systematic reflection takes too much time (50%),
I do not have time to reflect about my professional action (13%) and Too much reflection
hinders pedagogical decision making (37%).
After the CRAD, it was interesting to explore what had happened with the components
of the cognitive dimension, particularly to observe which had changed and which
remained the same. The scores obtained for the cognitive subscale before and after the
CRAD were compared, and it was observed that the minimum and maximum score
increased, as well as the group’s total average score, as shown in Table 4.
The analysis according to the Wilcoxon test showed that there are significant statistical
differences before and after the CRAD, Z = −4.510, p < .0000. Therefore, it can be
suggested that the use of the CRAD promotes changes in the cognitive dimension of
the attitude towards reflection.
To determine which aspects changed in the cognitive dimension, the percentages of
the answers for each item in the cognitive subscale were compared and significant
differences were explored through the Wilcoxon test as shown in Table 5.
In addition, the following positive proportions of this dimension were emphasized:
Reflection should be strengthened during practical training (93%), with a Z = −2.599,
p < 0.0. They understood how to develop a reflexive analysis (86.1%) with Z = −3.892,

Table 4. Descriptive Statistics cognitive subscale total score.

N Mínimo Máximo Media DE
Pre-test Cognitive Subscale 46 15 38 27.98 5.188
Post-test Cognitive Subscale 43 25 41 33.07 3.705
Source: Own elaboration based on 43 valid cases.
 336

Table 5. Comparison of percent answer distribution for the beliefs dimension before and after the CRAD.
Before After
A. NOCETTI ET AL.

Entirely Totally Entirely Totally

ITEMS disagree Disagree Indifferent Agree Agree disagree Disagree Indifferent Agree Agree Z
Teaching reflection improves professional action. 2.2 28.3 69.6 2.3 11.6 86.0 −1. 877a
(0,061)
Reflection should be strengthened in practical 2.2 2.2 6.5 37.0 52.2 2.3 4.7 7.0 86.0 −2.674
formation. (0,007)
Systematic reflection demands too much time. 10.9 26.1 13.0 30.4 19.6 4.7 11.6 4.7 41.9 37.2 −2.427b
(0,015)
I understand how to develop a reflexive analysis. 10.9 28.3 13.0 45.7 2.2 4.7 9.3 62.8 23.3 −4.407a
(0,000)
Theory is useful to explain what happens in the 8.7 17.4 30.4 26.1 17.4 2.3 14.0 41.9 41.9 −4.302ª
classroom. (0,000)
I do not have time to reflect about my professional 23.9 34.8 28.3 8.7 4.3 14.0 25.6 23.3 20.9 16.3 −2.355
action. (0,017)
To reflect means to identify the grounds that support 4.3 32.6 23.9 30.4 8.7 2.3 2.3 7.0 53.5 34.9 −4.779
professional action. (0,000)
Reflexive analysis should be left for the professional 6.5 10.9 45.7 37.0 4.7 2.3 30.2 62.8 −2.753b
exercise. (0,006)
Too much reflection hinders pedagogical decision 19.6 30.4 13.0 26.1 10.9 40.5 38.1 48 11.9 4.8 −2.922
making. (0,003)
N = 43; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.
Source: Own elaboration based on 43 valid cases.
 REFLECTIVE PRACTICE 337

p < 0.000. They recognized that reflection means identifying the reasons that support
professional action (88.4%) with Z = −4.049, p < 0.000. In addition, they indicated that the
theory is useful to explain what happens in the classroom (83.8%) with (Z = −3.840,
p < 0.000). At the same time, some negative propositions were reinforced: Systematic
reflection demands too much time (79.1%) with Z = −3.007, p < 0.00. I do not have time to
reflect about my professional action (37.2%) (Z = −3.840, p < 0.0) and Reflexive analysis
should be left for the professional exercise (93%) con (Z = −2.704, p < 0.0).

