Engaging Pre-Service Teachers in Critical Reflective Practice in a Private Higher Education Institution in Lebanon

This chapter focuses on the reflective practice of pre-service teachers pursuing a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Education at a private higher education institution in Lebanon. More specifically, the chapter explores how (critical) reflective practice is embedded in the programme and how it is used to achieve programme learning outcomes. The BA in Education has adopted and adapted the ten Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC) model core teaching standards as a guide. The model is a resource for ongoing teacher development, established as a support tool to promote and improve teacher effectiveness and growth. Accordingly, pre-service teachers are expected to write reflections based on the InTASC standards on the different required courses. Pre-service teachers on the programme engage in a continuous cycle of planning and then implementation by writing critical reflections, which, in principle, lead to improving their professional practice. This chapter presents the strengths and constraints of the pre-service teachers’ critical reflective practices, supported by evidence from the courses and samples of their reflections. The pre-service teachers’ progression from their entry to the programme until the culminating final practicum experience of their senior year is examined, revealing increasingly more profound and critical reflective practices every semester. Finally, the chapter recommends ways to enhance their critical reflections to prepare them better for the profession.