The Reflective Practitioner in Professional Education

L. Lawrence-Wilkes, L. Ashmore

• Éditeur: Palgrave Pivot
• Année: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781137399595
• Sujet: Education
• Sous-sujet: Teacher Training

How important is it to be a reflective practitioner in education today? This book examines the reflective practitioner role and the scope of reflective activities in professional practice, revealing that critical thinking is rooted in a philosophical debate about notions of truth linked to differing learning approaches.

1

Introduction

Abstract: The reflective practice debate has led to a polarising of perceptions about the role and relevance of reflection in professional education. The work enters the debate in questioning the positioning of reflection in learning and implications for the reflective practitioner role. The discourse raises philosophical issues based on subject-object notions of truth evidenced in differing approaches to learning and reflection. Emerging ideas underpin practice-based evidence related to the reflective practice paradigm. A thematic analysis evaluates the scope of practitioners’ engagement in reflective activities. Findings support a reconciled subject-object applied learning approach (reflective rationalism) to embed critically reflective activities for an inclusive reflective practitioner role within a critical framework. This book will be of interest to those involved in teaching, training and learning support.

Lawrence-Wilkes, Linda and Ashmore, Lyn. The Reflective Practitioner in Professional Education. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. DOI: 10.1057/9781137399595.0005.

1.1   Overview

This book aims to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a reflective practitioner in professional education in the 21st century. It would be difficult to understand the reflective practitioner role without first drilling down to uncover some traditional ideas and perceptions about reflection and reflective practice.

A consideration in higher education focuses on the extent to which reflective practice contributes to a critical curriculum. While many support the centrality of reflective practice in professional education (IfL, 2008–09), many have questioned its effectiveness for teacher/trainer practitioners (Cornford, 2002 in McGarr and Moody, 2010). Although the concept of reflective practice has been around since ancient times (Hickson, 2011), many critics have highlighted a lack of research and debate about the nature and process of its practice (Adelman 1989; Ecclestone, 1996; Fook, White and Gardner, 2006). More recently we have seen more interest in reflective practice in teacher education as a way of understanding and learning from experiences. Nonetheless, the lack of rigorous research in reflective practice has fuelled a polarising of perceptions about the extent of its contribution in professional education, raising questions about the role reflective practice plays. Indeed, it still has a role to play, with implications for the reflective practitioner role.

The ideas and themes contained in the book draw upon a collaborative, practice-based research study, aiming to illuminate the reflective practitioner role, with ‘teacher as researcher’ (Stenhouse, 1975). A thematic analysis explores teachers’ experiences of engaging in reflective activities, based on established reflective practice models. The findings interpret reflections on professional practice and related pedagogic processes, evaluating critically the scope and depth of teachers’ engagement in reflective practice. While the findings raise further questions, the implications suggest a role for an inclusive reflective practitioner approach within a critical curriculum framework in enhancing both educator and learner development. The practical and theoretical strands are complementary and interdependent and highlight the ‘toing and froing’ between theory and practice to build a holistic picture for shared meaning and truth, that is, using practical research to contribute to the wider theoretical discourse related to the reflective practice paradigm. In turn, the discourse on philosophical issues raised in subject-object notions of truth, associated with scientific research, reflection and related activities, underpins practice-based evidence.

A central theme examines a key purpose in education to search for truth and knowledge. Notions of truth linked to differing learning approaches impact the reflective practice paradigm; however, reflection for truth-seeking in education begs questions. Is truth ‘what works’, a transient ‘shape-shifting’ approach to truth? How far can objectivity be achieved within a subjective perspective? Dual-professionalism describes teachers who have put their vocational subject before the pedagogy of teaching and identify more closely with their subject-based profession than the teaching profession (Lucas, 1996:69 in Spenceley, 2006). Lawrence-Wilkes (2011) talks about the discomfort experienced in the transition between conceptual, perceptual and affective internalisation and adaptation to ‘teacher first’. A key factor in making the transition from training to teaching in higher education was a commitment to self-reflection for personal growth, alongside critical reflection and enquiry for professional practice improvement. However, in digging deeper to explore pedagogy related to the reflective practice paradigm, she has moved from certainty to uncertainty in developing deep concerns about the dangers of accepting unverified subjective accounts as truth, which have the potential to become unquestioned dogma and superstition.

1.2   Purpose

The book enters the debate in questioning the positioning of critical reflection in professional education and, therefore, the relevance of reflective practitioner activities. The term ‘practitioner’ will be used in the work to reflect the range of roles in the post-compulsory sector. For example, teachers, trainers, mentors and other learning support roles in learning and development. While it is without doubt that practitioners and learners include a degree of reflection in their professional and personal lives, nevertheless, a more enhanced level of knowledge and understanding of the process of reflecting is required in order to perform and develop professionally. In other words, it is characterised by carefully thinking about the issues, events and meanings in our daily practice, and consequently an essential and invaluable skill to develop and maintain. Similarly, Bruce (2013) states that it is of importance that individuals question the level of their ability and skill required to reflect effectively so as to develop and enhance their professional role. Hence we would argue that to understand the role of the reflective practitioner requires awareness of the philosophical principles underpinning reflective practice in education.

