3.2: Donald Schon

Reflective Practice in Early Years Education · LibreTexts

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    Schön (1983) based his work on that of Dewey and is most widely known for his theory of reflecting in and reflecting on one’s practice. His theory was grounded in reflection from a professional knowledge and learning perspective (Bolton, 2014.p.6). In simple terms this is described as reflecting as the experience is occurring or reflecting on the experience after it has occurred. Reflecting in action refers to situations such as: thinking on your feet, acting straight away, and thinking about what to do next. Reflecting on action means you are thinking about what you would do differently next time, taking time to process (Bolton, 2014.p.6).

    Reflection in action is reflection as something happens and reflection on action is reflecting after something happens.
    Image by Said Nasser Al-Amrani (2021) used under fair dealing for educational purposes.

    Video: Reflective Practice

    Learn more about reflective practice by watching the video: 3 minute theory by Kayak Essentials [3:32] below.

    Video: “3 min theory – Reflective Practice” by Adventure Sport Resources [3:33] is licensed under the Standard YouTube License.Transcript and closed captions available on YouTube.

    This page titled 3.2: Donald Schon was last modified on Wed, 28 Jan 2026 03:58:39 GMT and is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Sheryl Third.