Content of the written reflection of a future mathematics teacher
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Professional reflection plays a central role in the construction and development of the professional knowledge of teachers and future teachers. For the authors of this paper, reflection is understood as a mental process of trying to structure or restructure an experience, a problem, or existing knowledge, leading to an understanding of the said, and constituting a continuous process of analysis and refinement of practice, in which the recursive character and cyclical nature briefly define the way it takes place. It is important, then, that teachers or prospective teachers engage in systematic reflection that is integrated into their daily practice. It is accepted that reflection gains strength when mediated by writing. Therefore, it is important to understand what teachers and future teachers reflect upon and create conditions that allow them to improve/deepen the reflective process. It is in this context that the study presented in this paper emerges. It is contextualized in the Final Internship Report of the Master's Degree in Primary and Middle School Teaching in the School of Education of Bragança, prepared and publicly defended by a future teacher. The study focuses on the content analysis of the written reflections on a teaching and learning experience (TLE) carried out in the mathematics classroom on the topic of "Data organization and processing". In this analysis, we sought to understand the incidence of reflection in the three stages of teaching practice, giving rise to the defined three categories and several subcategories of analysis: (i) Planning the TLE (what did you think of doing?); (ii) Development of the TLE (what happened in the classroom?); and (iii) Learning achieved in the TLE (what is the balance to be made?). In the written reflections, the future teacher revealed, for example, her concerns about creating stimulating learning contexts for her students, the relevance of her students' performance assessment practices, the diversification of her students' ways of working, the importance of developing positive attitudes towards mathematics or the projection of future work to be developed.
Professional reflection plays a central role in the construction and development of the professional knowledge of teachers and future teachers. The authors of this paper understand reflection as a mental process of trying to structure or restructure an experience, a problem, or existing knowledge, leading to an their understanding, and constituting a continuous process of analysis and refinement of practice, in which the recursive character and cyclical nature briefly define the way it takes place. It is important, then, that teachers or future teachers engage in systematic reflection that is integrated into their daily practice. It is accepted that reflection gains strength when mediated by writing, especially since, when writing, the teacher becomes aware of his/her own learning process. Therefore, it is important to understand what teachers and future teachers reflect upon and create conditions that allow them to improve/deepen the reflective process. It is in this context that the study presented in this communication emerges. It is contextualized in the Final Internship Report of the Master's Degree in Primary and Middle School Teaching in the School of Education of Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Portugal, prepared and publicly defended by a future teacher. The study focuses on the content analysis of the written reflections on a teaching and learning experience (TLE) carried out in the mathematics classroom on the topic of "Data organization and processing". The TEL presented assumes characteristics of action research and research on practice. The future teacher based the writing of the TEL, carried out in a 6th grade mathematics class (students aged 11-13), on field notes recorded in a logbook built throughout the professional internship, on direct observation of the students' activity in class and on the analysis of their productions and opinions. In this analysis, we sought to understand the incidence of reflection in the three stages of teaching practice, giving rise to the defined categories and subcategories of analysis: (i) Planning the TLE (what did you think of doing?): path taken; and global assessment; (ii) Development of the TLE (what happened in the classroom?): structure and organization of the TLE; organization and management of the classroom; communication in the classroom; student activity - tasks; student activity - attitudes; teacher activity; and (iii) Learning achieved in the TLE (what is the balance to be made?): student learning; and teacher learning. In her written reflections, the future teacher revealed, for example, her concerns about creating stimulating learning contexts for her students, the relevance of her students' performance assessment practices, the diversification of her students' ways of working, the importance of developing positive attitudes towards mathematics or the projection of future work to be developed.