3.3. Feelings and/or preferences towards teaching reflection

At first, half of the students declared: I do not like reflecting during the class because it
interrupts my teaching (54.3%); others mentioned that: It is difficult for me to reflect
during the class (21.7%); I prefer to follow my class plan regardless of what happens in the
classroom (34.8%); I prefer the feedback from the teacher rather than reflection with my
classmates (43.4%) and, I feel insecure about questioning my teaching actions (52.2%).
Initially, a third of the sample indicated: I experience difficulty reflecting on my own
teaching practice (37%). To a lesser proportion, others stated that: I would prefer to act
before reflecting on my teaching actions (28.2%). I do not like to develop a reflexive
analysis on my own action (26%) and, finally, I would prefer to have well-defined routines,
instead of having to reflect on my teaching (26.1%). Then, scores for the affective subscale
before and after the CRAD were compared. Table 6 shows that after the CRAD the
minimum and maximum scores increased.
The Wilcoxon test showed significant statistical differences between the affective
subscale before and after the CRAD, Z = −2.410, p < 0.016. Therefore, it could be assumed
that the CRAD is associated with favorable feelings and/or preferences towards reflection.
Subsequently, the preferences and/or feelings changed after working with the CRAD
were analyzed. To do this, the percentages of the answers shown in Table 7 were
compared.
By the end of the semester, agreement with unfavorable ideas towards reflection had
reduced significantly: I do not like reflecting during the class because it interrupts my
teaching (7.3%) with Z = −4.254, p < 0.000; I would rather have definite routines than
reflect on my teaching action (7.3%) with Z = −3.039, p < 0.002; I prefer the feedback from
the head teacher than the reflection with my classmates (22%) with Z = −2.301, p < 0.021
y I feel insecure about questioning my teaching actions (24.5%) with Z = −2.311, p < 0.021.

4. Discussion
The literary review on teaching reflection revealed a lack of studies regarding the attitude
of teachers in training towards teaching reflection. Most of these studies are qualitative
and examine the experience of using different resources or methodologies to promote

Table 6. Descriptive Statistics for total scores affective dimension.

N Minimum Maximum Mean DE
Pre-test affective subscale 46 10 34 22.37 4.866
Post-test affective subscale 43 29 36 25.94 4.877
Source: Own elaboration based on 43 valid cases.
 338

Table 7. Comparison of percent distribution of answers affective dimension before and after CRAD.
Before After
A. NOCETTI ET AL.

Entirely Totally Entirely Totally

ITEMS disagree Disagree Indifferent Agree Agree disagree Disagree Indifferent Agree Agree Z
I would rather act than reflect about my teaching actions 13.0 39.1 19.6 23.9 4.3 29,3 39.0 7.0 24.4 −1.548a
(O,122)
I feel insecure about questioning my teaching actions 19.6 21.7 6.5 23.9 28.3 26,8 26.8 22.0 17.0 7.3 −2.311ª
(0,021)
I do not like to develop a reflexive analysis on my own action 17.4 43.5 13.0 21.7 4.3 31,0 33.3 14.3 21.4 −0. 972ª
(0.331)
I have difficulties to reflect about my own teaching action 13.0 32.6 17.4 28.3 8.7 23,8 23.8 9.5 38.1 4.8 −0.297ª
(0,767)
I do not like reflecting during the class because it interrupts my 10.9 17.4 17.4 47.8 6.5 31,0 45.2 16.7 4.9 2.4 −4.254ª
teaching (0.000)
I would rather have definite routines than reflect on my 6.5 50.0 17.4 17.4 8.7 29,3 46.3 17.1 46.5 27.9 −3.039ª
teaching action (0,002)
I prefer the feedback from the head teacher than the reflection 2.2 34.8 19.6 30.4 13.0 19,5 34.1 24.4 17.1 4.9 −2.301ª
with my classmates (0.021)
It is difficult for me to reflect during the class 26.1 45.7 6.5 17.4 4.3 23,8 28.6 14.3 26.2 7.1 −1.665b
(0,096)
I prefer to follow my class plan regardless of what happens in 17.4 37.0 10.9 15.2 19.6 12,5 35.0 25.0 20.0 7.5 −0.221
the classroom (0,825)
N = 43; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.
Source: Own elaboration based on 43 valid cases.
 REFLECTIVE PRACTICE 339

