Reflective Practices of English Teachers

Reflective teachers are effective teachers. With this notion, teachers have to practice reflective teaching inside their classes to emphasize that they are effective teachers. Since teachers' practices are not always expected to be reflective, this study discovered the junior high school English teachers' reflective teaching practices. It further investigated their reflective teaching practices through the help of their principals and students. This study is quantitative in nature. The findings revealed the English teachers' level of reflection, and their teaching practices. In-service English teachers need to undergo self-reflection to know more of themselves as teachers and to base modifications of classroom procedures. The school administration may conduct in-service training on reflective teaching practices since these in-service English teachers do not have any seminar-workshops on reflective teaching to develop themselves in their reflective teaching practices.

being recognized is the Level 8 Performance Based Bonus (PBB) in the secondary schools and divisions throughout the region. One of the qualifications to get a PBB is the MPS attained by the students in the school which may also reflect teachers' effectiveness. There were twelve (12) secondary schools recognized for the said category. Among the twelve (12), six (6) secondary schools are from Bohol, namely: Lila National High School (first in rank), Pres. Carlos P. Garcia Tech-Vocational School (second), Sikatuna National Agricultural High School (fourth), Handumon National High School (fifth), Cantubod National High School (seventh), and Hingotanan National High School (eighth).
If these schools got a PBB due to higher MPS, what do their teachers do attain such recognition? The question now is what do other teachers are doing that others are not doing? What others should be doing to attain higher MPS and achieve quality education? What makes a teacher effective?When teachers are reflectively questioning their own teaching practices, they will become more reflective classroom teachers. Reflection is a skill teachers need to go deeper and apply by heart because they mold young minds. Different situations will test what makes a teacher. Teachers must have this skill and acquire the ability to be reflective thinkers. More than that, applying it is the ultimate goal of an effective teacher. Effective teachers are truly effective because they are reflective thinkers. Larrivee (2000) [2] mentioned that teachers need to realize that in their teaching profession they will be confronted continually with situations wherein they must ma ke practical decisions. When an event or issue arises, the teachers need to realize that there is no prescribed checklist of how to respond (Mayes, 2001) [3]; they need to be able to determine an appropriate solution for that event or issue, which entails the process of reflective thinking.
Reflection is a skill necessary to possess to address abrupt situations affecting teaching-learning process. Since there is no study conducted yet related to this topic in the province of Bohol, the researcher selected the in-service English teachers in the Department of Education (DepED). These teachers have a minimum of five-year experience, because reflection is a skill learned overtime, to crisscross if reflective teaching is really practiced. Thus, the main purpose of this study was to determine the in-service English teachers' reflective teaching practices.

II.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The main purpose of this study was to determine the in-service English teachers' reflective teaching practices. Specifically, this study sought the reflective practices of the in-service English teachers along prereflection, surface reflection,pedagogical reflection, andcritical reflection; the teachers' teaching practices as viewed by students, and principals, and the significant difference on teachers' perceptions to reflective teaching practices as viewed by students and principals.

Hypothesis
This study hypothesized that there is significant difference on teachers' perceptions to reflective teaching practices as viewed by students and principals.

Theoretical Framework
This study focuses on one major theory: Barbara Larrivve's Levels of Reflection. According to Larrivve (2006) [4], being reflective is conscious reflection of the honest and moral implications and consequences of classroom practices with students. She mentioned that there are (4) four levels of reflection, namely: pre-reflection, surface reflection, pedagogical reflection, and critical reflection. Each level is being defined and characterized.

