Educating the Reflective Practitioner: Toward a New Design for Teaching and Learning in the Professions (Higher Education Series) [Paperback]

Donald A. Schon (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1555422209 | ISBN-13: 978-1555422202 | Publication Date: February 15, 1990 | Edition: 1

Building on the concepts of professional competence that he introduced in his classic The Reflective Practitioner, Schon offers an approach for educating professional in all areas that will prepare them to handle the complex and unpredictable problems of actual practice with confidence, skill, and care.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Doctors, architects, lawyers and engineers are all trained in schools that emphasize technique but neglect the key element of artistry that distinguishes the true professional. Today's professional is a drudge, mechanically applying privileged knowledge to rote tasks. That is Schon's diagnosis of higher education, and as a remedy he recommends learning by doing. To teach skills of improvisation and problem-framing, he feels our universities should borrow the methods used in art studios, dance conservatories, athletics coaching, craft appenticeships and psychoanalytic training. In all these settings, a dialogue between student and coach in a low-risk atmosphere encourages creativity. Despite its academic prose, this primer by an MIT urban studies professor will enlighten students, teachers and professionals. Schon concludes the book (a sequel to The Reflective Practitioner with a description of his attempt to create a "studiolike" curriculum for MIT's city planning courses.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The reflective practitioner is one who participates in a practicum in the professional school which will help him or her "acquire the kinds of artistry essential to competence in the indeterminate zones of practice." In The Reflective Practitioner (1983), Schon argued that professional schools (from engineering to public administration to teaching) were relying too heavily on scientific knowledge and technical rationality while giving little attention to "reflection-in-action." Schon now details a program of reflective practicum education in the professional schools. His book should be of value to all educators, no matter what the field. A. R. Huggins, Memphis State Univ. Lib.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 376 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (February 15, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555422209
• ISBN-13: 978-1555422202
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #217,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars excellent thought-provoking book for college level educators, September 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Educating the Reflective Practitioner: Toward a New Design for Teaching and Learning in the Professions (Higher Education Series) (Paperback)

Intense reading, appropriate for anyone involved in educating professionals for the new millenium. Schon puts forth challenges for teachers as well as students and uses some excellent examples to demonstrate his thoughts. He also presents difficulties encountered in the educational process, along with proposed solutions. Allow several days to absorb the information in this text, but definately give it a try if you are teaching at the college level!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Eye-Opener for Practitioners & educators, June 15, 2005

By 

Michael A. Beitler (Greensboro, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Educating the Reflective Practitioner: Toward a New Design for Teaching and Learning in the Professions (Higher Education Series) (Paperback)

The problems that face professionals (physicians, lawyers, architects) are rarely straightforward and clear. They are complex and lack "right answers." Skillful professional practice often depends less on factual knowledge than on the ability to reflect before taking action. Yet most professional schools only teach theory and how to apply it to straightforward problems. Frankly, future professionals are being poorly equipped for the real world.

In this book, Schon argues that professional education should be centered on enhancing the practitioner's ability for "reflection-in-action." Building on the concepts introduced in his first book, "The Reflective Practitioner," Schon offers a new approach to professional education in several areas.

Michael Beitler, Ph.D.
Author of "Strategic Organizational Learning"

2 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Look elsewhere for books on professional education, March 17, 2007

By 

D. Shelden (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Educating the Reflective Practitioner: Toward a New Design for Teaching and Learning in the Professions (Higher Education Series) (Paperback)

Schon focuses his book on "reflection in action" and "reflection on reflection in action". While reading this book, he did make me self-aware of many teaching techniques that I currently use, but very little new ground was broken here. Not really worth reading, but may be of some value to new "professionals"