reflection at universities. It is in this aspect that this study is a novel experience, as it

presents information about the changes of certain components in attitudes of teachers in
training when they undergo the Reflexive Cycle of Teaching Learning (CRAD for the
acronym in Spanish).
Moreover, this study helped to recognize the importance of studying the attitude
towards reflection, as in-service teachers face numerous obstacles for reflecting, including
lack of formal time and space in order to carry out the reflective practice (Nocetti 2016;
Erazo, 2009). Therefore, a favorable attitude towards reflection is a key factor for counter-
acting those institutional impediments.
Within this context the results of this study are relevant because they show that
students who underwent the CRAD- based on the analysis of video recorded class-
enhanced a favorable attitude towards teaching reflection. This coincides with Xiao &
Tobin (2018), who propose that videos have the advantage of changing and diversifying
attention, and therefore, the reflection of other learning dimensions which might go
unnoticed are stimulated. This concurs with Fullana et al. (2013), who pointed out that
reflexive learning should be intentionally incorporated in the training of university grad-
uates. However, it is important to consider that students are not used to academic tasks
aimed at reflexive learning, and that sometimes they would rather carry out other type of
activities.
At the level of the cognitive dimension, it could initially be observed that only half of
the students could define the concept of reflection and explain how to practice it.
Additionally, they did not associate teaching reflection with theoretical assumptions
that the profession is based on, which could indicate that universities are still dealing
with reflections as a technical analysis (Nocetti, 2016; Correa et al., 2014; Farrell, 2016). In
contrast, Lebak (2017) says that with the use of videos, unlike teachers in training, in-
service teachers, would be able to connect and base their practical teaching with the
theory (Ajayi, 2016). Moreover, education students manifested that reflections should be
left for their professional work. This statement shows their lack of understanding of the
relationship between reflection and the construction of practical knowledge (Contreras,
2013; Korthagen, 2010), which is independent from the professional development stage.
It is important to highlight that after undergoing the CRAD, students strengthen the idea
that reflecting means improving their teaching practice, concurring with the results of
another study which states that the reflective feedback offered by the mentor teacher
improves professional learning (Valverde, 2017).
Furthermore, after experiencing CRAD, participants identified theoretical assumptions
which underlie their professional action. This would indicate that reflection is becoming
less instrumental, in other words, students are questioning the meaning of their teaching
actions and this encourages improvement to their teaching practices, concurring with
other methodological experiences with videos during initial teaching training (Domingo
& Gómez, 2014; Endacott, 2016; Korthagen, 2010). More recently, Castellanos et al. (2018)
attributed the success of a reflexive process to its instructive design based on a realistic
approach (Korthagen, 2010), which leads training teachers to identify problematic situa-
tions, to examine their own beliefs, to give a new sense to their practice and specially to
become conscious of the assumptions at the core of their professional performance.
Furthermore, the value of theory in interpreting the problems faced when teaching was
reaffirmed. It would then be expected that students would stop solving professional problems
340 A. NOCETTI ET AL.

based exclusively on their intuition. This change has been observed in the methodology
proposed by Korthagen (2010) and by Castellanos et al. (2018), who confirm that the realistic
focus contributes to a greater articulation between teaching theory and practice.
Additionally, teachers in training acknowledged lack of time as the main hindrance to
reflection, which could explain a low disposition towards reflection because of insuffi-
cient working conditions, as shown by Erazo (2009, 2011) in studies with in-service
teachers. This supports Del Barrio (2014) who states that having time and an appro-
priate place are necessary structural conditions to promote a reflexive practice at
educational institutions.
Regarding the affective dimension of attitude, there is an increase in the perception of
positive feelings regarding reflection after CRAD. There is also less insecurity, which is
positive as teachers in training would be more willing to reflect and change during the
development of their classes, leading to an increase in action reflection (Schön, 1992). This
is especially important, as the literature suggests that this type of reflection is related to
the processes of improvement and construction of professional knowledge (Perrenoud,
2004). These results are coherent with other studies (Lara, 2018), which indicate that
reflection occurs in the context of classroom work and is related to the feeling of security
in responding to any classroom situation, accordingly.

