Reflective Teacher:a Study On The Bringing Up And Development Of Teachers

Reflective teacher is a term with profound philosophical significance and culture setting. Since modern times, mankind dominantly see the world as an objective and a priori substance, and think in a way which pursue identity and ultimate solution. But the side effects of the use of above mentioned world outlook in teaching practice is facing more challenges. Hence the conception of reflective teacher engendered. Besides, the conception also absorbed its nutrition from the critical theory that analyzes the mankind's existence situations. Unfortunately, the previous study of reflective teacher does not have a full examination of its philosophical and culture background. They pay more attention to the technical side of the teachers' reflection while abandoned its rich thought. Therefore, we cannot have a correct understanding of reflective teacher; neither can we have a proper way to develop a teacher's reflective ability. In the practice field of teaching, all kinds of discourse hegemony, reflection distortion and the esthetic outlook of technical rationality exist everywhere. In order to improve teaching practice, the active and daily reflection which origins from teachers' inner self is very important. According the request of theory and practice, this paper firstly analyzes the philosophical background of reflective teacher, then its practice significance. Two questions are discussed in this paper. Firstly, try to rectify the understanding of reflective teacher and enriches its connotation, then define the term. Secondly, discuss the value of reflective teacher in terms of teacher's professional development. The paper is divided into four parts totally. The first part is the background and definition of reflective teacher. This part firstly examined the philosophical and practice foundation of reflective teacher. Then a review of the status quo of the study of the field. Finally, a comparison has been made between reflective teacher and a professionalized teacher, and between ref lective teacher and teacher as researcher. A clarification of the tendency to understand reflective teacher in a psychology way also been made. The second part is the features of a reflective teacher. The subjectivity and thinking features of a reflective teacher are discussed. The subject of a reflective teacher is a process of being and not an assigned subject. A reflective teacher always tries to make balance between the modern way of thinking and the postmodern way of thinking. The third part is the value of a reflective teacher. The value exists in that it can promote teacher's career development. Fundamentally, a reflective teacher should teach in a just, humane and free way. The concept of reflective teacher here put forward a train of thought for its solution. The final part is the development of reflective teacher. The idea of reflective teacher is a kind of critical discourse. A reflective teacher should know philosophy considerably well, and learn critical educational theory or discourse, and learn more educational value theory. A reflective teacher should master a wide range of educational theory as well as common discipline knowledge, and develop through practice. Three tactics are used to be a reflective teacher: step-by-step, personality development and knowledge construction. Self-development, institution built-up and self-evaluation are three principles, which are essential for reflective teacher development.