Critical Incident Assignment Essay

In this assignment, I will probe and resile on a little concomitant that I was confronted with during school experience A (here after will be referred to as SEA). I will polish on the implications that my critical accident has had on my use and I will relate it to theory. In addition, I will occupy reference to four approaches of analysis which hasten been show uplined by Tripp (1993). Tripps four approaches focus on the why ch exclusivelyenge, person-to-person theory, thinking strategies and dilemma identification. I will examine these four approaches and establish the ways in which I can germinate my contestation practice.Moreover, I will issueline further recommendations for my upcoming practice which will be suggested passim this assignment. cut back (2008) points out that materialisation can help to bring out the quality of didactics and it provides baby birdren with valued discernment experiences. In addition, being ideaful anyows mavin to analys e and take up ways to remedy their nonrecreational development. N wholenesstheless, Cottrell (2005) argues that in that location can be barriers to critical thinking because some may submit that it is a negative activity. Therefore, one may feel that it is only necessary to sire positive comments rather than seeking for areas of development.Consequently, this does non lead to or provide constructive criticism for areas to plow a correct practitioner (Cottrell, 2005). However, in my opinion, I think that it is important to conjecture on and be critical of my teaching practice for the undercoat that I can learn from what I discombobulate done, and consider ways to progress in my next practice. Tripp (1993) advocates that wistful teaching is important because it enables one to evaluate the ends that they construct made, and consider ways to develop and progress in their skipper development.During my first placement, I was confronted with a critical consequenceant which led me to make a decision based on my professional development. During my maths lessons, barbarian x (an position as an additional learner) continuously yelled out without frame inting his pass up whenever I asked the class questions. His disruptive demeanour unsettled my teaching as well as the small fryrens learning which I open up kinda difficult to visual modality with. Every time that he shouted out, I immediately in leaped him that I would non accept his help because he did not control his hand up.Nonetheless, he would take that hazard to stop to shout out without putting his workforce up. This limited their efficacy to focus and listen to the lesson that I was teaching. Consequently, to minimise the possibilities of churl x sorry further lessons, I judged that he would sit with the teaching accomplice (who spoke the comparable language as infant x) so that he would become less disruptive. Upon reflection, I think that I should dumbfound heavily i mplemented the behaviour perplexity strategy by being stricter. In addition, I could submit immediately given baby x a warning for shouting out.Nonetheless, I contrive realised that I did not have as more(prenominal) self-reliance during my first placement as I would have desired. During my dilemma, it was at that point that I had think to the highest degree and question my teaching strategies to consider reasons behind child xs disruptive behaviour during my lessons. Thinking strategies Tripp (1993) highlights that thinking strategies help pensive thinkers to learn a deeper understanding of a critical hazard. When we think nigh critical incidents, we must consider non-events which reinforce the idea that when something has happened, this usually means that several(predicate) things have not happened.In relation to my critical incident, I considered what had happened with child x rather than reflecting what had he did not do. Nonetheless, as I reflect on this critical incident, I have realised that if I thought about what did not happen with child x, it may have revealed why he was being disruptive during my lessons. In addition, the thinking strategy helps me to reflect upon the good and bad points of my critical incident. I was pleased to see that child x was optimistic to participate in my lesson as he showed cracking enthusiasm. Nonetheless, my incident also reveals the pessimistic point of my incident.Although child x was engaged in the lesson, his behaviour was disruptive and he interrupted my teaching which did not benefit the pupils learning. Due to the fact that I am a reflective thinker, I could have thought about possible alternatives and considered the incident from the childs point of work out. For instance, rather than moving child x succeeding(prenominal) to the teaching assistant, I could have considered how he felt and the reasons why he did not put his hand up during class discussions. If I chose to make an alternative deci sion, what would the outcome be? I come up to ask myself a series of questions.After my maths lessons, I proposed a series of questions to myself why does he call out during my lessons? Why do I have the expectation that he should put his hand up? Should I have imposed a different solvent rather than have child x sit next to the teaching assistant? Could I have handled the situation more effectively? I continued to ask myself a series of questions which enabled me to reflect on what I did and why I did it. Although I may not be able to fall upon a solution to my critical incident, I aim to explore and analyse it by reflecting on my teaching practice.Dewey (1933) in Pollard (1998) highlights that reflective practice enables teachers to unceasingly monitor, esteem and review their own practice which allows teachers to learn from what they have done and develop in their professional skills. In addition, as previously outlined, my array of enquiries fits in with one of Tripps (1993 ) approaches which is called the why challenge. This form of analysis allows one to continuously ask questions why? (Tripp, 1993, p 46). The why challenge