Knowledge Sharing and Reflective Practice Among ESP Instructors of Allied Medical Sciences

Abstract

Knowledge  sharing  and  reflective  thinking  are  two  key  issues  in  any educational  system.  The  present  study  examined  the  willingness  of  instructors  of English  for  the  students  of  allied  medical  sciences  to  share  knowledge  and  think reflectively and  investigated their  reluctance  to  form  knowledge  sharing  groups.  To this aim, in the quantitative phase of the study, two questionnaires were completed by 148  instructors,  while  in  the  quantitative  phase,  12  instructors  participated  in  semi-structured  interviews.  Based  on  the  results,  the  participants  considered  knowledge sharing effective and had a positive view about it. In addition, there was a significant relationship  between  knowledge  sharing  and  reflective  thinking,  and  knowledge sharing can be used to predict reflective thinking. The findings of the interview also indicated  that  three  categories  of  factors  play  a  role  in  the  studied  instructors' reluctance to share knowledge, which included individual, organizational and cultural barriers. Due to the importance of knowledge sharing, some suggestions were made to promote this practice among English for specific purposes (ESP) instructors.