Reflection and Perception in Professional Practice

Abstract

For the last decade, reflection has been a major theme in discussions about professional skillfulness and the development of the competence of practitioners such as nurses and teachers. The intellectual pattern that has structured ambitions in relation to reflection is found mainly in Schön’s (1983) The Reflective Practitioner and the epistemological turn suggested there. In this text, however, I focus on a dimension that is often forgotten when professional practitioners are conceived of as being reflective, namely, perception. From the framework of Merleau-Ponty, I argue that Schön’s theoretical account is highly problematic and that perception is the key to shaping practitioners’ skillfulness.

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Peter Erlandson

Peter Erlandson completed his PhD in the philosophy of education at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and is currently Senior Lecturer at the Department of Pedagogical, Curricular, and Professional studies at University of Gothenburg. Peter’s main research interests concern philosophy of education, professional practice, and science studies. He has previously published in, among others, Journal of Philosophy of Education, British Journal of Sociology of Education and Social Studies of Science.

E-mail address: [email protected]