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This two-stage study was conducted to examine the awareness of policy and underlying pedagogy as well as the use of reflective practice by teaching staff (faculty) within a Scottish university. In the first stage, teaching staff completed a questionnaire; of these 14 then took part in stage two, semi-structured interviews. Interview transcripts were subject to thematic analysis and three main themes emerged: (1) The methods and processes of reflection ('How'); (2) The personal and organisational drivers for employing reflective practices ('Why'); and (3) The barriers to reflection ('Why not'). Significant findings included the dominance of traditional (paper-based as opposed to computer mediated) reflective writing in teaching staff's own reflection, and the importance of both formal and informal group reflection in methods and process. Reasons for reflection focused on the importance of both organisational drivers such as professional standards and awarding bodies, and personal drivers such as personal growth, identity, and psychological wellbeing. Barriers to reflection included both the concrete such as insufficient time and lack of opportunities to share resources, as well as the attitudinal and cultural. Possible ways of tacking these barriers also emerged. Implications for organisational and individual practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a description of recent transformative learning applications in four broad areas – health care study abroad, community, and the workplace. The applications were selected from a literature review of English language articles published in peer-reviewed journals from 2010 to 2020. To describe the applications in each of the four broad areas, the paper focuses on the rationale for the studies, their settings, their context, the reported transformation or outcome as well as the impediments and facilitating factors for the transformation. The paper also includes an overview of research designs and instruments that can be generally used to study applications of transformative learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this conceptual paper, we present a professional practice-oriented Multidimensional Model of Reflective Practice (MMRP) and a Critical Incident Reflection (CIR) protocol as worthwhile tools for supporting teacher candidates (TCs) to become more self-directed, multi-faceted, and holistic in their reflective practice. The model presents reflection as a complex endeavor situated in a dynamic milieu. It emphasizes the complementary nature of professional competencies of knowledge, skills, and disposition, and the interrogation of an incident through technical, contextual, and critical reflection as well as reflection-in, -on, and -for-action. The CIR protocol provides scaffolding support for TCs as they move toward becoming independent reflective practitioners. Together, the MMRP and CIR protocol facilitate multidimensional reflection. We present a case for providing a more deliberate support for reflection. In doing this, we define reflection, highlight its common frameworks, and discuss the significance of intentional and systematic reflection on professional competencies. In the conclusion, we bring these ideas together to discuss the implications for a self-directed and agentic approach to reflection and professional growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper features an autoethnographic approach in presenting and reflecting upon the story of one higher education student’s rapid vocational and academic transformation. Initially an inconspicuous undergraduate student, Andrew experienced an accelerated development that catapulted him to working in elite sport performance analysis (PA) environments, within a year. PA is a sub-discipline of sports coaching that involves using the latest technological advances to influence sporting performance, through the objective analysis of performance data. This autoethnographic piece is partly Andrew’s personal reflection upon that journey towards his newfound profession, which initially grew out of his experience of a generic sports degree at a university. Through stepping out of his comfort zone, and analysing sports previously unknown to him, extraordinary progress was made, and various vocational and academic opportunities arose. The initial catalyst for this developmental journey was facilitated by coaching lecturer David, who reflects upon how Andrew’s story links to his own educational philosophies. Andrew and David explore what these stories might mean to them personally, including potential links to the metaphor of learning as becoming, and notions around the concepts of learner agency, and educational facilitation. The paper ends by exploring the theoretical frameworks that guided this paper’s structure and focus. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper is concerned with the ways in which reflective practice is learnt, taught and assessed within the profession of occupational therapy. It utilises individual experiences of reflection of both students and staff members in university and practice placement settings. The discussion places reflection within learning a profession’s way of being and individual learner’s relation to this ‘sense of being’. It concludes that the ‘rote’ way in which reflection is currently used to demonstrate evidence of reflective practice is detrimental to the development of a reflective professional, in this instance, an occupational therapist. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper seeks to expose the definition of reflective practice from its seminal roots through the lens of a critical review underpinned by epistemological perspectives of the Vygotsky Principle, Temporality and Socio-Cultural Theory. The discussion includes the framing of reflective practice and the models that have been developed from discourse over time, concluding that reflective practice is a personal interpretation driven by the individual’s choice of reflective practice model. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper discusses the beginning steps of the author as a special education teacher in a large Southwest public school district in the US. The author discusses his first year of experience in a large US middle school as an inclusion teacher by using self-reflective practice in the form of excerpts from his learning journal to become aware and understand the complexities of becoming a special education teacher. The metaphor of the maze is introduced and used as the lens through which the author experienced his becoming a special education teacher and how the metaphor of the maze dominates the professional growth and identity of the author in the field of special education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that interviewing is a process in which interviewees can reflect on critical decisions about their academic careers. Reflective practice is a course of action where a person ponders significant incidents in her or his life. In so doing, she or he can make critical decisions about her or his own well-being. Drawing on our experiences collecting qualitative data for ADVANCE Purdue, an NSF-funded project to increase the number and success of women faculty in STEM academic disciplines, we illustrate how interviews triggered our interviewees to think differently about accessing or interpreting promotion and tenure policies of the university. Hence, we argue that interviews can be considered as a form of reflective practice where interviewees decide to take alternative actions to enhance their well-being. In this paper, we ask: (a) How do interviews trigger new realizations among interviewees?; and (b) How do interviews act as agents of potential social change? Data are derived from semi-structured interviews with faculty members from science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and agriculture disciplines at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. We interpret the data qualitatively in the context of reflective practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the concerns which prompted the introduction of an innovative Masters level module designed for practising teachers at a university in the UK. The module was intended to offer an alternative to positivistic modes of reflectivity and to introduce reflective writing practices that acknowledge the constitutive force of writing. Experimentation with writing styles is not usually associated with continuing professional development offered to teachers. We explain why we view writing as a legitimate and valuable reflective research method for practitioners and why we support efforts to challenge the sedimented assumptions that inform teacher training and professional development activity directed at practising teachers. Our adopted pedagogic strategy was to introduce teachers to reflective writing that simultaneously promotes self-reflexivity and highlights the creative and constitutive power of writing. We sought to challenge pervasive dualisms or binaries (e.g. teacher: student, creative-analytical, cognition: affect) and featured the work of Laurel Richardson in support of this agenda. It is argued that practitioners may be better served by reflective writing practices that foster ethical sensibility through recognizing the intuitive or affective dimensions of the writing process. Previous contributors to this journal have called for an expansion of the modes of reflectivity that qualify as reflective practice in higher education. The introduction of the module can be read as a response to that call. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pre-service teachers in the Faculty of Education of the University of Malta compile a Professional Development Portfolio (PDP) which includes artefacts and reflective writings. The process of developing their PDP enables student teachers to grow and develop professionally. This paper explores whether the reflective learning skills which teachers acquire in their pre-service education are retained in their first year of teaching. The study suggests that these skills are internalised by teachers and used in an informal manner to help them reportedly cope better with their new role as effective teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nurtured as a teacher and mentored as a mathematics education researcher, the reflective voice of a teacher-researcher-educator is portrayed in this paper. While drawing upon experience of creating teaching-learning environments, the author outlines the growth of praxis within her practice. She then outlines her coming upon narrative as a deployable unit of analysis with which to grasp teaching-learning practice. With narrative inquiry as strategy, she finally outlines examples of educational action research she is able to conduct. She argues in favour of empowering the praxis of teachers, recognising their language of practice and urges us to listen to their individual voice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]