Reflection as a bridging concept between normative and descriptive approaches to didactics

From a theoretical point of view, it is widely recognized that didactics has both normative and descriptive aspects. The normative approach seeks principles and procedures to decide about aims, subject matter and teaching-learning methods in education, mostly for the purpose of educationnal planning. The descriptive aspects of didactics focuses upon the teaching-learning reality, its contexts and the students' learning experiences, in order to understand the educational process. Traditionnally and philosohpically, these two areas are considered as clearly separated, and there are no straightforward ways from the descriptive ("is") to the normative ("should") approaches to education. In educational practice, these two parts of didactics are intertwined. This paper will present a comprehensive, analytical model, mapping the main components that make up the life in classrooms. In the perspective of classroom and educational development, this model may serve as a tool to understand and to some extent explain the relationships between factors influencing classroom life. The secrets of change in individual teachers' practices are, however, to be found in how they connect and combine normative ideas and descriptive information. Thus, reflection becomes a core concept in the attempt to bridge the two separate worlds of didactics. This paper investigates what kinds of norms and ideals on the one hand, and descriptive and analytical information on the other, that may constitute teachers' reflections, and how this "amalgam" is used in practice. Some considerations are also given about implications for teacher education.