Reflective Thinking and Journal Writing: Examining Student Teachers' Perceptions of Preferred Reflective Modality, Journal Writing Outcomes, and Journal Structure

Journal writing is generally required of student teachers; however, there is a void in career and technical education research regarding this activity. The purpose of this study was to examine student teachers’ journal writing experiences to obtain insight into the process of developing reflective practitioners. The study drew on the work of Dewey and Schon to build a theoretical framework in support of journal writing as a means to acquire and improve reflective thinking. The accessible sample consisted of three consecutive cohorts of student teachers (N = 44) in agricultural education at a Midwestern university who completed an 11-week student teaching experience. The student teachers’ preferred reflective modality was verbal reflection, self-reflection, and written reflection. Journal structure in the form of a prompt was not found to significantly impact journal writing outcomes. A “like/dislike” phenomenon associated with journal writing and reflection was discovered. Student teachers perceived that journal writing is a personal and unique endeavor.