Education is a lifelong process. The destiny of India is being shaped in the classrooms. (Patel, M.and others, 2008) The destinies of the students are being shaped by their teachers in the classroom. The teachers have the power to cultivate or develop the students.
21 century demands much more from the teachers because 21 st century is the century of quality.TQM has also been introduced in the field of education. The quality of teaching depends on the quality of the teacher. The teacher should be aware and alert about their teaching, merit, or demerits. Teachers should always introspect themselves, so they can know where they are lagging behind. This type of self–assessment is possible only by reflective thinking. Teachers can bring change in teaching methods, techniques, and systems by reflective thinking on their own teaching (Raval, N.V and others).Teacher–education institute provides teaching to the student-teachers and as a part of the training they should also be trained to be a reflective teacher and this is done in the B.Ed program in teacher –education institute affiliated to GGSIUP University as a part of the curriculum they have to write a detailed reflective diary. Investigator tried to find out the reflective thinking of trainees and improvement in their teaching in this study. Education helps to make life more prosperous and this noble deed is possible only by the teachers. Teachers will think about all the activities related to their teaching logically. They analyze and synthesize their teaching fragments and thus, by this procedure they will make their teaching more fruitful and productive. Reflective thinking is a master key to opening the treasure of success.
In this prospect, the Gitarattan Institute of Advanced Studies & Training organized a session on How to write a reflective journal on 20th January 2022. The expert speaker was Dr. S. K. BHATIA (Former Associate Professor, CIE, University of Delhi). He introduced how the things used to be in face-to-face mode trainees visit the school and gave the understanding of the working environment of the institutions. He gave the code of conduct and methodology of ethical observations of being present on the premises and on how to note points while writing a reflective journal.
Since due to the Pandemic situation the traditional way of observing is not possible he introduces the student's online observations. He highlighted the mistakes usually done by the teachers while writing reflective journals.
Thereafter, he discussed the important components for writing reflective journals. The Journal always starts with an introduction under which we write , what was the topic taught , who is taking the session , what method was used , main teaching points, was the classroom was effective or not. After that, the method or strategies to be followed , which includes what were teaching points, which methods were used, what else could be done, which point was difficult, what was the nature of the teaching point is written. In the last, how to analyze the method used by the teacher is appropriate. How to use the question-answer method appropriately or other methods while teaching in the classroom should be mentioned and to be pondered upon.
The B. Ed. trainees were introduced to the practical aspect of journal writing on the know-how of the classroom like classroom management, curriculum transaction, etc. Sir, further elaborated with the example that teachers should first identify the nature of the topic and then decide which method is suitable to teach the topic in class like discussion method can be used for the topic where the perspective of for and against is to be elaborated. In the last he specifies that while writing the conclusion,we need to write in brief how the overall class and what was the best part of it and what else best can be done.
The session was very enriching and interesting for all the trainees and sir answered all the queries of the students very patiently and enthusiastically.
Watch the Video at https://youtu.be/MJ6VsqFyckE
