新TOEFL阅读真题详解:REFLECTION IN TEACHING 教学中的反思

　　Teachers, it is thought, benefit from the practice of reflection, the conscious act of thinkingdeeply about and carefully examining the interactions and events within their own classrooms.Educators T. Wildman and J. Niles (1987) describe a scheme for developing reflective practicein experienced teachers. This was justified by the view that reflective practice could helpteachers to feel more intellectually involved in their role and work in teaching and enable themto cope with the paucity of scientific fact and the uncertainty of knowledge in the discipline ofteaching.

　　Wildman and Niles were particularly interested in investigating the conditions under whichreflection might flourish-a subject on which there is little guidance in the literature. Theydesigned an experimental strategy for a group of teachers in Virginia and worked with 40practicing teachers over several years. They were concerned that many would be "drawn tothese new, refreshing conceptions of teaching only to find that the void between theabstractions and the realities of teacher reflection is too great to bridge. Reflection on acomplex task such as teaching is not easy." The teachers were taken through a program oftalking about teaching events, moving on to reflecting about specific issues in a supported,and later an independent, manner.

　　Wildman and Niles observed that systematic reflection on teaching required a sound ability tounderstand classroom events in an objective manner. They describe the initialunderstanding in the teachers with whom they were working as being "utilitarian...and not richor detailed enough to drive systematic reflection." Teachers rarely have the time oropportunities to view their own or the teaching of others in an objective manner. Furtherobservation revealed the tendency of teachers to evaluate events rather than review thecontributory factors in a considered manner by, in effect, standing outside the situation.

　　Helping this group of teachers to revise their thinking about classroom events became central.This process took time and patience and effective trainers. The researchers estimate that theinitial training of the same teachers to view events objectively took between 20 and 30 hours,with the same number of hours again being required to practice the skills of reflection.

　　Wildman and Niles identify three principles that facilitate reflective practice in a teachingsituation. The first is support from administrators in an education system, enabling teachers tounderstand the requirements of reflective practice and how it relates to teaching students.The second is the availability of sufficient time and space. The teachers in the programdescribed how they found it difficult to put aside the immediate demands of others in order togive themselves the time they needed to develop their reflective skills. The third is thedevelopment of a collaborative environment with support from other teachers. Support andencouragement were also required to help teachers in the program cope with aspects of theirprofessional life with which they were not comfortable. Wildman and Niles make a summarycomment: "Perhaps the most important thing we learned is the idea of the teacher-as-reflective-practitioner will not happen simply because it is a good or even compelling idea."

　　The work of Wildman and Niles suggests the importance of recognizing some of the difficultiesof instituting reflective practice. Others have noted this, making a similar point about theteaching profession's cultural inhibitions about reflective practice. Zeichner and Liston (1987)point out the inconsistency between the role of the teacher as a (reflective) professionaldecision maker and the more usual role of the teacher as a technician, putting into practice theideas of others. More basic than the cultural issues is the matter of motivation. Becoming areflective practitioner requires extra work (Jaworski, 1993) and has only vaguely definedgoals with, perhaps, little initially perceivable reward and the threat of vulnerability. Few havedirectly questioned what might lead a teacher to want to become reflective. Apparently, themost obvious reason for teachers to work toward reflective practice is that teacher educatorsthink it is a good thing. There appear to be many unexplored matters about the motivation toreflect-for example, the value of externally motivated reflection as opposed to that ofteachers who might reflect by habit.

　　Paragraph 1: Teachers, it is thought, benefit from the practice of reflection, the consciousact of thinking deeply about and carefully examining the interactions and events within their ownclassrooms. Educators T. Wildman and J. Niles (1987) describe a scheme for developingreflective practice in experienced teachers. This was justified by the view that reflectivepractice could help teachers to feel more intellectually involved in their role and work inteaching and enable them to cope with the paucity of scientific fact and the uncertainty ofknowledge in the discipline of teaching.

　　1. The word justified in the passage is closest in meaning to

　　○supported

　　○shaped

　　○stimulated

　　○suggested

　　2. According to paragraph 1, it was believed that reflection could help teachers

　　○understand intellectual principles of teaching

　　○strengthen their intellectual connection to their work

　　○use scientific fact to improve discipline and teaching

　　○adopt a more disciplined approach to teaching

　　Paragraph 2: Wildman and Niles were particularly interested in investigating the conditions underwhich reflection might flourish-a subject on which there is little guidance in the literature.They designed an experimental strategy for a group of teachers in Virginia and worked with40 practicing teachers over several years. They were concerned that many would be "drawn tothese new, refreshing conceptions of teaching only to find that the void between theabstractions and the realities of teacher reflection is too great to bridge. Reflection on acomplex task such as teaching is not easy." The teachers were taken through a program oftalking about teaching events, moving on to reflecting about specific issues in a supported,and later an independent, manner.

