Skip to content
Critical Thinking and Reflective Practice

Critical Thinking and Reflective Practice

This guide covers what reflective practice is, how teachers use it to improve, and how critical thinking sits inside every step of the process. It is built for trainee teachers, working professionals, and B.Ed. students who want a working knowledge of the field rather than a passing one.

What This Guide Teaches

  • Define reflective practice and recognise it in your own work.
  • Compare the major models, from Dewey and Schon to Gibbs, Johns, and Boud.
  • Use critical thinking moves like questioning, reframing, and analysing assumptions.
  • Write reflectively for journals, portfolios, and professional development plans.
  • Plan action, work in teams, supervise others, and do small-scale research on your own practice.

The Learning Path

The guide is broken down into eight modules.

Module 1

Foundations of Reflective Practice

  1. Foundations of Reflective Practice
  2. Defining Reflection
  3. The Reflection Process
  4. Methods of Reflection
Module 2

Models of Reflective Practice

  1. Foundational Thinkers in Reflection
  2. Critical Models of Reflection
  3. Additional Reflection Models
Module 3

Critical Thinking

  1. Introduction to Critical Thinking
  2. Critical Thinking Frameworks
  3. Conceptual Innovation and Frames
Module 4

Reflective Writing and Competences

  1. Reflective Writing
  2. Professional Competences
  3. Critical Incidents and Action Planning
Module 5

Identity, Frames, and Reframing

  1. Reflective Frameworks and Identity
  2. Mentoring and the Johari Window
  3. Frames and Reframing
  4. Concept-Based Teaching
Module 6

Critical Reflection in Practice

  1. Critical Reflection Tools
  2. Methods of Inquiry and Innovation
  3. Teacher Professionalism and Communities of Practice
  4. Lifelong and Work-Based Learning
Module 7

Dialogue, Teams, and Supervision

  1. The Socratic Method
  2. Becoming a Reflective Practitioner
  3. Teams and Motivation
  4. Mentoring and Dialogue
  5. Asynchronous Discussion and Collaboration
  6. Supervision and Inter-Professional Working
Module 8

Theory Building and Future Directions

  1. Grounded Theory in Teaching
  2. Action Research
  3. Appreciative Inquiry
  4. Dewey on Reflective Thinking
  5. Boud and Gibbs in Depth
  6. Johns Model in Depth
  7. Future of Reflective Practice

Explore other study guides

Action Research

Teachers studying their own classrooms to fix real problems. Plan-act-observe-reflect cycle.

Applications of ICT

Computer skills for everyday use. Hardware, software, internet, productivity tools.

ICT in Education

How technology transforms teaching and learning. E-learning, digital classrooms, edu-software.

Leadership and Management

Leading schools, managing teams, and driving educational change.

Methods of Teaching

Lesson planning, classroom management, and assessment for trainee teachers and B.Ed. students.

Philosophy of Education

From Socrates and Plato to Montessori and unschooling. The ideas behind how we teach and why.

See all study guides →
Last updated on • Talha
Foundations