Graduation Year

2013

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Granting Department

Curriculum and Instruction

Major Professor

Jenifer Schneider

Keywords

Dewey, hermeneutics, pre-service teacher, reflection, supervision

Abstract

With recent calls for teacher education programs to increase both the quantity and quality of field experiences (NCATE, 2010), it is important for teacher educators to understand how pre-service teachers create meaning from those experiences. Reflection is a mode of thought historically associated with creating "warranted assertabilities" (Dewey, 1938, p.15) from experience. Therefore, reflection is a common component of many teacher education programs (Darling-Hammond, 2010). Despite the abundance of research that has been conducted about reflection and teacher education, little is understood about the process of supported reflection as it is experienced by pre-service teachers. In this hermeneutic phenomenology, I explored the described experience of reflection for one pre-service teacher with whom I worked. Findings from this study created new understandings about reflection which include: (dis)positions may be tendencies toward temporary places rather than static, pre-determined qualities, dissonance appears to be present throughout the reflection process, judgment and knowledgeable others play key roles in the reflection process, and coding, note-taking, and writing appear to be ways for pre-service teachers and university supervisors to create texts that can be juxtaposed to create dissonance and dialectic tension.

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