Gail Fensom

Coming to Know Reflective Practice: an Ethnography of Novice University Teachers Gail Fensom

Open the door to most college classrooms, and you'll find experts in their fields--physics, mathematics, psychology--readying students for the 21st century. What you will rarely see, however, are professors who have ever been formally educated in how to teach. For decades, teacher education programs have prepared pre-college practitioners, yet many institutions of higher learning today offer little to no preparation for the teaching roles of faculty. This book examines the development of future faculty in a unique teaching seminar program designed to fill the gap. Using ethnographic methods, Coming To Know Reflective Practice describes, through a case-study approach, the teaching lives of four doctoral students as they engage in their first year of supervised university teaching. Each student's emerging understandings about teaching and learning, and their subsequent effect on classroom practice, are revealed. Educators and administrators interested in future faculty initiatives and the role reflection plays in teaching development will find this book a rich resource.