Reflecting to Conform? Exploring Irish Student Teachers’ Discourses in Reflective Practice

A new model of reflective practice for student teachers on school placement was implemented into a teacher education program. The model aimed to encourage critical reflection that challenged hegemonic assumptions and power relations. In contrast to this, the analysis of the student teachers’ reflections revealed a desire to fit in and conform. Reflections portrayed student teachers’ allegiance to conventional practices rather than a critique of them. Issues associated with power relations remained uncontested. The authors explore possible reasons for these low levels of critique and examines the normative effect of cultural practices on student teachers’ reflections.