Reflective Practice To Improve Schools: An Action Guide for Educators.
York-Barr, Jennifer; Sommers, William A.; Ghere, Gail S.; Montie, Jo
The hectic pace and rigid structures in many of today's schools make it difficult for educators to take time to reflect and learn. Experience is not enough. Reflection on experience is the pathway to improvement. Reflection provides a means for examining beliefs, assumptions, and practices. It can also result in the discovery of incongruities between espoused beliefs and actual practices. Both individual and organizational learning capacities are involved. Chapter 1 gives a definition of "reflective practice" and a rationale for its potential to improve schools. Also addressed are the characteristics of reflective educators and the organizing framework of the reflective spiral. Chapter 2 discusses the design and development of reflective practices, including principles of adult learning and the importance of trust. Chapters 3 through 6 examine the reflective spiral for the individual, between partners, in small groups, and on a schoolwide level, respectively. Chapter 7 concludes with lessons learned from working with educators and schools to implement reflective practices. At the end of each chapter is a page for the reader's own reflections on important ideas, specific insights, questions raised, and implications for action. Encouragement and guidance are offered for individual and collective efforts to create schools in which students and educators continually learn. (Contains 206 references, 10 tables, and 32 figures.) (RKJ)