Critical incidents are widely used to develop reflective practice in Initial Teacher Education ‘novices’ and generally in professional settings. A critical incident is any ‘novice’ observable experience or activity which presents itself as an important or significant episode open to analysis in writing or in dialogue with ‘experts’. A major value-added aspect of initial teacher education is progress towards meeting the standards needed to teach, i.e. Qualified Teacher Status. Teacher educators therefore maximise value-added from critical incidents through building in opportunities for novices to review, reflect upon them and assimilate the lessons learned. The paper examines evidence that discourse, emotional and affective engagement in the review and reflection phase is essential for maximising impact. This paper reports on an enquiry-based project in one HEI in England to develop understanding of critical reflection on practice in a one-year training programme for beginning teachers involving four critical incidents in the training year.

Expected outcomes are a contribution to the knowledge base about the particular formats for reflective writing, writing styles, chosen areas of content, and the range, types and level of criticality of reflection in the writing. and the role and function of the professional learning conversations in relation to reflective practice.