A reflective approach to teaching journalism

Abstract

This article considers how professionals ‘think by doing’ and provides a theoretical rationale for reflective practice as a model for teaching journalism. This approach focuses on the development of graduate efficacy in the intellectual skills and the understanding required of professional practitioners. It is argued here that by ‘blocking the exits’ to escape from the implications and effects of their practice, students are held to high benchmarks of critical thinking. Further, the ‘lived’ experience provided by a problem-based pedagogy develops confidence and a sense of competence in students. Moreover, this approach integrates thinking and doing in a way that binds practices with the social and ethical effects produced.