about what constitutes “best practice”. At higher ends of the “reflective ladder”, expressed thoughts become critical and contextualised. This means that the most reflective thought considers decisions and actions taken, whilst taking into account ethical criteria. It can also be seen when practitioners begin to question the 'goals and practices of one's profession.' (Hatton and Smith, 1995:4)
Findings from the group discussion Major themes that were grounded in the data (Mason, 1996) emerged from the transcribed group. These were then crossed referred to the hierarchical levels defined by Hatton and Smith. Themes included poetic form and content and personal identification which, as descriptive activities tended to suggest the lower ends of the hierarchy of reflection. An associated theme which came out of the data was that of affirmation, and students seemed to actively seek support and succour from the form and content of poems, as Diana says:
I found it comforting and I like the rhythm of the poem too, I found that comforting.
At times the students read the poems as if they were the literal account of a person's experience rather than a crafted representation. In some ways this blocked the discussion. In covering issues of burn out and classroom management in DH Lawrence's poem, students got stuck talking about whether Lawrence was a good teacher or not. However, at other times this tendency towards naïve reading led to people making direct and impulsive identification with characters in the poems. As the comments below illustrate, whilst still discussing Lawrence's poem, a chance reference could catapult the discussion into a more ethical and professional discussion:
That (poem) reminds me of a conversation I had with my mentor just last week…
..she said it was very hard coming in and watching you because you had the enthusiasm that I used to have… (Louise)
What comes up for me is where's his management that's coming in and telling them off? Where is the potential change? There is none, then it's funny, we had that lecture the other day from the guy who said 'save a bit of yourself for yourself' wasn't he? (noises of agreement) and it's the same message to keep that little bit in reserve…(Kerry)
Sometimes the hierarchical categories were difficult to disentangle within a single comment. As we see below, an observation by Martha conflates ethical and professional considerations with personal identification, and a somewhat literal reading of the poem “Mrs Krikorian”:
I have had a student last week telling me I was an angel and they were so glad I'd been sent to them, which was terrifying because I think I absolutely cannot let this person down now, I've got to live up to this angelic status which is obviously impossible. So I understand where she's coming from with those feelings but when you're on the other side the expectation of you is so high it's quite a lot to take, it's quite daunting. Can I live up to this?
Findings from 1:1 interviews The students who took part in the research project were interviewed independently within a month of the last group meeting. The interviews were semi-structured. Questions were asked about the experiences of reading the poems in the group, whether any themes particularly resonated and crucially whether reading the poems had created any new thoughts for them about experiences on teaching practice or the PGCE course more generally.
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