III.
MATERIALS AND METHODS A triangular approach with the use of questionnaires was used to achieve the said objective of this quantitative study. This is a descriptive correlational study.
The locales of the study were the junior high schools in the Department of Education (DepED) Bohol Division. There are three congressional districts under the Bohol Division. A total of fifty-one (51) schools in the province of Bohol were covered in the study: the thirteen (13) schools from the first district, eighteen (18) schools from second district, and twenty (20) schools from third district.
There were (3) three groups of respondents. The table below specifies the three groups.  1  13  32  20  32  28  320  304  2  18  50  37  50  48  500  451  3  20  42  38  42  40  420  366  Total  51  124  95  124  116  1240  1121 The questionnaire includes the adapted "Survey of Reflective Practice: A Tool for Assessing Development as a Reflective Practitioner for Facilitators and Self-Assessment developed by Barbara Larrivee (2008)". This was answered by the in-service English teachers, their students and their principals. It is a rating scale: 5-often, 4-usually, 3sometimes, 2-rarely, and 1-never. It provides the reflective teaching practices categorized in four levels of reflection of the in-service English teachers. There are fourteen (14) items for pre-reflection, eleven (11) items for surface reflection, fourteen (14) items for pedagogical reflection, and fourteen (14) items for critical reflection. There are fifty-three (53) items in the questionnaire, and four (4) more items are blanked for additional inputs of the respondents. The researcher secured the permission and approval of the schools division superintendent of the division of Bohol. Having the approval, the researcher administered the questionnaires to the in-service English teachers, principals, and students of the English teachers.
The data gathered were examined using Statistical Package for Social Studies (SPSS) for quantitative data. Weighted mean was utilized for the teaching practices and perceptions of the principals and students to the teaching practices of their teachers from the Rating Scale (1 -Never, 2 -Rarely, 3 -Sometimes, 4 -Usually, and 5 -Often) using the ranges 1:00-1.79, 1.80-2.59, 2.60-3.39, 3.40-4.19, and 4.20-5.00.

IV.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Table 2 shows the in-service English teachers' standing in the levels of reflection in four (4) identified levels: pre-reflection in numbers 1 to 14, surface reflection in numbers 15 to 25, pedagogical reflection in numbers 26 to 39, and critical reflection in numbers 40 to 53. This discusses the teachers' reflection on their teaching practices. Item #40, English teachers inspire responsible actions of students attains 4.46 which is 'often' practiced by the inservice English teachers. This means that the in-service English teachers frequently are modeling responsible actions for their students. These teachers believe that they themselves are role models inside and outside their classrooms. As the old adage says, actions speak louder than words.
Second in rank is Item #41 which is English teachers know the difference between opinions and actions. The in-service English teachers 'often' practiced it with 4.29 as the mean. This means that these in-service English teachers can distinguish the differences between opinions and actions.
Moreover, in this table, Item #26: English teachers commit to endless learning and better practice is rated 4.29 with 'often' as its description. This means that the in-service English teachers frequently commit for improvement in the field of teaching. Since this is often, this is an established occurrence that this pedagogical reflection-item is practiced by the in-service English teachers. Problems are always occurring; this leads the inservice English teachers to find ways to better help themselves in the teaching profession. According to Larrivve (2008) [5], in this level, the teacher is continuously thinking about in what way teaching practices are moving students' learning and in what way to improve learning experiences. The teachers' aim is endlessly refining practice and getting all students.
Third in rank is Item #27, English teachers connect English teaching practices to student learning. This is also 'often' practiced with 4.28 as its mean. This means that the in-service English teachers find ways to link their teaching practices to student learning.

Teachers' Level of Reflection
This portion ranks which among Larrivee's levels of reflection do these in-service English teachers fall. This also highlights if the in-service English teachers achieve the uppermost level of reflection, critical reflection. In this table, it clearly shows that the in-service English teachers usually practice the pedagogical reflection, as ranked first. Pedagogical Reflection or reflection-on-action is the third level of reflection. The core emphasis here is to apply educational knowledge to determine a basis for practice (Weber, 2013) [6]. The teacher relates strategies used to beliefs because his/her definite goal is to constantly educating practice and getting all students. He/she strives for consistency between theory and theory-in-use. Principles and situations around teaching are precise and reinforced by proof from experience and theory or research. He/she also strives to understand theoretical basis for instruction and apply various theories, knowledge and research practices. He/she is als o up-to-date on current research on quality, and best practices because in this level the teacher is continually discerning approximately exactly how teaching practices are moving students' learning and exactly how to augment learning experiences. He/she wants to focus on continuous improvement and enhancing student learning, and their teaching positions are always supported by experience including theory and research. His/her reflection is directed by educational theoretical context. The teacher's vision of teaching and learning is multidimensional relating events within a wider context (Larrivve, 2008) [7]. Table 4 shows the teaching practices of the inservice English teachers as viewed by their students. These students are the direct beneficiaries of the reflective teaching practices of these in-service English teachers. In terms of teaching effectiveness of the in-service English teachers, their students viewed Item #43: My English teacher questions existing rules and traditions 'often' with a mean of 4.31. This means that the students observed their in-service English teachers frequently in questioning existing rules and traditions.

