Beyond checklists: Building deeper reflection in initial teacher education

At this year’s Future of English Language Teaching (FoELT) Conference, teacher educator Cecilia a CELTA, CertTESOL and DipTESOL trainer and PhD candidate at the University of Warwick. She explored how we can move beyond checklists in initial teacher education to build richer, more reflective feedback practices.

Her message was clear: while checklists bring structure and fairness, they can also reduce teacher learning to a performance exercise. True professional growth, she argued, depends on creating the conditions for dialogue, curiosity, and reflection.

The problem: checklist-style feedback

Observation checklists are familiar to anyone who has trained or been trained as a teacher. Items such as “good rapport”, “clear aims”, or “effective timing” can help standardise assessment and ensure consistency across courses.

But Cecilia reminded us that these lists, though useful, can easily oversimplify the complex decision-making that happens in a classroom. They risk turning feedback into a “tick-box” exercise — something safe and predictable, but ultimately shallow.

When feedback focuses on what was achieved rather than why it happened, both trainers and trainees can become disengaged from the deeper process of learning.

Why reflection matters

Reflective practice helps trainees move from compliance to consciousness. Instead of performing to pass, teachers begin to internalise principles and develop the ability to make informed decisions in new contexts.

Reflection shifts the focus from:

“What went wrong?” to “What did I learn?” and “Why did I make that choice?”

This process makes feedback more transferable, empowering teachers to analyse and adapt beyond the immediate context of a single observed lesson.

Strategies for moving beyond checklists

Cecilia shared practical strategies for building a deeper reflective culture, even in fast-paced training environments like CELTA and CertTESOL.

Shift the trainer role

Move from being an evaluator to a facilitator of dialogue. Ask open questions instead of giving verdicts:

• “What do you think worked well?”
• “What alternatives might you try next time?”

Create reflective spaces

Find ways to make reflection part of the process, not an afterthought:

• Build in post-observation conversations that focus on reasoning rather than judgement
• Use journals, audio reflections, peer observation, or microteaching discussions
• Try “reflection before feedback” — let trainees self-assess before you respond

Acknowledge the training context

In intensive courses, time pressure can make trainers revert to checklists. But Cecilia reminded us that even five minutes of guided reflection after a teaching practice can have lasting impact.

Balancing support and challenge

Effective reflection is both safe and stretching. Trainers need to offer affirmation that builds confidence, while also inviting deeper awareness and critical thinking.

The art lies in challenging assumptions without undermining confidence — helping teachers see what’s possible rather than what’s missing.

Reflection as a shared practice

Reflection shouldn’t be imposed, it should be modelled and co-constructed.
When trainers share their own reflections and uncertainties, they normalise the idea that professional learning is ongoing.

This approach builds a community of practice, where feedback becomes a continuous conversation rather than a one-off report.

Wider implications

Moving beyond checklists isn’t just a classroom issue. It has wider implications across the field of teacher education:

• Trainer training: New trainers need explicit guidance on how to ask reflective questions and facilitate dialogue.
• Institutional culture: Training providers should value reflective dialogue as much as measurable outcomes.
• Teacher development pathways: Reflection should be viewed not as a requirement for certification, but as a lifelong professional habit.

Key takeaways

Final thought

Cecilia’s reminder to “go beyond the checklist” is both timely and essential. In an era of increasing standardisation, deep reflection remains one of the few things that can’t be captured in a tick-box, but it’s often what defines the difference between a competent teacher and a transformative one.