ABSTRACT
In educational circles of the 1980s the term ‘reflection’ has been used frequently with reference to teaching practices (Erickson, 1987; Kilbourn, 1988; MacKinnon, 1987, 1989b; Munby, 1986; Roberts and Chastko, 1990; Russell, 1987; Shulman, 1987), in part as a result of the provocative ideas of Schön (1983, 1987, 1988). This body of work opened a new forum of discussion by advancing a new image of the nature of professional knowledge and how it is acquired. Much discussion has followed, giving rise to diverse meanings of the term reflection in teacher education literature (Grimmett, 1989; Grimmett, MacKinnon, Erickson and Riecken, 1990; Clift, Houston and Pugach, 1990). More fundamental than the differences in how the term ‘reflection’ is used is how teacher education programs might be structured so that they meet this image of how professional knowledge is acquired. At the heart of program discussion lies the perennially awkward problem of determining what is foundational to teacher education.
