*2.2.5. Reflection*

you understand their thinking, and that doesn't come from a book. It comes from working, interacting, with a wide variety of students as much as you can." Participants also related time in the field to other program aspects, such as training teachers to set realistic expectations. As another participant described, "They need to be in the schools all the time. Too many people

These results correspond with the literature that recognized the central and crucial role of fieldwork—time spent in schools and in classrooms [28–31]. Common expressions in the literature to describe field-based learning, *practicum*, or *student teaching* in teacher education included *key factor*, [32] program *capstone*, [27, 33] *culminating experience*, [34] *very important*, [35] *critical element*, [36] and *the bridge* between preparation for teaching and the beginning of a teaching career [37]. All of these expressions indicate the central role attributed to this method of training future teachers, which can play a significant part in developing future teachers' sense of engagement with and commitment to the process of reforming the public education system. The practicum is also expected to support teacher retention and to help novice practitioners adjust better to the profession. This experience can serve as a crucial period of teacheridentity construction with a possible change in self-perception and professional identity and,

thus, can support constructing professional identities of teachers as change agents.

that offer a full year in the field [38] or programs that take place entirely in schools.

In my study, the teachers who hack also shared that their mentors inspired and led meaningful learning and development experiences. Programs should structure meaningful time in the field accompanied by mentoring, support, and reflective practice. The mentoring should be well structured to provide opportunities for risk-taking and support exposure to progressive educational models [31]. Based on my study results, I highly recommend residency models

Preparation programs should seek to place students in different schools and educational environments committed to discussing questions concerning their role in the twenty-first century public system. Experience in an array of classrooms and public, private, and independent schools can offer future teachers an opportunity to reflect about different ways to teach and practice schooling. Exposure to as many teaching styles and teaching roles as possible is a key factor. Such preservice experiences can also solve the issue of in-service teachers who, due to scheduling or workload issues, rarely find the opportunity to visit other schools and be inspired by them. In the study, three participants stated they had directed their own training by choosing different programs or selecting their practicum sites. One teacher shared that she received special approval to do a practicum with a teacher she liked but who had less than the required 3 years of experience. She explained and justified her choice: "I was like, that's the person I want to learn from." Thus, programs should allow greater freedom to student teachers who drive their own learning and development, allowing them to locate the right learning

Teacher education programs can and should serve as models, as real-life examples of the different methods of teaching and learning—teaching by using the methods they teach—as well as catalysts for reform in the K–12 educational system. The pedagogy of teacher preparation programs should model the one desired at the elementary and secondary levels—one that is relevant, engaging, and includes skills that will become germane later. Creating a teaching

don't realize what they're getting into."

108 Contemporary Pedagogies in Teacher Education and Development

environment that fits their developmental needs.

*That is where I think my philosophy in education started to change, because I hated the way I was teaching it.*

Teachers who hack continually reflected on their goals, methods, and progress. Their reflection identified gaps between the present and desired future, detected problems, and explored different means to approach problems. As one teacher described openly, "I'm still battling my traditional teacher self." Teachers who hack devoted time to learning and acted to improve practices and outcomes. In this, my study results are consistent with the literature, which strongly recommended reflective practice as part of teachers' learning and development, and which was supported by adult learning theories [21, 39, 40].

Darling-Hammond and Bransford emphasized the importance of reflection to the learning process because it helps student teachers find alternative strategies for the future and to solve problems [27]. Boz and Boz found that encouraging student teachers to reflect on their teaching and identify their strengths and areas for development within reflective practice was essential to learning [35]. Reflection enables future teachers to recognize the limitations of their personal assumptions, acknowledge other perspectives, consider the moral and ethical consequences of choices, and clarify the reasoning processes involved in making and evaluating decisions [40]. Reflection can also support student teachers to think about the different ways of practicing quality teaching and to examine innovative models for teaching other than what they had experienced so far [27].

The habits of reflection and critical thinking can be learned, applied, and accomplished. Teacher preparation programs should help prospective teachers develop the habit of reflecting by using structured assignments that require students to apply critical thinking and reflection to their own practices or to others they experience during fieldwork. Any segment of a teacher education program can incorporate the critical thinking skill of looking for gaps or problems. It does not require a special course; it requires special attention. Every subject future teachers should know can be processed thought the lenses of critical thinking and reflection. For example, reflection regarding field observations might include a segment to help student teachers look at problems in the field and think of possible solutions. Student teachers can be asked to create their teaching identity, asking themselves questions such as, Why am I here? What benefit do I bring? What is meaningful about me that I want to bring into teaching?

Increasing the number of reflecting episodes and enhancing their depth will help future teachers adopt this way of thinking and carry it into their daily teaching routines. "Institutions that, in general, encourage the teaching methods and the process of modeling devoid of any historical context or at philosophical base that would encourage critical reflection and that would lead students to ponder what worked. What did not, and why?" ([16], p. 358).

Reflection and continual assessment can be accomplished both individually and as part of an organizational culture that supports collaborative reflection [41]—devoting time to it and valuing teachers who reflect and share their contemplations.

Teacher education programs should expose student teachers to the benefits of risk-taking and create learning opportunities that require them to experience and practice taking risks. Analyzing success and failure stories, as done in business schools, can provide additional exposure. Dealing with failure is hard. It requires reflection skills and a trusting environment but, if done properly, can support teachers' growth and perceptions of themselves as

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Clearly, taking pedagogical risks within the protected environment of higher education or the practicum is beneficial, but stimulating risk-taking comes with its own risks and should be implemented with forethought and restraint. For example, it may encourage teachers who do not have the required knowledge to take risks just for the sake of trying or innovating [47].

When the study participants talked about resources, they referred to (a) actual resources such as time, technology, and space and (b) their abilities to obtain and proactively use those resources—meaning, teachers who hack did not necessary have more assets but worked better with what they had. They maximized the use of existing resources or acted to access more

All participants mentioned time as an important and even crucial resource in their ability to hack their teaching. One stated, "I think it has a lot to do with whether or not you have the time to innovate and think about things and like trying new things." The resource of time was associated with other themes such as collaboration ("Being able to sit down and talk to your peers is so valuable"), and several teachers stressed that shared time, structured into the

In addition to time, teachers who hack discussed technology and its connection with pedagogy, new skills, and communication and collaboration tools. Frequently (41%), participants raised issues related to technology juxtaposed with pedagogy. They shared examples of how technological tools supported their new pedagogies. For example, one participant gave her students a project that included making a book trailer and inserting QR codes (matrix barcodes) on their individual websites. Another teacher used an app called ChatterPix that can make a picture talk. She assigned the students a biography project in which they drew a picture of someone they had researched and then presented the talking picture in the classroom.

In my study, technology influenced participants' communication with students and parents and served as a personal development tool, a way to collaborate with colleagues, and a pedagogical tool in the classroom to support individualize learning. Teachers addressed technology in terms of the problems it helped solve or the goals it helped reach, as well as new challenges it embodied. Their ability to use technology also related to risk-taking. As one

The study findings regarding technology's central role in education reform corresponded with a plethora of recent reports, books, and articles [48–51]. Alan November, an international leader in education technology, made an important distinction between technology and innovation [51]. He illuminated that not every technology-based learning or teaching is innovative and stated that educators' focus should move beyond the device and toward the

participant commented, "Innovating with technology is feeling comfortable with it."

risk-takers.

*2.2.7. Resources and technology*

for themselves and their students.

schedule, is necessary to collaborate with colleagues.
