reflective practice presentation

Getting started with Reflective Practice

Cambridge International Education Teaching and Learning Team

What is reflective practice?

The process of reflection is a cycle which needs to be repeated. • Teach • Self-assess the effect your teaching has had on learning • Consider new ways of teaching which can improve the quality of learning • Try these ideas in practice • Repeat the process Reflective practice is ‘learning through and from experience towards gaining new insights of self and practice’ (Finlay, 2008). Reflection is a systematic reviewing process for all teachers which allows you to make links from one experience to the next, making sure your students make maximum progress. Reflection is a basic part of teaching and learning. It aims to make you more aware of your own professional knowledge and action by ‘challenging assumptions of everyday practice and critically evaluating practitioners’ own responses to practice situations’ (Finlay, 2008). The reflective process encourages you to work with others as you can share best practice and draw on others for support. Ultimately, reflection makes sure all students learn more effectively as learning can be tailored to them. In the rest of this unit, we will look at the basics of reflective practice in more detail. We will look at the research behind reflective practice, discuss the benefits and explore some practical examples. Throughout the unit, we will encourage you to think about how you can include reflective practice in your own classroom practice. Listen to these educators discussing what reflective practice means for them. How do their ideas about reflective practice compare with yours?

What are the benefits of reflective practice?

Reflective practice helps create confident teachers Reflective practice develops your ability to understand how your students learn and the best ways to teach them. By reflecting on your teaching, you identify any barriers to learning that your students have. You then create lessons which reteach any content which your students have not been able to access to allow them to overcome any obstacles and develop. Being reflective will also make sure you have a wider range of skills as you find new ways to teach. This will develop your confidence in the classroom as you find the best ways to deliver your knowledge of a subject. By reflecting, you will develop abilities to solve problems. Through questioning and changing the way you deliver your lessons, you will find new solutions and become more flexible with your teaching. It allows you to take time to assess and appreciate your own teaching. Reflective practice also helps create confident students. As a result of reflecting, students are challenged as you use new methods in the classroom. From reflection, you should encourage your students to take new challenges in learning, developing a secure and confident knowledge base. Reflective practice makes sure you are responsible for yourself and your students Reflecting on your teaching will help you to understand how your students best learn and will allow you to be accountable for their progress. By assessing the strengths and weaknesses in your own teaching, you will develop an awareness of the factors that control and prevent learning. The reflection process will also help you to understand yourself and the way you teach. By asking yourself questions and self-assessing, you will understand what your strengths are and any areas where development might be needed. Reflecting allows you to understand how you have helped others to achieve and what this looks like in a practical learning environment. By asking your students for their thoughts and feelings on the learning, they play an active part in the learning cycle. This allows them to take ownership of their learning and also work with you and give feedback, which creates self-aware and responsible students. Once the student starts to play an active part in the learning cycle, they become more aware of different learning styles and tasks. They become more aware of how they learn and they develop key skills and strategies to become lifelong learners. Reflective practice encourages innovation Reflective practice allows you to adapt lessons to suit your classes. You can create and experiment with new ideas and approaches to your teaching to gain maximum success. By varying learning and experimenting with new approaches, students have a richer learning experience. They will think more creatively, imaginatively and resourcefully, and be ready to adapt to new ways and methods of thinking. Reflective practice encourages engagement Being reflective helps you challenge your own practice as you will justify decisions and rationalise choices you have made. It encourages you to develop an understanding of different perspectives and viewpoints. These viewpoints might be those of students, focusing on their strengths, preferences and developments, or those of other colleagues, sharing best practice and different strategies. When you become more aware of your students’ preferences and strengths, learning becomes more tailored to their needs and so they are more curious and are equipped to explore more deeply. Reflective practice benefits all By reflecting, you create an environment which centres on the learner. This environment will support students and teachers all around you to become innovative, confident, engaged and responsible. Once you start the reflective process, your quality of teaching and learning will improve. You will take account of students’ various learning styles and individual needs, and plan new lessons based on these. Reflection helps focus on the learning process, so learning outcomes and results will improve as you reflect on how your learners are learning. By getting involved in the reflective process, you will create an environment of partnership-working as you question and adapt both your own practice and that of your students and other colleagues. The learning process then becomes an active one as you are more aware of what you want your students to achieve, delivering results which can be shared throughout the institution. By working with other colleagues and students, relationships become positive and demonstrate mutual respect. Students feel part of the learning cycle and are more self-aware. Colleagues can ‘team up’, drawing on expertise and support. This will develop the whole institution’s best practice. All of these things together result in a productive working environment. Listen to these educators giving their views on the benefits of reflective practice. Which of the benefits are most relevant to you and your colleagues?

Image captions

What is the research behind reflective practice?

Educational researchers have long promoted the importance of reflecting on practice to support student learning and staff development. There are many different models of reflective practice. However, they all share the same basic aim: to get the best results from the learning, for both the teacher and students. Each model of reflection aims to unpick learning to make links between the ‘doing’ and the ‘thinking’. Kolb's learning cycle David Kolb, educational researcher, developed a four-stage reflective model. Kolb’s Learning Cycle (1984) highlights reflective practice as a tool to gain conclusions and ideas from an experience. The aim is to take the learning into new experiences, completing the cycle. Kolb's cycle follows four stages. First, practitioners have a concrete experience. This means experiencing something new for the first time in the classroom. The experience should be an active one, used to test out new ideas and teaching methods. This is followed by… Observation of the concrete experience, then reflecting on the experience. Here practitioners should consider the strengths of the experience and areas of development. Practitioners need to form an understanding of what helped students’ learning and what hindered it. This should lead to… The formation of abstract concepts. The practitioner needs to make sense of what has happened. They should do this through making links between what they have done, what they already know and what they need to learn. The practitioner should draw on ideas from research and textbooks to help support development and understanding. They could also draw on support from other colleagues and their previous knowledge. Practitioners should modify their ideas or devise new approaches, based on what they have learnt from their observations and wider research. The final stage of this cycle is when… The practitioner considers how they are going to put what they have learnt into practice. The practitioner’s abstract concepts are made concrete as they use these to test ideas in future situations, resulting in new experiences. The ideas from the observations and conceptualisations are made into active experimentation as they are implemented into future teaching. The cycle is then repeated on this new method. Kolb’s model aims to draw on the importance of using both our own everyday experiences and educational research to help us improve. It is not simply enough for you to reflect. This reflection must drive a change which is rooted in educational research. Gibbs' reflective cycle The theoretical approach of reflection as a cyclical model was further developed by Gibbs (1998). This model is based on a six-stage approach, leading from a description of the experience through to conclusions and considerations for future events. While most of the core principles are similar to Kolb’s, Gibbs' model is broken down further to encourage the teacher to reflect on their own thoughts and feelings. Gibbs' model is an effective tool to help you reflect after the experience, and is a useful model if you are new to reflection as it is broken down into clearly defined sections. Description In this section, the practitioner should clearly outline the experience. This needs to be a factual account of what happened in the classroom. It should not be analytical at this stage. Feelings This section encourages the practitioner to explore any thoughts or feelings they had at the time of the event. Here the practitioner should explain feelings and give examples which directly reference the teaching experience. It is important the practitioner is honest with how they feel, even if these feelings might be negative. Only once the feelings have been identified can the practitioner implement strategies to overcome these barriers. Evaluation The evaluation section gives the opportunity for the practitioner to discuss what went well and analyse practice. It is also important to consider areas needed for development and things that did not work out as initially planned. This evaluation should consider both the practitioner’s learning and the students’ learning. Analysis This section is where the practitioner makes sense of the experience. They consider what might have helped the learning or hindered it. It is in this stage that the practitioner refers to any relevant literature or research to help make sense of the experience. For example, if you felt the instructions you gave were not clear, you could consult educational research on how to communicate effectively. Conclusion At this stage, the practitioner draws all the ideas together. They should now understand what they need to improve on and have some ideas on how to do this based on their wider research. Action plan During this final stage, the practitioner sums up all previous elements of this cycle. They create a step-by-step plan for the new learning experience. The practitioner identifies what they will keep, what they will develop and what they will do differently. The action plan might also outline the next steps needed to overcome any barriers, for example enrolling on a course or observing another colleague. In Gibbs' model the first three sections are concerned with what happened. The final three sections relate to making sense of the experience and how you, as the teacher, can improve on the situation. 'Reflection-in-action' and 'reflection-on-action' Another approach to reflection is the work by Schön. Schön (1991) distinguishes between reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action. Reflection-in-action is reflection during the ‘doing’ stage (that is, reflecting on the incident while it can still benefit the learning). This is carried out during the lesson rather than reflecting on how you would do things differently in the future. This is an extremely efficient method of reflection as it allows you to react and change an event at the time it happens. For example, in the classroom you may be teaching a topic which you can see the students are not understanding. Your reflection-in-action allows you to understand why this has happened and how to respond to overcome this situation. Reflection-in-action allows you to deal with surprising incidents that may happen in a learning environment. It allows you to be responsible and resourceful, drawing on your own knowledge and allowing you to apply it to new experiences. It also allows for personalised learning as, rather than using preconceived ideas about what you should do in a particular situation, you decide what works best at that time for that unique experience and student. Reflection-on-action , on the other hand, involves reflecting on how practice can be developed after the lesson has been taught. Schön recognises the importance of reflecting back ‘in order to discover how our knowing-in-action may have contributed to an unexpected outcome’ (Schön, 1983). Reflection-on-action means you reflect after the event on how your knowledge of previous teaching may have directed you to the experience you had. Reflection-on-action should encourage ideas on what you need to change for the future. You carry out reflection-on-action outside the classroom, where you consider the situation again. This requires deeper thought, for example, as to why the students did not understand the topic. It encourages you to consider causes and options, which should be informed by a wider network of understanding from research. By following any of the above models of reflection, you will have a questioning approach to teaching. You will consider why things are as they are, and how they could be. You will consider the strengths and areas of development in your own practice, questioning why learning experiences might be this way and considering how to develop them. As a result, what you do in the classroom will be carefully planned, informed by research and previous experience, and focused, with logical reasons. All of these models stress the importance of repeating the cycle to make sure knowledge is secure and progression is continued.

