In recent decades, reflective practice has become a key driver and an increasingly influential referent in the professional development of student teachers. Yet, the complex, somewhat elusive boundaries of reflective practice make this phenomenon difficult to define. The purpose of this study was to analyse and synthesise existing literature and research in order to better understand the multi-faceted nature of reflective practice. From an informed platform, a new conceptual framework was designed both to capture and investigate nine dimensions of reflective practice in which student teachers could demonstrate capacity and commitment. Eighty year 4 student teachers, who had undertaken action research projects during their final school experience, and thirteen university lecturers, who had guided the student teachers throughout this enterprise, were participants in this study. Data were gathered through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews that incorporated a series of closed and open-ended responses. Quantitative data were analysed to calculate statistical frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations; and, qualitative data via analytic induction methods to identify common themes and to extract narratives of experience. Findings showed that a majority (>90%) of student teachers perceived their capacity and commitment to engage in six dimensions of reflective practice [and most (>80%) in eight] had influenced their professional development. These perceptions were not wholly congruent with those of dissertation supervisors with variance between supervisors also evident. Qualitative distinctions, in the use of three types of reflective conversation, were found between male and female student teachers and within each gender group. Several constraints in the development of student teachers’ reflective practice also emerged. Further research is recommended into: what evidence and criteria shape judgments about reflective practice; how school-based staff might effectively support student teachers’ development of reflective practice; and, how the framework designed for this study might be replicated and refined to enhance reflective practice in personal professional development across disciplines.

[pt] É no contexto da proposta kantiana para a prática da moralidade que a tese está centrada. Dentro desse contexto, o foco principal é o problema da educação, pois a educação para a moralidade tem pressupostos e requer determinadas práticas, que são melhor compreendidas se levamos em conta o âmbito do sistema kantiano. De acordo com Kant, a razão humana cumpre não só uma função teórica, voltada para o conhecimento da natureza, mas também uma função prática, voltada para ideia de liberdade. Isso faz com que a questão da moralidade e da educação tenham seu cerne na ideia de liberdade. Em função dessa ideia, segundo Kant, a razão é capaz de determinar a vontade e o agir do ser humano, possibilitando um agir autônomo. É com vistas à constituição de sujeitos autônomos que a tarefa da educação moral se faz necessária, tarefa que requer um longo caminho de formação do caráter e do aprendizado pela liberdade, aprendizado cujos pressupostos residem nos princípios da razão pura, os únicos que possibilitam a moralidade. / [en] This thesis is centered on Kant s proposal for the practice of morality. In this context, the main focus is the problem of education, since education for morality has principles and requires certain practices that make better sense if we take into consideration the realm of Kant s system. According to Kant, the human reason fulfills not only a theoretical function, aimed at the knowledge of nature, but also a practical function, aimed at the idea of freedom. Therefore, the question of morality and education has its roots in the idea of freedom. Reason is capable of determining the will and the actions of human beings, making an autonomous action possible. Aiming at the constitution of autonomous subjects, the task of moral education is necessary, and it requires a long path of formation of character and learning through freedom. The foundations of this learning reside in the principles of pure reason, the only ones to make morality possible.