Introduction  

What is already known about this topic? 

Stephen Brookfield is an important thinker and practitioner in the field of teaching and learning  

The four lenses of reflective practice constitute a well-known framework for the practice of reflection  

What this report adds 

The article outlines how some of Brookfield’s concepts can be applied in the classroom  

Implications for practice or policy 

Theory is an important ally in the development of teaching practice  

What’s the point of theory in educational practice? How can I use students’ insights to improve my teaching practice? Are my classrooms really learner-centred? Or do I just think they are because I get students to discuss topics in circles? Stephen Brookfield has been addressing questions like this since the early 1970s and during this time he has written numerous articles and books applying insights from the literature on critical theory and reflective practice to produce a wide-ranging body of work. In this piece, we will concentrate on three aspects of Brookfield’s work:  

1. The four lenses of reflective practice.  
2. The role of theory (Foucault and Marcuse) in illuminating practice.  
3. The dynamics of learner-centred classrooms.  

We will also provide suggestions for how some of Brookfield’s ideas can be put into practice in online learning environments.  

The four lenses of critical reflection  

Brookfield (2017) makes the point that the perspectives and frameworks used to interpret our practices and experiences tend to be one-dimensional.   

“ [We are] prisoners trapped within the frameworks we use to assign meaning to our experience. ” (Brookfield 2017, p. 61).  

We may prefer one method of framing our experiences because that has worked in the past or there may be a particular theory that has been useful to guide or support our practice. The consequence of this, of course, is that although one perspective may be necessary to frame and provide meaning to our experiences, one lens may not be sufficient to provide a view of our practice viewed as a totality of classroom practice, interaction with students or theoretical world views. As Brookfield puts it:  

“ The only way we can become aware of our assumptions, particularly one’s we’ve missed or never been aware of…is to see ourselves from unfamiliar angles. ” (Brookfield, 2017, p. 61).  

It is this idea of ‘unfamiliar angles’ that underpins the four critical lenses which provide the foundation for Brookfield’s framework of and for teaching practice. These are described as students’ eyes , colleagues’ perceptions , personal experience and the role of theory .  

Students’ eyes  

According to Brookfield, this lens is the most valuable. This is because widely held assumptions about classroom practice, curriculum and assessment design or even the type of performativity that is practised in a classroom setting needs to be framed against the student perspective. Receiving ongoing, anonymous feedback from students related to their understanding of content or how learning activities are being implemented, is a crucial aspect of teaching practice. Anonymity and student trust in the anonymity of their responses is critical because it can function as the foundation for a relationship between teachers and students that is built on trust.  

Colleagues’ perceptions  

In the literature on transformative literature (the work of Mezirow (1923-2014) is a good example), the term ‘disorienting dilemma’ is often used to describe situations or events which are significantly dissonant with our prior experience or interpretive frames. Teaching can sometimes result in the experience of a disorienting dilemma and colleagues’ perspectives can be useful to help reflect on the event and to provide insights which would not necessarily emerge after solo reflection. In this context, Brookfield points to the role of teacher reflection groups to promote reflection on colleagues’ practice and the opportunity to teach as part of a team if there is an opportunity to do so.  

Personal experience  

Brookfield provides powerful reasons why personal experience has a significant role to play in teaching practice. His personal experience of disliking discussion-based formats has meant that he provides explicit rubrics for these kinds of activities (for example, marks for responding or listening rather than speaking) and equally, his assessments are designed as flexibly as possible to avoid the closed-book examinations which he personally struggled with as a younger learner. Personal experience, therefore, is a significant contributing factor to the development of individual teaching practices.  

The role of theory  

This is Brookfield’s fourth lens and it is not surprising that Brookfield chooses an example from the work of Marcuse (1898-1979) to illustrate the role of theory in teaching practice given his scholarship in critical theory and education. Marcuse’s concept of ‘repressive tolerance’ is referenced by Brookfield to indicate the dual role of theory. On the one hand, theory can be used as a frame to think about practice differently or it is held up as an articulation of how one’s practice is currently being conducted. Brookfield sums up the importance of the theory for his practice in the following way:  

“ It [the concept of repressive tolerance] challenged my reluctance to critique students’ factual or reasoning errors and sent me on a journey to how to point these out without permanently shutting discussion down. ” (Brookfield, 2017. p. 74)  

The presence of ‘false equivalence’ in the public realm is a good example of how tolerance for certain claims can result in the perception that opposing positions have equal validity. For example, t he scientific community is in broad agreement that global warming results from human activity but some media outlets and high-profile individuals dispute the orthodoxy in favour of alternative positions which are presented as legitimate and equally valid. This is a problematic position because it undermines the role of science in the establishment of truth claims. The theory of ‘repressive tolerance’ can be used to justify the decision to challenge perspectives or positions that lack validity or legitimacy such as the claims which dispute the origins and causes of global warming.  