5. Conclusions
The results of this study indicate that doing the Reflexive Cycle of Teaching Learning
(CRAD for the acronym in Spanish) is positive in terms of stimulating teaching reflection.
However, further studies are required in order to measure the effectiveness of this work
model. Based on the results, proposals are made for developing a positive attitude
towards reflexive practice at the university, as well as recommendations regarding institu-
tional conditions to promote a reflexive stance at schools. Thus, universities must reaffirm
the importance of developing interventions at an early stage that consolidate a favorable
attitude towards reflexive practices and using resources such as narratives, videos and
portfolios to encourage teaching reflection. At the same time, it is necessary to specify
students’ conceptions of reflection, in order to be aware of the complexity and implica-
tions of this process, as well as generate experiences that stimulate positive feelings
towards the reflective practice. It is concluded that the analysis of videos associated with
the design and implementations of improvement plans, improves teachers’ ability to
reflective and solve professional problems. The results also indicate that it is difficult to
strengthen reflexive practice because of various structural factors. At a public policy level,
it is necessary to clarify the concept of teaching reflection and also make progress in
establishing working conditions that guarantee the time and place to systematically carry
out this type of activity.
This study does present some limitations. First, it is difficult to discuss the results, due
to the limited development of the topic. Second, the design should be replicated with
other students and incorporate a control group, which could allow for a more precise
estimation of the effect of the Reflexive Cycle of Teaching Learning (CRAD) on the attitude
towards teaching reflection. Third, it is acknowledged that the results cannot be general-
ized to other teaching programs. Fourth, although the survey shows validity of content
and reliability, further evidence is required regarding validity of construct and criteria. The
 REFLECTIVE PRACTICE 341

study should be carried out with larger samples and incorporate factor analysis to identify
whether the theoretically proposed factors in the representation matrix corroborate with
the data obtained in the population. Finally, by way of projection, further study with
a larger sample that includes a control group is required to explore the causality between
the variables and estimate the effectiveness of the methodological proposal.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Funding
This research was supported by Fondo de Apoyo a la Docencia (FAD 03/2016), University Catholic of
the most Holy Conception.

Notes on contributors
Alejandra Nocetti, PhD in Education and Society from the Universidad de Barcelona, Spain. She is
Associate Professor on the Fundaments of Pedagogy Department of the Universidad Catholica de la
Santísima Concepción (UCSC), Chile. Her research areas are initial training of teachers, reflective
practice and pedagogical knowledge and currently, is the Head of the Master in Educational
Sciences in UCSC and teaches research methodology for undergraduate and graduate students.
Maite Otondo (c), PhD in Educational Sciences from the Universidad de Sevilla, Spain. She is
Associate professor in the Fundaments of Pedagogy Department of the Universidad Catholica de
la Santísima Concepción (UCSC), Chile. Her research areas are initial training of teachers according to
school inclusion perspective and the development of teacher identity.
Gladys Contreras, PhD in Education from the Universidad de Concepción, Chile. She is Assistant
Professor in the Curriculum and Evaluation Department of the Universidad Catholica de la Santísima
Concepción (UCSC), Chile. His research areas are initial training of teachers and learning assessment.
She has extensive experience in leading graduate training process and currently participates in
evaluation processes of pedagogy programs at national level.
Cristhian Pérez, PhD in Educational Sciences from the Universidad de La Frontera, Chile. He is
Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Education of the Universidad de Concepción
(UdeC). His lines of research are university teaching practices, student well-being and psychometric
evaluation of measurement instruments. He teaches research methodology for undergraduate and
graduate students.

ORCID
Alejandra Nocetti http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2509-8051

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