Critical reflection for educators of adults: Getting a grip on the scripts for professional action

Abstract

This paper reports on a particular approach to the teaching of “foundations of practice” within a graduate program for the professional education of adult educators. Foundations are viewed in discursive terms as master texts that act to script the actions of adult educators. A grasp of these texts and their regulating capacity is seen as an important component of “critical reflection” directed at professional development. A brief account is given of a course structure that requires the formal ‘mapping’ of major discourses. Finally, the capacities and limitations of the approach are reviewed.