- Email: [email protected]
The reflective colleague in e-mail cyberspace: A means for improving university instruction
Computers Educ. Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 137-145, 1997
Pergamon
PII: S0360-1315(97)00040-7
THE REFLECTIVE A MEANS
COLLEAGUE
FOR IMPROVING
© 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain 0360-1315197 $17.00+0.00
IN E-MAIL CYBERSPACE:
UNIVERSITY
INSTRUCTION
ANNE L. RUSSELL l and LEONORA M. C O H E N 2 ~Queensland University of Technology, School of Language and Literacy Education, Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove, 4059 Queensland, Australia and 2Oregon State University, School of Education, Corvallis, OR 97331-3502, U.S.A.
(Received 15 May 1997; accepted 9 September 1997) A b s t r a c t - - T w o university academics living in countries on different sides of the world captured their e-mail communications during a ten-week teaching course. The power of e-mail over face-to-face conversation was explored as Nora, living in Oregon, U.S.A., contemplated her struggle to teach a new subject and Anne, living in Queensland, Australia, responded to Nora's introspections. As the terms coach and mentor did not represent the reciprocal nature of the interactions, the term reflective colleague was used to explain the mirror-like role. The reflective colleague provided: supportive affirmation, belief clarifications, alternative perspectives, and future and global projections. The role of e-mail in the process of journalizing together was non-hierarchical and became symmetrical in a short space of time. Both colleagues found value in exploring together the teaching of a new course. Benefits to Nora were: being heard, feeling support when things were difficult, getting new ideas and alternative viewpoints, and transforming the experience to one focusing on her own learning. Benefits to Anne were strengthening her own understandings of data she had previously collected as well as applying strategies discussed to her own teaching. The value of e-mail over other types of media or interpersonal interactions involved two paradoxes: it was rapid, yet allowed time for deep reflection, and it was spontaneous, yet permitted an accurate and permanent record, one that could be reviewed again and again. E-mail as a medium for reflective dialogue has considerable potential for use in improving university instruction. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
INTRODUCTION Nora, I remember in my professor, Bob Sylwester's, class, we had to spend 20 minutes each day sitting at a particular place to reflect, writing about anything. I chose a spot in the pioneer cemetery, others had a place in their house, or garden, or elsewhere depending on intrusions into their environment. It was indeed a time of reflection and making connections . . . . it is much like our interactions. You are spending an hour with me daily and each time we can explore some ground in more depth or go off on tangents when we see something else. We are doing it - - our place is cyberspace. Anne, Wonderful analogy, the cyberspace cemetery. I wasn't questioning the time for reflection, but the regularity of time, space, and place. Wonder if the keeping of a constant in the reflective process leads to better or different interactions? (From week six e-mail interaction between U.S.A. and Australia) Whether one is an experienced professor or a novice, teaching a new university course is a challenge, especially when the content is new. The use of e-mail for dialogue journalizing with a colleague provided the vehicle for reflection and moral support in addressing this difficult undertaking. While the reflective journalizing was not intended initially to continue throughout the course, it turned into an almost daily communication with worthwhile interactions for both participants. The nature of the e-mail communication capabilities proved to be a powerful technological tool which enabled a rich reflective dialogue to emerge. This paper focuses on five aspects within that context: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
the reflective colleague relationship; the value of e-mail in the reflective journalizing experience; strategic responses a reflective colleague; benefits for both partners; and curious paradoxes that the e-mail medium offers as a unique medium for reflective journalizing.
The professor sharing the issues and concerns provided the perspective of someone in the quagmire of the action. The reflective colleague discovered personal insights as she responded with the intention of 137
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providing moral support, an alternate perspective on the situation or practical suggestions for creating the learning environment. Who are these colleagues? Anne and Nora are academics who work in teacher education programs at their respective universities. Nora was living in Oregon and Anne had just returned to Queensland, Australia after two months research in Oregon. Anne's research involved interviewing 50 students of professors who had won student-nominated awards for excellence in university teaching. Thus she had gained familiarity with the values and beliefs of these American students in relation to their university learning. Nora had won an award for university teaching and a number of her previous students participated in Anne's research. After Anne left Oregon, Nora started to teach an educational psychology course which was new for her. The parameters of the course had been designed by a faculty curriculum committee prior to Nora's input. At the end of the course, the students were required to have a sound understanding of a variety of theories of learning, cognitive, personal, and social development, educational assessment, motivation, classroom management, effective instruction, diverse populations, and, students with special needs, covered in fourteen chapters of a set textbook. Nora was not familiar with this text nor was she an expert on the content of the various chapters. Nora and Anne respected each others' teaching ability. While Anne's content knowledge was not aligned with the educational psychology content of the course, Nora was comfortable sharing her thoughts about appropriate instructional strategies, especially when the size of one class grew to 50 students during the first week. The e-mail interactions with Anne were timely and enabled Nora to make changes during the course. In this paper, an action research model supports a constructivist approach where new experiences are explored in relation to previous experiences. November [11] has reported on the use of journal writing by his university students to make connections through deep reflection. He found the thoughts captured in a journal were those that cause the writer "to be a different person" (p. 126). Becoming more aware of self occurs through introspection and taking action on new meanings which are brought into the consciousness. Better understanding of self can lead to a more informed reflection of one's own responses within professional practice. Initially, concerns and conversation about Nora's class were intermixed with general discussion of a more personal nature. As we realized the importance of our e-mail reflections, we started to write separate and concurrent messages relating to (a) our day-to-day personal communications and (b) concerns and insights about the course. Thus, we created a collection of messages which pertained exclusively to the reflections on teaching and learning in the educational psychology course. These messages were combined chronologically into one wordprocessed document of over 100 pages. We each printed this document to provide a complete transcript for analysis. Individually we read the transcripts and separately developed categories of issues which were important for us using colored pens for coding. We wrote descriptions of these categories and e-mailed them to each other for refinement, synthesis and confirmation. The refinements continued as this paper was written and the focus remained the concept of the reflective colleague using e-mail to improve university instruction. THE REFLECTIVE COLLEAGUE RELATIONSHIP Terms such as coaching [3] and mentoring [6] have been used to describe the situation where one person, who is normally an expert, assists an individual who is normally a novice. According to Costa [3] (p. 123) "the ultimate purpose of cognitive coaching is to modify teachers' capacities to modify themselves". He sees a peer coach as one who will take a valued colleague to where he or she wants to go [4]. Similarly, a mentor is normally a tutor, friend and advisor who provides access to a professional culture for a new member of that culture. Fortino [6], in her study of mentors and mentees, found mentors gained personal benefits through clarification of their own beliefs and attitudes and feelings of "selfworth, reducing loneliness, renewal of goals and personal enjoyment" (p. 545). Both coaching and mentoring require the person being coached or the mentee to contemplate his or her experiences as a "reflective practitioner" [14]. A reflective practitioner according to Schon does three things: 1. articulates evidence of personal actions and interactions, 2. reflects on this evidence to find personal meaning, and 3. discusses reflections with critical friends.
