Reflection as teaching inquiry: examples from Taiwanese in-service teachers

This study reports on the content and level of reflections employed by Taiwanese English teachers, and explores how they perceive reflection as teaching inquiry. Twelve in-service teachers enrolled in an elective course entitled 'Doing Teacher Research in English Instruction', meeting three hours a week for 17 weeks. Two types of data, journal writing and semi-structured oral interviews, were collected. Four patterns and three levels of reflection were generated for further discussion. The results indicate that reflection via journal writing can help teachers deal with situations of uncertainty, instability and value conflict in multiple contexts. With the aid of these reflective practices, some teachers even made changes in their instructional approaches and teaching beliefs. All participants unanimously perceived reflection through journal writing as not only promoting their awareness of instructional effectiveness, but also enhancing their critical thinking as teachers and learners.