Description
Within teacher education, self-reflective practices commonly function as a fundamental means of development (Elliott and Silverman 2015). This is based on the premise that students can articulate themselves effectively in response to, and independent of, the context of their teaching. However, with current philosophical thought tending towards a theory of development based on social-constructivism whereby understanding is always a product of the context (Laclau & Mouffe, 1985), the extent to which the individual has the capacity to truly express ‘themselves’ must be carefully considered. The intention of this paper therefore, is to present a philosophical and empirical account of student teacher reflection and explore the extent to which student teacher development is personally or contextually defined. Firstly, I consider current theoretical debates surrounding the creation of texts and discourse with a particular focus on the seemingly conflicting paradigms of discourse theory (Laclau & Mouffe 1985) and ideology critique (Žižek, 2008). From this I adopt and develop a Critical Discourse Analytic (Fairclough 2010) method which acknowledges both social and subjective influences in negotiating meaning. Ten students’ reflections are analysed with this methodological approach, comparing a reflection done in university with another done whilst on teaching placement. Findings highlight stark differences in the educational values expressed by students in these different contexts, which reflect typical current tensions between musical and institutional priorities in an age of accountability (Mullen, 2019). The problematic implication here is that students may be adopting contradictory sets of values that are effectively untenable and therefore professionally detrimental. Therefore, the ultimate intention of this paper is to draw attention to this adoption of discourse in order to build resistance (where necessary) towards healthier future professional practice.| Period | Jun 2022 |
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| Event title | CIPEM Porto 2022 |
| Event type | Conference |