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The role of a critical friend is to ask probing questions to extend the practitioner's reflections on his or her practice. Reflection-in-action is a term used by Schon [14](p. 167) to describe a process of reflective conversation which allows participants to better understand a specific context within their professional practice. An excellent teacher has inherent artistry where knowing-in-action allows problem-solving as a spontaneous activity [15] (p. 25). However, when teaching unfamiliar subject material, discussion of the requirements of the new context enables the teacher to construct and articulate the problems. When such thoughts are shared with a reflective colleague the problems can be reframed, and support given for trying out new thinking and practical activities. The action research model sustains such on going applications of reflective interactions and e-mail can enhance these reflective processes. When writing this paper, we felt strongly that we did not have an hierarchical relationship as implied by the terms coaching and mentoring. While we were not teaching in the same university and had only met on three occasions (albeit extended ones, during which we had spent time in each other's homes), we felt like colleagues working for the same purposes and holding similar beliefs and values. Our friendship had developed since 1992 through regular e-mail communications where we had shared professional concerns and day-to-day experiences. The term reflective colleague is preferred to explain Anne's role in the e-mail interactions. These interactions specifically related to our professional roles as colleagues. In fact, the very nature of the communications, where Nora reflected on her own thoughts and also on Anne's reflective responses, means that we became reflective colleagues in the plural. The synergy which arose from our interactive reflections was enhanced by the use of e-mail where written contemplations with timely responses allowed for immediate change of practice. The value of email as a tool to express thoughts at a time to suit each participant and to allow for close personal communications is well recognized (for example, Lowry et al. [9]; Romiszowski and de Haas [12]). Electronic dialogue journals have been reported as a valuable strategy for student teachers working at sites away from their university supervisors (Mclntyre and Tlusty [10]). Beals [1] analyzed the success of an e-mail discussion group for beginning teachers with three experienced classroom teachers participating in the discussion. She found seven categories of effectiveness for these beginning teachers: giving moral and emotional support, providing a broader perspective on educational issues, keeping in touch with friends, reflecting on philosophy of education, exchanging teaching techniques, assisting with classroom management issues, and, assisting with lesson and curriculum planning. No studies have been located which describe the use of e-mail by university teachers for such supportive and synergetic discussion. The study reported in this paper reviews the nature of the e-mail journalizing which occurred between us as one reflected on the trials and concerns of teaching a new subject, and the other reflected alternative perspectives, suggested refinement of instructional techniques and provided moral support. THE VALUE OF E-MAIL IN THE REFLECTIVE JOURNALIZING EXPERIENCE The e-mail technology encouraged professional reflections to be merged with personal interactions. On Anne's return to Australia the regular e-mail communication continued. It was not until three weeks of usual day-to-day interactions, when Nora expressed her concerns and Anne responded, that the concept of mentoring or coaching was noticed. Nora wrote: Ken [a teaching colleague] and I met at the coke machine and we spoke a bit. He told me I should study this process of learning to teach a new course. Asked me if I journalized about it. I told him no, I was too tired after a day. Then I opened your letter and realized that I had been journalizing about it. Would you mind if I were to continue this way, and share with you what happens? This was how we noticed we had become reflective colleagues, the term we eventually used to describe our relationship. The reflections concerning the course overtook the daily life-sharing conversations which had previously comprised much of our writing. While this aspect continued, content regarding the course became more important and overwhelmed the day-to-day living aspects of our dialogue. However, our communications were not without some frustrations, especially before the technology became invisible. Anne had found (Russell [13]), in a study of mature-age university students, that there are six stages
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people go through when learning to use technology. Initially the technology is intrusive and frustrating then, as the user gains confidence, it becomes invisible. When invisible, the technology is likely to be applied creatively in new situations. In our interactions, for example, Nora (who was less adept with this technology than Anne)experienced a system bomb and lost use of the computer in weeks four and five of the course. The intrusiveness of the technology in this situation was exceedingly frustrating. Prior to the study, Anne and Nora had already reached the sixth stage of using e-mail, wherein it was a natural medium for intense reflective dialogue journalizing. However, there were several journal entries where earlier stages of learning the processes were evidenced when Anne gave instructions to Nora about how to send or receive attachments. Again the technology became intrusive, but only temporarily.
The value of e-mail over direct contact Nora reported in Week 3 that joumalizing just for herself was not as powerful as writing to Anne: "It is easier for me to tell it to someone rather than just write for myself. I can then print these [e-mail letters] and analyze them. It is more like diary writing combined with talking than formal writing, yet the technology allows added value to the slightly delayed immediacy of response". We have found that there is a distinct advantage in using e-mail over direct face-to-face conversation or discussion which may take place over the phone. In direct conversation the reflective colleague often interjects with a question, or an expansion of an idea which is being described. In this way the conversation is moved onto another track which may be irrelevant, or at a deeper level, or may be parallel to the thinking of the initiator of the message. With reflective journalizing via e-mail, we completed thoughts in the solitarity environment of our own minds and could write our thoughts without interruption or being side-tracked. In this way we found ourselves reflecting at a deeper level during the writing process. The written document not only provided permanency of record, but allowed for thinking time before responding and opportunities to return to reflect again on what transpired earlier. And because e-mail had the virtues of both spontaneity and rapidity of response, it was found to be a richer and more fluid medium than written letters sent by mail or even face to face communications.
Levels of exchange The interactive manner of the response by the reflective colleague is crucial. Generally lowercase and capital letters were used to indicate different voice in a letter. When the letters needed recycling a third or fourth time, a new letter was started with references to previous discussion. Our conversations could carry through several consecutive message interactions with the easy use of the Eudora e-mail package which allows a reply to occur in the middle of a paragraph with the use of capital letters, or symbols at the beginning and at the end of a sentence. Though this may be considered 'shouting' in e-mail netiquette, it demonstrates real 'listening' because the words 'spoken' by the originator are responded to directly. It is more likely to be 'shouting' when not used within text written by the colleague. In the future, when it is possible to have more than just a few 'different' voices in e-mail messages, this system will extend the number of interactions possible before a new letter must be commenced. We did consider using wordprocessed files with different fonts and sending these as attachments, but this was too cumbersome. Just accessing the attachments would create another level of effort. Direct e-mail was easier and more spontaneous. When the message with many 'voices' became too complicated to add a further level of interactive communication, another strategy was used to indicate the origin of the idea in the following manner: Nora: OK, now back to your comments on my responses to your May 24 letter: Becoming a community of learners. Yes, this is what I am trying to generate in my c l a s s e s . . . Frequency of e-mail intensified especially during weeks six and seven. The interjections within the text became more prevalent during the ten weeks. Interjections often came at the end of phrases rather than the end of a thought or paragraph. In this way, some paragraphs included several interjections. Normal face-to-face conversation might not have coped with this density of interaction. The e-mail reflective journalizing catered to the individual time schedules of each participant. The technology allowed for the interaction to take place at any time of day or night when it would have been impossible, and in this case financially impractical, to arrange daily meetings or phone conversations.
