Building Conscious Awareness through Reflective Practice in Education: A Literature Review

The paper explores current recommendations for supervision in education and considers strategies for effective reflective practice for staff and young people in primary and secondary school education. It also identifies barriers to successful reflective practice in education through the review of current literature. A review of the published literature was made using a Healthcare Databases Advanced Search (HDAS), and a search of the International Journal of Education was also carried out. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the final number of articles included in the synthesis was 35. The articles related to reflective practice and supervision in primary and secondary school settings. A thematic analysis was carried out, and themes were identified. The initial thematic map highlighted four themes: factors inhibiting reflective practice, current experience of reflective practice in education, promoting reflective practice, and a relational approach. The review of the initial thematic map identified five themes: recognising constraints for teachers, adopting a whole-school strengths-based model, the importance of relationships in reflective practice, current experience of supervision in education, and tools to build conscious awareness. Supervision is discussed as a tool for reflective practice, following a supportive framework rather than performance management, to promote teacher wellbeing.