The paper reviews literature on three orientations to teachers' reflective thinking (cognitive, critical, and narrative). The cognitive approach includes studies of teachers' information processing and decision making, emphasizing how teachers make decisions. The critical approach has its roots in problem framing and ethical and moral reasoning. It stresses the substance of decisions made by examining teacher experiences, values, sociopolitical implications, and goals. The teacher narrative approach refers to teachers telling their own stories via naturalistic inquiry, case studies, and action research. The three aspects illustrate how the field of research on teaching is moving from a predominantly behavior-oriented paradigm of teaching to a reflective paradigm. The paper presents four studies of reflective thinking to illustrate what is being learned and promoted on the subject: (1) a description of prestudent teachers' reflective thinking; (2) a comparison of prestudent teachers' reflective thinking; (3) growth in inservice teachers' reflective thinking; and (4) growth in novice teachers' reflective thinking. Guided field experiences with writing, thought, discussion, and a coherent view of reflective thinking can help future teachers analyze and interpret classroom experiences. Teacher workshops and coaching develop the ability to use principles and context to explain their actions. An appendix provides more detail on the first study. (SM)