As teachers are given the time and resources to explore teaching independently and as they have opportunities to both give to and take from the exploratory experiences of other teachers. Combine this with a view that the life of the teacher and the process of teaching are somehow interrelated, merge these, and the mixture starts to jell. This time will enable teachers to focus on critical actions, specific feelings, and guiding ideals as a teacher. As a part of the reflective process, teachers can maintain informal journals which include brief notes, sentences, or phrases describing events and feelings from the classroom. The impact of reflection can be maximized by pairing with a partner to discuss journal contents.
Teachers also benefit from thinking about what they most enjoy in teaching.
Some teachers, for example, value the service aspect of teaching, helping students who have few resources beyond the school. Other teachers see their work as an opportunity to bring forward personal creativity, as, for example, through drama and storytelling. When teachers are in touch with those aspects of teaching that most motivate and energize them, and when they are connected with other teachers who have the same interest base, they then are positioned to make a very personal and significant statement through their teaching. When teaching becomes personal for the practitioner, the seeds of self-reliance are nurtured. Self-reliance is promoted as teachers communicate frequently with one another.