# Exploring the potential of a shared reflective journal to enhance collective reflective practice in EFL teacher training

Jules Faure, Anne-Laure Foucher, Christine Blanchard Rodrigues, Ciara R. Wigham

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## To cite this version:

Jules Faure, Anne-Laure Foucher, Christine Blanchard Rodrigues, Ciara R. Wigham. Exploring the potential of a shared reflective journal to enhance collective reflective practice in EFL teacher training. EuroCALL Conference - Advancing CALL: new research agendas, EuroCALL, Aug 2025, Milan, Italy. hal-05232600

HAL Id: hal-05232600

https://hal.science/hal-05232600v1

Submitted on 1 Sep 2025

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# Exploring the potential of a shared reflective journal to enhance collective reflective practice in EFL teacher training

Jules Faure
Anne-Laure Foucher
Christine Blanchard
Ciara R. Wigham
# RACINES Research project

## Interlaboratory research project:

Learn'In Auvergne I-Site CAP20-25 funding

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UNIVERSITÉ
Clermont
Auvergne

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I-SITE
CLERMONT
Clermont Auvergne Project

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Laboratoire de
recherche sur le
langage

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ACTé
LABORATOIRE
activité > connaissance
transmission > éducation

## Main research axes:

* Studying the integration of reflective practice in the training of L2 teachers at Université Clermont Auvergne (UCA)

* Exploring the potential of collective reflections in the training of L2 teachers to enhance both empowerment and reflective practice

Ethical protocol granted by UCA CER-IRB
N°IRB00011540-2023-48

& Utrecht University Ethics Review Board
FRTC-GE:23-090-02

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# Reflective practice in L2 teacher training

## Conceptual framework
# Why reflective practice in teacher training?

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* Enhance trainee-teachers' « répertoire didactique » evolution (Causa, 2012; Cicurel, 2016)

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→ Reflective practice supports autonomisation and professional development
# What does it mean to be a reflective practionner?

* Reflective “postures”: Cicurel (2024) & Jorro (2005)

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Low self-reflection
No intention to progress
**Poor reflexivity**

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Self-reflection
First signs of intention to progress
**Intermediate reflexivity**

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High self-reflection
Explicit intention to progress
**In-depth reflexivity**
How to identify reflective postures in discourses?

* Reflective phases: Killion et Todnem (1991); Kolb (1984); Schön (1983)

* Reflective “processes”: Bocquillon et Derobermasure (2018); Maldonado et Balslev (2024)

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# How to enhance trainee-teachers' reflective practice?

## Research questions

* What is the impact of a collective reflective scenario on TTs' reflective postures?

* In what ways did TTs use a shared reflective journal?
# E-LIVE Virtual exchange
## Pedagogical and reflective scenario

Research context & corpus

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# E-LIVE: a virtual exchange

## Population:

* EFL trainee-teachers (TTs)

* 15 UCA

* 18 UU

## Objectives:

* Design a virtual exchange task

* Make use of CALL

* Intercultural collaboration with other teachers

## Scenario:

**TASK 1 on Padlet**
Self-introduction (video, audio or text)
Comments on peers' introductions

**TASK 2 on Teams**
Synchronous intercultural discussion about learning and teaching experiences

**TASK 3 on Teams**
Collaboratively design a virtual exchange task

Reflective essay
Post-task collective reflections

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* 13 collective reflections recorded

* 5 hours 40 minutes in total
# Collective reflective post-tasks

## Evolution of post-task reflections between 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 VE iterations

After each task you will reflect on the telecollaboration experience. You will also provide a score according to your satisfaction level. Use the blog in Moodle to write your weekly reflection.

see Faure et al., 2024

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HAL
open science

<table><thead><tr><th></th><th>Reflection: look back</th><th>Look forward</th><th>Level of satisfaction (1-10)</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><th>About task</th><td>Was the task appropriate for this first encounter? Did you meet the task goals? Were there any challenges related to the task content and procedure?</td><td>-What would I do different the next time? (individually and as a team)<br/>-What would I keep for the next time? (individually and as a team)</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

### Step 1: Collective reflection

Within your group, discuss each of the following topics. The proposed questions are here to guide you, but you are encouraged to explore other questions that come to mind.

