Learning from an action experiment: putting Schon's reciprocal-reflection theory into practice

Schon's reciprocal-reflection theory is theoretically linked to a tradition which aims at developing theories that are useful for educating professionals for practical scholarship. The major contribution of this tradition to the professional education is the development of collaborative-action research as the basic vehicle for educating professionals. Schon's reciprocal-reflection theory represents the most recent endeavour in expanding the meanings and possibilities of collaborative-action research. One of the gaps in Schon's work is a lack of comprehensive conceptualisation of the process of how experienced practitioners, who are expert in a particular practice, acquire new professional knowledge. As an attempt to fill this gap, the author develops a three-stage model to account for the kinds of teaching and learning barriers that the teacher and the learner have to tackle before the latter can learn a new way of constructing a practice world.