Practice Episodes

A teacher walks into class with intentions. A teacher walks out with outcomes. In between, things happen that neither the intentions nor the outcomes describe. A practice episode is the unit of analysis that captures all three together: what was intended, what was done, what came out.

The structure matters because reflection that only looks at outcomes (the test scores, the quiet class) misses much of where teaching actually happens.

The three elements of reflective practice

Reflective practice has three elements that work together.

Antecedents

Antecedents are the cultural milieu out of which the teacher operates. They include all the elements that shape how an individual looks at and interprets the world.

Five kinds of antecedent show up.

1. Educational background. What kind of schooling the teacher had, what they studied, what model of learning they were exposed to.
2. Social background. Family, community, social class, social network.
3. Religious background. Beliefs about meaning, ethics, the place of the human person in the world.
4. Economic background. What kind of economic conditions the teacher has known, both past and present.
5. Historical background. The historical moment the teacher has lived through, the events that shaped their generation.

These are not optional or external. They are what the teacher brings into the classroom. A teacher’s antecedents shape how they read every situation, often without their awareness.

A teacher who refuses to look at their antecedents is operating with a blind spot the size of their entire formation.

Theories of practice

Theories of practice are the teacher’s working ideas about how teaching should go. Some are explicit and articulated. Many are implicit, like the theories-in-use covered earlier.

A teacher’s theories of practice include their beliefs about how students learn, what good teaching looks like, what the role of the teacher is, what the relationship between teacher and student should be, and what counts as success in a class.

These theories drive choices in the classroom. A teacher who believes students learn through repetition will design different lessons from one who believes students learn through enquiry.

Practice episodes

A practice episode is a moment of teaching, treated as a unit for analysis. It might be a single lesson, a difficult exchange with a student, a meeting with a parent, or a planning session. The episode has a beginning and an end and produces something analysable.

Practice episodes are made of three components.

The three components of a practice episode

Intentions

The intentions are what the teacher meant to do. Not always articulated. The teacher walks into class with a plan and a sense of what should happen, even if not all of it has been written down.

Intentions are usually shaped by the teacher’s theories of practice. A teacher whose theory is “students learn by doing” will have intentions that involve activity. A teacher whose theory is “students learn by listening” will have intentions that involve lecturing.

Actions

The actions are what the teacher actually did. These often differ from the intentions, sometimes in small ways and sometimes in large ones.

The gap between intentions and actions is one of the most useful objects for reflection. A teacher who meant to give every student a chance to speak but actually called on the same five students has produced a useful piece of data. The gap can be examined.

Outcomes

The outcomes are what happened as a result. Student behaviour, learning visible in their work, the energy of the room, the teacher’s own state at the end.

Outcomes are partly the result of actions and partly the result of factors the teacher did not control: the day, the previous lesson, the students’ personal lives. A reflective teacher learns to separate the two as well as possible.

The interactive cycle

Intentions, actions, and outcomes do not sit still. They form an interactive cycle.

A dynamic relationship runs among them.

1. Actions reflect intentions. What the teacher did flows from what they meant to do.
2. Realities reflect actions. What happened flows from what was done.
3. Intentions reflect outcomes. Future intentions are shaped by past outcomes; the teacher’s plans for next week reflect what happened this week.

The cycle runs whether the teacher reflects or not. A reflective teacher uses the cycle on purpose. A non-reflective teacher is moved by the cycle without controlling it.

Why the three elements work together

Antecedents, theories of practice, and practice episodes are not three separate topics. They are layers of one structure.

The antecedents shape what theories of practice the teacher holds. The theories of practice shape what intentions the teacher walks into the classroom with. The intentions shape the actions; the actions shape the outcomes. A teacher who tries to change practice without examining the theories that drive the practice will find the change does not stick. A teacher who tries to change theories without examining the antecedents that hold the theories in place runs into the same wall.

The three elements together describe the full territory that reflective practice has to work on.

Flashcard

What are the three elements of reflective practice and the three components of a practice episode?

Tap to reveal

Answer

Elements: antecedents, theories of practice, practice episodes. Components: intentions, actions, outcomes.

Antecedents are the cultural milieu the teacher brings. Theories of practice are the teacher’s working ideas about teaching. Practice episodes are the units of teaching where intentions become actions and actions produce outcomes.