Common misconceptions about reflective practice

‘It doesn’t directly impact my teaching if I think about things after I have done them’ Reflection is a cyclical process: do, analyse, adapt and repeat. The reflections you make will directly affect the next lesson or block of teaching as you plan to rework and reteach ideas. Ask yourself: What did not work? How can I adapt this idea for next time? This might mean redesigning a task, changing from group to paired work or reordering the lesson. ‘Reflection takes too long; I do not have the time’ Reflection can be done on the spot (Schön: reflection-in-action). You should be reflecting on things as they happen in the classroom. Ask yourself: What is working well? How? Why? What are the students struggling with? Why? Do the students fully understand my instructions? If not, why not? Do the students fully understand the task? If not, why not? Do your students ultimately understand what success looks like in the task or activity? Can they express this for themselves? ‘Reflection is only focused on me, it does not directly affect my students’ Reflecting and responding to your reflections will directly affect your students as you change and adapt your teaching. You will reteach and reassess the lessons you have taught, and this will allow students the chance to gain new skills and strengthen learning. Creating evaluation models will help you to know whether the actions you have taken have had the intended effect. ‘Reflection is a negative process’ Reflection is a cyclical process, meaning you grow and adapt. You should plan to draw on your own strengths and the best practice of colleagues, which you then apply to your own teaching. Try any of the reflection models listed in this unit to help you progress. By getting involved in a supportive network everyone will develop. 'Reflection is a solo process, so how will I know I’ve improved?’ Reflection is best carried out when part of a supportive network. You can draw on the support of colleagues by asking them to observe and give feedback. You can also draw on student feedback. Reflection should trigger discussion and co-operation.

Reflective practice in practice

As a reflective practitioner you will continuously review the learning process to make sure all students make maximum progress. While working through this document you may have identified a model which appeals to you. As well as using a model of reflection, you can carry out other reflective activities to develop your practice. These can include the following. Self-questioning Asking yourself questions can help you understand the effect and efficiency of your teaching. Experimenting with new ideas Trying out new methods or approaches in the classroom can create new learning opportunities. These changes can be as simple as varying a small activity or as adventurous as changing your whole approach or plan. Discussing with other colleagues Drawing on support from colleagues will allow you to cement understanding and get involved with others’ ideas and best practice. Discussing with students Drawing on student feedback will make sure your reflections are focused on your students. By reflecting with students, you allow them to play an active part in their learning and gain insight into what needs to improve to support student development. Observations and feedback Being observed by colleagues will allow you to gain others’ perspectives into your practice and provide feedback and ideas on how to improve. Observing your colleagues can also provide new ideas and approaches which you can try in your own practice. All these approaches are explained in the ‘Next steps’ section and provide a guide of how to carry out reflective practice, using the following. • Learning journal • Lesson evaluations • Observations • Student dialogue • Shared planning Listen to these educators talking about how they reflect. How could you use their techniques in your practice?

There are five main principles that will make sure you get the most out of your reflections − reacting, recording, reviewing, revising, reworking and reassessing. These are sometimes referred to as the five Rs.

If you are new to reflective practice, it will help to ask yourself the following questions. Reacting How will I decide what area of my practice I need to focus on? Will this be decided by looking at data, each learner’s performance or an aspect of the curriculum? Recording (logging your reflections) How will I assess my performance? Will this take the form of an observation, discussion or shared planning? How will I record this? Will this be recorded by yourself, a peer or a student? How will I log this? What documents will you use to record your reflections? For example, a journal, notebook or form provided by your school or institution. When will I log this? Will your reflections be logged straight after the lesson, during or before the lesson? How often will you record these reflections? Reviewing (understanding your current teaching methods) What worked well and how do I know this? Consider what the students really understood and enjoyed about the lesson, and why. How do you know improvements have been made? What did not work as planned? Consider what the students did not get involved with or find challenging, and why. What could I try next time? How could you adapt the activity? Some practical ideas include introducing a different task, clearer instructions, time-based activities and activities which appeal to different learning styles. Revising (adapting your teaching by trying new strategies) What will I change or adapt? This could be a whole task or something specific about a task. Some practical ideas include changing the task from independent work to paired work, adding a scaffold to a challenging task, providing instructions step by step, and making activities time based. Reworking (action plan of how you can put these ideas in place in a practical way) How will I put this in place? Consider what will you need to do before and during the lesson to make sure your changes happen. What will the students be doing differently to make sure they make progress? What materials do I need? What things will you need to put your revised ideas into practice? Some practical examples include coloured pens, larger paper, handouts, cut-up activities, specialised equipment. Reassessing (understanding how these new strategies affected learning) How successful were the new strategies? Once you have redelivered the lesson, consider how engaged the students were. How well did they understand this time? What changed? Consider the following areas of potential change: delivery, planning and assessment.

Here are some activities to help you to further explore reflective practice. Learning journal What is it? A learning journal is a collection of notes, observations, thoughts and other relevant materials built up over a period of time and recorded together. What happens? After each lesson you record your thoughts and feelings regarding the lesson. Use the five Rs in the Checklist section to help focus your journal. Lesson evaluations What are they? Evaluations require you to think back on the lesson, assessing its strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for development. To help focus your evaluation, consider the following questions: • What went well in this lesson? Why? • What problems did I experience? Why? • How engaged and active were the students? • How much learning took place? How do I know? • What could I have done differently? • What did I learn from this experience that will help me in future lessons? What happens? Once you have taught your lesson, record your reflections on the lesson as soon as possible. This will help you keep track of your progress as a developing reflective practitioner and also help you track your students’ progress. Observations What are they? Observations are when someone assesses your practice through watching it in action. These observations should have a very specific focus, for example the quality of questioning or the quality of student-led activities. This focus can then be specific, measured, reflected upon and revised to make sure your students make progress. What happens? Once you have set the specific focus or target area, a colleague will watch you deliver the lesson and give feedback on the strengths of your practice or some possible ideas for development. These observations could also be carried out over a block of lessons to show progression. Student dialogue What is it? This is where you make sure students play an active part in their learning. You will ask them to carry out a short reflection on how well they felt the lesson went and to assess the lesson’s strengths and possible ideas for development. What happens? Ask a student to keep a learning journal of their lessons. This journal could include what they enjoyed, how they felt in the lesson, what they understood and engaged with, what they still need more help with, what they liked about the lesson and things they thought could have been better. Shared planning What is it? Shared planning is where you draw on support from colleagues to plan lessons together. You draw on each other’s best practice to help create innovative and improved lessons. What happens? Shared planning can take many forms: • Planning a lesson with another colleague together from start to finish. • Using a lesson a colleague has produced and adapting it to suit your style and class. • Planning a lesson and asking another colleague to review it. The shared-planning process should encourage talking and co-operation. You should draw on support from colleagues to help develop practice and share ideas. Want to know more? Here is a printable list of interesting books, articles and websites on the topics that we have looked at.

Engaging in Reflective Practice: A Practical Guide

• First Online: 23 October 2020

Cite this chapter

• Andy Curtis 5  

Part of the book series: Second Language Learning and Teaching ((SLLT))

808 Accesses

We begin this chapter by contemplating the question: What is Reflective Practice? and highlighting the important difference between just thinking about our teaching and systematically reflecting on our professional practices. In considering that opening question, we also recognize the multiplicity of meanings of Reflective Practice (RP), and the different ways of engaging in RP. In the same way that ‘one size does not fit all’ in teaching and learning, RP should reflect the individuality of the teacher and their different learners. Some notes on the history of RP are also given, followed by details of the practical aspects of doing RP, using different levels of self-questioning, combined with, for example, video-recording and co-teaching. In the last main part of the chapter, we consider some of the challenges of engaging in RP, and some ways of meeting those challenges.

• Reflective practice
• Reflexivity

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

• Available as PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Compact, lightweight edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info
• Durable hardcover edition

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Bailey, K. M., Curtis, A., & Nunan, D. (1998). Undeniable insights: The collaborative use of three professional development practices. TESOL Quarterly, 32 (3), 546–556.

