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ELT FORUM 11 (3) (2022) 

 

Journal of English Language Teaching 

 
http://journal.unnes.ac.id/sju/index.php/elt 

 

 

Investigating an EFL pre-service teacher’s reflections during school teaching 

practice 

 
Sherlyvia Zeyana Walida1, Banatul Murtafi’ah1 

 
1 English Education Department, Universitas Islam Indonesia, Indonesia

 

Article Info 
________________ 
Article History: 
Received on June 12, 
2022 
Approved on November 
26, 2022 
Published on November 
30, 2022 

________________ 
Keywords: reflective 
practice; EFL pre-
service teachers; 
teaching practice 
____________________ 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abstract 
___________________________________________________________________ 
Studies examining the reflective teaching practice of pre-service teachers in the 

context of EFL are still under-discussed as in Indonesia. Therefore, to fill this void, 
this study was conducted to identify the reflection of EFL pre-service teachers during 

teaching practice at schools. In practicing teaching, pre-service teachers face several 

challenges such as factors that influence the success of prospective teachers in 
teaching practice, lack of evaluation, and problem-solving in the classrooms with 

students. Therefore, through this research, the researchers try to examine the 
reflective teaching practice of an EFL pre-service teacher. This is a qualitative study 

using thematic analysis to analyse the data. The data were gathered from interviews 
and teaching journals. The finding shows that during the teaching practice, the 

participant’s experiences were reflected through five dimensions, i.e., philosophy, 

principles, theory, practice, and beyond practice. Overall, the results show that the 
participant’s beyond reflection remained the same with what she did in practice, and 

the themes that have been revealed from her reflections including the need to do a 
lot of preparation, having a variety of alternatives to minimize problems in the 

classroom, and the importance of students' success in understanding the material. 
The findings, therefore, are expected to provide insight to other EFL pre-service 

teachers to have reflective practices while conducting teaching practice.  

 

  
Correspondence Address: p-ISSN 2252-6706 | e-ISSN 2721-4532 

Jl. Kaliurang, KM 14,5, 55584, Sleman, DI Yogyakarta   

E-mail: 18322109@students.uii.ac.id  

http://issn.pdii.lipi.go.id/issn.cgi?daftar&1333515478&1&&
http://issn.pdii.lipi.go.id/issn.cgi?daftar&1576658845&1&&


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INTRODUCTION 

In the context of initial teacher education (ITE), reflection is an important component for english 

teachers to begin their teaching practices. Reflective practices are the process of learning from 

classroom experience and gaining new insights into self and professional practices (Finlay, 2008). 

Reflective practices are analyzed and divided into three categories: (1) reflection in activity; (2) 

reflection on activity; and (3) reflection for activity (Farrell, 2012; 2018). Furthermore, in relation to 

components of teaching reflection, Farrell (2015) has also proposed the teacher’s reflective 

framework which covers: philosophy, principles, theory, practice, and beyond practice. Philosophy 

reflects the teacher's story in detail such as the development of personal beliefs in teaching and the 

development of personal values that are reflected at the level of self-development. Principle includes 

reflection on the assumptions, beliefs, conceptions of teachers about teaching and learning. Theory 

includes how teachers can reflect what theory is embedded in their general approach to lesson 

planning (front, middle, and back planning), activities, and methods are chosen when trying to 

practice.  Next, practice emphasizes the most visible behavior of their work as teachers, their 

practice, and what happens in the classroom during teaching practice. Finally, beyond practice refers 

to outside of practice and examines the socio-cultural, moral, and emotional impact of reflective 

practice. 

Loughran (2002) defines teaching reflection as a process in which pre-service teachers think 

about their teaching practice, analyze how something is taught and how that practice can be 

improved or changed for better learning outcomes and into effective learning. The first and most 

important basis for professional progress is simply the teacher's reflection on everyday classroom 

events. Therefore, reflection requires the form of ideas, descriptions, and effective decision-making 

in classroom settings. 

