ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces participants to the conceptual framework that informs this program as a whole: reflective practice and a professional learning community. Participants discuss the value of “making practice public” by developing a shared language to describe their practice and goals, and to determine ways in which they can and will do both in this program. They learn more about the different reflective tasks that are part of Reflecting on Practice, with a special focus on observing and analyzing videos of one another’s practice. Video Reflections are a critical component in the program. The idea that reflection is a form of specialized thinking has roots in the work of John Dewey, and is a fundamental aspect of contemporary notions of reflection and reflective practice. Dewey stated that reflection “implies that something is believed in (or disbelieved in), not on its own direct account, but through something else which stands as witness, evidence, proof, voucher, warrant”.