Google Scholar  

Bailey, K. M., Curtis, A., & Nunan, D. (2001). Pursuing professional development: The self as source . Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.

Brunsting, N. C., Sreckovic, M. A., & Lane, K. L. (2014). Special education teacher burnout: A synthesis of research from 1979 to 2013. Education and Treatment of Children, 37 (4), 681–711.

Chang, M.-L. (2009). An appraisal perspective of teacher burnout: Examining the emotional work of teachers. Educational Psychology Review, 21 (3), 193–218.

Cheng, L. & Sun, Y. (2015). Teachers’ grading decision making: Multiple influencing factors and methods. Language Assessment Quarterly, 12 , 213–233.

Curtis, A. (1998). Teaching in the mirror: Self-reflection and self-development. Professional Perspectives, 3 (4), 1–2.

Curtis, A., & Cheng, L. (1998). Video as a source of data in classroom observation. ThaiTESOL Bulletin, 11 (2), 31–38.

Curtis, A. (2003). Paths to professional development: Part 3: Creating spaces and mapping relationships. The English Connection: Korea TESOL, 7 (2), 11.

Curtis, A., & Szestay, M. (2005). The impact of teacher knowledge seminars: Unpacking reflective practice. TESL-EJ, 9 (2), 1–16.

Curtis, A. (2012). Doing more with less: Using film in English language teaching and learning in China. Research on English Education, 英语教育研究, 1 (1), 1–10.

Curtis, A. (2017). Methods and methodologies for language teaching: The centrality of context . Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave MacMillan.

Famakinwa, J. O. (2012). Is the unexamined life worth living or not? Think, 11 (31), 97–103.

Article   Google Scholar  

Farrell, T. S. C. (2013). Reflective teaching . Alexandria, VA: TESOL Press.

Farrell, T. S. C. (2014). Reflective practice in ESL teacher development groups: From practices to principles . Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave MacMillan.

Farrell, T. S. C. (2015). Promoting teacher reflection in second language education: A framework for TESOL Professionals . New York, NY: Routledge.

Farrell, T. S. C. (2018). Research on reflective practice in TESOL . New York, NY: Routledge.

Freeman, D., & Johnson, K. (1998). Reconceptualizing the knowledge-base of language teacher education. TESOL Quarterly, 32 (3), 397–417.

Gaudin, C., & Chaliès, S. (2015). Video viewing in teacher education and professional development: A literature review. Educational Research Review, 16, 41–67.

Ghaye, T. (2000). Into the reflective mode: Bridging the stagnant moat. Reflective Practice, 1 (1), 5–9.

Greene, M. (1978). Landscapes of learning . New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Kim, H.-K. (2003). Critical thinking, learning and Confucius: A positive assessment. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 37 (1), 71–87.

Kong, F. (1979). The Analects . London, England: Penguin Classics.

Mann, S., & Walsh, S. (2017). Reflective practice in English language teaching: Research-based principles and practices . New York, NY: Routledge.

Marsh, B., & Mitchell, N. (2014). The role of video in teacher professional development. Teacher Development: An International Journal of Teachers’ Professional Development, 18 (3), 403–417.

McMillan, J. H. (2003). Understanding and improving teachers’ classroom assessment decision making: Implications for theory and practice. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practices, 22 (4), 34–43.

McMillan, D. J., McConnell, B., & O’Sullivan, H. (2016). Continuing professional development—Why bother? Perceptions and motivations of teachers in Ireland. Professional Development in Education, 42 (1), 150–167.

Newman, S. (1999). Constructing and critiquing reflective practice. Educational Action Research, 7 (1), 145–163.

Richards, J. C., & Lockhart, C. (1994). Reflective teaching in second language classrooms . New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Ripamonti, S., Galuppo, L., Gorli, M., Scaratti, G., & Cunliffe, A. L. (2015). Pushing action research toward reflexive practice. Journal of Management Inquiry, 25 (1), 55–68.

Rodgers, C. (1998). Reflection in second language teacher education. TESOL Quarterly, 32 (3), 610–613.

Sawyer, R. D. (2001). Teacher decision-making as a fulcrum for teacher development: Exploring structures of growth. Teacher Development: An International Journal of Teachers’ Professional Development, 5 (1), 39–58.

Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action . New York, NY: Basic Books.

Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2010). Teacher self-efficacy and teacher burnout: A study of relations. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26 (4), 1059–1069.

Stanley, C. (1998). A framework for teacher reflectivity. TESOL Quarterly, 32 (3), 584–591.

Trif, L. & Popescu, T. (2013). The reflective diary: An effective professional training instrument for future teachers. Procedia: Social and Behavioral Sciences , 93 , 1070–1074.

Zimmerman, L. (2009). Reflective teaching practice: Engaging in praxis. Journal of Theory Construction & Testing, 13 (2), 46–50.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Anaheim University, California, USA

Andy Curtis

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andy Curtis .

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

Dubai Men's College, Higher Colleges of Technology, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Christine Coombe

English Language Teaching and Learning, Brigham Young University–Hawaii, Laie, HI, USA

Neil J Anderson

School of Education, The University of Notre Dame Australia, Sydney, Chippendale, NSW, Australia

Lauren Stephenson

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Curtis, A. (2020). Engaging in Reflective Practice: A Practical Guide. In: Coombe, C., Anderson, N.J., Stephenson, L. (eds) Professionalizing Your English Language Teaching. Second Language Learning and Teaching. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34762-8_20

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34762-8_20

Published : 23 October 2020

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-030-34761-1

Online ISBN : 978-3-030-34762-8

eBook Packages : Education Education (R0)

Share this chapter

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Lippincott Open Access

Reflective practice in health care and how to reflect effectively

Kiron koshy.

a Brighton and Sussex University Hospital

Christopher Limb

b Western Sussex University Hospitals, Worthing

Buket Gundogan

c UCL Medical School, University College London, London

Katharine Whitehurst

d Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, UK

Daniyal J. Jafree

Reflective practice is a paper requirement of your career progression in health care. However, if done properly, it can greatly improve your skills as a health care provider. This article provides some structure to reflective practice to allow a health care provider to engage more with reflective practice and get more out of the experience.

Introduction

Reflective practice is something most people first formally encounter at university. This may be reflecting on a patient case, or an elective, or other experience. However, what you may not have considered is that you have been subconsciously reflecting your whole life: thinking about and learning from past experiences to avoid things that did not work and to repeat things that did. For example after tasting a food you do not like, you remember that experience, think about it, and when you next see that same food you know to avoid it. In medicine it is one of the best approaches to convert theoretical knowledge into practice.

As you progress through medical school and into foundation years as a doctor it becomes even more common. It is now expected to provide evidence of your reflections through your training on the ePortfolio and then throughout the rest of your professional life in revalidation. Hence, it is a good idea to get it right from the beginning.

First and foremost the biggest mistake you can make when reflecting is to treat it as a tick box exercise and a waste of time. With a bit of thought reflections can be a very useful tool in learning. Would you remember a generic case from a book? Would hanging all of those facts on a patient you have met make it more memorable? It allows you to recognize your own strengths and weakness, and use this to guide on-going learning. By reflection you will develop your skills in self-directed learning, improve motivation, and improve the quality of care you are able to provide.

What to reflect on

This can be anything.

Most reflections are on things that go wrong. These situations stay in one’s head and force us to begin to think about whether they could have done anything differently. For example:

• Postoperative complications
• Missed diagnosis
• A dissatisfied patient
• Failed procedure

However, reflecting on things that went well can often be more rewarding and be just as useful. It can build confidence and help you to repeat it again on another occasion. For example:

• A well-managed cardiac arrest
• An interesting seminar or conference
• A patient thank you letter
• A difficult but well performed procedure

Stages of reflecting

There are numerous models for reflections, but it is important to understand why you are asking each question and how that will help you to reflect 1 . This an integration of many concepts but the broad process is similar in all models: what happened, why does this matter and what are the next steps? 2

What, where, and who—the situation

Think about the situation in detail: What happened exactly and in what order, where were you at the time and who else was involved? What part did you have to play? What was the final outcome?

How did it make you feel—your emotional state

What was running through your head and how did you feel about it? Be honest with yourself: were you afraid, confused, angry or scared? If you can understand how you were feeling at the time it will help you put together why things happened as they did, and help you to recognize similar situations in the future.

Why did it happen—making sense of the situation

Now you have thought about the situation in greater detail, and probably recognized things that would have otherwise gone unnoticed, think about why things happened as they did. How did the situation, yourself, and others interact at the time. Did the situation go well or was there room for improvement?

Could you have done anything differently—critical review and development of insight

With the help of hindsight how would you have managed the situation differently? Think about what factors you could have influenced: is there anything you could have tried that may have improved the situation, or is there anything you did that was particularly important in the situation? It is easy to remember the things that you did not do and it is often the things that you did well that are forgotten.

