Presentation Schedule
Critical Reflection and Inclusive Education: A Semester-Long Implementation of Brookfield’s Four Lenses in Teacher Education (106956)
Session Chair: Anastasia (Natassa) Raikou
Saturday, 11 July 2026 15:25
Session: Session 4
Room: UCL Torrington, B09 (Basement Floor)
Presentation Type:Oral Presentation
This study presents an implementation of Brookfield’s four lenses of critical reflection (theoretical literature, personal experience, learners’ perspectives, and colleagues’ perspectives) (2017), over one academic semester within a laboratory-based course. The intervention involved 40 undergraduate students enrolled in the Department of Special Education at the University of Thessaly. The general aim was to explore the potential of systematic critical reflection to enhance students’ reflective skills, while the specific objective was to critically examine pre-service teachers’ beliefs and assumptions regarding inclusive education. The study is grounded in the premise that educators’ beliefs about inclusion are often implicit, and that declared intentions for inclusive practice may not align with actual pedagogical actions. Consequently, the development of inclusive practices presupposes the critical examination and transformation of educators’ underlying assumptions. Throughout the semester, students engaged in structured individual and collaborative activities aligned with each of Brookfield’s lenses, including theoretical analysis, critical incident reflection, peer dialogue, lesson planning, teaching implementation, and collective and individual reflection. Qualitative data derived from students’ reflective texts, lesson plans, and group discussions were analyzed thematically. The findings indicate a substantial deepening of reflective engagement, increased self-awareness, and emerging elements of critical self-reflection concerning inclusion. Students demonstrated a growing ability to identify inconsistencies between beliefs and practices and to articulate more critically informed approaches to inclusive teaching. This pilot implementation suggests that Brookfield’s four lenses offer a robust framework that can inform the establishment of a core course on critically reflective teaching and learning within teacher education programs.
Authors:
Natassa Raikou, University of Thessaly, Greece
Labrina Gioti, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Natassa Raikou is currently an Assistant Professor of Pedagogy at the University of Thessaly, Greece
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