A taxonomy of clinical reasoning for pre-service teachers on professional experience

Clinical reflection with a focus on student impact is now a mandated attribute for graduate teachers across Australia via the capstone teacher performance assessment task. This policy move is forcing teacher educators to examine their programs to find space for activities that help pre-service teachers to develop the skills and dispositions required for the teacher performance assessment. Some of the best opportunities for clinical reflection occur after pre-service teachers teach lessons during their professional experience in schools. The data for this study were generated during the trial of a lesson feedback and reflection form for pre-service teachers in NSW, Australia. This study examined 13 pre-service teachers’ responses in 134 lesson feedback and reflection forms. A phenomenographic analysis was conducted on the responses to produce an inclusive and hierarchical four-level taxonomy of clinical reflection. These data showed that although all levels of the taxonomy were present in post lesson feedback and reflection forms, clinical reflection was less frequent than other categories of reflective practice such as causal. These findings have clear implications for the precision of the learning protocols deployed in professional experience experiences in teacher education for the purpose of fostering clinical reflection.