From individual to collective reflection

Addition of teacher-centered reflections

### Task design

**As students and learners**

Was the task appropriate for this first encounter?

How did you feel doing this task? Did you meet the task goals?

Were there any challenges related to the task content and procedure?

**As future teachers**

Would you use this kind of task for a virtual exchange? Why?

Do you feel some aspects of the task could be modified or improved? Why? How?

About the organisational dimension of a virtual exchange, which aspects should be considered regarding this kind of task?
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# Shared reflective journal

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## Step 2: Individual reflection

After having discussed with your peers various aspects of the task:

- Use the reflective journal to write down at least three points that you consider as takeaways for your future experiences as an English teacher.

- Use "Comments" to react to the points highlighted by your peers in the reflective journal:

- Do you agree with them?

- Are there ideas/reflections that you didn't think about?
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Master MEEF Anglais 1ère année
2024/2025

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL

After Task 1

Ananas

Le choix du support est important, il faudrait trouver un logiciel accessible à tous et qui peut être facile d'utilisation.

Il faut définir des consignes claires mais pas trop longues car l'échange deviendrait moins spontané. (Selon le niveau de la classe, on adapte le temps d'interaction, le guidage, l'amorce qui va briser la glace, etc.)

Une vidéo n'est pas forcément le meilleur moyen de transmettre une présentation, ce n'est pas évident de se filtrer en train de parler dans le vide. On se sent un peu seul, ça peut être stressant, et se voir en

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Auteur

Totalement d'accord, un
support authentique peut mettre
en valeur l'activité ?

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Répondre

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Auteur

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train de parler nous déconcentre dans la transmission du message (ce qui est le plus important).

- Il serait peut-être plus judicieux de passer par un message vocal d'abord, c'est le juste milieu entre un appel (qui peut être stressant) et un texte (qui peut paraître impersonnel).

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Ricin

Lead Participants to the Cultural Exchange Through Their Interests:
When fostering intercultural exchanges, it's crucial to align the activities with the participants' interests. By focusing on topics or themes that resonate with them, whether it's food, music, technology, or sports, you can create a more engaging and meaningful experience. The starting point of them seeking intercultural exchange should be through their own interest. This interest-driven approach increases motivation and enhances the depth of cultural exploration.

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Use Another Platform:

While Padlet is a great tool for collaboration, there might be other platforms that better suit specific needs or are more accessible to different groups. Exploring alternatives like Discord or WhatsApp may offer different ways to interact. The choice of platform should cater to the participants' ease of use, the format of interaction and the kind of content being shared. Concerning a platform like Discord is easy to manage, create, and implement because it resonates with their daily life (tool used by *Young people*). Voice

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La spontanéité est primordiale
dans ce genre d'échange, je
suis d'accord !

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Auteur

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Très bonne idée, je suis fan !

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Auteur

Je suis fan aussi

Répondre

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Auteur

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Intéressant pour engager vers un échange plus détendu

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Répondre

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Auteur

un peu long vraiment tu avais de
l'inspiration mais très bonne
réflexion je prends note

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Répondre
# Focus on the shared reflective journal: quantitative and qualitative analysis

## Methodology

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# Shared reflective journal analysis

* Step 1: Pseudonimisation & cleaning (macro Word)

* Step 2:

* Word count of each individual reflection (macro Word)

* Count of comments

* Step 3: with NVivo®

* Qualitative encoding of reflective discourses

<table><thead><tr><th>Retrospection</th><th>Conceptual projection</th><th>Explicit projection</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Refers to a previous learning/teaching experience</td><td>Mentions conceptual takeaways</td><td>Mentions concrete alternatives, improvements</td></tr></tbody></table>

* Inductive qualitative encoding of comments: Approval; In-depth look; Socioaffective

* Statistics extraction
# Qualitative analysis: reflective disourses

## Encoding grid

<table><tr><td>Retrospection</td><td>Conceptual projection</td><td>Explicit projection</td></tr></table>

## With NVivo®

> "A video is not necessarily the best way to deliver a presentation; it's not easy to film yourself talking to yourself. You feel a bit alone, it can be stressful, and seeing yourself while speaking can distract you from getting your message across (which is the most important thing)."

