It is 40 years since Donald Schon published his seminal text The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action.

The book has had a massive impact on the understanding of professional practice of various kinds, especially teaching.

Schon identified two types of reflection: reflection on action and reflection in action.

Reflection on action involves professional practitioners mulling over an aspect of their practice after it has taken place - what they did, why they did it and how they could have acted differently.

The process enables professionals to learn from their experience and improve their practice.

Reflection in action, meanwhile, enables professionals to reshape their practice while they are practising. As a result, they can adapt their practice to optimise it according to a changing context.

Reflection in action is apparently a very simple notion, but it is clever and significant.

We focus on this aspect of professional practice here in relation to school leaders, drawing on insights from our research in this area over the past 15 years, which has led to many published articles.

Why education needs to reflect ‘in action’

First things first, though - why do educators need to know about reflection in action?

Chiefly because educational leadership is a practice that entails influencing others. When educational leaders influence others, those “others” change and arguably the leader needs to adapt their practice to influence these now-changed others.

That’s why reflection in action is so important in educational leadership.

Another reason it’s important for educational leaders is because of the complex nature of schools.

Schools comprise several systems - teachers, students, administrative staff, parents and various systems in the wider environment, such as inspection agencies, policymaking bodies and governance.

Very importantly, there is a high level of interaction within and between those systems and those interactions by their very nature change those interacting, creating complexity.

The context for school leadership is thus continually changing, which requires a continuous refinement of leadership actions - in numerous areas.

Performance reviews

Our research shows that reflection in action in performance management is very important. Typically, performance management has an annual cycle entailing the setting and, ideally, meeting of targets.

However, the complexity of schools means targets set at the start of the cycle may not remain relevant. Other issues may intervene, which change their appropriateness - from the Covid-19 pandemic to an unexpectedly poor Ofsted inspection, or a member of staff leaving suddenly.

Reflection in action by those managing the performance of a colleague and the colleague whose performance is being managed can therefore ensure targets set at the start of the annual cycle remain appropriate and, if not, are adapted accordingly.

Focusing on the job at hand

Also, in our research, we have argued for the importance of what we call the institutional primary task - what the school is there to do. Working on the institutional primary task establishes the school’s legitimacy as an institution.

The provision of education for the school’s pupils would be a simple and straightforward way of describing a school’s institutional primary task.

This then helps school leaders reflect in action by providing a focus and a reference point. Similarly, the culture of the school staff - “the way we do things around here” - has a role in framing school leaders’ reflections in action.

Collaboration to optimise working

Our research has also drawn attention to the importance of collaboration and how reflection in action, in particular, helps to optimise joint working between colleagues by shaping productive, thoughtful and appropriate inter-collegial interactions.

So, the leadership team of a large school developing a schedule of meetings for the coming academic year will listen to each other’s ideas sensitively, converse in a professional and good-humoured way, and, as they work together, may occasionally ask: “Is everyone happy with how this is going? Could we make this process better? We’re not missing anything here are we?”

Adult Ego Development

Finally, the way school leaders make sense of the complex nature of their schools is central to their reflection in action.

An individual’s mode of sense-making can change over time in a series of stages, a process known as Adult Ego Development.

In essence, the stages are grouped into various phases.

Individuals can move from a phase where their sense-making is framed by their own personal interests; to a phase where they rely on the ideas of others and particular theories to make sense of events; to a phase where they are able to balance both their own ideas, values and interests with those of others.

Our research has shown school headteachers and principals in this later phase are the best at making sense of the complexity of their schools. As a result, their reflections in action are usually the most appropriate, making them the best headteachers and principals.

Looking forward

So, as we mark 40 years of The Reflective Practitioner, it is perhaps time to revisit the notion of reflection in action to find out more about how it works for educational leaders - and for educational leaders themselves to consider their own reflections in action.

What’s more, as more courses for leaders emerge, it is important for the idea of reflection in action to feature more prominently in development programmes - and perhaps most importantly the role of Adult Ego Development in reflection in action, so schools are led by the very best leaders possible.

Chris James is emeritus professor of educational leadership and management at the University of Bath.

Michael Connolly is emeritus professor of public policy and management at the University of South Wales.

Neil Gilbride is associate dean at Ambition Institute.

Melissa Hawkins is a lecturer at Newcastle Business School