Adult learning and reflection: assumptions and practices in higher education and training

Abstract

Adult learning theories attribute to reflection a key role in the learning process, in order to enhance the previous experience and to guide the future one, or to encourage awareness about implicit assumptions. The role of reflection in adult learning has recently been investigated as focus of the project Strategic Partnership Erasmus + REFLECT – Reflection as Transferable Core Competence in Higher and Adult Education which involved faculty and trainers of the non-formal sector.
The contribution will recall briefly, in its first part, some of the best known reflective learning models: the Reflective Practice defined by Schön (1983, 1987), the Experiential Learning model according with Boud, Keogh and Walker (1985) and Critical Reflection as part of Transformative Learning Theory developed by Mezirow (1991, 1998). In the second part, the results of two focus
groups, drawn from the literature analyzed and conducted with 14 among faculty and trainers involved in the REFLECT project will be presented. Considerations about the role of reflection in the learning process, strategies and proposals to encourage it as well as critical issues and ways for development will be traced.