ABSTRACT
Reflective practice is an essential characteristic of the action research cycle. Its roots can be traced back to the work of John Dewey (1910) who argued that reflection is an active and deliberate process. His work was later built on by Donald Schön (1983, 1987) who applied it to the concept of reflective practice for professionals. In this chapter, some of the main reasons for being a reflective practitioner in higher education are considered. Since reflection on its own might be too introspective and lead to little action, the case is made for carrying out pedagogical action research. This approach has a transformative aim to bring about change both in learning and teaching practice and within the practitioner.