　　3. The word flourish in the passage is closest in meaning to

　　○continue

　　○occur

　　○succeed

　　○apply

　　4. All of the following are mentioned about the experimental strategy described in paragraph2 EXCEPT:

　　○It was designed so that teachers would eventually reflect without help from others

　　○It was used by a group of teachers over a period of years.

　　○It involved having teachers take part in discussions of classroom events

　　○It involved having teachers record in writing their reflections about teaching

　　5. According to paragraph 2, Wildman and Niles worried that the teachers they were workingwith might feel that

　　○the number of teachers involved in their program was too large

　　○the concepts of teacher reflection were so abstract that they could not be applied

　　○the ideas involved in reflection were actually not new and refreshing

　　○several years would be needed to acquire the habit of reflecting on their teaching

　　Paragraph 3: Wildman and Niles observed that systematic reflection on teaching required asound ability to understand classroom events in an objective manner. They describe theinitial understanding in the teachers with whom they were working as being "utilitarian...andnot rich or detailed enough to drive systematic reflection." Teachers rarely have the time oropportunities to view their own or the teaching of others in an objective manner. Furtherobservation revealed the tendency of teachers to evaluate events rather than review thecontributory factors in a considered manner by, in effect, standing outside the situation.

　　6. The word objective in the passage is closest in meaning to

　　○unbiased

　　○positive

　　○systematic

　　○thorough

　　7. According to paragraph 3, what did the teachers working with Wildman and Niles often fail todo when they attempted to practice reflection?

　　○Correctly calculate the amount of time needed for reflection

　　○Provide sufficiently detailed descriptions of the methods they used to help them reflect

　　○Examine thoughtfully the possible causes of events in their classrooms

　　○Establish realistic goals for themselves in practicing reflection

　　1-5：12342

　　6-10：13

　　参考译文

　　教学中的反思

　　教师被认为受益于反思实践——有意识的更深入思考、仔细的检查他们教室里发生的事件以及相互影响。教育家T. Wildman 和J. Niles(1987)描述了一个在资深教师中开展反思实践的方案。这是合理的，因为人们认为反思的实践可以帮助老师们更加理性的对待他们的角色和他们从事的事业，并可以让他们能在教学准则中处理科学事实的缺乏和知识的不确定。

　　Wildman 和Niles 都特别喜欢研究在哪种情况下反思可能大量出现——一个几乎没有任何文献指导的课题。他们给维吉利亚的一组教师设计了一个实验策略，并在几年内研究了40位教师。他们担心很多人可能认为沉浸在这种全新的教育概念中的结果就是，发现教师反思的抽象概念和现实之间的鸿沟太大而无法逾越。要反思像教学这样复杂的事件不是容易的。老师们都参加了关于教学事件计划的讨论，紧接着在工作人员的协助下去反思具体问题，然后是独立反思。

　　Wildman 和Niles 观察到系统教学反思需要一种以客观的方式来理解教室里发生事件的能力。他们起初认为参与研究的教师们太功利，并不是足够丰富和详细以促使系统反思的产生。教师们很少有机会和时间去客观的观察他们自己和其他老师的教学。更深的研究发现教师们更愿意评价事件而不是站在事件之外洞察一个事件的促进因素。

　　帮助这组教师修订他们关于课堂事件的认识变成了关键问题。这个过程需要时间和耐心以及有效的受训者。研究者认为训练同一个教师使他客观的看待事情需要大约20到30小时，而反思技巧的练习同样需要这么多时间。

　　Wildman 和 Niles 确定了促进在教学环境中实现反思行为的3个原则。**就是来自教学系统管理层的支持，这使得教师们明白反思实践的必要条件，并知道它与教学之间的联系。第二就是需要足够的时间和空间。组织中的教师们抱怨说让他们放弃别人当时的要求而为自己腾出时间去提升自己的反思能力是很困难的。第三就是以其他教师的支持为基础的亲密无间的环境。组织中的教师同样需要支持和鼓励以帮助他们去应付他们职业生活中的不如意的方面。Wildman 和Niles作出了一个总结性的评论：“或许我们学到的最重要的观点就是教师不会因为这是好的，或者甚至是不可或缺的观念而自发的开展教学反思。”

　　Wildman 和Niles 的工作表明认识进行反思的某些困难的重要性。也有其他人知道这个，并指出相似的关于反思行为的教学职业文化阻碍。Zeichner 和Liston(1987)指出作为一个反思者的教师和作为一个将其他人观念付诸实施的教师之间，存在着角色上的不一致。比文化问题更基本的是动机问题。成为一个反思教学的执行者需要额外的付出(Jaworski,1993)而且只有一个模糊的目标，甚至不仅没有显而易见的回报，反而有易受责难的威胁。很少人直接质疑什么可能让一个教师想变成反思型教师。显然，使教师朝着反思行为奋斗的最直接的原因是教师教育家认为这是一件很好的事情。关于反思的动力存在许多未知的问题，例如外部驱动的反思的价值与通过习惯进行反思的价值是不同的。