Tripp (1993) conveys that the answers to questions that practitioners have, does not necessarily reveal or lead to a conclusion that one is seeking for.Nonetheless, asking why allows one to reflect and think about their practice and consider possible outcomes that could have arisen. Moreover, Tripp (1993) points out that when we ask questions, our ideas or actions can create either some form of reification or a normative statement which underpins a subjective point of view based on own(prenominal) beliefs and opinions. We are operating from a deeply held belief which may not be appropriate to our or consonant with our other(a) beliefs (Tripp, 1993, p. 46) When we enquire about a particular situation, we tend to ready our answers based on our former beliefs.With regards to the critical incident which took place between child x and I, I had to explore why I anticipate him to put his hands up to answer my questions? I expect that all children should put their hand up during class discussions because my former experiences in the classroom led me to the assumption that it was the norm for children to do so. Additionally, I think that the hands up policy maintains order in the classroom rather than permitting all children to shout out all at once. My rules and beliefs, reinforces a normative statement because it is what I believe is necessary (Tripp, 1993, p. 8).On the other hand, current look for and ideas have opposed to children putting their hands up in class. prof Dylan William (The Telegraph, 2010) advocates that asking children to put their hands up isolates other students during class discussion. However, condition X highlights that no child is excluded and that they are all encouraged to go bad toward their full potential (School Policy 2011). Moreover, my beliefs and opinions led me to believe t hat all children should put their hands up and must not shout out in the class which led to a dilemma that I encountered during my teaching.Dilemma denomination Tripp (1993) conveys that incidents contain dilemmas that teachers are frequently confronted with. In his reading, Tripp recommends Berlak and Berlak as they propose that the not bad(p) stress in teaching is having to make decisions throughout their teaching career. Pollard (2008) continues that teachers use their professional judgement to determine the most suitable form of action to take in any particular situation. During my critical incident (at SEA), I found myself in a predicament when child x constantly shouted out in class.When he disrupted the other childrens learning, I had to immediately decide on how I would deal with this situation. My immediate response was to have him sit next to the teaching assistant. My reason for placing child x with the teaching assistant, was because position is an additional language for him, therefore, I thought that it would be easier to place with an additional adult that spoke the same language as him. Nonetheless, reflecting back on this critical incident, there were many an(prenominal) alternative routes that I could have taken rather than moving child x.I could have given him a warning to ensure that he was aware that I would not tolerate his disruptive behaviour. Moreover, I could have removed child x from the classroom in order for me to continue with my lesson. Nevertheless, being faced with a dilemma does not allow much time to watch, curiously within a class of 28 pupils. I did what I thought was the right thing at that point which was to have him set next to another adult in the classroom. The series of dilemmas that I was confronted with was a emanding experience which I expressed within my reflective ledger I found it difficult to deal with child x, he does not put his hands up during classroom discussions I need to decide how I am going to d eal with his behaviour (U1100711 Reflective Journal, twenty-fourth November 2011). Upon reflection of my dilemma, I made a decision based on my set. This relates to Tripps (1993) Personal possibility Analysis.Dilemma identification is helpful because why we chose one resolution rather than another enables us to discover the values inherent in our professional judgement Tripp (1993, p. 9) Personal Theory Analysis Tripp (1993) proposes that teachers use their professional judgement to deal with dilemmas that they are constantly confronted with. My personal beliefs and values encouraged me to make the decision to move child x nearer to another adult. I thought that if child x sat next to an adult that he is more familiar with, he will be less disruptive in my lessons. Tripp (1993) conveys that teachers should also make decisions based on what is best for that childs well-being.Therefore, I believed that rather than shouting at this child for being disruptive, my values and professio nal judgement assumed that it was beneficial for child x as well as the class if I remained calm and placed him with the teaching assistant. In addition, I had to consider the reasons as to why child x thought that it was necessary to distract his peers in the classroom he was doing it to come along attention he was trying to prove that he knew all of the answers English is an additional language for him, and so on. All of these possible reasons must be taken into consideration rather than just assuming that he is a naughty child.As confirmed by Tripp (1993), these examples convey that teachers are challenged with a series of dilemmas and decisions that they must make based on personal theories and professional judgement (1993, p. 53). Although I was faced with a number of challenges during my critical incident, it was crucial for me to make a decision based on my theoretical and righteous judgement. To conclude, it is apparent that teachers are commonly confronted with critical i ncidents which consequently place them in a dilemma that is often dealt with based on professional and personal judgement.As formerly outlined, the critical incident and dilemmas that I was faced with, allowed me to reflect, analyse and critique on my teaching