Reflexivity and educational professions

Abstract

The reflective paradigm in educational research has been mainly inspired by two
parallel approaches: a pragmatist approach-developed on the basis of Dewey’s idea or reflective thinking and Schön’s notion of reflection in action-as well as on an approach inspired to Critical Theory, with particular attention to the work of Habermas and his analysis of the relationship between knowledge and interest. The two approaches have been often contrasted and not explored within a continuum which has determined an empasse in the exploration of educational agency. In order to overcome this empasse, it is useful to refer to a perspective internal to educational practices, aimed at highlighting their complex phenomenology. This leads us in identifying the different forms of intentionality as well as the structural dynamics that shape educational practices as specific forms of social agency inscribed within educational systems, and explored focusing on the forms of relexivity imbedded within those systems.