Mirror, mirror on the wall, who in this land is fairest of all?

This paper offers an approach to teaching novice students the concept of reflection and the ways it can be used in practice. The paper is presented in three parts each outlining ways of teaching novice students entering practice placements for the first time. It begins with discussion of a student centered approach to teaching, and then presents the concepts and description of images used to engage students in thinking about the complexity of practice and finally discussed the theoretical underpinnings of reflection in social work.