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Jeremy Phillips - Reflective teaching for the real world

Jeremy Phillips looks at a framework for improving reflective teaching methods.

Teaching For Success Online Conference 5-9 October 2016
Webinar

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Reflective teaching is hard work. Outside of structured training courses, it can be a challenge for working teachers to have the discipline, honesty and time for effective self-reflection. Moreover self-reflection tends to be a messy, disorganised process which does not always lead to tangible results. Opportunities for professional growth through reflective teaching also tend to be skipped for emotional reasons when teachers feel threatened by honest self-assessment.

This workshop presents a framework for kick-starting or improving reflective teaching methods to make them practical and results-oriented for ELTs working in diverse contexts. The aim is to make reflective teaching painless and effective by getting teachers to examine their own personalities and perspectives as a first step. Simple techniques for identifying teacher needs and wants for change in their professional practice through self-observation and experiential learning are presented for working teachers to try, alter and adapt. The vague, often elusive practice of reflective teaching will be demystified step-by-step through worksheets, suggested tasks and other concrete, specific, manageable steps. Participants will set aims for professional growth by increasing self-awareness and reducing self-consciousness. 
 
Turning this reflection into action occupies the last stage of the workshop. General strategies for experimenting with new teaching techniques, finding resources and examining classroom practice are suggested. Some of these may be context or resource-base specific while others won’t. 
 
About the speaker: 
 
Jeremy Phillips is from Canada where he took his first degree at the University of Toronto. He has taught English at a middle-school in Korea, a language school in Prague (The Czech Republic), a private school in Toronto, a university in Ankara (Turkey), a community college in North York, a prefectural university in Hiroshima (Japan) and The Institute for Tourism Studies in Macau. He holds a Master’s degree from the University of Reading, a Certificate and a Diploma in English Teaching from the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate. His research interests include teacher-training, materials design, cultural studies, academic writing and travel-education.

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Comments

Submitted by Rima on Tue, 02/10/2026 - 14:46

Reflective teaching really resonates with my own experience as a teacher. I’ve also had moments when I felt a lesson was well planned, but the students’ response showed otherwise. Those moments pushed me to stop, reflect, and rethink my strategies.
For me, reflective teaching is a key tool for continuous professional development. Being open to feedback and honest self-reflection helps me accept criticism not as failure, but as motivation to grow, adapt, and try new approaches that better support my students’ learning.

Submitted by Cath McLellan on Wed, 02/11/2026 - 09:14

Thanks for sharing your experience Rima - I totally agree that as teachers it's really important to be open to feedback - either given directly or simply by reading our learners' faces and their reactions to our lesson :) It's very easy to get stuck into patterns, but a nice thing about teaching is that each group is different and it's important to be continuously adapting and trying new things, as you say.

We're glad you found this useful!

Cath

TeachingEnglish team

Submitted by Venkata Reddy Macha on Mon, 05/26/2025 - 07:32

Reflective teaching is the process of evaluating and analyzing one's teaching practices to improve effectiveness and student outcomes. It encourages continuous learning and adaptation in the classroom.

Submitted by nossamajani on Sun, 10/20/2024 - 00:48

I totally agree that reflecting on ones' teaching is a must do activity to be able to improve, make better strategies and professional growth

Submitted by atafan on Sat, 10/12/2024 - 11:38

Thanks a lot

Submitted by Aktorgyn on Mon, 09/16/2024 - 16:29

Reflective teaching is the process of evaluating and analyzing one's teaching practices to improve effectiveness and student outcomes. It encourages continuous learning and adaptation in the classroom.

Submitted by shazmisk on Fri, 03/01/2024 - 16:07

yes, it has happened to me when I think have planned a great lesson, yet there is no reaction from the students

Submitted by saher_mobeen on Sun, 02/18/2024 - 16:20

Teacher is not a robot. Errors can be made by him. Improvisation and learning is the key to success in professional development.

Submitted by Ahmed 232 on Tue, 08/01/2023 - 05:52

Reflective teaching is a tool of continuous professional development. Being able to ask for reflection and feedback on the lesson is the step to accept critics and motivation to develop something that works or try something different and achieve the positive result.

Submitted by Valiyeva Nasiba on Mon, 07/25/2022 - 18:34

Reflective teaching is a tool of continuous professional development. Being able to ask for reflection and feedback on the lesson is the step to accept critics and motivation to develop something that works or try something different and achieve the positive result.

Submitted by Devoney Ann Be… on Tue, 04/12/2022 - 15:57

Reflect on my teaching is a must because education now is different,online classes are part of our lives, so as teachers we need to learn and grow with this generation.

Submitted by Florence Sembatya on Wed, 03/27/2024 - 19:54

I totally agree that reflecting on ones' teaching is a must do activity to be able to improve, make better strategies and professional growth

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