Furthermore, Nelson and Sadler (2013) stated that there are four components of reflection, 

namely: stimulus, content, process, and outcome. The first component is stimulus that refers to the 

context of the initial problem in the act of reflection. Schön (1987) mentions components in 

experience and describes such an unstable and unpredictable event of the experience and 

professionalism of pre-service teachers which could lead to reflections since such reflection occurs in 

response to an alarming situation. The second component is content which refers to the teacher's 

main idea in the act of reflection. The third component is process. The process is a system of actions 

taken by pre-service teachers when analyzing the problem being evaluated. The fourth component is 

the outcome. This component is at the end, which concerns how different directions characterize the 

broader goals and outcomes of the reflection process. 

Furthermore, Farrell (2015) has also proposed the teacher’s reflective framework which 

covers: philosophy, principles, theory, practice, and beyond practice. The component in the first 

stage is philosophy. Philosophy reflects the teacher's story in detail such as the development of 

personal beliefs in teaching and the development of personal values that are reflected at the level of 

self-development. The next component of a teacher's reflective practice is principles. Principle 

includes reflection on the assumptions, beliefs, concept of teachers about teaching and learning. 

Then, it comes to theory. Theory is to describe and discuss how teachers can reflect the theory they 

have made into teaching practice. At this level when teachers reflect, they will note what theory is 

embedded in their general approach to lesson planning (front, middle, and back planning), activities, 

and methods are chosen when trying to practice. Furthermore, practice is a stage that reflects the 

most visible behavior of their work as teachers, their practice, and what happens in the classroom 

during teaching practice. Finally, beyond practice refers to the framework which encourages 

teachers to reflect outside of practice and examines the socio-cultural, moral, and emotional impact 

of reflective practice. 

A number of reflective practice research in teacher education have been conducted. For 

example, Liou (2001) investigated the reflective practice of pre-service EFL teachers in Taiwan to 

seek advances in the reflective practice of teachers and ensure that the distinctiveness of these 

practices is rigorous. Resulting in that the participants mostly discussed teaching-related topics. 

Russel (2005) assesses his practice in teacher education and considers whether or not reflective 

practice can be used. Pedro (2005) investigated a way for pre-service teachers to master a reflective 

practice. Lee (2007) examines in what ways dialogue and rebuttal can be used as a guidance by the 

pre-service teachers for their reflection. Cavanagh and Prescott (2010) investigate in what ways 

teacher personality and reflection power can best increase during pre-service teacher practice as they 

enter the workforce. Farrell (2011) examined the professional identity of participants through their 



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contribution to structured reflective practice in pre-service teacher groups. Meierdirk (2016) analyzes 

reflective practice and its position in teacher student education. Maaranen and Stenberg (2017) 

student teachers' reflections on practical theory investigating environmental and behavioral factors. 

Azizah et al. (2018) during her teaching practice, she reviews the experiences of EFL pre-service 

teachers utilizing reflective practice programs. Arslan (2019) investigate the nature of student-teacher 

individual reflection at the stage of the practical experience of teaching in schools and upon entering 

the world of work.  

Although reflective teaching practices in the context of teacher education have an important 

role, until now there is still limited research that focuses on reflective teaching practices in the EFL 

specifically in Indonesia. Most of the research related to reflective teaching practices in the context 

of English classrooms is outside Indonesia, for example, studies conducted by (Liou, 2001; Pedro, 

2005; Russell, 2005; and Lee, 2007). In addition, it was revealed that those previous studies did not 

refer to the reflective practice framework from Farrell (2015). Therefore, knowing the situation and 

experience in the field of teaching practice, the researchers were interested in conducting this study 

on EFL pre-service teachers in teaching practice programs in Indonesian context by referring to 

Farrell’s framework of reflective teaching practice. This present study attempts to answer the 

following question: how does an EFL pre-service teacher reflect her teaching during the teaching 

practice? 

 

METHODS 

The researchers chose the qualitative design because it was believed to be the most appropriate to be 

used to answer the research questions and objectives. Qualitative methods, especially thematic 

analysis was used to identify and explain data analysis. Thematic analysis was a technique for 

identify, analyze, describe, and report themes within the data (Braun and Clarke, 2006). In addition, 

thematic analysis can also generate a lot of data, clearly and in detail from the researchers’ 

questions, and gather meaning from the participant’s teaching experience. 

