ABSTRACT
Self-reflection is becoming an increasingly important concern in compulsory school education, at least in German-speaking countries. Self-reflection is supposed to support pupils’ autonomy and to improve their learning process. In this chapter, we contextualize this claim in the context of reflexive modernity and turn to the challenges of reflection in everyday school routines. With a practice-theoretical perspective, we analyse the use of two different reflection tools in an ethnographic field study on autonomy-oriented learning settings in a secondary school. While the first instrument predominantly generates formulaic confessions, the second instrument initiates at least the beginnings of authentic self-reflection. In the conclusion, we consider the conditions under which practices of reflection – that actually deserve to be called reflection – could emerge.
