Between reflection on practice and the practice of reflection: a case study from aviation

Abstract

Reflection on practice continues to gain increasing support, if not a requirement, within vocational and professional fields. As a method of instruction, it can be used to develop increased awareness of individual performance and support lifelong learning. However, whereas research generally focuses on how individuals become proficient practitioners through reflection, it is less concerned, if at all, with how individuals learn to become proficient as practitioners of reflection. This paper turns to an example from aviation to describe a modification of practice that makes reflection an integral part of practice. In our partner airline, all pilots not only engage in reflection on practice for improving practice but also in activities that improve the practice of their reflections. Training pilots to assess video recorded sessions of other pilots – via benchmark training – is viewed as an important step in improving pilots’ ability to review their own performance during their biannual performance assessment.