The participant of this study was one EFL pre-service teacher (i.e., Fee, pseudonym) from a 

private university in Yogyakarta. The researchers decided to focus on one participant in terms of 

practical constraint, yet attempted to conduct more in-depth analysis by using two sources of data, 

i.e., reflective journal and interview. The participant of this research was from the English Education 

department. Here, Fee was a student majoring in English Education and was in her semester 7 when 

she was interviewed. She had conducted the teaching practice for 36 days. Before teaching practice, 

Fee had experience in teaching. One of them was when she had two months of experience teaching 

through community service. In addition, for evidence of reflective practice Fee used the teacher's 

diary to reflect on teaching. The diary was written by Fee every day of the 36 days of teaching 

practice. During the teaching, the practice Fee may feel tired because the teaching practice is 

different from usual due to the pandemic situation. Teaching practices were carried out online and 

offline and required pre-service teachers who can adapt their teaching aspects. The reflective 

teaching that exists in the teaching practice of pre-service teachers has the benefit of improving or 

evaluating their teaching in the future. 

This present study used two types of instruments, i.e., guided reflective journals and semi-

structured interviews. The guided reflective journals contain a reflection on their professional 

identity and learning to become a teacher after teaching practice. The reflection on this written 

description contains planning activities carried out in teaching practice, activities that are carried out 

by pre-service teachers when teaching, expressing feelings of pre-service teachers during teaching 

practice activities, activities that do not have problems, and problems experienced during teaching 

practice activities. During the teaching practice, all English Education department students from the 

university were required to write a reflective journal that reflects their teaching experiences after 

completing teaching practice. After asking for permission from Fee to access her reflective journal, 

she was then interviewed for further investigation. This interview lasted for about 15-30 minutes. 

The interviews were conducted in two languages, both Bahasa Indonesia and English. Bahasa 

Indonesia was used to make it easier and allowed participants to be free and fluent in conveying 

ideas without worrying about language barriers. Furthermore, the results of the interviews were 

collected from the voice recordings and recorded some to be transcribed before the researchers 

conducted the analysis. As Bryman (2012) stated that interviews should be recorded and transcribed. 

In this study, the analysis was carried out using thematic analysis. The data were collected 

through autobiographical writings and reflective journals to get a narrative of their experiences. By 



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using thematic analysis, there are six steps in analyzing data with thematic methods. The first step is 

to familiarize the data that has been collected by reading the data several times and noting the 

important parts of the data. After reading the data, the researchers collected all relevant data and 

code the data to make it easier to find. The third step is to analyze and theme the code that has been 

transcribed. After assigning a theme to the data, the researchers need to check the theme to make 

sure the code is appropriate. In the next step, the researchers must define and name the theme and 

the last step is to make a report based on the theme that has been made (Braun & Clarke, 2006). 

Interviews were also used to see how their teaching identity was formed. This interview lasted about 

15-30 minutes. Interviews were conducted in two languages, both Indonesian and English because 

using Indonesian would make it easier and allow participant to be free and fluent in conveying ideas 

without worrying about language barriers. Furthermore, the results of the interviews were collected 

from the voice recordings and recorded some to be transcribed before the researchers conducted the 

analysis. As Bryman (2012) stated that interviews should be recorded and transcribed. The 

researchers applied the six phases of thematic analysis. Therefore, to validate the trustworthiness of 

the interview, the researchrs used some recommended criteria by Nowell et al. (2017) for each phase 

of thematic analysis. First, in familiarizing ourselves with the data, we triangulated different types of 

data collection sources (i.e., reflective journal and interview). Next, in generating initial codes, the 

researchers used a coding framework based on Farrell (2015). Third, in searching for themes, the 

researchers highlighted the keywords from the interview transcript and the teaching journal. Next, in 

reviewing themes, both researchers cross-checked the themes together for multiple times. Fifth, in 

defining and naming the themes, we did the peer debriefing once again where both researchers 

checked the names of the themes. Last but not least, in writing the report, we wrote the findings by 

referring again to the theories. 

