| The purpose of this action research was to study the relationship between the use of scaffolded, reflective strategies and teacher candidates' ability to act intuitively. Teacher educators want new and beginning teachers to be able to make on-the-spot, intuitive decisions that create changes to their practice in order to meet the immediate needs of students. Instead, many teacher candidates remain focused on classroom control and lesson plans designed to discourage misbehavior. Teacher educators see a gap between what is learned and how teachers put that into their practice. Observations were that teachers are not able to put the theory they learn into practice in their classrooms, and that reflection is the missing link to helping teacher candidates put theory to practice. At the same time the primary strategy used is written reflection, which by itself does not produce reflective practitioners who are able to think intuitively. In this action research study, an intervention program enabled candidates to gain confidence and modify their beliefs. They also demonstrated intuitive thinking, which prior research indicated was a necessary precursor to intuitive action. The results of this study indicated that a combination of reflective strategies used in a scaffolded and developmental way guided teacher candidates to a deeper reflective thinking which then moved them towards intuitive thinking. Recommendations from the study were that teacher candidate programs should use reflective strategies and in particular an intervention program for those candidates who exhibit red flags in their biographies. It is expected that such strategies will lead candidates toward a deeper reflective practice that guides them towards questioning their beliefs, and moves them towards intuitive thinking and intuitive action. |
