Balanced reflection as a means of practitioner development in the post‐compulsory education and training sector

Abstract

Reflective practice is held to be a means of practitioner development; however the range of models of reflection do not seem to suit practitioners working in the Post‐Compulsory Education and Training (PCET) sector. Current models ignore the contextuality and specificality of PCET practice and do not consider its unique practitioner–student and intra‐practitioner dynamic. Accordingly, I have sought to address some of the issues regarding reflection in the PCET sector. This was done by reviewing what a model of reflection in PCET needs to address and through analysing the reflections of 12 further education practitioners. The results suggest that reflection in PCET is not balanced and that practitioners mainly focus on the cognitive and psychomotor aspects of practice. A model of reflection is proposed that seeks to offer a more proportionate and balanced system of reflection that embraces the cognitive, psychomotor, affective and conative aspects of practice.

Keywords:

• reflection
• balance
• PCET
• intra‐practitioner
• practitioner–student