Journal entry on critical incidents

Working towards professional competence: Critical  incidents

As contended by Fernandez, Escartín and Perez (2003), continuous teacher development implies teachers as both apprentices and expertise. Therein, Banfi (1997) asserts that professional growth is best promoted through the acquisition of knowledge and skills realized in several techniques. In this research process, not only do teachers reflect on knowledge but also transform it to fit their own practice. According to Banfi (1997), professional competence is sustained by ceaseless updating which involves access to different sources of information. Therefore, an illustration that complies with it is the use of personal narratives in teachers’ communities. As Gazin (2003) explains personal narratives are accounts of experiences that encourage self- reflection. Their implementation in the classroom, thus, is welcome.

Critical incidents fall into the narrative genre category, aiding professional teachers. Fernandez, Escartín and Perez (2003) emphasize that a critical incident is a tool that orientates teachers in their constructive process of teaching and learning. As reports of real experiences, critical incidents pose problems in the classroom such as misbehavior, inappropriate methodology, flawed student performance and the like, that need to be solved. This technique is, as claimed by Elliot (1993), two pronged since leads to changes in real like contexts. In addition, teachers think critically as well as collaborate in a group. Fernandez, Escartín and Perez (2003) comment that “critical incidents foster a group dynamic where the teacher community takes a stand about current issues in education” (p. 105).

Cooperative work gives birth to development and construction as noted in humanistic psychology. Hence, when teachers apply critical incidents, they judge, discuss and propose to trigger change. Moreover, they are presented in a context whose problem gathers teachers in the quest for a solution and a decision. Banfi (1997) assumes that professional teachers should be autonomous and involved in decision-making (cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010). This latter is therefore accomplished by the critical incident strategy. In view of my own experience, this narrative technique is valuable throughout pre and in service teaching. It bridges the gap between novitiate and experience. Consequently, professional competence may be reached through a strategic mind, collaboration, problem-solving and autonomy. All of which is integrated thanks to critical incident analysis.

References

Fernandez, Gonzalez, J., Elortegui Escartin, N., & Medina Perez, M. (2003). Los incidentes criticos en la formacion y perfeccionamiento del profesorado de secundaria de ciencias de la naturaleza. Revista Universitaria de Formación de Profesorado, 17-001. Zaragoza. España: Universidad de Zaragoza. Retrived September 2010, from

http:// http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/src/inicio/ArtPdfRed.jsp?iCve=27417107

Gazin, A. (2003). Focus on autobiography. Instructor, Jan. 2000. Retrieved August 2010, from

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_mOSTR/is_5_109/ai_59042596