Opportunities for Reflection
The Novice Teacher

When you are asked to reflect, it probably involves looking at a lesson you taught and thinking about what went well or not so well. Maybe it involves reading a case study, reflecting on the decisions made, and then thinking about what you would have done. The opportunities for reflection provided here take different, more aesthetic directions. Teaching is not usually described as an aesthetic pursuit such as art or music, but teachers who can find the aesthetic in their teaching are likely to find a source of renewal, direction, and meaning that eludes those who look at teaching as merely a technical act. Teaching with Fire: Poetry That Sustains the Courage to Teach (2003) is a book that nurtures this kind of reflection. It is a collection of poetry with special meanings to teachers who contributed to the book.

Several short poems from the book are provided here. The reasons why each poem was especially moving or motivating for the teacher who submitted it are omitted. Instead, it is suggested that you read each poem and determine for yourself messages about the profession you find within each poem.

Make Music with your Life
by Bob O’Meally

Make music with your life
A jagged
silver tune
cuts every deepday madness
into jewels that you wear

Carry 16 bars of old blues
wit/you
everywhere you go
walk thru azure sadness
howlin
like a guitar player
The Way It Is
by William Stafford

There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
Things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.
Dream Deferred
by Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore –
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over –
Like a syrupy seet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?
Children Will Listen
by Stephen Sondheim

Careful the things you say,
Children will listen.
Careful the things you do,
Children will see.
And learn.
Children may not obey,
But children will listen.
Children will look to you
For which way to turn,
To learn what to be.
Careful before you say,
“Listen to me.”
Children will listen.

Careful the wish you make,
Wishes are children.
Careful the path they take –
Wishes come true,
Not free.
Careful the spell you cast,
Not just on children.
Sometimes the spell may last
Past what you can see
And turn against you . . . .
Careful the tale you tell,
That is the spell.
Children will listen.

References
Intrator, S. M., and M. Scribner, eds. 2003. Teaching with Fire: Poetry That Sustains the Courage to Teach. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
High quality, meaningful, and critical reflection usually requires a specific question or problem toward which you direct that reflection. This is an intellectual state in which you doubt what you previously thought to be true or effective. The unreflective teacher might simply disregard that doubt or force a new situation to fit into old thinking. The critically reflective teacher turns uncertainty into an opportunity for deliberate and careful thinking that results in a new or altered belief grounded in evidence.

The most meaningful or educative reflection centers on questions that do not have simple answers. Deciding when to take attendance is important to your overall classroom management. It is not, however, the type of question that typically requires critical reflection. On the other hand, the way in which you answer that question could be influenced by deeper, more substantive questions that do warrant critical reflection. For example, Is the teacher primarily a manager of the classroom, transmitter of subject matter, or someone whose primary job is to create a meaningful learning environment? What is the nature of mandatory attendance policies in public schools? Am I providing learning activities that are worth attending? What is a meaningful classroom experience?
Provided here are four questions for reflection and resources for information.

1. For what kind of life and living should I prepare my students?

Adler, M. J. 1982. Paideia proposa: An educational manifesto. New York: Macmillan.

Dewey, J. 1980. The school and society. Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press.

Hirsch, E. D., Jr. 1996. The schools we need and why we don’t have them. New York: Doubleday.

Molnar, A., ed. 1987. Social issues and education: Challenge and responsibility. Alexandria, Va.: Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Shor, I. 1992. Empowering education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

2. Has my teacher education program prepared me to make curriculum and teaching decisions that are more characteristic of a well-trained technician or of an autonomous professional?

Henderson, J. G. 2000. Reflective teaching: Professional artistry through inquiry, 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Merrill Prentice Hall.

Ross, E. W., J. W. Cornett, and G. McCutcheon. 1992. Teacher personal theorizing: Connecting curriculum practice, theory, and research. Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press.

Sarason, S. B. 1999. Teaching as a performing art. New York: Teachers College Press.

Tom, A. R. 1997. Redesigning teacher education. Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press.

Westheimer, J. 1998. Among schoolteachers: Community, autonomy, and ideology in teachers’ work. New York: Teachers College Press.

3. What does it mean to meet the needs of all students? Is that even possible? If so, in what way(s)?

Adler, M. J. 1990. Reforming education: The opening of the American mind. New York: Collier.

Bennet, W. J. 1988. Our children and our country. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Haberman, M. 1995. STAR teachers of children in poverty. West Lafayette, IN: Kappa Delta Pi.

Oakes, J., and M. Lipton. 1999. Teaching to change the world. New York: McGraw-Hill.

4. What is the “hidden curriculum” in classroom management and discipline plans that I observe during field experiences? In my own plans?

Curwin, R. L., A. N. Mendler, and A. L. Costa. 1988. Discipline with dignity. Alexandria, Va.: Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Jackson, P. W. 1990. Life in classrooms. New York: Teachers College Press.

Kohn, A. 1993. Punished by rewards: The trouble with gold stars, incentive plans, As, praise, and other bribes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Neill, A. S. 1992. Summerhill school: A new view of childhood. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Links/Resources

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