Critical reflection: tools for curriculum implementation and innovation

Radical policy reform needs teachers to embrace radical approaches to teaching and learning practices. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of critical reflective classroom practice in helping teachers to adapt more easily to changing policy, societal and classroom needs. Emerging from the theoretical review was the need for teachers to be prepared for changing teaching and learning contexts through a strong focus on critical and reflective classroom practice. A review of earlier literature on critical reflective practice specifically related to teacher education was undertaken as the methodology for this paper. The paper will therefore focus on why I think that critical reflective practice can provide teachers with tools that will allow them to adapt to changing educational landscapes and assist with the implementation of progressive, postmodernist curricula like the National Curriculum Statement (NCS). Darling-Hammond and Bransford (2005:7), contend that in order to prepare teachers for an ever-changing world, the most important goal is to help them become adaptive experts.