It’s about time: An examination of the importance of timing on positivity of preservice music educators’ teaching reflections

“We do not learn from experience..we learn from reflecting on experience” (Dewey, 1933). Building on the theoretical frameworks of Dewey and Schön involving reflective practice, we expanded existent reflective research by examining timing of preservice music educators’ self-reflections after peer teaching. We examined reflection timing (immediately after peer teaching or after viewing video of that same teaching), effect of differing prompts immediately following teaching (free: “How did the lesson go?” or structured: “Name one good thing and one area to improve”), and changes over time (three peer teaching experiences). We examined 5,175 comments from 138 reflections across 69 lessons taught by 23 pre-service educators. Results, analyzed in terms of pre-determined categories, revealed that teachers were consistently less positive immediately after teaching than after viewing video. Positivity was well below 50% but increased across each lesson. Responses were primarily self-focused rather than student focused, especially immediately after teaching. Teachers tended to emphasize social aspects (confidence, atmosphere) during immediate reflections but mentioned music and instruction more frequently after viewing video. Descriptive data, consisting of percentages and graphic comparisons, were discussed in terms of implications for effective teacher preparation and suggested areas of further research.