 

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 

In this section, the researchers present the interpretation of the research results. Interpretation data is 

obtained from data that has been analyzed based on the theme in the theoretical construct used by 

the researchers. In this discussion, the researchers interpret the aspects of reflection based on Farrell's 

theory, namely, philosophy, principles, theory, practice, and beyond practice. 

 

Manifested aspects of reflective teaching practice 

By considering the theory from Farrell (2018) that said when teachers are supported to reflect on 

philosophy, right here they could better apprehend the origin, formation, and improvement of 

teacher identity. When teachers are encouraged to mirror the principles, they must become more 

aware of the assumptions, values, and ideas they formerly held when they were students. When 

teachers are encouraged to mirror theories, they must be able to construct knowledge of instruction. 

When teachers are encouraged to reflect on practice, they become more aware of the relationship 

between theory, practice and they can understand classroom observations. When teachers are 

encouraged to go beyond practice, that is where teachers can reflect on issues such as the role of the 

teacher, and differences in power. The finding of this study also showed that most of the reflections 

made by teachers focus on aspects of Farrell (2015), namely philosophy, principles, theory, practice, 

and beyond practice. In general, the summary of Fee’s reflective teaching practice is presented in the 

following table and explanation.  

 

Table 1. The summary of Fee’s reflective teaching practice 

Aspects Findings 

Philosophy She emphasized on her role as a teacher does not to be presence for the students. Her 

teaching philosophy was constructed based on her teaching experiences. 

Principles She wanted her students to be enthusiastic in learning English. She believed that she must do 

her best for the teaching. 

Theory She was quite meticuluous in transforming the teaching theory into the lesson plan. 

Practice She did not only the teaching practices but also classroom management practices.  Fee did 

what she had planned in her lesson plan, including the learning activities, questions, quiz, 

and assessment. In addition, she also attempted to manage the classroom effectively by 

taking attendance, memorizing students’ names, and even considering addressing students’ 

inappropriate behaviour by negotiating the consequences.  



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Beyond 

practice 

She believed that being a teacher means being a long-lasting learner. Thus, she is aware of 

the need for her professional development.  

 

Through Farrell's theoretical framework on the reflection of teacher teaching practices, which 

includes reflection on philosophy, principles, theory, practice, and beyond practice. Overall, it can 

be seen that Fee's reflections on hidden aspects of teaching (Philosophy, Principles, and Theory) 

remain consistent with what she did in practice, and the relationships that emerge from her 

reflections can be categorized by the need for much preparation, having various kinds of alternatives 

to minimize problems in class, and the importance of students' success in understanding the 

material. In this critical reflection stage, it greatly helps the Fee to reflect on its teaching to be even 

better when teaching in the future. This finding, therefore, confirms those from (Farrell and 

Kennedy 2019; Playsted, 2019; Farrell and Avejic, 2020; Kusumarasdyati and Retnaningdyah, 2020; 

Farrell and Macapinlac, 2021) stating that the teachers from their study have the three hidden 

aspects of teaching reflected in the practice.  Fee, indeed, walks the talk. She did what she said. For 

example, Fee, the participant, explicitly stated that her principle, she needs to have a lot of 

preparation. Then, through her journal, she wrote that on Day 14 of her teaching diary, she 

practiced what she mentioned. She reread the syllabus and do various preparations as follow: 

 

“What I actually did today is to reread the syllabus and then determine the material that I will teach in 

this 1st semester. Before making the RPP, I also read the RPP references on the website provided by the 

ministry of education. Next, I made a lesson plan that was in accordance with the material in semester 

1”  

 

Furthermore, Fee also mentioned having a reflection as her principles. She reflected her 

teaching by asking the students’ opinion about her teaching performance. On Day 32 of her diary, 

she wrote:  
 

“After finishing their daily test, I gave a reflection on the impressions and messages that were taught by 

me. Students can write on the Padlet that I have provided.’’ 

 

Then, the explanation of each aspect of the reflective teaching practice is discussed below.   

