Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

1996 Winner of the Cyril O. Houle World Award for Literature in Adult Education

"[Brookfield] gently demystifies critically reflective learning and teaching with dozens of practical examples from the classroom in different scholarly fields. Lucid, wise, jargon-free, personal and fluently written. Required reading for educators of adults everywhere and for all faculty development programs."
-- Jack Mezirow, emeritus professor of adult education, Teachers College, Columbia University

Building on the insights of his highly acclaimed earlier work, The Skillful Teacher, and applying the principles of adult learning, Brookfield thoughtfully guides teachers through the processes of becoming critically reflective about teaching, confronting the contradictions involved in creating democratic classrooms, and using critical reflection as a tool for ongoing personal and professional development.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• What It Means to Be a Critically Reflective Teacher
• Becoming Critically Reflective: A Process of Learning and Change
• Learning to Know Ourselves: The Value of Autobiography
• Surprised by the Familiar: What Autobiographies Reveal
• Seeing Ourselves Through Our Students' Eyes
• Understanding Classroom Dynamics: The Critical Incident Questionnaire
• Holding Critical Conversations About Teaching
• Solving Problems Collaboratively: The Good Practices Audit
• Storming the Citadel: Reading Theory Critically
• Using the Literature of Critical Reflection
• Negotiating the Risks of Critical Reflection
• Creating a Culture of Reflection

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

In a clearly written but sometimes simplistic book, Brookfield offers some useful prompts and activities for self-evaluation and ways to foster productive dialogue about teaching and reflection. However, this text demonstrates clearly that it is possible to spend too much time on process. Nowhere does Brookfield consider students learning something or teachers teaching something. The array of techniques and exercises (e.g., autobiography, learning logs) may make the book useful for reference, but it has little to say about teaching. It fetishizes teaching and reflection to a degree that may prove counterproductive for both teaching and learning. Although its bibliography is impressive, the work is largely derivative and summary, and follows current trendy theorizing among educators concerning reflection, empowerment, etc. Donald A. Schon's The Reflective Practitioner (CH, Apr'83) is probably all one needs to read in this area. Graduate; faculty. M. J. Carbone Muhlenberg College

Author notes provided by Syndetics

STEPHEN D. BROOKFIELD is Distinguished Professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. He has written widely on the topics of adult education, critical thinking, and teaching and has received numerous awards for his books, including the Cyril O. Houle World Award for Literature in Adult Education and the Imogene E. Okes Award for Outstanding Research in Adult Education.