What will you do differently in the future—how will this change your practice

This is arguably the most important stage in reflecting. You need to pull together everything you have thought of before to learn, change your own practice, and improve 3 . Do not only think about what you would do differently in that specific situation, but think whether you have thought of any transferable knowledge or skills you can utilize elsewhere. For example: if you reflect on a postprocedural complication do not only think of how you would manage this again but also how you would prevent it happening if you performed the procedure yourself! If you are a part of a well-led cardiac arrest do not think only of what you would do next to help, but also how you would lead an arrest in the future, or even how you would lead a team in any other situation!

Re-enforcement—what happens when you put this into practice

Test your reflections: When comparable situations happen again, do things change as you would expect them to? This is a chance to repeat the reflective cycle to refine and develop your understanding.

How to make the best use of reflective practice

As mentioned previously most people see reflective practice as a tick box exercise, but it does not have to be.

Over the next day take note of any interesting situations that arise. Later in the day try mentally reflecting, following this framework, and if you think any will be particularly useful to you write them down. If you try this for a week you will begin to see similar situations arising and how your reflective practice is positively affecting you.

Remember: you do not always have to learn only from your own experience; learn from others’ mistakes as well. Reflect on situations that you have witnessed to work out why things happened as they did, and how this can influence you.

It can be useful to take these reflections for peer or senior review: others may be able to draw light on things you have not noticed. This can allow you to recognize points for improvement and work on them. This can also be a useful learning opportunity for the other involved!

An example to put this into practice

I was involved in a patient confrontation; the patient was unhappy with her hospital stay and wanted to be discharged home. Unfortunately she required a package of care and so could not be discharged. I explained this and she returned to her bed. I was happy I had explained everything to her and continued with my other jobs.

Who, what, and why

I was involved in a patient confrontation; an elderly patient was unhappy with hospital stay and wanted to be discharged home. She was under our general surgical team for a head injury and observation after a normal CT head. She had been seen on our ward round and told that she was medically fit for discharge but still awaiting social services: her house had been reviewed and deemed unsafe so she was waiting for banisters to be installed. The issue was raised with me by chance as I was doing other things on the ward. I explained this to her and although she remained annoyed I was able to make her understand what the delay was and she returned to her bedside. She did not seek further clarification that day.

How did it make you feel

At the time I felt rushed and frustrated. I had a lot of other work to be done and this was distracting from that. She had already been told she was waiting for social services in the morning. I understood why this was difficult for her but did not think I would be able to do anything to help.

Why did it happen

The morning ward round was quite rushed and so our explanation was limited to telling her we were waiting for social services. I can understand from her point of view this may have meant very little, and so my explanation of what exactly we were doing may have relieved some frustration. Having been waiting up to this point, it is no surprise she continued to be angry but may have been accepting of this plan.

Could you have done anything differently

I think my explanation was very good, and the patient seemed happy with this, although I did not give a rough idea of how long this would take. It may have been useful to have spoken to the sister in charge to ask for what progress had been made to feed back to the patient. Also I did not ask her whether she was happy with this explanation: I may have been able to satisfy her frustration further by answering a few more questions or even recognize any other issues at home that may need addressing before discharge. Although the information given in the ward round was correct, it was not understandable to the patient. If this had all been quickly clarified in the morning, the patient would have been happy throughout the day and not caused a problem later on.

What will you do differently in the future

I think that the route problem in this situation was our explanation on the morning ward round. Furthermore, I am not sure how long such issues take to be addressed. To avoid a similar situation in the future I will speak to the other health care professionals on the ward to get a round idea of how long occupational interventions such as this and other community interventions take to start. This means when future patients are medically fit I can spend a moment in the morning informing them of what needs to be done and how long it may take. Hopefully this will allow me to address patient concerns early to avoid them becoming an issue when it is too late.

Re-enforcement

I will reflect on how future situations similar to this develop, looking for an improvement in the quality of my patient care.

Following a structure helps to focus a reflection: I am sure you will agree the learning points are much clearer from a good reflection!

Conclusions

To summarize, the benefits of reflecting are clear: it may be difficult to do initially, but through practice you will develop your own skills and become a better learner. Many structures are available so choose one what works for you. Reflective practice is an important part of your career progression on paper, but if done well, can greatly improve your skills as a health care provider.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no financial conflict of interest with regard to the content of this report.

Sponsorships or competing interests that may be relevant to content are disclosed at the end of this article.

Published online 15 June 2017

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• We're Hiring!
• Help Center

Professional Practice - The Process of Reflective Practice

Reflective Practice

A presentation to assist in understanding Reflective Practice

Related Papers

Ulrich's Bimonthly, March-April 2008

Werner Ulrich

The aim of the series of "Reflections on Reflective Practice," which begins with the present introductory article, is to explore the potential of practical philosophy to become a new, third pillar of reflective professional practice, in addition to today's "reflective practice" mainstream (the focus of which is on psychological rather than philosophical and methodological issues of competent practice) and the conception of "applied science" (which tends to neglect the normative side of competent practice). The essay offers a critique of the soft (psychological) bent of the notion of reflective practice as it has developed in the professional education literature. It is found to neglect essential challenges that professional education faces today, and to have actually become the "reflective practice" literature's blind spot.

Fernando Batista

"Maybe reflective practices offer us a way of trying to make sense of the uncertainty in our workplaces and the courage to work competently and ethically at the edge of order and chaos…" (Ghaye, 2000, p.7) Reflective practice has burgeoned over the last few decades throughout various fields of professional practice and education. In some professions it has become one of the defining features of competence, even if on occasion it has been adopted-mistakenly and unreflectively-to rationalise existing practice. The allure of the 'reflection bandwagon' lies in the fact that it 'rings true' (Loughran, 2000). Within different disciplines and intellectual traditions, however, what is understood by 'reflective practice' varies considerably (Fook et al, 2006). Multiple and contradictory understandings of reflective practice can even be found within the same discipline. Despite this, some consensus has been achieved amid the profusion of definitions. In general, reflective practice is understood as the process of learning through and from experience towards gaining new insights of self and/or practice (Boud et al 1985; Boyd and Fales, 1983; Mezirow, 1981, Jarvis, 1992). This often involves examining assumptions of everyday practice. It also tends to involve the individual practitioner in being self-aware and critically evaluating their own responses to practice situations. The point is to recapture practice experiences and mull them over critically in order to gain new understandings and so improve future practice. This is understood as part of the process of lifelong learning. Beyond these broad areas of agreement, however, contention and difficulty reign. There is debate about the extent to which practitioners should focus on themselves as individuals rather than the larger social context. There are questions about how, when, where and why reflection should take place. For busy professionals short on time, reflective practice is all too easily applied in bland, mechanical, unthinking ways,

Reflective Practice and Professional Development

Development of professional practice through reflection, including an originally created model of reflection.

The Veterinary Nurse

Samantha Fontaine

Physiotherapy

Lynn Clouder

Elizabeth Anne Kinsella

Journal of In-service Education

Ruth Leitch

Cisca Domingo

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

RELATED PAPERS

Emerging Infectious Diseases

Acta Crystallographica Section A Foundations and Advances

Jan R. Seyler

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

Farhat Huma

Canadian Journal of Cardiology

Anshika Kushwaha

Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering

Ismo Hakala

Journal of Social Policy

Chris Grover

Journal of Business Research

Tracy Gonzalez-padron

NEW SOLUTIONS: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy

Rafael Amador, S.J

Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology

Sergiy Sukhanov

Jurnal Elementaria Edukasia

siti fatonah

Food Microbiology

valentina Terio

Revista de Estudos da Linguagem

Neemias Souza

Cornell University - arXiv

Anton Kupriianov

Journal of Research in Obesity

Rekia Belahsen

International Journal of Management Studies

Pooja Yadav

BMC Plant Biology

Dr. Fahad Masoud Wattoo

Acta bioethica

juan carlos gonzález acuña

The Journal of Chemical Physics

American Journal of Psychiatry

Zdzisław Targoński

Bengal Physician Journal

Ritasman Baisya

Rheumatology

Roxanne Cooksey

EMC - Techniques chirurgicales - Orthopédie - Traumatologie

LAMBOTTE JC

See More Documents Like This

RELATED TOPICS

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

• Deakin University
• Learning and Teaching

Critical reflection for assessments and practice

• Reflective practice

Critical reflection for assessments and practice: Reflective practice

• Critical reflection
• How to reflect
• Critical reflection writing
• Recount and reflect

What is reflective practice?

"In general, reflective practice is understood as the process of learning through and from experience towards gaining new insights of self and/or practice. This often involves examining assumptions of everyday practice."

Linda Finlay - Reflecting on 'Reflective practice' (2008)

Reflection is critical to being a conscious, effective practitioner in any discipline. The important thing to keep in mind is that reflecting by itself is not reflective practice. Practice is tied into active, impactful change that emerges from deep reflective learning . 

Thinking and doing

Reflective practice is the act of thinking about your experiences in order to learn from them to shape what you do in the future. It therefore includes all aspects of your practice (e.g. relationships, interactions, learning, assessments, behaviours, and environments). It also includes examining how your practice is influenced by your own world views and gaining insights and other perspectives to inform future decision making.

Why reflect?

Reflective practice benefits you on both professional and personal levels. Using critical reflection as a tool can give you insight and positively impact your study, your wellbeing and your worklife.  Click the plus icons (+)  to view some benefits of reflective practice.     

