Dewey and Schon: An Analysis of Reflective Thinking.

The challenge to the dominance of rationality in educational philosophy presented by John Dewey and Donald Schon is examined in this paper. The paper identifies basic assumptions of their perspective and explains concepts of reflective thinking, which include biography, context of uncertainty, and "not-yet." A model of reflective thought is presented, which is based on biography, zone of uncertainty, "not-yet," knowledge, knowing-in-action, and reflection-in-action. A conclusion is that an understanding of Dewey's and Schon's ideas is necessary for reflective thought to affect educators' practices. One figure is included. (47 references) (LMI)