Psychological and Personal Dimensions of Prospective Teachers' Reflective Abilities

With an increasing concern that teachers develop reflective thinking abilities as part of their teacher training programs, there comes a need to know more about the reflector. This knowledge can guide teacher education programs in providing experiences that will enhance or encourage reflective ability. A Q-technique factor analysis was employed to examine a number of psychological and personal characteristics of prospective teachers in order to provide a description of those who have been classified as reflectors. The results indicate that both psychological and personal characteristics may be useful for describing reflectors and non-reflectors. Implications for teacher education programs are discussed.