Reflections on real life cases: transforming experience into learning. Strategies for training newly hired prison-based educators

Abstract

This article describes a training project for newly hired prison-based educators, during which, among differentstrategies used to foster reflection and sharing of experiences, the facilitators focused on the use of critical incidents. The main goal of the meetings was the development of critical and reflective thinking, and the ability to transform framework references and meaning perspectives. Reflection allows one to realize a circularity between theory and practice that is essential to face the unpredictability and uniqueness of situations in the workplace, refusing automatic, non-thoughtful action.