ERIC Number: ED393851
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1995
Pages: 20
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Reflective Educational Practice from the Perspective of Wholetheme Constructivism.
Heflich, David A.; Iran-Nejad, Asghar
Inspired by the work of Donald Schon and John Dewey, educators today consider reflective practice a viable alternative to the technical-rational paradigm that has historically dominated educational thought in the United States. This paper argues that wholetheme constructivism can lead to a deeper understanding of reflective practice. Dewey distinguished between the stream of consciousness that runs through a person's mind and disciplined, reflective thought. Reflective thought is purposeful and directed, intent on understanding, and creating meaning from an interaction or realization. As disciplined thought, reflection can be enhanced by training children to think that way. Building on Dewey's work, Schon emphasized the tacit or intuitive nature of knowledge and the ways of revealing it through self reflection. Wholetheme learning is proposed as a way of taking advantage of the multisource aspects of brain operation. Considering reflection as expressed by Dewey and Schon in light of the biofunctional model of cognition reveals that reflection has a firm foundation in cognition and brain functioning. A heightened understanding of the wholetheme nature of learning, with its basis in the dynamic and active forms of self-regulation, offers a clearer understanding of reflective thought, which is the combination of active and dynamic self-realization. Schools today are still mostly organized in a manner that supports the idea of knowledge as a quantifiable object. For this to change, models need to be developed that capitalize more on wholetheme learning in K-12 classrooms. (Contains 25 references.) (ND)
Publication Type: Information Analyses; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A