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Reflection-in-action.Reflection-in action, sometimes called active or interactive reflection, can be defined as conscious thinking and modification while on the job (Hatton & Smith, 1995). This type of reflection can help the reflective practitioner immediately reflect on the action upon confronting it. For this reason,

this type of reflection can also be defined as a stop-and-think process in which a teacher can virtually evaluate the situation and make a decision about it (van Manen, 1991, p. 101). Reflection-in-action help teachers figure out the weaknesses or provide alternatives to unexpected problems immediately. According to Murphy (2013), teachers get accustomed to some anomalies in their classrooms as they become more experienced. That way, they create frames for similar situations in their mind and apply these frames when they encounter resembling conditions. However, inexperienced teachers may not be able to engage in reflection-in-action as experiences teachers. According to Farrel (2007) “novice teachers may have [more of] a problem in reflection-in-action because they have not built up such an advanced schema of teaching routine” (p. 5). Thus engaging in reflection-in-action may seem as practical as reflection-on-action for novice teachers.

Max van Manen and Reflective Practice

As a pivotal contributor to reflective practice, in his book the Tact of Teaching,van Manen (1991) defined reflection as “a fundamental concept in educational theory”, and in some sense it is just another word for "thinking" (p.98).

According to van Manen (1991),reflecting can be described as „engaging in a

thinking process‟ (p. 98). Therefore, the idea of reflection is closely related to the concept of teaching, during and after which educators engage in thinking in order to control, evaluate and construct the information they deliver to the students.

An important point that should be stated about van Manen (1991) is that he addressed the problems of teachers that make them less reflective. Although the use of reflective practice has a significant role in professional development, it may not be possible for educators to utilize it in every situation. There exist some situations in which teachers cannot control the classroom environment or apply their reflection

due to some constraints such as time, crowded classroom environment, or technical problems related to technology. For instance, some schools operate like business, in which teachers have to obey all the rules of teaching. Most of the time administrators provide teachers overloaded schedules or curriculums in which there is no space for the educators to reconstruct or revise their teaching practice. Therefore, the teacher is expected to teach more mechanically and not to reflect on what or how he or she teaches (van Manen, 1991).