 

Philosophy  

The findings in this component revealed that Fee has a philosophy that was related to 

teacher’s roles in teaching. She believed that she must be able to memorize the names of each 

student. Fee here also attempted to create an active class atmosphere and avoided boredom. In 

creating an active classroom and not bored, the teacher's role here is very important, the teacher 

must have a high creativity. The researchers and Fee were discussing what makes a teacher's 

philosophy possible. Her philosophy was formed when she already had the teaching experience. She 

tended to do a lot of preparation and practice. As a teacher, she must also be a role model for the 

students, and always give encouragement to students so that they want to learn English. She also 

said that when teaching students directly, it must be targeted and effective. So that the teachers not 

only transfer knowledge to the students but also educate them.  

 

‘’My philosophy here is a lot of preparation, a lot of practice, and as a teacher, I have to be a model for 

the students and I also have to always give encouragement, encouragement to students so that they 

continue to want to learn....when teaching is not only an activity to transfer knowledge. But there is a 

response from students and changes in behavior’’ 

 

Furthermore, to become a teacher, according to Fee, required patience, compassion for 

students, and of course being a teacher with character. She pushed and challenged herself to be a 

good teacher, attempted to improve her learning, and wanted to make a difference in the lives of 



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others. This is also related to her statement about a sense of responsibility for the learning of her 

students. 
 

‘’To be a teacher, we need patience and compassion for students to become teachers with character. In 

addition, we also needs to explain or provide material that is not monotonous’’ 

 

The philosophy from Fee was reflected her background as a pre-service teacher who gain 

experiences from both in-class teacher training from the university and from her teaching practicum. 

The way she put these together and thus describe what a teacher should be is in line with what 

Farrel and Macapinlac (2021) proposed about philosophy in teacher reflection. In detail, Farrell and 

Macapinlac (2021) mentioned that philoshopy is constructed when teachers reflect on their previous 

experiences, take lessons from those experiences and thus describe themselves as teachers. This is in 

line with the findings of Playsted (2019) that philosophy in teaching is used to reflect the way pre-

service teachers in teaching practice so that they become teachers with character, are fun for 

students, and can develop the abilities of pre-service teachers in the teaching and learning process. In 

line with research conducted by Farrell and Avejic (2020) that teaching philosophy is a guide when 

pre-service teachers practice teaching from their universities and can apply quality learning. This is 

also relevant to the findings of Farrell and Kennedy (2019) which explain that teaching philosophy 

can provide skills when pre-service teachers reflect on their teaching experiences so that they are 

better and have no shame. This philosophy also describes the time he will become a teacher in the 

future and as a motivation to pursue a career in education. This statement is also relevant to the 

findings of Kusumarasdyati and Retnaningdyah (2020) which state that philosophy is a means for 

teachers to prove work experience, and learning outcomes, and is formed when pre-service teachers 

have practical teaching experience in schools. Thus, they can describe themselves as teachers in the 

future. 

 

Principles 

The answers from the participant indicated that the students she taught were quite unpredictable and 

tended to lack of interest in English. In results, Fee took more time to understand the learning 

objectives, learning activities, and assessment aspects that would be used in the lesson plans. The 

students’ characteristics were one of the bases for her to adjust the learning goals. She believed that 

she needed to do her best for the students. For example, before Fee started teaching, she must have 

prepared in advance, such as practicing her pronunciation so that when she could provide correct 

models for her students. Then, after finishing her teaching, Fee always evaluated or reflected on the 

lessons that she has done. She also attempted to build students’ enthusiasm in learning by preparing 

small rewards for them.  

 
‘’Prepare more effort....preparation for English... the pronunciation, then I teach here it must be perfect so 

that I can give a good impression.’’  

‘’So, (I) have to give a reward in the form of gifts like candy, biscuits, pencils, pens, small books’’ 

‘’Building enthusiasm, always involving students. So it's not just teacher-oriented, but teacher student-

oriented. So here it is not only the teacher who explains, but the students are also directly involved’’ 

  

