REFLECTIVE PRACTICES AMONG MATHEMATICS TEACHERS

Reflective practice is one of the most important aspects of effective teaching. Once a teacher has engaged in the active process of teaching, he or she must consistently and regularly reflect on what is happening and what has happened in his or her classroom. Both reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action (Schon, 1983) provide tremendous opportunities for teachers to enhance the effectiveness of their teaching methods, especially for new practitioners. This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study carried out to determine whether Malaysian secondary school mathematics teachers reflect on their teaching activity. The study particularly strives to determine to what extent the teachers reflect before carrying out their teaching plan, whether they reflect during and after implementing their teaching activities in the classroom, whether there would be any factors that influence their actions, and what challenges (if any) they face in carrying out their lesson plans. Data were collected through classroom observations, individual interviews and also analysis of teaching records.