The role of the ‘Other’ in reflection, knowledge formation and action in late modernity

Abstract

Reflection has long been an aspiration in education, from Aristotle’s Nicamachean Ethics, through Bacon’s (1605) Advancement of Learning and later articulated by John Dewey. Schön’s reflective practitioner underpins the ethos in the professional training of teachers in the UK. This paper reviews approaches to reflection in learning and argues that we require a model of learning sensitive to the complex interaction between theory, practice and reflection that take place in social contexts and relationships with others. Following a critical review of the literature it argues for a social model of experiential learning connecting themes in contemporary social theory. The paper considers learning in sociological and philosophical terms rather than as simply a cognitive or psychological process.