Shaping the Epistemology of Teacher Practice Through Reflection and Reflexivity

Abstract

Reflection on practice is a core principle for guiding improvement in professional work such as teaching and can be enhanced by reflection on epistemic cognition, the way we think about knowledge and knowing. Viewed as an intellectual virtue, a habit of mind, and a learnable skill, epistemic reflection can help teachers learn to critically question the source, certainty, reliability, and veracity of their own knowing. In this response to a set of articles on changing epistemic cognition through reflection and reflexivity, a case study of teaching educational psychology is provided as an example of putting these complex ideas into practice. Through such practices, instructors can also help future teachers learn to better understand and utilize empirical evidence as a knowledge basis for pedagogical decisions.

Notes

¹ With gratitude to Daniel Lapsley and Dominic Chaloner at the University of Notre Dame, and their Virtuous Scientist Project that made such conversations possible, with funding from the Templeton Foundation.