practice. Consequently, I have found that reflective teaching has enabled me to think about the decisions that I have made and contemplate ways in which I can become a better and effective teacher. After my first placement, I have learnt that I should visit different teaching strategies to deal with a childs behaviour rather than placing with another adult in the class straight away.For my future placements, I aim to enforce the behaviour management strategies more rigidly. Moreover, I specialise to be more of an assertive and effective teacher in the future. Commentary Reflecting on what we do is essential to the development of professional judgement, precisely unless our reflection involves some form of challenge to and critique of ourselves and our professional values, we alone reinforce existing patterns and tendencies (Tripp, D. , 1993, p. 12) The purpose of this assignment is to explore the implications of critical reflection within the context of my critical incident.I will analyse a range of relevant literature, national strategies and theories which will be used to critically evaluate the significant issues in relation to my teaching practice. Moreover, I intend to engage in a wider reading surrounding my critical incident in order to progress my professional development and to subsequently become a more effective teacher not only during my teaching practice, but throughout my teaching career. Tripp (1993) states that it is crucial to challenge and be critically reflective of ones practice as it is enables us to improve and progress in our professional development.Moon (2004) contributes to Tripps theory as she claims that our thinking allows us to learn from our previous experiences. In ad dition, this theorist (2004) points out that we can improve our professional development as a result of thinking critically. Nonetheless, the aforementioned theories have been challenged as Zeichner and Liston (1996), suggest that reflective teaching can be considered as an idealised and unrealistic practice repayable to the high demands and heavy workload that teachers are confronted with on a day-to-day basis.They continue that teachers do not often have the time to critically reflect on their practice for the reason that the classroom environment is fast-paced and busy which can make it difficult for teachers to reflect. On the other hand, I believe that critical reflection is essential for practitioners. This is because as I continue to engage with a wider reading of critical reflective activity, I have gained a greater understanding of how to deal with complex situations more efficiently within the classroom.My practice has enabled me to critically reflect on a human body o f teaching styles that I adopted during my first placement. For example, I encouraged whistle partners during carpet time, reinforced children to work collaboratively, modelled examples on the interactive whiteboard and encouraged the pupils to presentment their work to the rest of the class. Adopting different teaching strategies has given me more confidence to develop my teaching practice and become more self-assured in some aspects of my teaching.Nonetheless, upon reflection of my first school placement, I found it quite difficult to deal with challenging behaviour whilst I was teaching. Pollard (2010) suggests that trainee teachers find it quite challenging to maintain discipline and order in the classroom, particularly if the children have established a relationship with their own teacher from the stem of the year. Subsequently, it is essential for me to explore behaviour management theories in order to reflect and consider ways to progress in my professional development and be able to effectively deal with challenging behaviour in the future.Moreover, throughout my placement, I found that my reflective journal has been a useful woodpecker as it has enabled me to reflect on ways to develop my classroom practice and improve my professional development Working in an inner-city and multi-cultural school has been a positive and challenging experience for me. I have been exposed to different teaching strategies and have witnessed various ways that the pupils respond to the staff which is useful for my professional development. (U1100711, UEL Reflective Journal, 22 October 2011).Ghaye (2011) conveys that reflective practice is a purpose-made and meaningful activity because it reinforces us to gain better knowledge and understanding of our practice. Moreover, although I was faced with many challenges throughout my first school placement, my reflective journal enabled me to consider reasons why I made the decisions that I chose to make during my critical i ncident. In addition, whilst on my placement, it was crucial for me to familiarise myself with the School Xs behaviour policy so that I was aware of what was expected of me during my placement.The Schools behaviour policy underlines the consequences of inappropriate behaviour and points out that there are five levels of intervention. School X uses a arranged approach which is recorded on a stage chart in each classroom from Years 3 to 6. In their response to shortsighted behaviour, this approach is variable, depending on the age of the pupil. Pollard (2010) points out that behaviour management is a continual concern for teachers due to the large numbers of children in the classroom. Furthermore, teachers constantly have to make quick decisions based on their professional judgement.Likewise, Roffey (2011) suggests that many teachers (particularly teachers with limited teaching experience) may not have much confidence when confronted with complexities within the classroom. She convey s that some teachers may not know what to do when they are placed in challenging situations which in turn, can have a negative effect on the childrens learning in the classroom. On the other hand, school and government policies emphasise the significance of the holistic approach to teaching and they have highlighted the importance of good behaviour in schools.