ABSTRACT
Having described some of the complex issues and factors that face those of us who want to make a difference to the quality of student learning, I want to spend some time in this chapter thinking about why it is important to be a reflective practitioner. In so doing, I will draw on the extensive literature as well as from my own experience as it would be curious in writing a chapter about reflective practice not to reflect oneself. As a practitionerresearcher, reflection is, in my view, fundamental to the whole cycle of carrying out a pedagogical action research study, but the whole concept is conceptualised in many different ways for many different purposes. In this chapter I will explore some of the more mainstream views of
reflective practice and show how it fits with the cycles of carrying out an action research study. Some of the research I cite is about schoolteachers but I am perfectly comfortable with this for I believe that as a sector, higher education has much to learn from the other sectors. The studies are also not confined to those carried out in the UK, thus I hope to show how similar issues are not confined to one culture but are widespread.