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STRATEGIC RESPONSES OFA REFLECTIVE COLLEAGUE The transcripts of the e-mail reflections were coded, grouped and categorized using a grounded theory approach (Lincoln and Guba [8]). Anne was the reflective colleague and the nature of her writings was analyzed with the resultant identification of four categories of response to Nora's reflective journalizing. These categories are: 1. 2. 3. 4.
supportive affirmation; belief clarifications; alternative perspectives; and future and global projections.
Each category is discussed with illustrations from the transcript.
Supportive affirmation At the beginning of the course, Anne often reminded Nora that she was already known to be an excellent university teacher. Later in the term Nora spoke of actions she had taken or beliefs which drove her class planning or organization. These actions were recognized and affirmed by Anne who acknowledged Nora's already proven understanding of underlying pedagogical practices. Nora often reported successful classroom interactions which received Anne's accolades. In specifically noticing and responding to these comments, Anne felt Nora could reflect on the positive aspects of her teaching against the background of the personal struggle she was experiencing. Illustrations of supportive affirmations are seen in the following quote from the transcript: Nora: It would be nice to feel like I knew where the issues and problems were. I know when I teach in my field, I do have a sense of what is i m p o r t a n t . . . Here, I feel like I am struggling for my own frame of r e f e r e n c e . . . Anne: It is good that you realize this. However, as usual you are being hard on y o u r s e l f . . . I do not worry as I know that you have the teaching skills and the knowledge right in the back of your head.
Belief clarifications Anne often asked Nora for clarification and reflection on her thoughts. Sometimes the framing of Anne's comments was in the form of musings where she started the sentence with "I w o n d e r . . . ", or, "It would be interesting to k n o w . . . ", or, "Interesting h o w . . . ", or, " P e r h a p s . . . ". These musings often led to an extended philosophical discussion as an ongoing conversation emerged over several letters. Anne's intention here was to stimulate Nora to explore or articulate further her pedagogical beliefs. It also had the added bonus for Anne of extending her own thinking on an issue which had been raised originally by Nora. A typical exchange over several days is reported here. In the transcripts these comments were embedded with many other issues of the moment: Nora: [A] problem student gave a good lecture but went way overtime and got mixed up with part of her presentation... [Four sentences later:] You will be pleased to know that X's group did a great job on the last chapter and really got the class interested. In fact, the time ran away from us! Anne: Interesting how 'time ran away from us' has different connotations to 'went way over time'. Two days later: Nora: The discussion of time - - running away from us, versus running over time. Yes, very different. Guess it's a relativity issue. When the material is very interesting and we are engaged, we lose a sense of time. When it is tedious, we count the minutes. Anne: Yes I thought this was a fun observation.
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Alternative perspectives Anne tried to alleviate Nora's stress and anxiety over her class planning, organization, classroom events and getting through the content by providing an alternative viewpoint or perspective. This sometimes took the form of direct advice, or examples of strategies from Anne's own teaching experiences, or insights from her research interviews with university students. On other occasions Anne translated Nora's perspective into a metaphor which took the situation into another realm and allowed both Anne and Nora to see an alternative perspective. Anne: My problem, like yours is having too many ideas for presentation of content and student involvement with content and we are only little fish in the scheme of the students current study and home and work ocean (commitments), But you are a colorful fish who makes a difference to the total color of their ocean and you do not feed off the fish in your school. You feed with the fish in your school (classroom) and also feed with fish in other oceans (in Australia). Boy you swim fast!! Nora (in response): Nice fishy metaphors, Anne. You are right that we occupy only a small part of a student's life. I try to engage them in the other aspects of their lives as well, both in their journals, and in discussions. It helps me to know them.
Future and global projections While Nora focused on the immediacy of her specific course, Anne often reframed Nora's view to project into the bigger picture and the future professional realities for her students. This overview offered a global perspective or projected focus which originated from immediate day to day incidents. Nora: [Student Y] proceeded to tell me that the course was r i d i c u l o u s . . , and that metaphor as the basis for learning is a bunch of bunk. I thanked him for c o m i n g . . , and asked him about his own l e a r n i n g . . . I talked about world views and that we were in a period of paradigm shift
Anne: . . . Eventually a situation will occur when this student comes up against something which does not fit his paradigm and experience will enable him to see how your rationale and paradigm could fit the current situation. What you have done for him is to respect his understanding and set him up for new understanding when the situation arises where his paradigm does not fit.
THE BENEFITS FOR BOTH PARTNERS Both Nora and Anne benefited from the experience of reflective journalizing. Fortino [6] reported the mentors she interviewed gained from the mentoring situation as they clarified their personal beliefs and reviewed their goals. Like these mentors, Anne appreciated the insights she had gained from the students of excellent university teachers. When she recounted these back to Nora, they took a new sense of relevance as they were applied to a current teaching situation. The incorporation of this feedback from previous research and teaching experiences reflected the action research process which took place during the teaching of Nora's course. New strategies were tried, reflected on, and followed in the transcripts. Further application took place during the following term when Anne taught a course with 50 students and applied many of the strategies discussed during the reflective joumalizing. Nora found benefits in having a listener who heard what she was saying and who understood her feelings. In recent reflections on our experience together as we wrote this paper, Nora commented: I think here the focus on acknowledging my feelings was so critical. I am reading a chapter by Fullan [7] on school reform which suggests that unless we allow people to bring up and discuss negative feelings and affirm their concerns we cannot really get reforms going. You heard me. This was so important to me! Anne replied: When you heard me and responded directly to my comments I was inspired to
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continue our interactions. This is the two-way and non-hierarchical nature of reflective colleagues. Related to this aspect was feeling supported when things were difficult. Anne's responses were affirming, encouraging, uplifting. For example, in week 3, when Nora was particularly stressed about not having content expertise, Anne reminded her: You are an excellent teacher and at this time it is important not to PANIC, not to worry about covering everything. Nora responded: You are so very kind. I really feel your support as I struggle through this class. A third benefit was getting new ideas and alternative viewpoints. Often, the suggestions were woven into classes, or the ideas Anne offered helped Nora to see a problem differently. For example, in the beginning of week 7, Nora said, in response to Anne's comments about giving the students a 'once-in-alifetime' learning experience: Nora: You are right, it is an opportunity and I can look at it this way, instead of as a struggle. Finally, the process of reflecting on teaching with a trusted colleague allowed Nora to transform the stressful experience of teaching a new course when one is supposed to be an expert professor [5,16] to one focusing on her own learning [2]. Nora (end, week 7): It's so wonderful to be able to think about it [the course] with you. One thing that has happened is I've been able to get away from thinking about the bad feelings and worrying about outcomes to focus on learning. I keep talking about this with the students - maybe they will get the idea of the modeling I ' m doing.
