As faculty director of an undergraduate leadership program that is part of the public policy studies department at Duke University, the author has been developing a pedagogy that introduces students to difficult social issues through community-based internships, and asks them to imagine what kind of leadership it would take to address those issues effectively. This article presents the author's analytic framework for critical reflection and describes how it supports political engagement and leadership development. The hypothesis is that students can learn about complex social systems, policy change, and leadership through a reflective practice that combines experience with academic study. As they develop their knowledge of "how things work," and simultaneously refine their sense of civic agency, students become politically engaged. In preparation for a longitudinal study, a comprehensive program review was conducted in order to elaborate the pedagogy for political engagement, and to refine outcome goals for students. The critical reflection process follows three distinct, developmental sequences in the acquisition of knowledge and skills for public service. The sequence includes personal, interpersonal, and public leadership dimensions. The author discusses each of the three developmental stages of reflective practice. Lessons learned about teaching critical reflection are presented. (Contains 1 table and 3 notes.)