Definitions of Reflection
Definitions side by side
Dewey (1910)
Reflection is “the active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it.” Reflection enables a teacher to act with foresight, knowing what they are about when they act.
Schon (1983)
Two aspects:
- Reflection in action: quick thinking and adjustment as you teach.
- Reflection on action: slower review after the lesson, asking why and what could have been different.
Brookfield and Thiel (1995, 1999)
Reflective practice is a continuous cycle of self-observation and self-evaluation aimed at understanding your own actions and the reactions they prompt in you and your learners.
Goal
Refine practice on an ongoing basis. Not necessarily to solve a single problem, but to keep observing and improving.
The word “reflection” appears in dozens of education books. The same word, but the writers do not always mean the same thing. Three definitions sit at the centre of the field. Dewey’s, from 1910. Schon’s, from 1983. And the continuous-cycle definition that runs through Brookfield, Thiel, and the wider field. Each definition adds a piece the others leave out.
Dewey’s definition: a questioning approach
John Dewey was a US philosopher and educator who wrote about reflection long before the term reflective practice was in fashion. In How We Think (1910), he wrote that reflective thinking is the active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it.
Three words in that definition do real work.
- Active. Not passive. The reflector is doing something, not waiting for ideas to arrive.
- Persistent. Not a single moment. The thinking continues.
- Careful. Not casual. The reflection examines the grounds for what we believe.
Dewey added that reflection lets a person direct their actions with foresight: it lets us know what we are about when we act. For a teacher this is the practical payoff. A teacher who reflects walks into the next lesson with a more accurate sense of what is likely to happen and why.
What you do in the classroom should be planned, informed by theory and experience, and purposeful. Dewey’s framing makes reflection a discipline that produces deliberate teaching, not improvised teaching.
Schon’s definition: two kinds of reflection
Donald Schon, in The Reflective Practitioner (1983), gave the field a distinction that has stuck: reflection in action and reflection on action.
Reflection in action
The quick thinking that happens during the lesson. A teacher mid-explanation sees that students are confused, considers why, and tries a different approach within seconds. The reflection is folded into the act of teaching itself.
Reflection on action
The slower thinking that happens after the lesson. The teacher, no longer under classroom time pressure, asks why students did not understand, what other options were open, and why they chose the option they did. This is the reflection most people picture when they hear the term.
The two are different jobs. Reflection in action keeps a single lesson on track. Reflection on action improves the next lesson and the lesson after that.
Reflection as a continuous cycle
Brookfield (1995) and Thiel (1999) describe reflective practice as a continuous cycle of self-observation and self-evaluation. The point is not a single solved problem. The point is the cycle: observe yourself teaching, evaluate what you saw, change what you do, observe again.
The Curriculum (2001) framing puts it the same way: the goal is not necessarily to address a specific problem defined at the outset, but to observe and refine practice in general on an ongoing basis. Reflective practice in this sense is a habit, not a project. It does not finish.
This continuous-cycle framing matters because it answers the question many teachers ask: when do I stop reflecting? The answer is never. The cycle becomes part of how you teach.
What practitioners actually do when they reflect
Schon (1983) described the practical work this way: practitioners frame the problem of the situation they are in, decide what features deserve attention, decide the order they will impose on the situation, and choose the direction in which they will try to change it. In doing this, they identify both the end to be sought and the means to be used.
In plain language, reflection is four moves.
- Frame the problem. What is actually going on, in your own words?
- Pick the features. Which parts of the situation matter, and which are noise?
- Choose a direction. Where do you want this to go?
- Pick the means. What will you actually do?
A teacher who skips even one of these moves usually ends up with a complaint instead of a plan.
Reflection in action and reflection on action
Reflection in action happens during the lesson: quick thinking, live adjustments. Reflection on action happens after the lesson: slower review, asking why and what else was possible. Both matter. Reflection in action keeps today’s lesson on track. Reflection on action improves tomorrow’s.
How the three definitions fit together
The three are not in competition. Each adds something.
| Source | What it emphasises |
|---|---|
| Dewey | Reflection as careful, active, evidence-based questioning |
| Schon | Two distinct moments: in action and on action |
| Brookfield, Thiel | A continuous cycle, not a one-off task |
A teacher who only knows Dewey may miss the in-action half. A teacher who only knows Schon may stop reflecting once a problem is solved. A teacher who only knows the continuous-cycle framing may not have a way to focus on one specific event. The three together cover the work.
Your own reflection draws on all three. You ask careful questions (Dewey). You watch yourself both during and after (Schon). And you keep doing it (Brookfield).