Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher, 2nd Edition

Acclaimed author Stephen D. Brookfield offers a revised and updated edition to this classic text that guides teachers through the processes of becoming critically reflective about teaching, confronting the contradictions involved in creating democratic classrooms, and using critical reflection as a tool for ongoing personal and professional development.

Using numerous examples, Brookfield describes what critical reflection is and why it is so important. He tells how teachers can reframe their teaching by viewing their practice through four distinctive lenses: their autobiographies as teachers and learners, their students' eyes, their colleagues' perceptions, and theoretical literature. He includes specific advice on using practical approaches to critical reflection such as teaching diaries, role model profiles, participant learning portfolios, structured critical conversation, the Critical Incident Classroom Questionnaire, the Good Practices Audit, and more.

The book features examples from the 20 years of workshops Brookfield has run since the first edition’s publication. This edition also has four new chapters: Critical Reflection and Social Media, Applying Critical Reflection to Teaching Race and Racism, Critically Reflective Leadership, and Critiquing Critically Reflective Teaching. Additionally, chief insights from the first edition are here refocused in new contexts, such as online learning, cohort groups, and diverse classrooms. This book maintains its original focus on critically reflective teaching: to uncover power dynamics and hegemonic practices in classrooms and in teaching practices. However, the analysis and illustration of how this model works is now informed by twenty additional years of experience.