CURIOUS PARADOXES We found the value of e-mail over other types of media or interactions involved two paradoxes: rapid speed and leisurely pacing, and spontaneity and permanence. E-mail was rapid, permitting responses within the same day or even a few hours. At the same time, it allowed time for thought and deep reflection, as we could mull over each other's words and ponder points or questions. The very nature of e-mail is its fluid and spontaneous quality. Earlier versions of e-mail did not permit textual changes without loss of entire sections, so we had become accustomed to seeing each others' 'dirty laundry', - - the spelling errors, grammar problems or other traumatizations of the language. This comfort with 'come as you are' allows a freedom in writing via e-mail that hand-written or even computer-typed letters do not. With 'invisible' technology [13] the medium, when it worked, was not intrusive on our interactions. We felt and wrote as if we were talking directly with each other. Yet, there were not the immediate interruptions or interjections to our thinking processes and we could take time to respond reflectively. E-mail allows for an accurate and permanent record, one that can be reflected upon again and again. These qualities offer preference over face-to-face communications for thinking about a course. In fact, while we were both in Oregon seeing each other frequently, we sometimes found that discussing things via e-mail was extremely productive, and, in retrospect, to be able to analyze a slice in time of interactive communication that is accurate and permanent has been a great advantage. Being aware of the paradoxical aspects of e-mail furthers the value of its use for reflective journalizing. CONCLUSION The reflective colleague is an appropriate term to use when two individuals of equal standing are journalizing their experiences. While one is supposedly being mentored or coached in relation to a particular problematic situation, the other is also becoming more self aware as the synergy of the interactions creates more than either participant would have formulated alone. The two participants become reflective colleagues for each other.
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The concept of Schon's [14] reflective practitioner was evidenced in the transcripts, as Nora recorded her actions, reflected on these to find personal meaning and shared her reflections with Anne. Schon sees a critical friend as one who asks probing questions to extend the practitioner's reflections on his or her practice. The essence of prior friendship lays the ground for trust and emotional support which form a basis for critical reflection. With these attributes in place, a reflective colleague can provide critical feedback in a supportive environment which builds confidence. Particular characteristics of the interactions of a reflective colleague are: supportive affirmation, belief clarifications, alternative perspectives, and, future and global projections. The use of metaphor and awareness of the personal background of the colleague help to couch critical reflections in terms which extend the colleague rather than create a defensive attitude. Beal's [1] categories of effectiveness for an e-mail discussion for beginning teachers closely align with the categories of strategic responses of a reflective colleague reported in the current study. However, her framework for interactions was an e-mail discussion group rather than a single reflective colleague. The reflective colleague corresponding with an individual maintains the focus on the problematic situation at hand. Occasionally this focus can shift to the needs of the reflective colleague. This transfer of focus is within the boundaries of the original terms of reference and there is a return to the problematic situation as the parallel interaction is only a segment of the current e-mail message. Certainly the Internet technology has the potential for variations on the theme of the reflective colleague. The key issues, pertaining to the nature of a reflective colleague, found in this research are the timeliness, sharing personal reflections, parallel and tangent thinking, and extreme density of interaction. E-mail provides opportunities which are beyond normal face-to-face communication when an individual can reflect in his/her own time and without interruption, yet can receive feedback on each trace of a reflection. E-mail also provides paradoxical aspects that make it particularly powerful for reflection. A reflective colleague is a friend who holds similar pedagogical beliefs, recognizes signs of excellent practice and gives accolades, asks for clarification of beliefs, provides alternatives to consider, and offers future and global projections that transcend the immediacy of the specific problems at hand. The reflective colleague e-mail processes naturally bring reciprocity through the density of interaction which occurs. The use of e-mail for studying and improving one's teaching has been under-employed at the university level. The use of e-mail for reflective dialogue journalizing is a powerful tool which offers immediate feedback within a secure personal environment. It has value for colleagues who wish to reflect on their teaching and explore new methods of teaching and learning as well as provide the moral support needed to risk trialing new strategies. The reflective colleague is a worthwhile concept which is of value for any teacher and can be applied when colleagues live in the same city or across the other side of the world. Making connections with a reflective colleague in a cyberspace environment can provide conditions for improved university instruction. REFERENCES 1. Beals, D. E., Computer-mediatedcommunicationamong beginning teachers. T.H.E. Journal, 1991,April, 74-77. 2. Cohen, L. M. and Russell, A. L., Revisiting novicedom: Learning to teach educational psychology.Paper presented at the American Educational ResearchAssociation Meeting, 24-28 March Chicago, 1997. 3. Costa, A. L., The School as a Home for the Mind. Hawker Brownlow Education, Melbourne, 1991. 4. Costa, A. L., Cognitive coaching. Presentation at the Fifth International Conference on Thinking, 6-10 July, Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 1992. 5. Fernandez-Balboa, J. M. and Stiehl, J., The generic nature of pedagogical content knowledge among college professors. Teaching and Teacher Education, 1995, 11, 293-306. 6. Fortino, C. A., Mentoring experiences as professional development for leaders in environmental education: the cascade of influence. Ph.D. dissertation, Centre for Applied Environmental and Social Education Research, Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology, 1996. 7. Fullan, M., Emotion and hope: constructive concepts for complex times. In Rethinking Educational Change with Heart and Mind: 1997 ASCD Yearbook, ed. A. Hargraves. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, VA, 1997, pp. 216-233. 8. Lincoln, Y. S. and Guba, E. G., Naturalistic Inquiry. Sage, Newbury Park, CA, 1985. 9. Lowry, M., Koneman, E, Osman-Jouchous,R. and Wilson, B., Electronic discussion groups: using e-mail as an instructional strategy. Technological Trends, 1994, 39(2), 22-24. 10. McIntyre, S. R. and Tlusty, R. H., Computer-mediateddiscourse: Electronic dialoguejournaling and reflective practice. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research association (San Francisco CA), ED 385 232, 1995. l 1. November,E, Journals for the journey into deep learning: a framework. Higher Education Research and Development, 1996, 50), 115-127.
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12. Romiszowski, A. J. and de Haas, J. A., Computer mediated communication for instruction: using e-mail as a seminar. Educational Technology, 1989, 29(10), 7-14. 13. Russell, A. L., Stages in learning new technology: naive adult e-mail users. Computers & Education, 1995, 25(4), 173--178. 14. Schon, D. A., The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Basic Books, New York, 1983. 15. Schon, D. A. Educating the Reflective Practitioner. Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 1987. 16. Cronin, T. E., On celebrating college teaching. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 1992, 3, 149-168.
