Reflective Learning and Teaching: A Review

Introduction: One of the most important characteristic of human being is his ability to learn. Structuralists believe that learning is an active process through which learners explores the principles, meanings and facts by themselves. Learner’s participation in learning process is one of the active learning strategies and reflective learning is considered as an active teaching method which is in direct relationship with learner’s attempts to advance professional capabilities and competencies. The aim of this study is to determine and present related topics to the subject of reflection in learning for students and teachers. Methods: This review study was performed through searching scientific databases such as Wiley, Elsevier, Pubmed, and Google scholar as well as using search engines such as Google to retrieve results. The key words were learning, reflective, reflective learning, reflective teaching, and reflection. A total of 90 Persian and English published evidences such as articles, books and web pages during 2009-2013 were retrieved and finally 26 evidences related to subject were selected. Results: After the review of selected articles and texts on reflective teaching and learning, issues such as reflection, reflection models, reflection and Kolb learning cycle, reflective learning, advantages of reflective learning and methods for its promotion, and reflective teaching were discussed. Conclusion: Since reflection is considered as an effective method in learning, it seems necessary to continue employing this method for all learners and teachers in all levels.