Student teachers’ reflection during practicum: plenty on action, few in action

Abstract

This study describes student teachers’ reflective practices during practicum in a physical education teacher education program. An instructor and her 12 student teachers were the participants. Data were collected using non-participant observations, semi-structured interviews and student artifacts. I analyzed the data using constant comparison with open and axial coding based on Schön and van Manen’s reflection model. Two salient themes emerged. First, student teachers tapped into different types of experiences during practicum for reflection, primarily reflection on action. Second, reflection in action appeared to be vague and difficult for student teachers due to ‘too many things going on’ in teaching. Plenty of opportunities for reflection on action were reported, yet few for reflection in action were identified. There is a need for more experiences to engage student teachers in reflection in action and deeper reflective practices.