This book aims to provide a text that highlights the components necessary to develop knowledge and understanding of reflection and reflective practice and will be of interest to practitioners involved in teaching and training in supporting learning, who reflect on pedagogy, personal development and professional practice. It will play an important role in further defining the field of reflective practice while maintaining the practitioner focus. The theoretical coverage will seek to answer whether reflective practice is viewed as subjective, or seen as part of a developmental process of increasing criticality for emancipated teaching and learning for truth-seeking in education. However, Dewey (1933) believed that the development of thinking, in particular the development of critical reflective thinking, is key to one’s success and states: ‘Thought affords the sole method of escape from purely impulsive or routine action’ (p15). In other words such a person is pushed along by events, unable to understand what is happening around them thus not being in control.

1.3   Structure

The book begins with an introduction to provide an overview of reflective practice and its role in professional development. Following this, there are five chapters to ensure a holistic approach to the ideas and issues related to the professional practitioner in education. Thus each chapter starts with a short abstract to help steer a way through the book. Chapter 1 provides an introduction and overview of the book. Chapter 2 problematises the reflective practice paradigm, and considers how reflection and reflective activities play a part in the process of critical reasoning. Chapter 3 draws on empirical data, generated from initial and in-service teaching practitioners and includes a detailed discussion of emerging thoughts and ideas, while Chapter 4 focuses on the roots of criticality in education and enters the debate in questioning the positioning of critical reflection in professional education and, therefore, the relevance of reflective practitioner activities. An integrated approach supports embedding critically reflective practice and enquiry in a context of applied learning and challenges an Aristotelian separation of theoretical and practical disciplines. Chapter 5 considers how critical theory can be combined with andragogical teaching by using critically reflective learning to construct knowledge and meaning with the practice. Chapter 6, the final chapter, draws the strands of theory and practice together to build a gestalt picture. A critical framework model is proposed to support an inclusive reflective practitioner role. The work concludes with a holistic review of the implications of emerging ideas with further questions and suggestions for practitioner development.

2

Problematising the Reflective Practice Paradigm

Abstract: This chapter explores the debate to situate reflection in education, which problematises the reflective practice paradigm. Questions are raised about the role reflective activities play in the process of critical reasoning, part of a dominant, positivist educational philosophy rooted in the past. Socio-economic drivers have impacted on the quality of professional development and reflection on practice, and critics have questioned its effectiveness and validity. Despite this, reflective practice is embedded in professional education, though many urge a move beyond a technical-rational model. Twenty-first-century educators need skills as social mediator, learning facilitator and reflective practitioner. However, problems lie in how differing models of reflection are interpreted, impacting the positioning of reflective practice, with implications for the reflective practitioner role.

Lawrence-Wilkes, Linda and Ashmore, Lyn. The Reflective Practitioner in Professional Education. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. DOI: 10.1057/9781137399595.0006.

2.1 The reflective practice debate

The current debate about the nature and purpose of reflection and what is regarded as reflective activities raises a number of questions about the kind of role reflective practice plays in professional education. Leaton-Gray (2005) and IfL (2008–09) assert that previous research demonstrates the variable impact of national drivers on commitment to reflective practice. Ball (1994 cited in Ecclestone, 1996) proposes the notion of mantric use of theory, described as unreflective reaffirmation of [existing] belief, that is, teachers who cling to comfortable theory intellectually isolated from other disciplines. This can lead to reluctance to question or reflect, so as to make new connections. The QAA (Quality Assurance Agency) Quality Code (2012:B3) goes some way to address this in expecting reflective practice to be based on self-awareness, critical analysis, synthesis and evaluation, to encourage new perspectives for both practitioner and learner. However, Kuit, Reay and Freeman (2001) advise that reflection is difficult and requires effort, so even in education resistance is widespread. Ball (1994) observes that ‘reflection has become little more than a mantra rather than a model of practice’ (in Kuit et al., 2001:129) for teachers who evaluate practice in a reactive way, for instance, when it is carried out in response to quality monitoring and audit. The Teaching Agency (ITT, Initial Teacher Training) supports the centrality of reflective activity for professional practice, as more than a set of training activities (TDA, 2008:4). Yet critics question whether engaging in reflective practice results in better teacher practitioner performance or student learning (Cornford, 2002 in McGarr and Moody, 2010). For some time, critics have called for more empirical research so as to build sufficient evidence of the effectiveness of reflective practice in professional education and to address controversies over its usefulness (Adelman, 1989; Fook, White and Gardner, 2006).

To gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a reflective practitioner in professional education today, a realistic starting point would be to unpick reflection and its ‘true’ purpose. That is, a purpose almost forgotten in the heat of the debate and which endeavours to situate reflective practice in education and learning. Plato said ‘the life without examination is no life’ (2000:315). The reflective process has underpinned philosophical thought and ideas for centuries and raises important questions about what is ‘real’ truth. For many, reflection is a form of thinking or contemplation in search of knowledge to find the truth and the reality of an idea or concept, proposition or claim. The notion of truth may be more complex than it appears, but one way to find out is in particular to ask some key questions here. Are there multiple truths and whose truth is valid? Is it important to find a universally agreed truth or is it enough to agree a pragmatic idea of truth as ‘what works’? What is the role of education in truth-seeking? And how does reflection help to find truth about ourselves, others, the world? A key strand of the work examines the historical background underpinning the epistemology and pedagogy of criticality in education for truth-seeking and how this problematises the reflective practice paradigm. This is explored in more detail in Chapter 4. The notion of critical thinking points towards a process that involves independent thinking and good communication skills, to have a questioning stance as well as ability to solve and overcome problems. We believe it is also about a self-controlled process of vigorously and competently abstracting, analysing, synthesising and evaluating information gathered from experience and reflection, and action about what has happened. It is thinking about any given subject or problem, in which the quality of our thinking can be modified and enhanced so as to improve by analysing and assessing what has happened.

The roots of criticality in education are deep seated in ancient Greek philosophy and debates about the nature of truth as universal or relative to its time, place and cultural context. The 18th century ‘enlightenment’ project based on science and reason was a logical and rational approach to encourage reasoned thinking over dogma (Kant, 1787).

However, the concept of critical thinking is based on a Socratic idea of a reasoned process and conclusions to find out whether a claim is true or false, supported by justified evidence. This idea is still embedded in Western culture and current educational philosophy and thinking, which many have argued is evident within a Eurocentric, dominant, scientific learning approach (Mason, 2008). Within this approach, critical thinking is viewed as a reasoning process of critical enquiry for truth-seeking to build knowledge. Is this the process underpinning contemplation in theoretical disciplines? Yet modern dictionaries define contemplation as deep reflective thought and consideration. So where does the notion of reflection fit in seeking truth to get knowledge in a positivist learning culture? Can reflection and reflective activities play a part in the process of critical reasoning? Is reflective thought a separate process? In this context, we attempt to throw light on subject-object notions of truth, inherent in the historical divide between theoretical and practical disciplines in education, a divide reflected in the current reflective practice paradigm.

As a philosophy of education, applied learning reflects the mission and values of modern universities. However, the historical theory-practice divide has left a legacy today in the perceived divide between academic and what is considered as vocational education. A divide exemplified in the dual-professionalism debate (Lewis, 1994; Spenceley, 2006). Ollin (2002) aptly demonstrates this in observing that the further education sector ‘has often been seen as the pedagogical poor relation of other educational sectors’. Furthermore, in the Guardian newspaper (August 2012), Ed Balls (the current 2014, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer) warns that changes in Government policies to return to a more traditional education approach will further entrench the historical educational divide, viewed by the present coalition Government in power as ‘naturally’ divided. In contrast to an applied educational approach, the current Government philosophy of education recommends a return to traditional exams, with rote learning a central part of the school experience (Gove, 2012). While a strategy to strengthen memory and recall may be valuable, it could be argued that in the past it has been prioritised at the expense of understanding. How may a return to the proposed traditional curriculum dovetail with andragogical and inclusive teaching methods, centred on activities to promote learning for meaningful understanding, through a range of reflective activities? The historical educational divide is inextricably linked to the subject-object dichotomy, mirrored in competing models of reflection, that is, subjective reflections based on perceptions and assumptions more often aligned with experiential theories and lifelong learning in practical disciplines, and objective methods of reason and logic aligned more with cognitive theories in theoretical disciplines – a dichotomy leading to a reflective practice paradox in education (Dewey, 1933; Foucault, 1992; Habermas, 1987; 1998). A positivist model is based on critical enquiry and problem-solving in the pursuit of truth used in empirical research and promoted in teaching and learning (Hume, 1739; Kant, 1787; Russell, 1926), while a subjective model of reflection are based on beliefs, values and attitudes – a metacognitive approach to finding and sharing truth at intrapersonal and interpersonal levels (Kitchener, 1983; Mezirow, 1991; Goleman, 1996). Given these differing approaches, the problem lies in how positivist and subjectivist models of reflection are interpreted and applied, impacting on the positioning of reflective practice...

Table des matières

• Cover
• Title
• 1  Introduction
• 2  Problematising the Reflective Practice Paradigm
• 3  Reflective Practitioner
• 4  Roots of Criticality in Education
• 5  Reflective Practice: Critical or Mechanical
• 6  A Critical Framework
• References
• Index