Pergamon
PII: S0360-1315(97)00040-7
THE REFLECTIVE A MEANS
COLLEAGUE
FOR IMPROVING
© 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain 0360-1315197 $17.00+0.00
IN E-MAIL CYBERSPACE:
UNIVERSITY
INSTRUCTION
ANNE L. RUSSELL l and LEONORA M. C O H E N 2 ~Queensland University of Technology, School of Language and Literacy Education, Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove, 4059 Queensland, Australia and 2Oregon State University, School of Education, Corvallis, OR 97331-3502, U.S.A.
(Received 15 May 1997; accepted 9 September 1997) A b s t r a c t - - T w o university academics living in countries on different sides of the world captured their e-mail communications during a ten-week teaching course. The power of e-mail over face-to-face conversation was explored as Nora, living in Oregon, U.S.A., contemplated her struggle to teach a new subject and Anne, living in Queensland, Australia, responded to Nora's introspections. As the terms coach and mentor did not represent the reciprocal nature of the interactions, the term reflective colleague was used to explain the mirror-like role. The reflective colleague provided: supportive affirmation, belief clarifications, alternative perspectives, and future and global projections. The role of e-mail in the process of journalizing together was non-hierarchical and became symmetrical in a short space of time. Both colleagues found value in exploring together the teaching of a new course. Benefits to Nora were: being heard, feeling support when things were difficult, getting new ideas and alternative viewpoints, and transforming the experience to one focusing on her own learning. Benefits to Anne were strengthening her own understandings of data she had previously collected as well as applying strategies discussed to her own teaching. The value of e-mail over other types of media or interpersonal interactions involved two paradoxes: it was rapid, yet allowed time for deep reflection, and it was spontaneous, yet permitted an accurate and permanent record, one that could be reviewed again and again. E-mail as a medium for reflective dialogue has considerable potential for use in improving university instruction. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
INTRODUCTION Nora, I remember in my professor, Bob Sylwester's, class, we had to spend 20 minutes each day sitting at a particular place to reflect, writing about anything. I chose a spot in the pioneer cemetery, others had a place in their house, or garden, or elsewhere depending on intrusions into their environment. It was indeed a time of reflection and making connections . . . . it is much like our interactions. You are spending an hour with me daily and each time we can explore some ground in more depth or go off on tangents when we see something else. We are doing it - - our place is cyberspace. Anne, Wonderful analogy, the cyberspace cemetery. I wasn't questioning the time for reflection, but the regularity of time, space, and place. Wonder if the keeping of a constant in the reflective process leads to better or different interactions? (From week six e-mail interaction between U.S.A. and Australia) Whether one is an experienced professor or a novice, teaching a new university course is a challenge, especially when the content is new. The use of e-mail for dialogue journalizing with a colleague provided the vehicle for reflection and moral support in addressing this difficult undertaking. While the reflective journalizing was not intended initially to continue throughout the course, it turned into an almost daily communication with worthwhile interactions for both participants. The nature of the e-mail communication capabilities proved to be a powerful technological tool which enabled a rich reflective dialogue to emerge. This paper focuses on five aspects within that context: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
the reflective colleague relationship; the value of e-mail in the reflective journalizing experience; strategic responses a reflective colleague; benefits for both partners; and curious paradoxes that the e-mail medium offers as a unique medium for reflective journalizing.
The professor sharing the issues and concerns provided the perspective of someone in the quagmire of the action. The reflective colleague discovered personal insights as she responded with the intention of 137
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providing moral support, an alternate perspective on the situation or practical suggestions for creating the learning environment. Who are these colleagues? Anne and Nora are academics who work in teacher education programs at their respective universities. Nora was living in Oregon and Anne had just returned to Queensland, Australia after two months research in Oregon. Anne's research involved interviewing 50 students of professors who had won student-nominated awards for excellence in university teaching. Thus she had gained familiarity with the values and beliefs of these American students in relation to their university learning. Nora had won an award for university teaching and a number of her previous students participated in Anne's research. After Anne left Oregon, Nora started to teach an educational psychology course which was new for her. The parameters of the course had been designed by a faculty curriculum committee prior to Nora's input. At the end of the course, the students were required to have a sound understanding of a variety of theories of learning, cognitive, personal, and social development, educational assessment, motivation, classroom management, effective instruction, diverse populations, and, students with special needs, covered in fourteen chapters of a set textbook. Nora was not familiar with this text nor was she an expert on the content of the various chapters. Nora and Anne respected each others' teaching ability. While Anne's content knowledge was not aligned with the educational psychology content of the course, Nora was comfortable sharing her thoughts about appropriate instructional strategies, especially when the size of one class grew to 50 students during the first week. The e-mail interactions with Anne were timely and enabled Nora to make changes during the course. In this paper, an action research model supports a constructivist approach where new experiences are explored in relation to previous experiences. November [11] has reported on the use of journal writing by his university students to make connections through deep reflection. He found the thoughts captured in a journal were those that cause the writer "to be a different person" (p. 126). Becoming more aware of self occurs through introspection and taking action on new meanings which are brought into the consciousness. Better understanding of self can lead to a more informed reflection of one's own responses within professional practice. Initially, concerns and conversation about Nora's class were intermixed with general discussion of a more personal nature. As we realized the importance of our e-mail reflections, we started to write separate and concurrent messages relating to (a) our day-to-day personal communications and (b) concerns and insights about the course. Thus, we created a collection of messages which pertained exclusively to the reflections on teaching and learning in the educational psychology course. These messages were combined chronologically into one wordprocessed document of over 100 pages. We each printed this document to provide a complete transcript for analysis. Individually we read the transcripts and separately developed categories of issues which were important for us using colored pens for coding. We wrote descriptions of these categories and e-mailed them to each other for refinement, synthesis and confirmation. The refinements continued as this paper was written and the focus remained the concept of the reflective colleague using e-mail to improve university instruction. THE REFLECTIVE COLLEAGUE RELATIONSHIP Terms such as coaching [3] and mentoring [6] have been used to describe the situation where one person, who is normally an expert, assists an individual who is normally a novice. According to Costa [3] (p. 123) "the ultimate purpose of cognitive coaching is to modify teachers' capacities to modify themselves". He sees a peer coach as one who will take a valued colleague to where he or she wants to go [4]. Similarly, a mentor is normally a tutor, friend and advisor who provides access to a professional culture for a new member of that culture. Fortino [6], in her study of mentors and mentees, found mentors gained personal benefits through clarification of their own beliefs and attitudes and feelings of "selfworth, reducing loneliness, renewal of goals and personal enjoyment" (p. 545). Both coaching and mentoring require the person being coached or the mentee to contemplate his or her experiences as a "reflective practitioner" [14]. A reflective practitioner according to Schon does three things: 1. articulates evidence of personal actions and interactions, 2. reflects on this evidence to find personal meaning, and 3. discusses reflections with critical friends.
