Reflective Practice and the Feminist Lens - The Other Side

Oct 15, 2026

This article examines the growing emphasis on reflective practice in teacher education and extends it through adult education scholarship, with a focus on feminist community education. It unpacks foundational theories commonly promoted in teacher education, highlighting limitations in these conventional constructions. The article then proposes a feminist model of reflective practice grounded in de Beauvoir’s concept of “the Other,” enabling educators to apprehend the interconnected dimensions of inequality.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Foundations and New Ways of Knowing

The Warzone and Critical Pedagogy

Reflective Practice and the Feminist Lens: The Other Side brid connolly Abstract This article aims to explore the recent promotion of reflective practice in teacher education and to draw on the thinking that has developed in adult education, particularly in feminist community education. It endeavours to unpack, briefly, the foundational theories that are promoted in teacher education and identify the failings inherent in these traditional constructions. Finally, it proposes a feminist reflective practice that draws on de Beauvoir’s concept of the Other, as a key route to enabling educators to understand the multifaceted dimensions of inequality. Keywords: Reflective Practice, Critical Pedagogy, Epistemology, Feminisation of Education, Feminist Education, The Other Introduction The surge in interest in reflective practice in education is welcome on many fronts. It is now promoted as an essential element in the education of teachers in all aspects of the system. On the one hand, reflective practice as praxis, the cycle of reflection and action as proposed by Freire (1972) is a key element of conscientization and critical education. But on the other hand, it sets off a set of alarm bells when a process is embraced so wholeheartedly by professions andinstitutions which are basically conservative. Thus, I want to explore briefly the underpinnings of reflective practice to unpack those conservative leanings, in order to position feminist critical pedagogy as the key route to challenging those leanings. In this article, I’ll consider the ways which positions reflective practice in the context of feminist pedagogical practices. Through this lens, I’ll look at the site of struggle between the wider social forces, particularly class, gender, ethnicity on the one hand, and individualised, subjective practice on the other. In this, I’ll endeavour to scrutinize the iterations of critical reflection, reflexivity and reflective practice and develop the core concepts that underpin my argument for a feminist critique in the discussion that is crucial to this scholarly project. That is, I propose to explore the Other side,(de Beauvoir, 1953) and propose that a feminist critique is essential in this discussion. I argue that the revelation of these Other sides is essential for those who experience oppression and subjugation, as well as the self-awareness of educators who live andwork in this world. As such, the Other side enhances and extends the practice. Foundations and New Ways of Knowing When Dewey (1933) proposed reflection as a route to problem-solving in education, he was opening a new portal to the creation of knowledge with the potential to transform the experience of the educative process. In particular, the focus on experiential learning was ground breaking. Dewey argued that, however people arrived at new insights emanating from reflection, those insights lead to the newer position, more advanced than the starting point. And crucially, this advanced position is new knowledge. Reflection, in Dewey’s terms, was both an intellectual process as well as an inductive logical process. That is, rational, logical argument, on one hand, leaving room for almost intuitive leaps, where suggestion and imagination play vital roles in arriving at that advanced state,(Dewey, 1933) . Indeed, imagination is the great bulwark against narrow ways of knowing,(Finnegan, 2016). This proposal challenged the status of the scientific, positivist approach to creating new knowledge, which prevailed at the time and which prevails today in many disciplines, even in education (Connolly, 2016) . Dewey (1916) was the foundation for Schön’s developments. His contribution placed reflection in the centre of practice, with his discussion on what practitioners can do, and, further, ought to do, allowing themselves to be surprised, puzzled or confused (Schön, 1983) . Thus, the openness to uncertainty and vulnerability that Schön proposes is at odds wit

FAQs

What is the article’s primary aim regarding reflective practice?

It explores why reflective practice is increasingly promoted in teacher education and links this trend to insights from adult education, especially feminist community education.

Which thinkers are used to build the article’s framework?

The discussion draws on ideas associated with Freire, Dewey, Schön, and de Beauvoir to develop a feminist critique of reflective practice.

How does the article connect “the Other” to educator understanding?

It argues that revealing and engaging “the Other side” supports self-awareness for educators and helps those experiencing oppression and subjugation recognize multifaceted inequality.

Oct 15, 2026

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