When to critically reflect?

Critical reflection connects to past, current and future action. Click on each of the flip cards to learn the time-related actions you need to do as part of reflective practice.

Reflective practice and critical reflection

Reflective practice is part of your mindset and everyday doing for both uni and the workplace. The process also relies on using critical reflection as a tool to analyse your reflections and which allows you to evaluate, inform and continually change your practice.

Explore the infographic below for a visual depiction of the reflective practice and critical reflection relationship. 

• Reflective practice infographic

Critical reflection and areas of your practice

Reflective practice relies on your ability to be open to change and to consider relevant evidence that can challenge or inform decision making. Critical reflection is what allows you to deeply understand your study or work practice and then to take actions to improve it.    

You should critically reflect on all aspects of your practice including:

Reflective practice and you

How would you define reflective practice for yourself? There's no right or wrong answer to this question because it's so contextual. The way you enact reflective practice is tied to you and how you think, feel and do. We know that writing down or verbalising your thinking can help you better understand what something means to you. With that in mind...

Take a few moments to think about how you define reflective practice. You can then  record yourself using the interactive audio activity below and download the soundbyte. Any recording you make is only available to you.  Keep this definition in mind as you move through this critical reflection guide.

• << Previous: Homepage
• Next: Critical reflection >>
• Last Updated: Mar 15, 2024 4:53 PM
• URL: https://deakin.libguides.com/critical-reflection-guide

Effectiviology

Reflective Practice: Thinking About the Way You Do Things

• Reflective practice involves actively analyzing your experiences and actions, in order to help yourself improve and develop.

For example, an athlete can engage in reflective practice by thinking about mistakes that they made during a training session, and figuring out ways to avoid making those mistakes in the future.

Reflective practice can be beneficial in various situations, so it’s worthwhile to understand this concept. As such, in the following article you will learn more about reflective practice, and see how you can engage in it yourself, as well as what you can do to encourage others to engage in it.

Examples of reflective practice

An example of reflective practice is an athlete who, after every practice, thinks about what they did well, what they did badly, why they did things the way they did, and what they can do in the future to improve their performance.

In addition, examples of reflective practice appear in a variety of other domains. For instance:

• A student can engage in reflective practice by thinking about how they studied for a recent test and how they ended up performing, in order to figure out how they can study more effectively next time.
• A medical professional can engage in reflective practice by thinking about a recent procedure that they performed, in order to identify mistakes that they’ve made and figure out how to avoid making those mistakes in the future.
• A human-resources representative can engage in reflective practice by thinking about recent interviews that they conducted with potential new hires, in order to determine whether all the steps in the interview are necessary, and whether any other steps are needed.

The benefits of reflective practice

There are many potential benefits to reflective practice. These include , most notably, the following:

• Acquisition of new knowledge.
• Refinement of existing knowledge, for example by correcting current misconceptions.
• An improved understanding of the connections between theory and practice.
• An improved understanding of the rationale behind your actions, in terms of factors such as why you do the things that you do, and why you do things a certain way.
• Improvement of your goals and of the rules that you use for decision-making (this is also associated with the concept of  double-loop learning ).
• A better understanding of yourself, in terms of factors such as your strengths and weaknesses.
• Development of your metacognitive abilities, for example when it comes to your ability to analyze your thoughts more effectively.
• Increased feelings of autonomy, competence, and control.
• Increased motivation to act.
• Improved performance, for example due to learning how to take action in a more effective way, or due to having more motivation to take action.

These benefits can apply not only to the specific domain in which you engage in reflective practice, but also to other domains. For example, if a musician engages in reflective practice with regard to how they play their instrument, they might improve their understanding of their preferences as a learner, which could help them when it comes to their academic studies.

Finally, note that in some cases, reflective practice is viewed as not only beneficial, but outright crucial to people’s goals. As one scholar notes:

“It is not sufficient simply to have an experience in order to learn. Without reflecting upon this experience it may quickly be forgotten or its learning potential lost. It is from the feelings and thoughts emerging from this reflection that generalisations or concepts can be generated. And it is generalisations which enable new situations to be tackled effectively. Similarly, if it is intended that behaviour should be changed by learning, it is not sufficient simply to learn new concepts and develop new generalisations. This learning must be tested out in new situations. The learner must make the link between theory and action by planning for that action, carrying it out, and then reflecting upon it, relating what happens back to the theory.” — From “Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods” by Graham Gibbs (1988)

Overall, there are many potential benefits to reflective practice, including a better understanding of the rationale behind your actions, increased feelings of control, and improved performance, and these benefits can extend to additional domains beyond the one in which you engaged in reflective practice.

How to engage in reflective practice

Broadly, reflective practice involves thinking about how you do things, and trying to understand why you do what you do, and what you can do better. As such, there are many ways you can engage in it, and different approaches to reflective practice will work better for different people under different circumstances.

One notable way to engage in reflective practice is to ask guiding questions. For example, when it comes to reflective practice in the context of a recent event, you can ask yourself the following:

• How did I feel while the event was happening?
• What were my goals?
• What were the main things that I did?
• What went well?
• What went badly?
• What should I do the same way next time?
• What should I do differently next time?

Similarly, you can engage in reflective practice through reflective writing , which can also take various forms, such as answering guiding questions, creating a detailed narrative of a recent event, or sketching a diagram to analyze your thoughts. This can be beneficial when it comes to improving your ability to reflect, and it also has the added benefit of giving you the option to review your original reflections, especially if you collect your writings in a consistent location, such as a reflection journal.

When deciding how to engage in reflective practice, it’s crucial to find the specific approaches that work best for you in your particular situation. This means, for example, that if you try to engage in reflective writing but consistently find that thinking aloud works better for you, then it’s perfectly acceptable to do that instead. Similarly, while peer feedback can facilitate reflection in some cases, it can also hinder it in others, so you should use it only if you find that it helps you.

Finally, keep in mind that it’s generally more difficult and time-consuming in the short-term to engage in reflective practice than to act without reflection, especially when it comes to reflecting as events are unfolding , and this can make people prone to avoiding reflection. Furthermore, the difficulties of reflective practice sometimes make it impractical, meaning that people must avoid it in certain situations. However, in cases where it’s possible to engage in reflection in a reasonable manner, doing so often ends up being beneficial in the long-term, both when it comes to performance, as well as when it comes to related benefits, such as personal growth.

Overall, you can engage in reflective practice in various ways, such as by asking yourself guiding questions about your actions, or by writing about your experiences. Different approaches to reflective practice will work better for different people under different circumstances, so you should try various approaches until you find the ones that work best for you.

The reflective cycle

Gibbs’ reflective cycle is a process for guiding reflective practice. It involves the following steps, in order:

• Description. Describe what happened, without judgment or analysis. For example, you can ask yourself where you were, who else was present, and what happened.
• Feelings. Describe how you felt, what you were thinking, and how you feel now, again without judgment or analysis.
• Evaluation. Evaluate everything that happened, for example, by asking yourself what went well and what went badly.
• Analysis. Analyze the situation, to try and make sense of everything that happened. For example, you can ask yourself why the things that went well went well, why the things that went badly went badly, and why you acted the way that you did.
• Conclusion. Draw conclusions based on the information that you generated so far. Start with general conclusions, and then move on to specific ones that pertain to your particular situation. For example, you can start by forming general conclusions about how people act in certain situations, and then move on to form more specific conclusions about what that means for the type of situation that you’re in.
• Action plan. Figure out what you are going to do differently next time, based on everything that you’ve learned. For example, if you realize that things went badly because you’ve made a certain mistake as a result of carelessness, figure out how you’re going to act in the future to avoid making that mistake again.

Note : in addition to Gibbs’ reflective cycle, there are other models that can be used to guide reflective practice, such as Kolb’s experiential learning cycle . These models generally revolve around the concept of experiential learning , which is learning that is based on experience (i.e., “learning by doing”).

Types of reflection

A distinction can be drawn between three types of reflection, based on your temporal relation to the event that you’re reflecting about. Based on this distinction, there are three main types of reflection:

• Anticipatory reflection.   Anticipatory reflection is reflection that’s performed before an event occurs. For example, this type of reflection can involve asking yourself what might happen, what challenges you’re likely to face, how should you respond, and what you can do to prepare.
• Reflection-in-action.   Reflection-in-action is reflection that’s performed while an event is occurring. For example, this type of reflection can involve asking yourself what’s currently happening, whether things are going as expected, how you’re feeling, and whether there’s anything you should be doing differently.
• Reflection-on-action. Reflection-on-action is reflection that’s performed after an event has occurred. For example, this type of reflection can involve asking yourself what happened, what went well, and what you should have done differently.

These types of reflection are similar conceptually, though there are some minor differences between them. For example, when it comes to anticipatory reflection, you must rely on predictions of future experiences, rather than on those actual experiences or your recollections of them, though you can use your past experiences to inform those predictions. Similarly, when it comes to reflection-in-action, you might need to engage in reflection faster and while under heavier pressure, if you want to be able to use the reflect to inform your actions as the event in question unfolds.

