Reflective teaching pedagogy as innovative approach in teacher education through open and distance learning

Abstract

Reflective teaching methodology involves questioning one own self to bring perfection by asking the following questions: • Which teaching model am I using? • How does it apply in specific teaching situations? • How well is it working? // Teacher educator should apply this theory in classroom practice, in order observe and reflects on the results so that the classroom becomes a kind of laboratory where the teacher can relate teaching theory to teaching practice. By adopting reflective teaching pedagogy teacher educator imparts inspiration among teacher trainees, so as to enable them to practice the same in their teaching practice sessions. The paper focuses on the importance of innovative teaching –learning pedagogy that should be practiced in open and distance education to sustain interest among teacher trainees who obtain the teacher training degree through open and distance education. The effectiveness of reflective teaching –learning methodology was experimented on a group of B.Ed students (men and women) in the age group 23-40 years. The teacher trainees were trained to adopt the reflective teaching-learning methodology during their teaching practice period. The result was found to be favorable as it reflected on better academic performance of the students in whose class the reflective teaching- learning pedagogy was practiced. Keywords : Reflective teaching, Pedagogy, Innovative teaching, Inspiration and sustainability.