The distinction between sovereign power and disciplinary power and how these two forms of power are enacted in the context of teaching and learning is a significant theoretical insight attributed to the work of Michel Foucault (1926-1984). For Brookfield, disciplinary power (or the manner of the exercise of power at all levels of social life and practice) manifests itself in various ways in education.   

The example of the use of the circle (as opposed to a hierarchical arrangement of space which indicates the exercise of sovereign power) illustrates how the circle can function as an instrument of surveillance even though the intention behind its adoption is to break down the power differential between teachers and students. For example, the circle can function as a space which amplifies the knowledge or confidence of certain students but others might see it as a tool of surveillance which exposes their level of knowledge or confidence. For these students, the circle amplifies their reluctance to participate. The circle form, therefore, can become a tool to sharpen divisions in the classroom rather than promoting the democratisation of the discursive process. This is an example of disciplinary power in action because although students are not subject to instructions from the teacher, they are nonetheless subject to surveillance by their peers and behaviours and practices are modified as a consequence of this.  

One method of diluting the effect of disciplinary power is to use the circle form as part of a learning activity commonly known as the ‘fishbowl’ ( https://lf.westernsydney.edu.au/engage/activity/fish-bowl ). Students are given the opportunity to experience what it is like to participate in discussions within and outside the circle. This provides students with an opportunity to reflect on their experiences of being participants and observers of the learning process.  

Learner-centred classrooms  

In Brookfield et al. (2023), a chapter is devoted to what it means to teach well and some of the key ideas from the chapter are outlined in the following section. He starts with a definition of teaching which builds upon the importance of experimentation and reflection.  

[Teaching] is the experimental pursuit of beautiful consequences…we need to be experimental in this pursuit, always open to examining experience, rethinking assumptions, and taking risk.” (Brookfield et. al, 2023. p.12 )   

Brookfield regards American pragmatism as one of his key influences. The central idea is that much of teaching is about addressing and working with contexts. It is less about ‘what works’ and more about ‘what has worked’ in a particular context:  

“Dewey’s version of pragmatism is based on the idea that knowledge emerges from our continuing adaptation to the environment through a cycle of hypothesis testing and subsequent manipulation of the environment.” (Mason, 2023).  

One of the ways that teachers can adapt to their environments is, of course, to gather as much information about what students like about classroom activities and their feedback on how learning is being orchestrated across the range of modalities and technologies that are available. This information can then be used to adapt to the learning environment through iterative changes. The concept of adaptation to the environment underpins the iterative, naturalistic approach to the development of artefacts, activities and approaches to teaching and learning known as design-based research. The concept can also be implemented in the classroom through a variety of student response tools such as Slido, Padlet or even Zoom-based polling. Student response systems are covered in Western Sydney University’s article on voting technologies ( https://lf.westernsydney.edu.au/engage/activity/voting ). In online learning environments, data about broad patterns of engagement (see https://lf.westernsydney.edu.au/engage/challenge/how-do-i-know-my-learning-environment-is-effective ) can also be used to provide insights into student learning behaviours and this can be used as the basis for a discussion with students about their experiences.   

These tools can provide a useful way to obtain information from students but the other aspect of adaptation is, of course, providing alternative approaches, strategies or activities. As Brookfield says “You’ll have to experiment as your contexts change” (Brookfield et. al, 2023, p. 16). A whole range of activities can be found in this section on the Western Sydney University teaching and learning hub ( https://lf.westernsydney.edu.au/engage/activity ) and different teaching and learning contexts are outlined as challenges ( https://lf.westernsydney.edu.au/engage/challenge ).  

Conclusion  

Brookfield likes to call himself a practitioner rather than a theorist or scholar of teaching and learning. In this very brief outline of some of his work, it is clear that the identity of ‘practitioner’ has a particular cast or form. When Brookfield refers to theory, for example, it is seen as a tool to illuminate or amplify questions or challenges that have emerged during practice. The practitioner, therefore, is a combination of learning theorist, expert in their field, learning designer and someone who practises a particular form of knowledge building about students and the broad contexts in which teaching and learning occur. This represents a high bar but it is a powerful reminder of the complex interplay of elements that constitute the practice of teaching.  

References  

Brookfield, S. (2001). Unmasking Power: Foucault and Adult Learning. Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, 15(1), 1–23. Retrieved from https://cjsae.library.dal.ca/index.php/cjsae/article/view/1905  

Brookfield, Stephen D. (2017). Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher, Second Edition. 2nd ed. Jossey-Bass.  

Brookfield, S.D., Rudolph, J., & Tan, S. (2023). Teaching Well: Understanding Key Dynamics of Learning-Centered Classrooms (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003447467  

Mason, G. (2023). What can John Dewey teach us about teaching and learning in the 21st century ? Western Sydney University Online Engagement and Teaching Hub. https://lf.westernsydney.edu.au/engage/theory/2980