Reflective practices in teacher education have been widely adopted but are also questioned in research contexts that privilege standardisation, measurability, and external validation. Although reflective practices have repeatedly been shown to support preservice teachers’ (PSTs) learning and identity development, ambiguities remain regarding how reflective thinking should be conceptualised and evaluated. Thus, in the context of both current educational research and teacher education practices, clarifying the value of reflective thinking has become particularly important. Drawing on Williams et al.’s (2002) five-level model, this study examines how different levels of reflective thinking correspond to PSTs’ self-positioning as both students and novice teachers, as portrayed in their reflective discourse. 

This qualitative study analyses written reflective reports produced by 33 preservice teachers (PSTs) enrolled in a Project-Based Learning (PBL) course. The reports were submitted at the end of the course as part of the programme requirements. The analysis draws on Williams et al.’s (2002) five-level model of reflective thinking to identify levels of reflection and combines it with Kupferberg’s discursive positioning approach (Kupferberg & Gilat, 2012) to examine how PSTs position themselves as learners and novice teachers in their reflective discourse. This integrated framework enables the analysis of both explicit reflective content and implicitly conveyed identity-related meanings. Data were analysed through iterative coding, first categorising reflective segments by level of reflective thinking and then examining patterns of self-positioning across levels.

The findings indicate that each level of reflective thinking contributes uniquely to PSTs’ professional identity development. While lower levels enable PSTs to articulate concerns, expectations, and emerging professional identities, higher levels support shifts in attitudes, pedagogical reasoning, leadership positioning, and professional engagement. These findings challenge the widely accepted view of reflective thinking as a strictly hierarchical skill. Instead, this work suggests that all levels of reflective thinking play distinct roles in professional identity development, thereby constituting a multi-level reflective process. By re-examining reflective thinking, this work contributes to the current debate on what counts as valid educational knowledge and argues for a level-sensitive understanding of reflection as one of the central mechanisms of professional identity development in teacher education.

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