Levels of reflection

You can engage in reflection in different ways and to different degrees . For example, when it comes to reflection, there’s a difference between simply asking yourself “did I do well?” and asking yourself “how well did I do, why did I do what I did, and what can I do better?”.

These different forms of reflection can be viewed as distinct from one another , and as different levels of reflection within a single hierarchy or continuum. A common example of how reflection might be categorized based on this is by differentiating between superficial reflection  and  deep reflection , where deep reflection involves reflection that is more in-depth in various ways.

From a practical perspective, what matters most is understanding that in different situations you might benefit from different levels of reflection. For example, in some cases, it might be preferable to engage in superficial reflection, and simply identify the fact that you’ve made a mistake, while in other cases, it might be preferable to engage in deep reflection, by figuring out why you’ve made a mistake and what you can do to avoid making it again.

Note : other terms are sometimes used to differentiate between superficial and deep reflection, such as shallow reflection or  surface   reflection (in place of  superficial reflection ), and thorough reflection (in place of  deep reflection ).

Using self-distancing to help reflection

In some cases, it can be beneficial to use self-distancing to aid the reflection process. This can help you get better insights into your actions, by reducing issues such as the egocentric bias , which can hinder reflection. To use self-distancing in this manner, you can do things such as the following:

• Ask yourself what advice would you give someone else if they were in the same situation as you.
• Avoid first-person language when considering your performance (e.g., instead of asking “what could I have done differently?”, ask “what could you have done differently?”).
• When considering events you were in, try to visualize them not only from your own perspective, but also from the perspective of other people involved, or from a general external perspective.

Reflective practice as a shared activity

It’s possible to engage in reflective practice as part of a shared activity. This type of reflection can take various forms, such as discussing your experiences with a group of other people, or having someone with expertise ask you guiding questions in order to help you reflect.

Shared reflective practice has both potential advantages and disadvantages. For example, shared reflection as part of a group might help people identify more issues with their actions than they would be able to identify by themself, as a result of being exposed to more perspectives. At the same time, however, this approach might also make the reflection process much more stressful for people who are shy.

Accordingly, it’s important to consider the potential advantages and disadvantages of the various approaches to reflective practice, when deciding whether to use shared practice in your particular circumstances, and if so then in what wait.

Note : a phenomenon that’s related to shared reflective practice is the protégé effect , which is a psychological phenomenon where teaching, pretending to teach, or preparing to teach information to others helps a person learn that information. Specifically, the protégé effect means that helping others engage in reflective practice can improve your own ability to do so, and can also help you when it comes to learning other things.

How to encourage reflective practice in others

To encourage others to engage in reflective practice, you can start by doing the following:

• Explain what reflective practice is.
• Explain why reflective practice is beneficial.
• Explain how to engage in reflective practice.

This can be guided by the material provided in the earlier sections of this article, on how to engage in reflective practice yourself.

Once you’ve done this, you can create an environment that is conducive to reflective practice, and help people engage in it, while keeping in mind that different people will benefit from different approaches to reflection. For example, some people might benefit from having someone go with them through each stage of the reflection cycle, while others will benefit more from simply being shown how reflection works and then being left to do reflect on their own.

Alternatively, you can also take a more externally driven approach to reflective practice, by guiding people through reflective practice, without fully explaining the concept to them.

Finally, note that you should generally avoid forcing the reflection process, or forcing people to “confess” what they’ve done wrong, since this can lead to ineffective reflection, as well as to various other issues. For example, when people know that they will be graded based on their responses during the reflection process, they might answer in a dishonest and strategic manner , by giving responses that they think the person evaluating them wants them to give. Similarly, this kind of forced reflection can also lead to issues such as increased stress, as well as increased hostility toward the reflection process and the people who guide it.

Accordingly, in cases where it’s possible and beneficial, you should allow people to make their reflections private. In addition, you should also avoid sticking to a strict reflection template in cases where doing so is counterproductive, and instead allow people to engage in reflection in the way that works best for them.

Related concepts

Two concepts that are often discussed in relation to reflective practice are reflexivity and critical reflection :

• R eflexivity   describes people’s ability and tendency to display general self-awareness, and to consider themselves in relation to their environment.
• C ritical reflection describes an extensive and in-depth type of reflection, which involves being aware of how your assumptions affect you, as well as examining your actions and responsibilities from moral, ethical, and social perspectives.

In addition, another closely related concept is reflective learning , which involves actively monitoring your knowledge, abilities, and performance during the learning process, and assessing them in order to find ways to improve.

The terms reflective practice and reflective learning refer to similar concepts, and because their definitions vary and even overlap in certain sources , they are sometimes used interchangeably.

Nevertheless, one notable way to differentiate between them is to say that people engage in reflective learning with regard to events where learning is the main goal, and in reflective practice with regard to events where learning is not the main goal. For example, a nursing student might engage in reflective learning when learning how to perform a certain procedure, whereas an experienced nurse might engage in reflective practice while performing the same procedure as part of their everyday routine.

Alternatively, it’s possible to view reflective learning as a notable type of reflective practice, which revolves around improving one’s learning in particular.

Overall, there is no clear distinction between reflective practice and reflective learning, and these terms are sometimes used interchangeably. However, potential distinctions between these terms are generally not important from a practical perspective, since they are unlikely to influence how the underlying concepts are implemented in practice.

Summary and conclusions

• There are many potential benefits to reflective practice, including a better understanding of the rationale behind your actions, increased feelings of control, and improved performance, and these benefits can extend to additional domains beyond the one in which you engaged in reflective practice.
• You can vary the way you engage in reflective practice based on the circumstances, your preferences, and your goals; for example, in some cases, you might benefit from quick reflection as events are still unfolding, while in others you might benefit from more thorough reflection after an event has concluded.
• A notable process that you can use to engage in reflective practice is Gibbs’ reflective cycle , where you (1) describe what happened, (2) consider what you were feeling and thinking during your experience, (3) evaluate what was good or bad about it, (4) analyze what else you can make of the situation, (5) draw generalized and specialized conclusions, and (6) create an action plan for the future.
• To encourage others to engage in reflective practice, you can explain what it is, why it’s beneficial, and how they can engage in it, or help them engage in it directly, for example by asking them guiding questions.

Other articles you may find interesting:

• Reflective Learning: Thinking About the Way You Learn
• Knowledge-Telling and Knowledge-Building in Learning and Teaching
• Intentional Learning: Setting Learning as a Deliberate Goal

• PERSONAL SKILLS
• Personal Skills for the Mind

Reflective Practice

Search SkillsYouNeed:

Personal Skills:

• A - Z List of Personal Skills
• Personal Development
• Career Management Skills
• Creative Thinking Skills

Check out our popular eBook now in its second edition.

The Skills You Need Guide to Life: Looking After Yourself

• Keeping Your Mind Healthy
• Improving Your Wellbeing
• Mindfulness
• Keeping a Diary or Journal
• Positive Thinking
• Self-Esteem
• Managing Your Internal Dialogue (Self-Dialogue)
• The Importance of Mindset
• Introducing Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)
• Memory Skills
• What is Anxiety?
• 10 Steps to Overcome Social Anxiety
• What is Depression?
• Treatments for Depression
• Types of Depression
• Understanding Dyslexia
• Understanding Dyscalculia
• Understanding Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Understanding Dyspraxia
• How To Adult: 9 Essential Skills to Learn as a Young Adult
• Teenagers and Mental Health
• Eating Disorders
• Gender Identity and Body Dysphoria
• Perimenopause and Health
• Managing Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
• Status Anxiety
• Social Media and Mental Health
• Problematic Smartphone Use
• 10 Benefits of Spending Time Alone
• Emotional Intelligence
• Stress and Stress Management
• Anger and Aggression
• Assertiveness
• Caring for Your Body

Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and start improving your life in just 5 minutes a day.

You'll get our 5 free 'One Minute Life Skills' and our weekly newsletter.

We'll never share your email address and you can unsubscribe at any time.

What is Reflective Practice?

Reflective practice is, in its simplest form, thinking about or reflecting on what you do. It is closely linked to the concept of learning from experience, in that you think about what you did, and what happened, and decide from that what you would do differently next time.

Thinking about what has happened is part of being human. However, the difference between casual ‘thinking’ and ‘reflective practice’ is that reflective practice requires a conscious effort to think about events, and develop insights into them. Once you get into the habit of using reflective practice, you will probably find it useful both at work and at home.

Reflective Practice as a Skill

Various academics have touched on reflective practice and experiential learning to a greater or lesser extent over the years, including Chris Argyris (the person who coined the term ‘double-loop learning’ to explain the idea that reflection allows you to step outside the ‘single loop’ of ‘Experience, Reflect, Conceptualise, Apply’ into a second loop to recognise a new paradigm and re-frame your ideas in order to change what you do).

They all seem to agree that reflective practice is a skill which can be learned and honed, which is good news for most of us.

Reflective practice is an active, dynamic action-based and ethical set of skills, placed in real time and dealing with real, complex and difficult situations.

Moon, J. (1999), Reflection in Learning and Professional Development: Theory and Practice, Kogan Page, London.

