ABSTRACT
In this final chapter, we explore further the various types of valued teacher reflection, and do so in a manner that is closer to real life than the brief examples offered in the previous chapter. In chapter 5, we highlighted the central features of these distinct orientations to gain some clarity and understanding. Here, we offer examples of reflection that are rooted in a particular tradition but whose substance and concerns are not limited solely to the central issues of that tradition. By offering these "case study" examples, we believe the complexities of teacher reflection will become more evident. Certainly, there are teachers whose main concerns focus on the issues and values that exist within the academic tradition. But to identify or label that teacher as a "teacher within the academic tradition" may suggest a thinner rather than richer orientation. Each of the traditions deals with many of the same issues and rather than a set of issues "belonging" to a tradition, it becomes a matter of emphasis and degree. In one tradition, a particular concern will be a central issue, whereas in another tradition that concern will be an issue but not a central one. We hope the case studies that follow illustrate the complexity and the messiness of real-life reflection by teachers. And we hope that as a result of examining these cases, you the reader will begin to identify which orientation or orientations seem(s) to be central for you.