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The role of a critical friend is to ask probing questions to extend the practitioner's reflections on his or her practice. Reflection-in-action is a term used by Schon [14](p. 167) to describe a process of reflective conversation which allows participants to better understand a specific context within their professional practice. An excellent teacher has inherent artistry where knowing-in-action allows problem-solving as a spontaneous activity [15] (p. 25). However, when teaching unfamiliar subject material, discussion of the requirements of the new context enables the teacher to construct and articulate the problems. When such thoughts are shared with a reflective colleague the problems can be reframed, and support given for trying out new thinking and practical activities. The action research model sustains such on going applications of reflective interactions and e-mail can enhance these reflective processes. When writing this paper, we felt strongly that we did not have an hierarchical relationship as implied by the terms coaching and mentoring. While we were not teaching in the same university and had only met on three occasions (albeit extended ones, during which we had spent time in each other's homes), we felt like colleagues working for the same purposes and holding similar beliefs and values. Our friendship had developed since 1992 through regular e-mail communications where we had shared professional concerns and day-to-day experiences. The term reflective colleague is preferred to explain Anne's role in the e-mail interactions. These interactions specifically related to our professional roles as colleagues. In fact, the very nature of the communications, where Nora reflected on her own thoughts and also on Anne's reflective responses, means that we became reflective colleagues in the plural. The synergy which arose from our interactive reflections was enhanced by the use of e-mail where written contemplations with timely responses allowed for immediate change of practice. The value of email as a tool to express thoughts at a time to suit each participant and to allow for close personal communications is well recognized (for example, Lowry et al. [9]; Romiszowski and de Haas [12]). Electronic dialogue journals have been reported as a valuable strategy for student teachers working at sites away from their university supervisors (Mclntyre and Tlusty [10]). Beals [1] analyzed the success of an e-mail discussion group for beginning teachers with three experienced classroom teachers participating in the discussion. She found seven categories of effectiveness for these beginning teachers: giving moral and emotional support, providing a broader perspective on educational issues, keeping in touch with friends, reflecting on philosophy of education, exchanging teaching techniques, assisting with classroom management issues, and, assisting with lesson and curriculum planning. No studies have been located which describe the use of e-mail by university teachers for such supportive and synergetic discussion. The study reported in this paper reviews the nature of the e-mail journalizing which occurred between us as one reflected on the trials and concerns of teaching a new subject, and the other reflected alternative perspectives, suggested refinement of instructional techniques and provided moral support. THE VALUE OF E-MAIL IN THE REFLECTIVE JOURNALIZING EXPERIENCE The e-mail technology encouraged professional reflections to be merged with personal interactions. On Anne's return to Australia the regular e-mail communication continued. It was not until three weeks of usual day-to-day interactions, when Nora expressed her concerns and Anne responded, that the concept of mentoring or coaching was noticed. Nora wrote: Ken [a teaching colleague] and I met at the coke machine and we spoke a bit. He told me I should study this process of learning to teach a new course. Asked me if I journalized about it. I told him no, I was too tired after a day. Then I opened your letter and realized that I had been journalizing about it. Would you mind if I were to continue this way, and share with you what happens? This was how we noticed we had become reflective colleagues, the term we eventually used to describe our relationship. The reflections concerning the course overtook the daily life-sharing conversations which had previously comprised much of our writing. While this aspect continued, content regarding the course became more important and overwhelmed the day-to-day living aspects of our dialogue. However, our communications were not without some frustrations, especially before the technology became invisible. Anne had found (Russell [13]), in a study of mature-age university students, that there are six stages
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people go through when learning to use technology. Initially the technology is intrusive and frustrating then, as the user gains confidence, it becomes invisible. When invisible, the technology is likely to be applied creatively in new situations. In our interactions, for example, Nora (who was less adept with this technology than Anne)experienced a system bomb and lost use of the computer in weeks four and five of the course. The intrusiveness of the technology in this situation was exceedingly frustrating. Prior to the study, Anne and Nora had already reached the sixth stage of using e-mail, wherein it was a natural medium for intense reflective dialogue journalizing. However, there were several journal entries where earlier stages of learning the processes were evidenced when Anne gave instructions to Nora about how to send or receive attachments. Again the technology became intrusive, but only temporarily.
The value of e-mail over direct contact Nora reported in Week 3 that joumalizing just for herself was not as powerful as writing to Anne: "It is easier for me to tell it to someone rather than just write for myself. I can then print these [e-mail letters] and analyze them. It is more like diary writing combined with talking than formal writing, yet the technology allows added value to the slightly delayed immediacy of response". We have found that there is a distinct advantage in using e-mail over direct face-to-face conversation or discussion which may take place over the phone. In direct conversation the reflective colleague often interjects with a question, or an expansion of an idea which is being described. In this way the conversation is moved onto another track which may be irrelevant, or at a deeper level, or may be parallel to the thinking of the initiator of the message. With reflective journalizing via e-mail, we completed thoughts in the solitarity environment of our own minds and could write our thoughts without interruption or being side-tracked. In this way we found ourselves reflecting at a deeper level during the writing process. The written document not only provided permanency of record, but allowed for thinking time before responding and opportunities to return to reflect again on what transpired earlier. And because e-mail had the virtues of both spontaneity and rapidity of response, it was found to be a richer and more fluid medium than written letters sent by mail or even face to face communications.
Levels of exchange The interactive manner of the response by the reflective colleague is crucial. Generally lowercase and capital letters were used to indicate different voice in a letter. When the letters needed recycling a third or fourth time, a new letter was started with references to previous discussion. Our conversations could carry through several consecutive message interactions with the easy use of the Eudora e-mail package which allows a reply to occur in the middle of a paragraph with the use of capital letters, or symbols at the beginning and at the end of a sentence. Though this may be considered 'shouting' in e-mail netiquette, it demonstrates real 'listening' because the words 'spoken' by the originator are responded to directly. It is more likely to be 'shouting' when not used within text written by the colleague. In the future, when it is possible to have more than just a few 'different' voices in e-mail messages, this system will extend the number of interactions possible before a new letter must be commenced. We did consider using wordprocessed files with different fonts and sending these as attachments, but this was too cumbersome. Just accessing the attachments would create another level of effort. Direct e-mail was easier and more spontaneous. When the message with many 'voices' became too complicated to add a further level of interactive communication, another strategy was used to indicate the origin of the idea in the following manner: Nora: OK, now back to your comments on my responses to your May 24 letter: Becoming a community of learners. Yes, this is what I am trying to generate in my c l a s s e s . . . Frequency of e-mail intensified especially during weeks six and seven. The interjections within the text became more prevalent during the ten weeks. Interjections often came at the end of phrases rather than the end of a thought or paragraph. In this way, some paragraphs included several interjections. Normal face-to-face conversation might not have coped with this density of interaction. The e-mail reflective journalizing catered to the individual time schedules of each participant. The technology allowed for the interaction to take place at any time of day or night when it would have been impossible, and in this case financially impractical, to arrange daily meetings or phone conversations.