Academics also tend to agree that reflective practice bridges the gap between the ‘high ground’ of theory and the ‘swampy lowlands’ of practice.   In other words, it helps us to explore theories and to apply them to our experiences in a more structured way. These can either be formal theories from academic research, or your own personal ideas. It also encourages us to explore our own beliefs and assumptions and to find solutions to problems.

Developing and Using Reflective Practice

What can be done to help develop the critical, constructive and creative thinking that is necessary for reflective practice?

Neil Thompson, in his book People Skills , suggests that there are six steps:

Read - around the topics you are learning about or want to learn about and develop

Ask - others about the way they do things and why

Watch - what is going on around you

Feel - pay attention to your emotions, what prompts them, and how you deal with negative ones

Talk - share your views and experiences with others in your organisation

Think - learn to value time spent thinking about your work

In other words, it’s not just the thinking that’s important. You also have to develop an understanding of the theory and others’ practice too, and explore ideas with others.

Reflective practice can be a shared activity: it doesn’t have to be done alone. Indeed, some social psychologists have suggested that learning only occurs when thought is put into language, either written or spoken. This may explain why we are motivated to announce a particular insight out loud, even when by ourselves! However, it also has implications for reflective practice, and means that thoughts not clearly articulated may not endure.

It can be difficult to find opportunities for shared reflective practice in a busy workplace. Of course there are some obvious ones, such as appraisal interviews, or reviews of particular events, but they don’t happen every day. So you need to find other ways of putting insights into words.

Although it can feel a bit contrived, it can be helpful, especially at first, to keep a journal of learning experiences. This is not about documenting formal courses, but about taking everyday activities and events, and writing down what happened, then reflecting on them to consider what you have learned from them, and what you could or should have done differently. It’s not just about changing: a learning journal and reflective practice can also highlight when you’ve done something well.

Take a look at our page What is Learning? to find out more about the cycle of learning (PACT) and the role that reflection (or ‘Considering’) plays in it.

In your learning journal, it may be helpful to work through a simple process, as below. Once you get more experienced, you will probably find that you want to combine steps, or move them around, but this is likely to be a good starting point.

The Benefits of Reflective Practice

Reflective practice has huge benefits in increasing self-awareness, which is a key component of emotional intelligence , and in developing a better understanding of others. Reflective practice can also help you to develop creative thinking skills , and encourages active engagement in work processes.

In work situations, keeping a learning journal, and regularly using reflective practice, will support more meaningful discussions about career development, and your personal development, including at personal appraisal time. It will also help to provide you with examples to use in competency-based interview situations.

See our pages on Organising Skills  and Strategic Thinking to find out more about how taking time to think and plan is essential for effective working and good time management, and for keeping your strategy on track. This is an example of the use of reflective practice, with the focus on what you’re going to do and why.

Reflective practice is one of the easiest things to drop when the pressure is on, yet it’s one of the things that you can least afford to drop, especially under those circumstances. Time spent on reflective practice will ensure that you are focusing on the things that really matter, both to you and to your employer or family.

To Conclude

Reflective practice is a tool for improving your learning both as a student and in relation to your work and life experiences. Although it will take time to adopt the technique of reflective practice, it will ultimately save you time and energy.

Further Reading from Skills You Need

The Skills You Need Guide to Personal Development

Learn how to set yourself effective personal goals and find the motivation you need to achieve them. This is the essence of personal development, a set of skills designed to help you reach your full potential, at work, in study and in your personal life.

The second edition of or bestselling eBook is ideal for anyone who wants to improve their skills and learning potential, and it is full of easy-to-follow, practical information.

Continue to: Keeping a Diary or Journal Journaling for Personal Development: Creating a Learning Journal

See also: Learning Approaches Living Ethically Personal Development

How to Support and Implement Reflective Practice with Teams

01 08 23 | Reflective Practice , Training | 0 comments

Introduction

Reflective practice is a crucial aspect of professional development for individuals and teams. It involves thinking critically about experiences, identifying areas of strength and areas for improvement, and using that information to inform future actions. When applied within a team, reflective practice can lead to increased collaboration, better decision-making, and improved outcomes. In this post, we will discuss how to train and implement reflective practice with teams.

Importance of Reflective Practice

Reflective practice is essential for teams to improve their performance continually. By reflecting on past experiences, team members can identify and address areas of weakness. This can lead to increased collaboration, better decision-making, and improved outcomes. Reflective practice also allows teams to learn from their successes and failures, leading to a deeper understanding of what works and what doesn’t.

How to Support Teams in Reflective Practice

Training teams in reflective practice starts with creating a culture that values and prioritizes reflection. This can involve setting aside time during meetings to discuss recent experiences, encouraging team members to keep journals or logs, and providing resources and training on reflective practice techniques. Creating a safe and supportive environment where team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and experiences is also important.

When training teams in reflective practice, it’s important to emphasize the benefits of reflection. This can include improved communication, increased collaboration, and better decision-making. It’s also essential to guide how to reflect effectively, such as by asking open-ended questions, focusing on specific experiences, and identifying areas for improvement.

Implementing Reflective Practice with Teams

To implement reflective practice with teams, it’s essential to establish a regular reflection schedule. This can involve setting aside time at the end of each week or after completing a project to reflect on the experience. During these reflection sessions, team members can discuss what went well, what didn’t go well, and how they can improve moving forward.

It’s also important to encourage team members to share their reflections. This can involve creating a shared document or using a collaborative tool to share thoughts and experiences. By sharing reflections, team members can learn from each other’s experiences and perspectives.

Reflective practice is an essential tool for teams to improve their performance continually. By creating a culture that values and prioritizes reflection, training teams in effective reflective practice techniques, and implementing a regular reflection schedule, teams can use reflection to improve collaboration, decision-making, and outcomes. By prioritizing reflective practice, teams can create a culture of continuous improvement and achieve greater success.

We believe in supporting businesses to embed reflective practice into regular practise. To learn more, check out here, or why not book a free discovery cal l to see how we can support you?

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use .

I agree to these terms (required).

• My presentations

Auth with social network:

Download presentation

We think you have liked this presentation. If you wish to download it, please recommend it to your friends in any social system. Share buttons are a little bit lower. Thank you!

Presentation is loading. Please wait.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

Reflective Practice-The Frameworks

Published by Katrina Nichols Modified over 8 years ago

Similar presentations

Presentation on theme: "Reflective Practice-The Frameworks"— Presentation transcript:

Developing a Positive Identity

Carper (1978) Fundamental patterns of knowing

How can we teach effectively?

Learning What do we want to learn…. ….and how do we do it?

Learning strategies How do we learn and how can we learn more effectively.

Curriculum Development and Course Design

Reflective Practice: What, Who, When, Where, & How

Foundation of Nursing Studies in partnership with the Burdett Trust for Nursing Patients First: Supporting nurse led innovation in practice Workshop 1.

Reflective learning Tutors’ Conference 17/05/12.

Simulation in the Undergraduate Nursing Curriculum at Queen’s University Belfast: Clinical Skills, OSCE, ILS, High Fidelity Simulation.

The role of Reflective Practice in CPD.

Becoming a Reflective Practitioner

Critical Thinking and Reflective Learning

Experiential Learning Cycle

CRAMLAP Reflective Practice Steve Walsh. Learning Outcomes To provide participants with an overview of the main principles of RP; To consider the advantages.

How to write reflectively Academic Development Tutors

Why the rise of reflection now? Perspectives from Nurse Education Chris Bulman School of Health and Social Care Oxford Brookes University.

How to develop your learning skills

Reflection in Nursing Practice Rebecca Taylor (3 rd year student nurse)

Becoming a GP. Aims of this morning Encourage reflective learning Develop greater understanding of the curriculum and competency framework Value the importance.

About project

© 2024 SlidePlayer.com Inc. All rights reserved.

• Cambridge Libraries

Study Skills

Reflective practice toolkit.

• Introduction

What is reflective practice?

• Everyday reflection
• Models of reflection
• Barriers to reflection
• Free writing
• Reflective writing exercise
• Bibliography

Reflective practice

Reflective practice is the ability to reflect on one's actions so as to engage in a process of continuous learning.

- Donald Schon

Imagine that you come home at the end of a really bad week where everything possible has gone wrong. When you walk in the front door you are confronted with a time machine which can take you back to Monday morning so you can live the whole week over again. You use this opportunity to think about everything that went wrong and what you could do (if anything) to correct things as well as trying to repeat the things that you have done right. It may not seem like it but this is reflective practice - the act of thinking about our experiences in order to learn from them for the future. In real life you probably don't have access to time travel but you can still work towards being a reflective practitioner. We can all undertake activities to think about our experiences, learn from them and develop an action plan for what we will do next.

Reflective practice was something which developed in disciplines such as teaching, medicine and social work as a way to learn from real life experiences. People in these areas would think about encounters with their students, patients or clients, how these worked and what lessons they could take away. Over time many other areas have adopted the principles of reflective practice, including universities. You can use reflection when studying, for example when preparing group work or when working on assignments. It is also useful beyond academia when you are applying for jobs, as part of a professional qualification or just as a way of thinking about your role.

