International audience This article proposes to rethink the interpretation and use of Schön’s concept of the “reflective professional”, taking into consideration its high impact and influence in education at the international level, especially in the study of teaching and teacher training. The central thesis supported here is that, in the light of the tradition and philosophy of the humanities and social sciences that structure the intellectual context of the emergence of this idea, the field of education uses an impoverished version and limited reflection. In addition to that, the study aims to revitalize the debate on what is meant by reflection, recovering three alternative ways of thinking about it: as a social experience, as recognition and interaction and as criticism of ideologies and relations of domination.