Supporting and improving reflective practice among pre-service teachers through whatsapp

Abstract

The purpose of this study aimed to investigate the use of WhatsApp, an instant messaging application tool, to improve and support pre-service teachers’ reflective practice during their teaching practice. Freeman (2002) suggests that reflective practice must become a central pillar in teacher education. Pre-service teachers should be reflective by thinking of their knowledge and methodology learnt in the college and applying and putting them into practice in the classroom. However, they find it difficult to link theory to practice and they need the support and help from others when they start teaching in school. Therefore, the tool of WhatsApp is used to help these teachers to bridge theory and practice during their teaching practice. This case study involved eight participants who taught English language for twelve months in school. An assessment rubric for classroom observation was analysed descriptively for quantitative data while the weekly reflective journals, responses on the WhatsApp prompts and the focus group interviews were analysed thematically for qualitative data. This paper explores the support given by the supervisor during the teaching practice can help to improve the pre-service teachers’ teaching and learning experiences in the classroom.