In a groundbreaking philosophical critique published in the ECNU Review of Education, researchers Yulong Li and Xiaojing Liu scrutinize the prevailing paradigms of reflective practice in teacher education, arguing that what was once a profound spiritual technology has been reduced to a mechanism of neoliberal control. Their study calls for a radical re-envisioning of reflective practice, centering it on Aristotelian phronesis to empower teachers to flourish as guardians and mentors in their students’ lives.
Reflective practice, long championed as a tool for professional development among educators, is often framed narrowly—as a cognitive process aimed at improving skills or making better decisions. Li and Liu challenge this reductionist view by revisiting the original meaning of reflection in ancient philosophy. Drawing from Aristotle’s concept of phronesis, they expose the multidimensional nature of true reflective practice, which integrates ontological ethics (embodying virtue), epistemological ethics (prudential thinking), and practical ethics (ethical action). This comprehensive ethical matrix, they argue, has been largely lost in contemporary educational theory.
The authors trace the erosion of reflective practice’s depth through pivotal historical and philosophical transformations. They invoke Michel Foucault’s analysis to explain how reflection, once intertwined with “care of the self” and spiritual corporality in ancient Greek culture, was secularized and disenchanted. The Cartesian turn, which privileged rational thought and detached cognition from being, marked a critical rupture. Reflection was transformed from a transformative ethical practice into a predominantly epistemological exercise, confined to knowledge and technical mastery.
Li and Liu further contextualize this transformation by examining Christianity’s role in reshaping reflective practice. Christian confession recast reflection as a means of revealing sins and moral failings, an introspective act oriented toward divine judgment rather than self-transformation. While the religious framework faded, its secularized techniques survived, morphing into contemporary demands for self-examination and accountability in professions like teaching and nursing. This practice has been co-opted as a tool within neoliberal governance, where reflective exercises function as instruments of self-discipline and market-driven productivity.
The neoliberal context recasts individuals as Homo economicus—entrepreneurs of their own human capital, continuously updating knowledge through lifelong learning and reflection. Li and Liu criticize this dynamic as a form of self-exploitation, where the promise of self-care paradoxically becomes an obligation to self-surveillance and perpetual self-optimization. Reflective practice under these conditions loses its capacity to nurture the self and instead intensifies pressure on teachers to commodify their subjectivity.
However, the authors do not resign themselves to critique alone. They propose a re-enchantment of reflective practice by reviving Aristotle’s phronesis—the virtue of practical wisdom. Central to their argument is the idea that teachers must reclaim their role as figures “in loco parentis”—temporary guardians who nurture and protect students’ growth in preparation for an uncertain future. This ethical stance requires cultivating pedagogical tact, an embodied sensitivity that guides educators to discern the most appropriate interventions and levels of involvement on an individual basis.
Pedagogical tact, as outlined by Li and Liu, transcends mere technique or procedural knowledge. It embodies the habituation of virtue through lived experience—an ontological ethics in which being a teacher involves cultivating character and moral discernment. This reorientation underscores that the essence of effective teaching lies not merely in what educators know or do, but in who they are as ethical beings. Reflective practice reinvigorated by phronesis demands an inner transformation that aligns personal identity with pedagogical wisdom.
This philosophical revival has significant implications for teacher professional development. Li and Liu argue that current training programs driven by empirical metrics and technical rationality fail to address the ontological dimension of teaching. They advocate for an ethical turn—a pedagogical framework that prioritizes the teacher’s subjectivity and character as sources of wisdom and effectiveness. Teacher education, in this vision, becomes a space for nurturing virtuous dispositions alongside cognitive skills.
The article also reframes the function of reflective practice from a mere tool for error correction or skill enhancement to a means of ethical flourishing. Reflection, in its Aristotelian form, involves continuous ethical self-cultivation rather than procedural compliance. This perspective challenges prevailing accountability regimes by emphasizing the teacher’s professional integrity and emotional attunement rather than standardized outputs. The transformative potential of reflection lies in its capacity to foster resilience and virtue against systemic pressures.
Li and Liu’s critique taps into broader philosophical debates about truth, subjectivity, and power. By invoking Foucault’s insights on the history of self-care and truth-telling, they situate reflective practice within a genealogy that reveals its shifting functions—from spiritual liberation to disciplinary control. This analysis exposes how educational policies mimic wider societal mechanisms that regulate individuals through norms of transparency and self-exposure, reinforcing neoliberal imperatives.
In conclusion, the authors make a compelling case for reclaiming the “charisma” of reflective practice through a renewed focus on ontological ethics. This reactivation of phronesis aligns teachers’ inner ethical being with their outward pedagogical actions, enabling them to act wisely and compassionately as their students’ temporary caregivers. Such a vision demands rethinking the purposes and methods of teacher education to cultivate holistic flourishing rather than narrowly defined competencies.
This study, a literature review published on May 15, 2026, in the ECNU Review of Education, presents a significant philosophical intervention in educational theory. By challenging the prevailing neoliberal framework surrounding reflective practice and insisting on the primacy of virtue, Li and Liu invite educators, policymakers, and scholars to reconsider the ethical foundations of teaching and professional growth. Their work seeks to restore the transformative power of reflection, not merely as an intellectual activity but as a lived ethical commitment shaping teacher identity and pedagogy alike.
Subject of Research: Not applicable
Article Title: Reflecting on Reflective Practice: Philosophical Critique of Its Ontological Ethics and the Case for Teacher Flourishing
News Publication Date: 15-May-2026
Web References: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/20965311261422771
References: ECNU Review of Education, Li, Yulong & Liu, Xiaojing. (2026)
Keywords: reflective practice, Aristotelian phronesis, teacher education, ontological ethics, neoliberal governance, pedagogical tact, Michel Foucault, care of the self, teacher flourishing, Homo economicus
