Considering Reflection From the Student Perspective in Higher Education

Abstract

This article reports the findings of a project to reexamine reflection from the student perspective that took place after a major curriculum revision. The project used a hermeneutically inspired action research method that involved interviewing 17 undergraduate theology students after a two-semester practicum to ascertain the ways in which students understand and use reflection in practice and as a means of establishing identity. The data revealed key themes that surround students’ understanding of reflection: (a) Students think and write about reflection in detached ways, (b) there is a connection between reflection and self-understanding and self-definition, and (c) crisis plays a role in reflection. The article concludes with further discussions of these themes and with recommendations for pedagogical practice.