Reflective Approach to Education

Reflection is a universal concept used to characterize the personality of man in all spheres of his life. That is why specialists from such spheres of knowledge about man as philosophy, methodology, psychology, sociology, pedagogy, etc., are interested in studying it. This book provides a brief presentation of the concepts of five renowned authors from the 20th century whose ideas are topical even today: John Dewey, Lev Vygotsky, Vladimir Lefebvre, Georgii Shchedrovitsky, Donald Schön. The author provides an answer to the following questions: What was the context in which the concepts of these authors about this mental phenomenon unfolded? How did their students and adherents enrich and develop the ideas about reflection in the sphere of education? Can the different understandings of reflection be integrated and reflected in a unified pedagogical model (reflective approach) which could serve as a reference point for realizing reflective pedagogical practice? The description of the reflective approach to education could be seen as an invitation to other authors to build a pedagogical model of reflective pedagogical practice together with the author of this book.

Yordanka Dimova is an Associate Professor at the University of Plovdiv "Paisii Hilendarski", Bulgaria. Her scientific interests are related to studying the influence of reflective practice on the quality of the cognitive results of the students in science education and on the quality of the professional preparation of science teachers.