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2 references
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- Vol 6 RE: Chapter 7
reflective practiceknowing-in-actionreflection-in-actionreflection-on-actionprofessional judgmenttacit knowledgeproblem framingpractice-based learningBook Evidence summaryAt a glance
Schön challenges the “technical rationality” model in which professionals merely apply general scientific knowledge to well-defined problems. In architecture, psychotherapy, engineering, planning, and management, important situations are uncertain, unstable, unique, and marked by value conflict; deciding what the problem is becomes part of solving it.
Key ideas
Competent practitioners rely on knowing-in-action—tacit recognition and skill embedded in performance. When an unexpected result disrupts routine, they may reflect-in-action: notice the surprise, surface an implicit understanding, frame the situation anew, try an intervention, and learn from the situation’s response. Schön describes this as a reflective conversation with materials and circumstances rather than detached analysis. Reflection-on-action later reconstructs what occurred and can improve future practice.
Why it matters
The book does not reject research or technique, but argues they cannot determine action without professional judgement. Education for practice should therefore include coached inquiry into authentic, ambiguous situations where learners can experiment, receive feedback, and examine their frames.
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- Vol 4 RE: Chapters 4, 7
- Vol 4 TE: App C
- Vol 5 TE: App C
metacognitionself-regulated learninglearning strategy regulationreflective practiceexam wrapperslearning journalsexpert thinkingJournal article Evidence summaryAt a glance
Tanner argues that students should be explicitly taught to think about and regulate their learning rather than expected to discover effective approaches unaided. Metacognition includes awareness of one’s knowledge and strategies and regulation through planning, monitoring, and evaluating.
Key ideas
The article offers practical prompts that can be embedded before, during, and after learning: identifying prior knowledge and goals, predicting difficulties, explaining reasoning, checking understanding, noticing confusion, comparing strategies, analysing errors, and planning changes. Activities include reflective exam wrappers, learning journals, minute papers, explicit discussion of study strategies, modelling an expert’s thinking, and asking students to connect evidence with claims. The goal is not reflection as an extra assignment but recurring attention to how learning decisions affect outcomes. Students may initially lack vocabulary, accuracy, or willingness to report difficulties, so prompts need modelling, psychological safety, feedback, and repeated use.
Why it matters
For science educators, active learning should be “minds-on” as well as hands-on: instructors can make disciplinary thinking visible and create cycles in which learners choose a strategy, observe its consequences, and deliberately adjust.
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Edition abbreviations
- TE
- Teacher Edition
- PE
- Practice Edition
- RE
- Research Edition
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