This paper reflects on Donald Schön work on reflective practice, and why it might be seen as a means of moving toward phronesis, or practical wisdom, in health and social care. First, it begins with a consideration of why we might need reflection and particularly why it might be crucial at this point in history. Second, it considers the legacy of some of Donald Schön’s work on reflective practice highlighting four significant legacies of his theory including: (a) the limits of technical rationality and his proposal for an epistemology of practice; (b) his recognition of the artistry of practice; (c) his explication of an embodied type of reflection; and (d) his recognition of the significance of individual and disciplinary frames in professional practice. A case study is presented to show how Schön’s ideas go some way toward a re‐invigoration of a notion of phronesis (wise action) as a complement to episteme (scientific knowledge) and techne (pragmatic knowledge) in professional life.
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Elizabeth Anne Kinsella (2010) studied this question.
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