> It might be wiser to start with a voice message instead, it's the middle ground between a call (which can be stressful) and a text (which can feel impersonal)." Ananas – RJ1 (personal translation from French)

> "Prepare the activity in advance in class with everyone to help fluidify the conversation and make the students more confident since they will know what to talk about." Camassia – RJ2

> "It is also important to have students prepare questions to ask their partner, and to get them to think about possible answers, so that they know what to expect and do not end up blocked by vocabulary that is unfamiliar to them." Abélia – RJ2 (personal translation from French)
Focus-group interviews

* 3 focus-group interviews conducted (1h 13' 25" in total)

* 5 TTs/focus-group

* 3 discussion topics:

* Telecollaborative tasks

* Reflective scenario and post-tasks

* Skills development
# Uses of the shared reflective journal and trainee-teachers' perceptions

## Findings & perspectives

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Global uses of the shared reflective journal

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Tendency: **disengagement** of TTs in the reflective journal over time
Individual use of the shared reflective journal

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7 of 15 TTs completed all 3 reflective journals
(with consistency in the word count for most of them)

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Not all TTs disengaged
Individual use of the shared reflective journal

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→ What factors prompted disengagement for the others?

- the reflective task itself?

- external factors? (exams, non-attendance)

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# Clues of transformative reflective postures in reflections

Tendency: projective reflections are predominant, especially explicit in RJ2 & RJ3

→ Trainee-teachers reflected on concrete ways to improve and adapt the tasks for future use

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Clues of transformative reflective postures in comments

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Tendency: TTs complied with their peers' reflections **without seeking further exchanges**

→ Almost no interactions and potential transformative exchanges
# Strengths & limitations: TTs' perceptions of RJs

* Individual reflections?

Individual reflections as products of the collective reflections:

► “So what we end up saying individually is kind of **the result of what we thought at the beginning, plus what was added through the exchange** we had with the others.” Acajou – FG1

► “But then, the advantage of doing it collectively is that **you think about things that others have said, things you hadn't necessarily thought of yourself**, and that are actually really important. But then, it's not individual anymore.” Marjolaine – FG3

→ In fact one of the objectives of the reflective scenario

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# Strengths & limitations: TTs' perceptions of RJs

* Individual reflections?

Some TTs admitted using their peers' written reflections as inspiration:

► “Personally, and I’m sure the others did it too, sometimes, **when I didn’t have anything to say, I would look at the others.**” Mizuna – FG2

► “When you’re, like, ‘out of inspiration’, **you go and look elsewhere**, and that’s a really bad idea because, well, it doesn’t really represent [your own reflection].”
Marjolaine – FG3

→ Unanticipated bias of the reflective tool

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Then, what about our results?

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# Strengths & limitations: TTs' perceptions of RJs

* Reflective scenario:

Collective then individual? Individual then collective? Various opinions across TTs

* "**The group reflection actually helped me with the individual reflection.** I drew a bit of inspiration from what we had said together.

Being able to express and **explain our ideas to someone else** made it easier to **put them down on paper** afterwards." *Exchange between Ammi & Mizuna - FG2*

* "**Personally, I think **it would have been better to do it individually first and then collectively**, so that you're not influenced.**" *Stapelia - FG3*

* "**I think **the opposite would have been more interesting**, at least we would have organised our ideas, and then, when we get to the oral part, we'd have something concrete."

