Reflective practice and its contributions to corporate education

Abstract

In recent years the subject of corporate education has merited growing attention in the organizational setting, given its relationship with topics such as strategy, learning and competitiveness and also in response to the increasing complexity with which the companies are faced. In this context, educational alternatives have gained prominence that allow going beyond the positivist paradigm and "technical rationality"to promote learning from professional experience, enabling review of established assumptions and expanding the possibilities of continued learning. Therefore, this theoretical essay seeks to retrieve the major concepts related to reflective practice to propose applications in the context of corporate education. It shows how reflective practice in various forms may contribute to attending the necessities mentioned above and developthe "reflective practitioner". This practice involves learning from reflection, before, during and after the action. It also involves a review of assumptions and expectations in the case of critical reflection. The essay presents the current context of corporate education, the main methods of reflective practice and discusses how these practices can occur on individual and group / organization levels.