What Fee has practiced is in accordance with Farrell and Macapinlac (2021) who stated that 

principles regarding qualities that are believed to be possessed by teachers such as fostering student 

motivation to be enthusiastic in learning English. These educational principles are closely related to 

the reflection of actual teaching practice. Having a good relationship with students is the key to a 

successful classroom, and teachers need to be passionate in explaining the material and  teaching in 

general. This is in line with Playsted (2019) who states that the principles of quality in teaching that 

are owned by teachers are the application of pedagogical principles in teaching practice in the 

classroom. In line with the research conducted by Farrell's and Avejic (2020) before starting to teach, 

it is necessary to prepare vocabulary in English, so that when teaching can give good results. Then 

he also has the principle of a student-oriented or student-centered approach. This statement is also 

relevant to the findings of Kusumarasdyati and Retnaningdyah (2020) which states that in teaching 

pre-service teachers it is necessary to prepare foreign language knowledge and skills. Because in 



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teaching, pre-service teachers need to master this foreign language knowledge and be able to 

demonstrate their abilities well.  This is also relevant to the findings of Farrell and Kennedy (2019) 

which state that the principles regarding the qualities possessed by teachers such as establishing 

personal relationships with students and fostering curiosity. These principles are closely related to 

the reflection of his teaching practice. Besides, having confidence in teaching is the key to success in 

the classroom. 

 

Theory  

In terms of theory, teachers need to think of how they transform the teaching theory into practice in 

the classroom. This might also include lesson planning for teaching. The participant stated that in 

applying the theory of teaching, she always followed the format of the latest lesson plan so that the 

learning process would not be monotonous. Fee said that the method she used for teaching was task-

based language learning. When Fee said that she attempted to prepare the lessons beforehand, it 

seemed she really did what she said. In planning the lesson, she was quite meticulous. She began her 

lesson planning by surfing on the internet, visiting the websites from of Indonesia to find the best 

model of lesson plan. After she found the examples of lesson plan that matched the basic 

competences that she would teach, she then consulted with her teacher supervisor. She asked the 

teacher from the school she conducted teaching practice whether she could use those format of 

lesson plans. After confirming the lesson plan format from the supervisor, she attempted to pay 

attention to the learning activities in the example of lesson plan she got. Once she had finished with 

lesson plan things, she continued surfing the internet to find the best references for her lesson. She 

even prepared a quiz using online quiz platform to make the learning more interactive.  

 

I started looking for lesson plans references on the "Ayo Guru Berbagi" site and found the lesson plans 

that matched the basic competencies that I used. Then, I did a consultation session with Ms Yuli 

(pseudonym) regarding the RPP (lesson plan) format used at my school, whether to use the format from 

school or I could use the RPP format outside the school regulations. What worked well during the 

consultation session with Ms Yuli was that I got an explanation and information about the lesson plans 

used at school. Here, she also explained that the school already has its own RPP format. She added that 

they did not use the one-page RPP.  (Day 10 of the teaching practice) 

 

What I plan to do today is prepare myself to teach offline and review my lesson plans. I looked back at 

my lesson plans and made some minor improvements to the learning activities. Next, I also prepared a 

quiz where I used the Quizizz platform to make learning more interactive. (Day 26 of the teaching 

practice) 

 

These findings are in line with the research findings from author Farrell and Macapinlac 

(2021) stating that identifying teaching content greatly affects the teaching methods chosen and 

adapted to the needs of students. During the teaching process, she prioritizes the needs of students 

and betters their professional development. In her theory, she first creates a new activity, prepares 

assignments according to the student's level, and the lesson plans that have been made are used to 

help her organize the class better. This is in line with Playsted (2019) which states that learning 

theory and exploratory learning strategies greatly affect students' competence and ability in learning. 

In line with the research conducted by Farrell and Avejic (2020) during the teaching process, he 

prioritized the needs of his students by explaining the approach applied in the teaching and learning 

process. In theory, he also puts into practice the way he teaches. This statement is also relevant to 

the findings of Farrell and Kennedy (2019) which state that in applying teaching theory always pay 

attention to planning procedures so that the learning process can run well. He also said that the 

method he used to teach was a task-based approach and a simple structural approach. This 

statement is also relevant to the findings of Kusumarasdyati and Retnaningdyah (2020) who states 

that in theory he prepares interesting learning concepts, adjusts the methods used to facilitate 

learning in the classroom, and the learning concepts that have been created are used to help control 

the class when students are not paying attention. 

 



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Practice  

The participant stated that in applying the theory of teaching, she always followed the lesson plan so 

that the learning process is not monotonous. From what she did, it seemed that Fee really did what 

she said. She really did embed quiz for her teaching to make the students’ interest in the lesson. 