Honestly, I don't know if the opposite would necessarily have been more interesting, but **I do think it would have been interesting to start with some writing, then move on to the group work, and then go back to writing to see the change of perspective we had.**" *Exchange between Ricin & Acajou - FG1*

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# Takeaways for further reflective scenarios

* The written individual phase allows trainee-teachers to keep traces of their reflections and fix their ideas (Altet et al., 2013)

* Guided collective reflections enhanced the depth of trainee-teachers' reflective practice and led to transformative postures

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→ Next step to explore our hypothesis: analyse the reflective essays!
# Takeaways for further reflective scenarios

However

→ Shared reflective journals: remain a reflective tool to reconsider how to foster interaction

▷ Have sub-groups reflect on different aspects of the VE?

▷ Collective completion of the reflective journal by each sub-group?

▷ Use another type of digital platform?

→ Reflective scenario: **how to articulate individual and collective reflections?**

▷ Allow trainee-teachers to reflect individually before engaging collective reflections?
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Altet M., Desjardins J., Étienne R., Paquay L., Perrenoud P. (dir.) (2013). *Former des enseignants réflexifs : Obstacles et résistances*. De Boeck.

Bocquillon, M., & Derobertmasure, A. (2018). Porter un regard réflexif sur sa pratique »... Oui, mais comment ? Vers une didactique de la pratique réflexive. In S. Beausaert, S. Colognesi, & C. Van Nieuwenhoven (éds.), *L'accompagnement des pratiques professionnelles enseignantes en formation initiale* (p. 83-103). Presses Universitaires de Louvain.

Causa, M. (2012). Le répertoire didactique : Une notion complexe. In M. Causa, *Formation initiale et profils d'enseignants de langues* (p. 15-72). De Boeck Supérieur. https://doi.org/10.3917/dbu.causa.2012.01.0015

Cicurel, F. (2016). Reconfigurer l'action enseignante pour la (re) découvrir : Traces du répertoire didactique évolutif. *Phronesis*, 5(3-4), 16-27.

Cicurel, F. (2024). Réflexivité et répertoire évolutif en didactique du français langue étrangère. *Français dans le Monde (Le) : Recherches et Applications*, 75, 18-32. https://doi.org/10.4000/pratiques.1693

Faure, J., Wigham, C.R., Foucher, A-L., Blanchard Rodrigues, C. Empowering use of digital tools by EFL trainee-teachers through reflective practice. *EuroCALL Conference. CALL for humanity*, EuroCALL; ReCALL; KAJL, Aug 2024, Trnava, Slovakia. [hal-04741994](https://hal-04741994)

Jorro, A. (2005). Réflexivité et auto-évaluation dans les pratiques enseignantes. *Mesure et évaluation en éducation*, 27(2), 33-47. https://doi.org/10.7202/1087976ar

Killion, J. P., & Todnem, G. R. (1991). A Process for Personal Theory Building. *Educational Leadership*, 48(6), 14-16.

Kolb, D. A. (2015). *Experiential learning : Experience as the source of learning and development* (Second edition). Pearson Education, Inc.

Lumivero (2023) NVivo (Version 14) https://lumivero.com/

Maldonado, M., & Balslev, K. (2024). Saisir l'évolution du répertoire didactique à travers des récits projectifs dialogués. *Français dans le Monde (Le) : Recherches et Applications*, 75, 66-84. https://doi.org/10.4000/pratiques.1693

Schön, D. A. (1983). *The reflective practitioner : How professionals think in action*. Ashgate.
ЯАСINES

Réflexivité et Autonomisation par la Coopération et
l'Innovation pédagogique dans l'Enseignement Supérieur

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UNIVERSITÀ
CATTOLICA
del Sacro Cuore

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Thank you! Grazie ! Merci !
Questions? Comments?

Jules Faure jules.faure@doctorant.uca.fr

Anne-Laure Foucher a-laure.foucher@uca.fr

Christine Blanchard christine.blanchard@uca.fr

Ciara R. Wigham ciara.wigham@uca.fr