Reflection in professional education: an investigation into the reflective capabilities of trainee town planners

Abstract

Trainee town planners are required to keep a log book of their experiences in the workplace as part of their professional qualification, and are directed 'to reflect' on their professional practice in these logs. One set of log books was analysed for examples of reflection taking place, exploring what we can learn from this about the candidates' understanding of the requirement. A number of different reflective forms were identified in the log books, although its occurrence varied from candidate to candidate and often sat within predominantly descriptive accounts. It was apparent, however, that description is not unrelated to reflection, with higher quality descriptions in turn more likely to produce reflection. A number of issues were also identified that could prevent or restrict the occurrence of reflection, such as the format of the log books and tensions around the public and private audiences for the document. Rethinking some of these tensions, and more fully articulating the purpose for reflection, could therefore be useful for the RTPI in encouraging more meaningful reflective responses and therefore bringing about more beneficial learning and improvement of professional practice.