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STRATEGIC RESPONSES OFA REFLECTIVE COLLEAGUE The transcripts of the e-mail reflections were coded, grouped and categorized using a grounded theory approach (Lincoln and Guba [8]). Anne was the reflective colleague and the nature of her writings was analyzed with the resultant identification of four categories of response to Nora's reflective journalizing. These categories are: 1. 2. 3. 4.
supportive affirmation; belief clarifications; alternative perspectives; and future and global projections.
Each category is discussed with illustrations from the transcript.
Supportive affirmation At the beginning of the course, Anne often reminded Nora that she was already known to be an excellent university teacher. Later in the term Nora spoke of actions she had taken or beliefs which drove her class planning or organization. These actions were recognized and affirmed by Anne who acknowledged Nora's already proven understanding of underlying pedagogical practices. Nora often reported successful classroom interactions which received Anne's accolades. In specifically noticing and responding to these comments, Anne felt Nora could reflect on the positive aspects of her teaching against the background of the personal struggle she was experiencing. Illustrations of supportive affirmations are seen in the following quote from the transcript: Nora: It would be nice to feel like I knew where the issues and problems were. I know when I teach in my field, I do have a sense of what is i m p o r t a n t . . . Here, I feel like I am struggling for my own frame of r e f e r e n c e . . . Anne: It is good that you realize this. However, as usual you are being hard on y o u r s e l f . . . I do not worry as I know that you have the teaching skills and the knowledge right in the back of your head.
Belief clarifications Anne often asked Nora for clarification and reflection on her thoughts. Sometimes the framing of Anne's comments was in the form of musings where she started the sentence with "I w o n d e r . . . ", or, "It would be interesting to k n o w . . . ", or, "Interesting h o w . . . ", or, " P e r h a p s . . . ". These musings often led to an extended philosophical discussion as an ongoing conversation emerged over several letters. Anne's intention here was to stimulate Nora to explore or articulate further her pedagogical beliefs. It also had the added bonus for Anne of extending her own thinking on an issue which had been raised originally by Nora. A typical exchange over several days is reported here. In the transcripts these comments were embedded with many other issues of the moment: Nora: [A] problem student gave a good lecture but went way overtime and got mixed up with part of her presentation... [Four sentences later:] You will be pleased to know that X's group did a great job on the last chapter and really got the class interested. In fact, the time ran away from us! Anne: Interesting how 'time ran away from us' has different connotations to 'went way over time'. Two days later: Nora: The discussion of time - - running away from us, versus running over time. Yes, very different. Guess it's a relativity issue. When the material is very interesting and we are engaged, we lose a sense of time. When it is tedious, we count the minutes. Anne: Yes I thought this was a fun observation.
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Alternative perspectives Anne tried to alleviate Nora's stress and anxiety over her class planning, organization, classroom events and getting through the content by providing an alternative viewpoint or perspective. This sometimes took the form of direct advice, or examples of strategies from Anne's own teaching experiences, or insights from her research interviews with university students. On other occasions Anne translated Nora's perspective into a metaphor which took the situation into another realm and allowed both Anne and Nora to see an alternative perspective. Anne: My problem, like yours is having too many ideas for presentation of content and student involvement with content and we are only little fish in the scheme of the students current study and home and work ocean (commitments), But you are a colorful fish who makes a difference to the total color of their ocean and you do not feed off the fish in your school. You feed with the fish in your school (classroom) and also feed with fish in other oceans (in Australia). Boy you swim fast!! Nora (in response): Nice fishy metaphors, Anne. You are right that we occupy only a small part of a student's life. I try to engage them in the other aspects of their lives as well, both in their journals, and in discussions. It helps me to know them.
Future and global projections While Nora focused on the immediacy of her specific course, Anne often reframed Nora's view to project into the bigger picture and the future professional realities for her students. This overview offered a global perspective or projected focus which originated from immediate day to day incidents. Nora: [Student Y] proceeded to tell me that the course was r i d i c u l o u s . . , and that metaphor as the basis for learning is a bunch of bunk. I thanked him for c o m i n g . . , and asked him about his own l e a r n i n g . . . I talked about world views and that we were in a period of paradigm shift
Anne: . . . Eventually a situation will occur when this student comes up against something which does not fit his paradigm and experience will enable him to see how your rationale and paradigm could fit the current situation. What you have done for him is to respect his understanding and set him up for new understanding when the situation arises where his paradigm does not fit.
THE BENEFITS FOR BOTH PARTNERS Both Nora and Anne benefited from the experience of reflective journalizing. Fortino [6] reported the mentors she interviewed gained from the mentoring situation as they clarified their personal beliefs and reviewed their goals. Like these mentors, Anne appreciated the insights she had gained from the students of excellent university teachers. When she recounted these back to Nora, they took a new sense of relevance as they were applied to a current teaching situation. The incorporation of this feedback from previous research and teaching experiences reflected the action research process which took place during the teaching of Nora's course. New strategies were tried, reflected on, and followed in the transcripts. Further application took place during the following term when Anne taught a course with 50 students and applied many of the strategies discussed during the reflective joumalizing. Nora found benefits in having a listener who heard what she was saying and who understood her feelings. In recent reflections on our experience together as we wrote this paper, Nora commented: I think here the focus on acknowledging my feelings was so critical. I am reading a chapter by Fullan [7] on school reform which suggests that unless we allow people to bring up and discuss negative feelings and affirm their concerns we cannot really get reforms going. You heard me. This was so important to me! Anne replied: When you heard me and responded directly to my comments I was inspired to
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continue our interactions. This is the two-way and non-hierarchical nature of reflective colleagues. Related to this aspect was feeling supported when things were difficult. Anne's responses were affirming, encouraging, uplifting. For example, in week 3, when Nora was particularly stressed about not having content expertise, Anne reminded her: You are an excellent teacher and at this time it is important not to PANIC, not to worry about covering everything. Nora responded: You are so very kind. I really feel your support as I struggle through this class. A third benefit was getting new ideas and alternative viewpoints. Often, the suggestions were woven into classes, or the ideas Anne offered helped Nora to see a problem differently. For example, in the beginning of week 7, Nora said, in response to Anne's comments about giving the students a 'once-in-alifetime' learning experience: Nora: You are right, it is an opportunity and I can look at it this way, instead of as a struggle. Finally, the process of reflecting on teaching with a trusted colleague allowed Nora to transform the stressful experience of teaching a new course when one is supposed to be an expert professor [5,16] to one focusing on her own learning [2]. Nora (end, week 7): It's so wonderful to be able to think about it [the course] with you. One thing that has happened is I've been able to get away from thinking about the bad feelings and worrying about outcomes to focus on learning. I keep talking about this with the students - maybe they will get the idea of the modeling I ' m doing.