Students' Views of the Teachers' Teaching Practices
Second in rank is Item # 27: My English teacher enhances our learning in English is rated 'usually' with a mean of 4.01. This means that these students of the inservice English teachers view them as very regular in enhancing students' learning in their English class. This item is part of the pedagogical reflection of Larrivee (2008) [9].
Third in rank is Item #26: My English teacher connects his/her English teaching practices to our learning. This is done 'usually' with a mean of 3.89. This means that the students view their in-service English teachers as very regular in connecting teaching to learning. These students see their in-service English teachers performing different ways just to link teachers' teaching practices to their own learning. Table 5 highlights the standing of the in-service English teachers when it comes teaching practices of their reflective practices as viewed by their superiors, the principals. These principals are their direct supervisors of their reflective teaching practices. Item #42: The English teacher is fair in talking about problems that occur inside and outside the classroom ranks first among the teaching practices of the in-service English teachers. According to the principals, the superiors of these in-service English teachers, this item is 'sometimes' practiced with a mean of 3.20. This means that the inservice English teachers treat people in a way that does not favor some over others. Again, favoritism should not be an issue for these in-service English teachers. They are impartial individuals to avoid biases and prejudices to discern fairness and equity. As observed by the principals, these in-service English teachers are fair.

Principals' Views of the Teachers' Teaching Practices
Second in rank is Item #32: The English teacher sees the effect of group activities in students' learning. This item is included in the pedagogical reflection of these inservice English teachers. This is viewed by the principals as 'sometimes' practiced' with a mean of 3.17. This means that principals viewed group dynamics as helpful in student's learning; these in-service English teachers also are enthusiasts of group dynamics. This result is supported by Teaching Practices, Teachers' Beliefs and Attitudes (2009) [11] that teachers in diverse areas of the world on average permit student cooperative purpose of the class employ capability consortium. It contributes students' exclusively modified tasks than they allocate for students' projects, debates, essays and products. Thus, these inservice English teachers are employing groupings with their students.
Next in rank is Item #41: The English teacher thinks the right outcomes of classroom rules and habits. This is part of the critical reflection of [12]. The principals viewed this also 'sometimes' practiced with a mean of 3.13. This means that the principals of these inservice English teachers perceived them as thinkers in coming up with the right results of classroom rules and habits. An English teacher is a thinker to model their thinking skills to their students and to encourage them to be thinkers while they are still young. They cannot hone this skill to their students if they are not thinkers too.
Teachers' Perceptions on Teaching Reflective Practices as viewed by Students and Principals Table 6 showcases the differences of the in-service English teachers' reflective teaching practices to the perception on teaching reflective practices viewed by their students and principals. The difference of the in-service English teachers' reflective practices and students' perception of their teaching practices is not significant as viewed by the students of the in-service English teachers. There is a loss of 0.06 in its mean difference. This means that as viewed by the students reflective teaching practices do not differ to the teaching practices practiced by these in-service English teachers. This further means that the students who are always with the in-service English teachers view the same practices of their teachers. The result is comparable since they are always together, and the students themselves can commend and attest to these practices which are really practiced by the in-service English teachers. According to Stark (2013)[13], students are in good position to evaluate some aspects of teaching.
On the other hand, there is a significant difference of the in-service English teachers' reflective practices and principals' perception of their teaching practices. There is a loss of 0.46 in its mean difference. This means that the principals' view reflective teaching practices differ on the reflective teaching practices of these in-service English teachers. This significant difference tells that the in-service English teachers rated themselves differently on their teaching practices in comparison to the principals' perception of their teaching practices. This means that the in-service English teachers rated themselves higher than their principals' perception of their teaching practices. This is expected since the in-service English teachers rated themselves higher since this is a self-assessment which is prone to subjectivity while the principals, the superiors of these in-service English teachers, a greater chance of objectively was used in rating these in-service English teachers.

V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Reflective teaching practices of the in-service English teachers do not reach the highest level of Larrivee's levels of reflection. This is reflected by the views of the students and principals of the in-service English teachers. Teachers' account on their teaching practices, as asked, offer different views from the in-service English teachers that the lack of idea on reflective teaching is ascertained. In relation to the results of the study, the researcher recommends the following: Teacher education programs must have reflective teaching designs to prepare pre-service English teachers. In-service English teachers need to undergo self-reflection to know more of themselves as teachers and to base modifications of classroom procedures. The school administration may conduct in-service training on reflective teaching practices since these in-service English teachers do not have any seminar-workshops on reflective teaching. Action researches may be accomplished to provide empirical evidences on the improvement of the reflective teaching practices of these in-service English teachers.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Commission on Higher Education K-12 Transition Program Scholarship-Dissertation Grant