In a philosophical study published in ECNU Review of Education , the authors argue that today's reflective practice, once a spiritual technology for self‑care, has become a neoliberal governance tool. They call for reflective practice as Aristotelian phronesis, so teachers can flourish as students' in loco parentis .
Drawing on Michel Foucault, Yulong Li and Xiaojing Liu challenges the uncritical celebration of reflective practice in teacher education, arguing that contemporary reflective practice has drifted far from its ancient meaning. Once a technology for "care of the self" that forged what Foucault called "spiritual corporality," reflection was gradually disenchanted through the Cartesian moment, Christian confession, and, ultimately, neoliberal governance.
"Reflective practice is frequently superficially viewed either as a technique for improving craftsmanship or as an epistemological method to aid decision‑making," the authors write. "Both overlook the ontological ethics of phronesis."
The paper begins by recovering Aristotle's original concept of phronesis. According to the authors, phronesis is not merely practical reasoning or deliberative thinking. It is a three‑dimensional virtue ethics: ontological ethics (to be a virtuous person), epistemological ethics (to think prudentially), and practical ethics (to act ethically). "Ontological ethics is the core, from which the epistemological and practical ethics are derived," they explain. Yet most contemporary reflective practice, including Schön's "reflection‑in‑action" and Van Manen's pedagogical thoughtfulness, emphasises thinking and doing, not being. "Reflective practice cares more about improving practitioners' epistemological ethics, leaving the habituation of a virtuous person rather neglected."
To understand this loss, Li and Liu turn to Michel Foucault's analysis of truth and subjectivity. In ancient Greece, reflection was embedded in a culture of "care of the self". The Delphic precept "take care of yourself" stood above "know yourself". One knew oneself only through practices of care of the self that changed, purified, and transfigured the self. "There can be no truth without a conversion or a transformation of the subject," the authors quote Foucault. Reflection in antiquity was ethical, spiritual, and ontological.
This changed with the "Cartesian moment." Descartes made the self‑evidence of the subject's own existence the source of access to truth. "A man's training in care of the self to change his being fell as a relic," the paper states. Reflection was reduced to a purely cognitive activity—to know, to study, to remember scientific consensus. "Reflection after the Cartesian moment was disenchanted into an epistemological movement."
According to Foucault, Christianity further twisted the tradition. Truth became the Bible, and reflection became confession—exposing sins, desires, and unfaithful thoughts to God or a master. Although confession later seemed to fade, its technique remained and was secularised. Today, the paper argues, reflective practice operates as a secularised confession. Nurses and teachers are expected to verbalise themselves, to keep logbooks, to share experiences for analysis and rectification. "Reflection is incorporated into the toolkit of neoliberal governance."
Under neoliberalism, humans become Homo economicus, an entrepreneur and product of himself, whose capital is embodied knowledge. Lifelong learning and reflective practice are the means to keep that capital from becoming outdated. But this is a form of governance through desire. "When reflective practice is absorbed into the technology of governance, its users will exploit themselves by continuously examining and disclosing themselves." Rather than caring for the self, reflective practice today often leads to self‑exploitation and the deduction of subjectivity.
The authors do not stop at critique. They propose a re‑enchantment of reflective practice as Aristotelian phronesis, centred on teacher flourishing. Drawing on Van Manen, they argue that a flourishing teacher acts as students' in loco parentis —a temporary parent who protects and prepares children for an unknown future. "Flourishing teachers should do well as their students' in loco parentis ." This requires pedagogical tact, which is the habituation of virtue in daily practice. "Tact in education equips teachers with the sensitivity to determine what kind of intervention is beneficial for a student and how deeply they should involve themselves."
The paper concludes that even though reflective practice has lost its antique philosophical meaning, it can still be a personal toolkit but only when its ontological ethics are reactivated. "The virtue of a teacher depends on their habituation of pedagogic tact." Teacher professional development, the authors argue, must move beyond technical rationality and empiricism. "It is the teacher's subjectivity, or inner personal identity, that determines the teacher's pedagogical wits."
Ultimately, Li and Liu call for an ethical turn in teacher education—a return to the ancient charisma of phronesis as virtue, especially the virtue of character. "Only when the ontological ethics, the ethical being of the teacher— in loco parentis —is reactivated, is reflective practice re‑enchanted with phronesis."
ECNU Review of Education
Literature review
Not applicable
Reflecting on Reflective Practice: Philosophical Critique of Its Ontological Ethics and the Case for Teacher Flourishing
15-May-2026
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.