Critical Incidents

            Kennedy and Wyrick (1990) define a critical incident as a method of reflective practices.  In education, as Pintos and Crimi (2010) state “the phrase critical incident is used in a positive way: to help teachers reflect upon their current practices.”

 Teacher development is a collaborative process, shared by people who aim at an educating   purpose as Fernández González, Elórtegui Escartín and Medina Pérez (2003) state. Besides, these scholars consider there is a tendency to regard a change of skills, attitudes and values to establish a co-responsibility between the mentor and the mentoree  a means of advancement in current teacher development.

             Applying  critical incidents, which are situations or events of particular professional significance, involve encouraging daily reflections. In fact, they include reflections on the low and high points of teaching practice. Fernández González et al. (2003) regard critical incidents a useful strategy that must be included in all teacher development programmes. These scholars consider that:

Critical incidents are described as a pre-service and in-service teacher education strategy. The idea is to integrate theory and practice. The diversity of teachers and the possibility for the reflexive analysis of classroom events, often solved in a spontaneous way, are the basis of this powerful strategy. (p. 101)

 In order to deal with critical incidents at educational programmes and organize group work,   Fernández González et al. (2003) also provide a sequence of activities range from simply making comments on the structure of critical incidents to evaluating the conclusions at which the group arrive.

References

Fernandez González, J., Elórtegui Escartín, N., & Medina Pérez, M. (2003). Los incidentes críticos en la formación y perfeccionamiento del profesorado de secundaria de ciencias de la naturaleza. Revista universitaria de Formación de Profesorado, 17- 001. Zaragoza, España: Universidad de Zaragoza. Retrieved September 2010, from http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/src/inicio/ArtPdfRed.jsp?iCve=27417107
Kennedy, R. L., Wyrick, A. M. (1995). Teaching as reflective practice. Tennessee: The University of Tennessee.

Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 2: Personal narratives in teaching. Retrieved September 2010, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=7214