Whatever happened to ‘reflective practice’?

Donald Schön’s (1983; 1987) seminal work exploring the practice of professionals introduced the notion of reflective practice to describe and discuss professional artistry. Since then, literature and practices in the area have grown such that reflective practice has now become “relied” on (Clegg et al, 2002:131) as a “promised land” (Papastepanou & Angeli, 2007). Code (1993:27) compares rhetoric, in this case the claims made about reflective practice, to statements on a display screen’ that become familiar and taken-for-granted. In this chapter, I will be identifying and questioning the assumptions contained in this familiar and taken-for-granted rhetoric, setting it alongside the complexities of professional practice, leading to the suggestion we haven’t seen ‘reflective practice’ around for some time, whatever happened to reflective practice…?! The chapter will conclude with pointers of potential ways forward taken from a larger piece of work, direction from my current doctorate research.