Beyond Bystanderism Toward Social Responsibility: Reenvisioning Reflective Practice Within a Creativity Framework

• In Event: The Influence of Cultural Identities on Reflective Practices in Diverse Contexts

Abstract

Although reflective practice has been widely promoted for its potential to develop teacher quality relevant to diverse learners and contexts, many argue that teachers do not demonstrate the complex levels of reflection to stand up to, or even question social/ political inequities in education. Taking the stance that transformative dimensions of reflection are grounded within a broader creativity framework that includes 22 capacities distributed among three dimensions, I draw upon results from my larger investigation (n=80) of in-service teachers to illustrate how these 22 capacities functioned in the professional lives of four participants. This illumination of reflective practice from a creativity framework perspective contributes to the discourse on teacher quality and offers implications for advocates of developing teachers as “change-agents.”

Author

• Marilyn J. Narey, Duquesne University