A critical reflection on my learning and its integration into my professional practice

Abstract

This paper, ‘A critical reflection on my learning and its integration into my professional practice’, was successfully submitted for a Master’s programme at the University of Bath (UK) in 2010, whilst Sally was working full-time as a teacher in a large secondary school in an English town 10 miles from the city of Bath. Sally died of a brain tumour in 2013. By making her writings public she offered the knowledge she created as a gift to the development of the educational knowledge-base of professional educators. While the detail of practice, procedures, policies and regulations change, the learning she offers is as relevant today as it was then. Teachers continue to experience tensions, as Sally did, in trying to be true to their values and improve the educational experience of their students in contexts dominated by economic rationalism. Sally’s account will particularly resonate with teachers who are committed as professional educators to struggling to develop their professional knowledge and contribute to evolving, rather than revolving, educational practice that contributes to the flourishing of their students.