Reflection & Education
1: Theory
Linguistically, the word ‘reflection’ may be seen as a
meditative form of looking at oneself, and as such may be
seen as a form of experiential learning. Certainly, it is
something that we do implicitly as part of being human,
underpinning our identities through a process of
negotiation between our sense of self and our experiences
of others (Demetriou, 2000, p.210). However, efforts to
shift from the implicit to the explicit, pragmatic and
measurable have been driven by subjective
understandings of the term and its functions, and
subsequently reflection as an educational process has
remained a poorly defined concept.
This is not to say that it lacks a history of educational
application. Within established educational models, such
as Kolb (1984), reflection has been defined as central to
the ways in which knowledge and learning can be driven
through a cyclical process of identification, review,
questioning and reconstruction. Here, ”Knowledge is
continuously derived from and tested out in the
experiences of the learner.” (Kolb, 1984, p.27), and this
can only take place where those experiences can be
reviewed and analysed retrospectively. Essentially,
however, how one views reflection may be guided by the
specific purpose through which it is approached, as can be
seen within the work of the key reflective theorists.
Dewey – Reflection as rationality
John Dewey, saw reflection as a further dimension of
thought, and as such in need of education; “while we cannot
learn or be taught to think, we do have to learn to think
well, especially acquire the general habit of reflection”
(Dewey, 1933). For Dewey, reflection is a rational and
purposeful act, an “active, persistent and careful
consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in
the light of the grounds that support it, and further
conclusions to which it leads… it includes a conscious and
voluntary effort to establish belief upon a firm basis of
evidence and rationality” (Dewey, 1933). Interestingly, from
a modern educational perspective, Dewey’s reference to
different forms of belief and knowledge may reveal his
willingness to apply objective rationality to more affective
and emotional concerns.
Further Reading:
Key texts and references
Boud, D., Keogh, R.,
& Walker, D.
(1985), Reflection, Turning
Experience into Learning,
London , Kogan Page
Boud, D., & Walker, D.
(1998), Promoting Reflection
in Professional Courses:
the challenge of Context,
Studies in Higher Education,
Vol. 23, No. 2
Brookfield, S. D.
(1987), Developing Critical
Thinkers: challenging adults to
explore alternative ways of
thinking and acting,
San Fransisco, Jossey-Bass
Brookfield, S. D.
(1995), Becoming a Critically
Reflective Teacher,
San Fransisco, Jossey-Bass
Demetriou, A.
(2000), “Organization and
development of selfunderstanding & self-regulation:
towards a general theory”, in
Boekaerts, M., Pintrich, P. R., &
Zeidner, M. (Eds), Handbook of
Self-Regulation, London,
Academic Press
Dewey, J.
(1933), How We Think,
Boston, D. C. Heath & Co.
Dewey, J.
(2007), Democracy and
Education, Teddington, Echo
Library
Kolb, D. A.
(1984), Experiential Learning,
Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall
Further Reading:
Key texts and references
Mezirow, J.
(1990), Fostering Critical
Education in Adulthood: a
guide to transformatory and
emancipatory learning,
San Fransisco, Jossey-Bass
Moon, J.
(1999) Reflection in
Learning and Professional
Development, London, Kogan
Page
Moon, J.
(2001), PDP Working Paper
4: Reflection in Higher
Education Learning, LTSN
Generic Centre,
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk
/resources/detail
/id72_Reflection_in_
Higher_Education_Learning
Schön, D. A.
(1983), The Reflective
Practitioner, London, Temple
Smith
Schön, D. A.
(1987), Educating the
Reflective Practitioner,
San Fransisco, Jossey Bass
Tomlinson, P.
(1999), Critical Reflection
and Implicit Learning in
Teacher Preparation, Part 1:
recent light on an old issue,
Oxford Review of Education,
Vol. 25, No, 3
Schön – Reflection and the professional
Schön, however, concentrated on the use of rational
reflection within the understanding and development of
professional practice. Schön argued that the application
of theory within practice is driven by reflection, the use of
such a process ultimately leading to a state of expertise.
His goal was therefore to make the tacit knowledge which
epitomises expertise explicit so that it could be
considered and improved, and that reflection-on-action,
the retrospective analysis of experience, would drive that
process. Interestingly, Schön also proposed a form of
reflection-in-action, in which reflection is seen as part of
active thought.
Boud & Walker – Reflection as holistic act
Interestingly, while Dewey only mentions emotions
implicitly and Schön avoids them through his focus on
professional expertise, Boud & Walker (1998) specifically
question the appropriateness of a reflective process in
which personal emotional subjectivity is avoided,
highlighting the need to explore a wider range of
experiential dimensions. Boud and Walker seek to avoid
the dehumanization of the reflective process by offering
“the challenge of incorporating ideas about reflection,
which in some cases are only partially understood, into
teaching contexts which are not conducive to the
questioning of experience – that is, situations which do
not allow learners to explore ‘a state of perplexity,
hesitation, doubt (Dewey 1933), ‘inner discomforts’
(Brookfield, 1987), ‘distorting dilemmas’ (Mezirow,
1990), uncertainties, discrepancies and dissatisfactions
which precipitate, and are central to, any notion of
reflection” (Boud & Walker, 1998, p. 192).
Moving forward
Ultimately, reflection as a retrospective dimension of
thought remains common within the work of all three
writers, however, Moon (1998) suggests that the
differences between them lies within their point of focus;
holistic or specific, professional or personal, and that our
adoption of any reflective model may be shaped by our
underlying reason for using it – our processes, our goals
and even our methods of assessment (Moon, 2001, p. 4).
Certainly, when considering the practical models of
reflection, these aspects may well prove to be of
fundamental importance.