Teachers’ conception of reflection in service-learning

Abstract

In service-learning pedagogy, reflection is important in enhancing students’ learning and attaining some expected learning outcomes. Different studies highlight that teachers have a critical role to facilitate students to have their reflection in their service-learning courses. Yet, scarce studies investigate how teachers understand reflection in terms of its meaning and roles in service-learning. This study examined teachers’ conception of reflection in service-learning by adopting a qualitative approach and employing semi- structured interviews with 24 teachers who developed service-learning subjects and/or have been teaching service-learning subjects in one of the large public universities in Hong Kong. The findings supported that teachers shared the similar concepts of reflections in service-learning literatures, while it showed some emerging insights on how teachers perceived reflection. It also suggested that some teachers have relatively narrow understanding of reflection based on their teaching experiences and professional expertise. Implication of the findings for teachers’ practices of reflection in service- learning and future research directions were also discussed.