2018 Volume 18 Pages 61-72
In higher education, experiential learning is one of the effective educational practices, and includes service-learning, internships, co-operative education, project-based learning, and so on. Recently, it has been revealed that reflection plays a significant role in experiential learning. The previous model for reflection in experiential learning did not integrate action and thinking. These models provided a normative process for experiential learning or reflection but they did not coincide with actual reflective processes. However, the remaining issue for the models of reflection was to develop theoretical accounts for the process of reflection combining action. This article clarifies the relationship between reflection-on-action and reflection-in-action in terms of process and sequence. I constructed a taxonomy of action and reflection, which consists of objects (action, thinking, and emotion) and contexts (time and its orientation). The analysis of the reflection process is enabled by using these categories and integrating them into experiential education. Examining the reflective narratives from previous research articles, this taxonomy enables researchers and practitioners to clarify the characters of these narratives. Focusing on these categories depends on teaching practices that include social norms, instructional design, and the repertoires of practitioners. Therefore, the analysis of students’ reflection processes requires teachers’ self-reflection on their own practices. Furthermore, these analyses require consideration of how the self and society influence reflection processes.
