Donald Schon was my ‘first love’ in the world of educational theory, and although he has subsequently been supplanted by my ‘grand affair’ with socio-cultural and activity-theorists, I will always have a soft spot for him.
Which is perhaps why I feel the need to speak out about the injustices being committed in his name, through the wholescale adoption of (compulsory), written ‘reflections’ as part of the assessment practices of medical, dental and healthcare professionals. These instrumental practices seem so very far removed from Schon’s accounts of professional artistry and the ways in which expert practitioners negotiate the swampy lowlands, generating and testing out novel solutions to complex problems that do not respond to a by-the-book approach.
Read this previously published post here.