CURIOUS PARADOXES We found the value of e-mail over other types of media or interactions involved two paradoxes: rapid speed and leisurely pacing, and spontaneity and permanence. E-mail was rapid, permitting responses within the same day or even a few hours. At the same time, it allowed time for thought and deep reflection, as we could mull over each other's words and ponder points or questions. The very nature of e-mail is its fluid and spontaneous quality. Earlier versions of e-mail did not permit textual changes without loss of entire sections, so we had become accustomed to seeing each others' 'dirty laundry', - - the spelling errors, grammar problems or other traumatizations of the language. This comfort with 'come as you are' allows a freedom in writing via e-mail that hand-written or even computer-typed letters do not. With 'invisible' technology [13] the medium, when it worked, was not intrusive on our interactions. We felt and wrote as if we were talking directly with each other. Yet, there were not the immediate interruptions or interjections to our thinking processes and we could take time to respond reflectively. E-mail allows for an accurate and permanent record, one that can be reflected upon again and again. These qualities offer preference over face-to-face communications for thinking about a course. In fact, while we were both in Oregon seeing each other frequently, we sometimes found that discussing things via e-mail was extremely productive, and, in retrospect, to be able to analyze a slice in time of interactive communication that is accurate and permanent has been a great advantage. Being aware of the paradoxical aspects of e-mail furthers the value of its use for reflective journalizing. CONCLUSION The reflective colleague is an appropriate term to use when two individuals of equal standing are journalizing their experiences. While one is supposedly being mentored or coached in relation to a particular problematic situation, the other is also becoming more self aware as the synergy of the interactions creates more than either participant would have formulated alone. The two participants become reflective colleagues for each other.
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The concept of Schon's [14] reflective practitioner was evidenced in the transcripts, as Nora recorded her actions, reflected on these to find personal meaning and shared her reflections with Anne. Schon sees a critical friend as one who asks probing questions to extend the practitioner's reflections on his or her practice. The essence of prior friendship lays the ground for trust and emotional support which form a basis for critical reflection. With these attributes in place, a reflective colleague can provide critical feedback in a supportive environment which builds confidence. Particular characteristics of the interactions of a reflective colleague are: supportive affirmation, belief clarifications, alternative perspectives, and, future and global projections. The use of metaphor and awareness of the personal background of the colleague help to couch critical reflections in terms which extend the colleague rather than create a defensive attitude. Beal's [1] categories of effectiveness for an e-mail discussion for beginning teachers closely align with the categories of strategic responses of a reflective colleague reported in the current study. However, her framework for interactions was an e-mail discussion group rather than a single reflective colleague. The reflective colleague corresponding with an individual maintains the focus on the problematic situation at hand. Occasionally this focus can shift to the needs of the reflective colleague. This transfer of focus is within the boundaries of the original terms of reference and there is a return to the problematic situation as the parallel interaction is only a segment of the current e-mail message. Certainly the Internet technology has the potential for variations on the theme of the reflective colleague. The key issues, pertaining to the nature of a reflective colleague, found in this research are the timeliness, sharing personal reflections, parallel and tangent thinking, and extreme density of interaction. E-mail provides opportunities which are beyond normal face-to-face communication when an individual can reflect in his/her own time and without interruption, yet can receive feedback on each trace of a reflection. E-mail also provides paradoxical aspects that make it particularly powerful for reflection. A reflective colleague is a friend who holds similar pedagogical beliefs, recognizes signs of excellent practice and gives accolades, asks for clarification of beliefs, provides alternatives to consider, and offers future and global projections that transcend the immediacy of the specific problems at hand. The reflective colleague e-mail processes naturally bring reciprocity through the density of interaction which occurs. The use of e-mail for studying and improving one's teaching has been under-employed at the university level. The use of e-mail for reflective dialogue journalizing is a powerful tool which offers immediate feedback within a secure personal environment. It has value for colleagues who wish to reflect on their teaching and explore new methods of teaching and learning as well as provide the moral support needed to risk trialing new strategies. The reflective colleague is a worthwhile concept which is of value for any teacher and can be applied when colleagues live in the same city or across the other side of the world. Making connections with a reflective colleague in a cyberspace environment can provide conditions for improved university instruction. REFERENCES 1. Beals, D. E., Computer-mediatedcommunicationamong beginning teachers. T.H.E. Journal, 1991,April, 74-77. 2. Cohen, L. M. and Russell, A. L., Revisiting novicedom: Learning to teach educational psychology.Paper presented at the American Educational ResearchAssociation Meeting, 24-28 March Chicago, 1997. 3. Costa, A. L., The School as a Home for the Mind. Hawker Brownlow Education, Melbourne, 1991. 4. Costa, A. L., Cognitive coaching. Presentation at the Fifth International Conference on Thinking, 6-10 July, Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 1992. 5. Fernandez-Balboa, J. M. and Stiehl, J., The generic nature of pedagogical content knowledge among college professors. Teaching and Teacher Education, 1995, 11, 293-306. 6. Fortino, C. A., Mentoring experiences as professional development for leaders in environmental education: the cascade of influence. Ph.D. dissertation, Centre for Applied Environmental and Social Education Research, Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology, 1996. 7. Fullan, M., Emotion and hope: constructive concepts for complex times. In Rethinking Educational Change with Heart and Mind: 1997 ASCD Yearbook, ed. A. Hargraves. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, VA, 1997, pp. 216-233. 8. Lincoln, Y. S. and Guba, E. G., Naturalistic Inquiry. Sage, Newbury Park, CA, 1985. 9. Lowry, M., Koneman, E, Osman-Jouchous,R. and Wilson, B., Electronic discussion groups: using e-mail as an instructional strategy. Technological Trends, 1994, 39(2), 22-24. 10. McIntyre, S. R. and Tlusty, R. H., Computer-mediateddiscourse: Electronic dialoguejournaling and reflective practice. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research association (San Francisco CA), ED 385 232, 1995. l 1. November,E, Journals for the journey into deep learning: a framework. Higher Education Research and Development, 1996, 50), 115-127.
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12. Romiszowski, A. J. and de Haas, J. A., Computer mediated communication for instruction: using e-mail as a seminar. Educational Technology, 1989, 29(10), 7-14. 13. Russell, A. L., Stages in learning new technology: naive adult e-mail users. Computers & Education, 1995, 25(4), 173--178. 14. Schon, D. A., The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Basic Books, New York, 1983. 15. Schon, D. A. Educating the Reflective Practitioner. Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 1987. 16. Cronin, T. E., On celebrating college teaching. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 1992, 3, 149-168.