Regular teaching practices were also done by Fee, such as providing the materials in LMS (Learning 

Management System), explaining the material, giving examples of conversations from the material 

that has been explained, giving students practice questions, and even giving them assessment. These 

were reflected from her diary.  

 

 What I did today is teaching students in class X MIPA 4 using Google Meet for online class meetings 

and using Google Classroom to share the material. In addition, I did attendance by calling the names of 

students one by one. Don't forget, I also give practice questions at the end of this online class meeting. 

(Day 22 of teaching practice) 

 

When teaching, it also seemed that Fee tried to engage the students to voluntarily involve in 

the learning process. The online quiz given by her was also used to attract the students’ enthusiasm.   

 

Then asked if anyone would volunteer to read authentic material, there were some students who were 

very willing to read the material. (Day 24 of teaching practice) 

 

I am also able to apply quizzes to provide a more interactive learning atmosphere. In addition, using 

Quizizz to conduct my quiz can also provide enthusiasm for learning for students because of its attractive 

visuals. (Day 26 of teaching practice) 

 

Fee attempted to be a humanized teacher since she was not only teaching her students but 

also tried to involve them and was willing to listen to her students’ voices and opinions.  

 

After that I explained the material about the "should for obligation" capital. Then, I give exercises so that 

students are willing to voice their opinions.  (Day 29 of teaching practice) 

 

Fee also assessed the students once the topic has finished. From her diary, it seemed that the 

assessment ran well and even her students gained high scores for that.  

 

What I did today is to give daily tests to students through Google Classroom. (Day 32 of teaching 

practice) 

What worked well was that I was able to provide a detailed explanation about the daily test to be carried 

out. The results of the students' grades were also very good and the average score was above 90. (Day 32 

of teaching practice) 

 

Besides these teaching practices, it seemed that she also dealt with the classroom management 

practices during the teaching practicum, such as: taking the attendance, dealing with time 

management, calling and memorizing students by names, and dealing with discipline and 

consquences. Most of these classroom management practices done by Fee are all covered by the 

classroom management theories from Marzano et al. (2003). These classroom management practice 

could be seen from her diary and also interview transcript as follows.  

 

What worked well today was that I was able to teach students with good time management. (Day 22 of 

teaching practice) 

 



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What didn't work well was my weakness in spelling my students’ names. During a class session, I called 

one of the students, but the student said that my name was a little wrong and he confirmed how to call 

his name.  (Day 25 of teaching practice) 

 

What didn't work well was that I hadn’t memorized all the students’ names. (Day 29 of teaching practice) 

 

‘’So, on the second day of my teaching, there was a student whom I called more than three times without 

any responses. Therefore, I told them, ‘’Okey, for those who do not respond to me, I will consider them as 

absent.’’  

 

The teaching practices that Fee did mostly are in line with the research findings from Farrell 

and Macapinlac (2021) stating that identifying teaching content greatly affects the teaching methods 

chosen and adapted to the needs of students. During the teaching process, she prioritizes the needs 

of students and betters their professional development. In her theory, she first creates a new activity, 

prepares assignments according to the student's level, and the lesson plans that have been made are 

used to help her organize the class better. Furthermore, one point that is interesting from this finding 

is that both the respondents of Farrell and Macapinlac (2021) and Fee not only deal with teaching 

practices but also classroom management practices. This implied that Fee, the respondent of this 

study, really put her philosophy into practice. She believed that teacher’s role is not merely 

delivering materials, but also building good rapport with their students. This is in line with Playsted 

(2019) who states that in carrying out initial teaching practices, she teaches students by approaching 

and prioritizing students' needs. During the teaching process, she always finds out the progress of the 

students he teaches by providing explanations of the material and students' responses to 

understanding the material. In line with research conducted by Farrell and Avejic (2020) which 

states that in the teaching practice process, first look at the syllabus used to design the material. In 

carrying out teaching practice, he also applies classroom management practices. This statement is 

also relevant to the findings of Kusumarasdyati and Retnaningdyah (2020) which focus on 

classroom management and student development. The results of her research indicate that in 

teaching practice classroom management is needed, especially in managing time and how to control 

the class when students are not paying attention. She also said that the role of the teacher was not 

only to make the learning process interesting but also to be able to manage the class well. This is also 

relevant to the findings of Farrell and Kennedy (2019) which state that in practice, following 

learning procedures always practice recognizing new vocabulary in English. In teaching practice, he 

also always considers the abilities of his students. 

