Critical reflection. What do we really mean?

Do we really know what critical reflection means in the context of work-integrated learning, more specifically cooperative education? Critical reflection, in some form, is located within many higher education programmes, including cooperative education and many educators would say this is important for in-depth student learning. It is a form of reflection that is complicated as well as challenging for the learner and the educator. It would appear that there is a lack of consensus regarding the definition of critical reflection, as it is difficult to define and your definition may depend on your context and ideology. Many learning environments including teaching, nursing, business and social work utilize various strategies to facilitate reflection, including learning contracts and journals. Models of reflection, based on a philosophical approach, may be considered to assist students develop an understanding of critical reflection. The framework chosen to guide students’ reflections may be determined by the expectations of the learning outcomes. It would seem that critical reflection is generally understood to be difficult, contested terrain, that appears to be attractive on paper but is complex to put into action. Further studies are required to identify the true nature of critical reflection in cooperative education.