Critically reflective practice is a process of inquiry involving practitioners in trying to discover, and research, the assumptions that frame how they work. Critically reflective practitioners constantly research these assumptions by seeing practice through four complementary lenses: the lens of their own autobiographies as learners of reflective practice, the lens of learners' eyes, the lens of colleagues' perceptions, and the lens of theoretical, philosophical, and research literature. Reviewing practice through these lenses makes us more aware of those submerged and unacknowledged power dynamics that infuse all practice settings. It also helps us detect hegemonic assumptions-assumptions that we think are in our own best interests but that actually work against us in the long term.Becoming aware of our assumptions is a puzzling and contradictory task. Very few of us can get very far doing this on our own. No matter how much we may think we have an accurate sense of ourselves, we are stymied by the fact that we are using our own interpretive filters to become aware of our own interpretive filters. This is the equivalent of a dog trying to catch its tail, or of trying to see the back of your head while looking in the bathroom mirror. To some extent, we are all prisoners trapped within the perceptual frameworks that determine how we view our experiences. A self-confirming cycle often develops whereby our uncritically accepted assumptions shape actions that then only serve to confirm the truth of those assumptions. We find it very difficult to stand outside ourselves and see how some of our most deeply held values and beliefs lead us into distorted and constrained ways of being.To become critically reflective, we need to find some lenses that reflect back to us a stark and differently highlighted picture of who we are and what we do. When we embark on this journey, we have the four lenses mentioned earlier. Viewing what we do through these different lenses alerts us to distorted or incomplete aspects of our assumptions that need further investigation. Let me say more about each of these. Professions, Volume 18,. Printed in the U.S.A. Copyright © 1998 The Alliance for Continuing Medical Education, the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education, and the Council on CME, Association for Hospital Medical Education. All rights reserved. The Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Theoretical Foundations Critically Reflective Practice

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This paper argues that reframing the concept of self-direction as an inherently political idea comprises an important strategic opening in building a critical practice of adult education. Instead of being equated with atomistic self-gratification, self-direction can be interpreted as part of a cultural tradition that emphasizes the individual's standing against repressive interests. As such, the concept has some powerful political underpinnings which, if made explicit, could play a significant role in awakening the critical spirit in American adult education. Two inherently political dimensions of the idea are discussed: first, the recognition that at the intellectual heart of self-direction are issues of control and power that are inescapably political; second, the claim that any authentic exercise of self-directedness requires that certain political conditions be in place.

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