 

Beyond practice 

Beyond practice refers to the critical reflection. Fee mentioned how she reflected outside of teaching 

practice. She explained that she needed to improve her way of teaching, always tried to build good 

communication with students, at the end of the lesson she also provided a platform for the students 

to give impressions and messages to her as her evaluation. She did this reflection because she 

thought it was important to make students feel that their teachers treated their students well and 

avoid social gaps between students and teachers. When Fee was not teaching, she positioned herself 

not as a teacher, but as a student. Through this way, Fee can see clearer how teacher should interact 

with the students.  

 

“Outside of teaching, I am just like myself. So here I do not consider myself as a teacher.’’  

‘’I asked the students to write messages about me and their impressions of my teaching through Padlet. 

Here, they are free to want my teaching style, my character, or whatever the students can devote to 

them.’’  

‘’So how do I engage in the practice of critical reflection on myself? Yes, by asking the students to 

complete the reflection task and writing about myself, then I also reflect on the feedback from the students 

''oh it means I have to be like this'', from their testimony, I made improvements, and practiced a lot.’’ 



Sherlyvia Zeyana Walida, Banatul Murtafi’ah | ELT Forum 11 (3) (2022) 

167 

 

 

Furthermore, Fee also reflected on what she has taught. She believed that being a teacher 

means being a long-lasting learner. She believed that she should always learn and develop herself.  

 

“Being a teacher means we do a long-lasting learning. It never ends. We need to always learn and 

improve and upgrade ourselves. We not only need to get the knowledge but also need to train our attitude 

and behaviour as teachers. That’s why I always question myself from what I have taught, about my 

teaching and learning.” 

 

These findings are in line with the research findings from Farrell and Macapinlac (2021) 

stating that reflected outside of teaching practice greatly influences future teaching. During the 

teaching practice process, she reflects outside of practice by controlling communication between 

students and wanting more constructive and supportive feedback from students. Reflecting outside 

of practice can help teachers gain a better viewpoint on their side and get more understanding on 

how things work. This is in line with Playsted (2019) stating that reflected outside of practice is very 

important, because it affects the quality of teacher teaching. She reflects outside of practice by 

establishing communication with students and at the end of the lesson he evaluates with students 

about his teaching. In the same vein with a study conducted by Farrell and Avejic (2020) stated that, 

during teaching practice he reflected outside the practitioner by wanting feedback from students that 

occurred during lessons and asking students to correct mistakes while teaching. This statement is 

also relevant to the findings of Kusumarasdyati and Retnaningdyah (2020) stating that she reflected 

outside of teaching practice by improving has teaching methods, controlling patience with students, 

and as an evaluation, also accepting criticism from students. This reflection is used to improve has 

way of teaching and can explain to students. This is also relevant to the findings of Farrell and 

Kennedy (2019) which state that reflection outside of practice is done by receiving feedback from 

students and he explains that he needs to improve his teaching methods so that students can easily 

understand the material. In addition, he also needs to improve his ability to approach students. 

 

CONCLUSION 

This present study aims to identify the reflective practice of the EFL pre-service teacher during 

teaching practice at schools. From the results and discussion, it was found that the pre-service 

teacher of this study not only had the three hidden aspects of reflective teaching (i.e., philosophy, 

principles, and theory), but also did them all in her real teaching practice. The reflection that she did, 

greatly influenced how she taught students to be a better english teacher in the future. This study, 

however, has limitations in some aspects. It is limited to only investigating one pre-service teacher 

from one batch and one school. Further research, therefore, could dig deeper on the reflective 

teaching practices from more than one EFL pre-service teachers who conduct teaching practice in 

different types of schools, and see the differences among them.   

 

FUNDING STATEMENT 

This is a non-funded study. 

 

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