| Abstract: | Schon's 1983] account of “reflection‐in‐action” as a process of “refraining” experience as it proceeds has attracted considerable interest among teacher educators. But that interest has been accompanied by a great deal of confusion, perhaps because “reflection” is such a broad term with familiar meanings. Schon distinguishes the more familiar reflection‐on‐action from reflection‐in‐action that he sees occurring spontaneously within action. A challenge facing those who stress reflection as a central feature of professional education for teaching involves finding ways to recognize and record the process of reflection‐in‐action in classrooms. This paper promotes discussion of what it means to analyze teaching from the perspective of reflection‐in‐action. After outlining some problems associated with recognizing reflection‐in‐action, data are considered from studies of metaphors and personal accounts of learning to teach. One teacher illustrates the potential of inferring reflection‐in‐action from accounts of changes in teaching practices. Parallel documentation of observations of teaching and interviews about that teaching emerge as a promising approach to the documentation of reflection‐in‐action in classrooms. |
