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Introduction
The concept and practices of reflection have generated a great deal of interest over the last decades. Many articles and books on the subject of reflection have appeared in the wake of the publication of Donald A. Schön's seminal book The Reflective Practitioner ([45] Schön, 1983). Despite this more recent attention, the foundation for the concept of reflection goes back to John Dewey's writings in the early part of the twentieth century. Dewey saw the act of reflection as central to human learning and conceptualized it as "active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusion to which it tends" ([9] Dewey, 1933, p. 9). Reflection is typically described as a mechanism to translate experience into learning, by examining one's attitudes, beliefs and actions, to draw conclusions to enable better choices or responses in the future.
The literature on reflection has largely focused on reflection in the context of education, training and preparing for work or a profession. The role of workplace reflection and learning for practitioners and managers in work has received far less attention ([4] Boud et al. , 2006; [27] Gray, 2007). The emergence of the evidence-based practice agenda has further highlighted the importance of workplace learning and reflection, as practitioners are increasingly expected to critically appraise research studies and integrate new findings into their practice ([49] Thomas, 2004; [50] Trinder, 2006; [21] Gabbay and Le May, 2011). However, caution has been raised that evidence-based practice without the benefit of careful analysis or reflection may have unforeseen and potentially harmful effects ([28] Gray et al. , 2009). There is often a need to unlearn outdated or ineffective knowledge or habits that might otherwise act as barriers to new learning ([34] Miller and Mount, 2001; [44] Rushmer and Davies, 2004). A more evidence-based practice requires reflecting practitioners who are able to synthesize research-based knowledge with their own practice-based knowledge acquired through experience ([39] Nutley et al. , 2007). However, the process of integrating research-based and practice-based knowledge has not been the focus of much study.
This article presents a theoretical framework with the aim of contributing to improved understanding of how workplace reflection can provide...