Independent competence area or the mother of all competences

The role of reflectivity in teacher competence

Authors

• Minna Körkkö Jyväskylän yliopisto https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4248-1434
• Laura Ketonen Jyväskylän yliopisto https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2821-0179

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33350/ka.116947

Keywords:

teacher competence, transformative learning, holistic approach, reflectivity

Abstract

Reflection is a key facilitator of teacher learning. This study starts from our notion that in teacher education, reflection is often considered simply as a tool for professional development, with which the teachers develop their work and themselves as teachers. However, the definition does not clearly describe reflection’s connections to the teacher's transversal competence and how the skill of reflection develops as part of the competence. In our article, we discuss reflectivity by looking at the multidimensional adapted process model of teaching (MAP), aiming to learn the relationship between reflection and the areas of competence of the MAP model. We examine the literature on the MAP model from the perspective of two reflection models: Mezirow's transformative learning theory and Korthagen's holistic approach. The study’s findings illustrate how reflection connects to all areas of a teacher's competence through situation-specific skills (perception, interpretation, decision-making) and professional practices. We also find that the reflection descriptions in the review articles mainly lacked Mezirow's level of critical reflection, but Korthagen's model was widely represented in the material. It is our view that reflection can be understood as an independent competence area whose development should be enhanced. The study discusses implications for the MAP model and the development of teacher education.