Dialogic Reflection: An Exploration of Its Embodied, Imaginative, and Reflexive Dynamic

Abstract

We began this project to explore a critical question in practitioner preparation: What are innovative practices of reflection in professional education intended to expand approaches for professionals to work with diverse others? In this project, we draw from the work of Schön and Dewey to include reflexivity—often a desired but elusive practice—as an additional goal of reflection. Reflexivity is the acknowledgment of an individual situated within a personal history within the real world. Hence, self-reflexivity is the act of personal change within a real-world context. This chapter draws attention to four essential practices for enacting this personal change. They are solitary reflection, ongoing inquiry, perpetual problem solving, and dialogic practice. We highlight how the contributing chapters fit into and oftentimes overlap between these essential practices while presenting creative ways to (self) reflexively navigate through professional educational situations. In each contribution, what became apparent was that as practitioners expanded their approaches to work with diverse others, they created contexts for dialogic imagination, self-examination, and reflexivity.