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Dewey: "How we think"
Dewey is a very influential figure in the realm of reflective practice and he is a good place to start. He stressed the importance of reflecting on an experience from which some difficulties had occurred. Initially, we reflect on the problem, then consider possible solutions and experiment with these before deciding upon which solution to act. -
Teacher as researcher - Stenhouse
Stenhouse asserts that teachers should be autonomous in their development. They need to reflect critically on their practice, engage in dialogues with their peers and be receptive to criticism and test out their theories. Through their action research experiences, teachers should be better equipped to improve the quality of their teaching. -
Kolb's theory of experiential learning
Kolb's theory builds on the idea that we learn through experience. The 'experience' forms the basis of observation and reflection and then we can think about how to improve our experience (e.g. trying out a new teaching technique), e.g. by reading up on it or talking to a peer before trying again. -
Schon's concepts of reflection
Donald Schon's book, "The reflective practitioner" introduced the concepts 'reflection-in-action' and 'reflection-on-action'. Practitioners act on their intuition to make changes to their lessons (in action) and reflect after the event (on action). -
Gibbs' reflective cycle
This mode comprises 6 stages and brings feelings into the equation. Some would argue, however, that focusing on your own feelings stops you from looking at the lesson from the students' point of view. -
Communities of practice
This (Lave and Wenger, 1991) refers usually to groups defined by their interaction through common problems or workplaces. Learning is social and comes largely from our experiences in our daily lives.
All members of the community share a common interest and are committed to improving their own work practice by learning alongside others over a period of time. They share ideas, resources, ways of addressing problems etc. -
Brookfield's four critical lenses
Brookfield suggests that we view our practice from different perspectives: our own view, our students', our fellow professionals and educational literature to gain a greater insight into our teaching.
