Exploring scientific, artistic, moral and technical reflection in teacher action research

Abstract

Reflection in action research is a complicated matter because of the many domains of reflection and most significantly, the lack of understanding of these domains of reflection in action research and how these are supported. In this paper, we propose a framework based on four domains of reflection, namely, scientific, artistic, moral and technical reflection. We describe an initial attempt to use this framework in relation to the actual practice of teacher reflection in action research and show that the framework allowed us to map the various domains of reflection that teachers use in relation to their action research. This helped us to gain insight into the differences and the course of reflection in action research. We discuss how the framework – through orientation, differentiation and deepening – might provide support for reflection in action research.