2009 年 18 巻 p. 128-137
Most prefectures in Japan currently have an education center to support the professional development of teachers. One such education center where the author of this study works has a system of long-term in-service training for teachers, which can run to six months or a year. The participants set their own research questions, conduct research, and write a report at the end. They adopt a scientific methodology in their studies, establishing a hypothesis and then attempting to verify it. This program is designed based on the technical rationality that scientific theory and technology can apply to educational practice. It is now also recognized that teachers need to develop practical ability as a reflective practitioner, which requires skills of reflection and deliberation.
In this study, the author improved the curriculum for the prefectural education center by adopting action research methodology, a methodology which has been evaluated as useful for developing teachers' practical ability as a reflective practitioner. How and on what aspects of their studies the participants reflected and then practiced in their curricular activities was examined. Seven participants were interviewed twice during the training period and changes in their reflection and teaching methods were investigated.
The two main findings were as follows. First, three kinds of characteristics of change in reflection common to some of the participants were found: 1）case thinking, concerning individual students; 2）reconstructive thinking, concerning lesson style; and 3）reconstructive thinking, concerning the viewpoint of students. Second, two kinds of characteristics of deliberation common to some of the participants were identified: 1）interaction with reflection; and 2）compound transformation.
This study revealed that a curriculum adopting the action research methodology was effective for participants of in-service training for teachers at an education center to reflect and deliberate as reflective practitioners.
