Effective reflective practice: in search of meaning in learning about teaching

Reflective practice has an allure that is seductive in nature because it rings true for most people as something useful and informing. However, for reflection to genuinely be a lens into the world of practice, it is important that the nature of reflection be identified in such a way as to offer ways of questioning taken-for-granted assumptions and encouraging one to see his or her practice through others’eyes. The relationship between time, experience, and expectations of learning through reflec-tion is an important element of reflection, and to teach about reflection requires contextual anchors to make learning episodes meaningful. This article examines the nature of reflection and suggests how it might become effective reflective practice that can be developed and enhanced through teacher preparation programs. Reflection has developed a variety of meanings as the bandwagon has traveled through the world of practice. Its allure is caught up in the seductive nature of a notion that rings true for most people as something useful and informing in the development and understanding of, in this case, teaching and learning in teacher edu-cation practices. Reflective practice is a term that carries diverse meaning (Grimmett & Erickson, 1988; Richard-son, 1992). For some, it simply means thinking about something, whereas for others, it is a well-defined and crafted practice that carries very specific meaning and associated action. Along this continuum there are many interesting inter-pretations, but one element of reflection that is common to many is the notion of a problem (a puzzling, curious, or perplexing situation). What that problem is, the way it is framed and (hopefully) reframed, is an important aspect of understanding the nature of reflection and the value of reflective practice. It is also a crucial (but sometimes too easily overlooked) aspect of learning about teaching. One outcome resulting from the appeal of the idea of reflective practice has been the adoption of reflection as a foundation for many teacher education programs (see, e.g., Richert, 1990