Although a definition of reflective practice has been included above this is only one part of a larger process. Reflection is a very personal thing and different people will define it in different ways. It is important to remember that there is no one 'correct' way of defining what reflection is or how it should be done as a lot of this will depend on your own circumstances.

Think about ... Definitions

Take a few minutes to think about what reflective practice means to you. There is no right or wrong answer to this question and your answer will depend on many factors and your own background. Keep this definition in mind as you read through the rest of the resource.

Why reflect?

You can practice reflection during your education, within the workplace or as part of your general personal wellbeing. It has many benefits at both a personal and professional level and can help you to focus on planning for future experiences.

So what are the main benefits of reflection?

• When you're studying you are likely to be very involved in your work and achieving academic success. It can be easy to become too focused on your work in this situation but reflective practice allows you to look at the bigger picture. Undertaking regular reflection, for example once a term, can help you to think about your goals for studying and your plans for the future.
• It can help with the issue of 'self-talk'. We all have a little voice inside our heads which reminds us of all the things we could have done differently in certain situations. Reflecting on an experience can help to put this voice to use as we learn from what we have done and move forward.
• It gives you areas to improve on or develop. Whether you are a student or in the workplace you will find that you are constantly being asked for ways in which you can develop your knowledge and skills. Undertaking reflections can help you to think about areas that you can work on as well as what you are doing well.
• Students are often asked to reflect as part of their assignments or coursework. Your tutor may give you an exercise where you have to think about a topic in relation to your own experiences or you may have to reflect on something as part of a general essay question.
• Reflection can help you to be more creative and try new things. It's very easy to get stuck in a rut and it can be helpful to think about what you are doing and why you are doing it. This can help to spark new ideas and ways of thinking.
• Human nature means that we all make assumptions about people and situations. Taking a step back and reflecting can help you to challenge some of these assumptions and see things from a new perspective.
• Reflection is a key part of emotional intelligence - the ability to understand and remain in control of our emotions. This is a useful skills to have both for our own wellbeing and when working with others.
• It helps to maintain a healthy work/life balance by offering a defined process for thinking things through. Hopefully you can learn from them and move on rather than dwelling on what happened.

How to reflect

Now you understand the benefits of being reflective how do you actually go about doing it? There is no one magic formula to follow and you will find that what works for your peers might not work for you. Some people find reflecting out loud works for them whilst for others it's something private. You can be really organised and regularly write your reflections down or you can do it as and when you can. It's best if you can reflect regularly as this will help you get into the habit and you will be able to build on what you learn.

The easiest way to get started with reflection is to ask yourself some of the following questions about the experience you want to reflect on. As you look at the questions think about how you might record your answers, for example in a reflective journal, so that you can remember them in the future.

• Reflective questions transcript [Word]
• Reflective questions transcript [PDF]

This section has introduced the concept of reflective practice and what you might use it for. As we move through this resource you will be encouraged to think about how you might make reflection work for you and how you can become a reflective person in your everyday life.

• << Previous: Introduction
• Next: Everyday reflection >>
• Last Updated: Jun 21, 2023 3:24 PM
• URL: https://libguides.cam.ac.uk/reflectivepracticetoolkit

© Cambridge University Libraries | Accessibility | Privacy policy | Log into LibApps

• Bipolar Disorder
• Therapy Center
• When To See a Therapist
• Types of Therapy
• Best Online Therapy
• Best Couples Therapy
• Best Family Therapy
• Managing Stress
• Sleep and Dreaming
• Understanding Emotions
• Self-Improvement
• Healthy Relationships
• Student Resources
• Personality Types
• Verywell Mind Insights
• 2023 Verywell Mind 25
• Mental Health in the Classroom
• Editorial Process
• Meet Our Review Board
• Crisis Support

The Importance of Self-Reflection: How Looking Inward Can Improve Your Mental Health

Sanjana is a health writer and editor. Her work spans various health-related topics, including mental health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness.

Dr. Sabrina Romanoff, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and a professor at Yeshiva University’s clinical psychology doctoral program.

Sunwoo Jung / Getty Images

Why Is Self-Reflection So Important?

When self-reflection becomes unhealthy, how to practice self-reflection, what to do if self-reflection makes you uncomfortable, incorporating self-reflection into your routine.

How well do you know yourself? Do you think about why you do the things you do? Self-reflection is a skill that can help you understand yourself better.

Self-reflection involves being present with yourself and intentionally focusing your attention inward to examine your thoughts, feelings, actions, and motivations, says Angeleena Francis , LMHC, executive director for AMFM Healthcare.

Active self-reflection can help grow your understanding of who you are , what values you believe in, and why you think and act the way you do, says Kristin Wilson , MA, LPC, CCTP, RYT, chief experience officer for Newport Healthcare.

This article explores the benefits and importance of self-reflection, as well as some strategies to help you practice it and incorporate it into your daily life. We also discuss when self-reflection can become unhealthy and suggest some coping strategies.

Self-reflection is important because it helps you form a self-concept and contributes toward self-development.

Builds Your Self-Concept

Self-reflection is critical because it contributes to your self-concept, which is an important part of your identity.

Your self-concept includes your thoughts about your traits, abilities, beliefs, values, roles, and relationships. It plays an influential role in your mood, judgment, and behavioral patterns.

Reflecting inward allows you to know yourself and continue to get to know yourself as you change and develop as a person, says Francis. It helps you understand and strengthen your self-concept as you evolve with time.

Enables Self-Development

Self-reflection also plays a key role in self-development. “It is a required skill for personal growth ,” says Wilson.

Being able to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, or what you did right or wrong, can help you identify areas for growth and improvement, so you can work on them.

For instance, say you gave a presentation at school or work that didn’t go well, despite putting in a lot of work on the project. Spending a little time on self-reflection can help you understand that even though you spent a lot of time working on the project and creating the presentation materials, you didn’t practice giving the presentation. Realizing the problem can help you correct it. So, the next time you have to give a presentation, you can practice it on your colleagues or loved ones first.

Or, say you’ve just broken up with your partner. While it’s easy to blame them for everything that went wrong, self-reflection can help you understand what behaviors of yours contributed to the split. Being mindful of these behaviors can be helpful in other relationships.

Without self-reflection, you would continue to do what you’ve always done and as a result, you may continue to face the same problems you’ve always faced.

Benefits of Self-Reflection

These are some of the benefits of self-reflection, according to the experts:

• Increased self-awareness: Spending time in self-reflection can help build greater self-awareness , says Wilson. Self-awareness is a key component of emotional intelligence. It helps you recognize and understand your own emotions, as well as the impact of your emotions on your thoughts and behaviors.
• Greater sense of control: Self-reflection involves practicing mindfulness and being present with yourself at the moment. This can help you feel more grounded and in control of yourself, says Francis.
• Improved communication skills: Self-reflection can help you improve your communication skills, which can benefit your relationships. Understanding what you’re feeling can help you express yourself clearly, honestly, and empathetically.
• Deeper alignment with core values: Self-reflection can help you understand what you believe in and why. This can help ensure that your words and actions are more aligned with your core values, Wilson explains. It can also help reduce cognitive dissonance , which is the discomfort you may experience when your behavior doesn’t align with your values, says Francis.
• Better decision-making skills: Self-reflection can help you make better decisions for yourself, says Wilson. Understanding yourself better can help you evaluate all your options and how they will impact you with more clarity. This can help you make sound decisions that you’re more comfortable with, says Francis.
• Greater accountability: Self-reflection can help you hold yourself accountable to yourself, says Francis. It can help you evaluate your actions and recognize personal responsibility. It can also help you hold yourself accountable for the goals you’re working toward.

Self-reflection is a healthy practice that is important for mental well-being. However, it can become harmful if it turns into rumination, self-criticism, self-judgment, negative self-talk , and comparison to others, says Wilson.

Here’s what that could look like:

• Rumination: Experiencing excessive and repetitive stressful or negative thoughts. Rumination is often obsessive and interferes with other types of mental activity.
• Self-judgment: Constantly judging yourself and often finding yourself lacking. 
• Negative self-talk: Allowing the voice inside your head to discourage you from doing things you want to do. Negative self-talk is often self-defeating.
• Self-criticism: Constantly criticizing your actions and decisions.
• Comparison: Endlessly comparing yourself to others and feeling inferior.

Kristin Wilson, LPC, CCTP

Looking inward may activate your inner critic, but true self-reflection comes from a place of neutrality and non-judgment.

When anxious thoughts and feelings come up in self-reflection, Wilson says it’s important to practice self-compassion and redirect your focus to actionable insights that can propel your life forward. “We all have faults and room for improvement. Reflect on the behaviors or actions you want to change and take steps to do so.”

It can help to think of what you would say to a friend in a similar situation. For instance, if your friend said they were worried about the status of their job after they gave a presentation that didn’t go well, you would probably be kind to them, tell them not to worry, and to focus on improving their presentation skills in the future. Apply the same compassion to yourself and focus on what you can control.

If you are unable to calm your mind of racing or negative thoughts, Francis recommends seeking support from a trusted person in your life or a mental health professional. “Patterns of negative self-talk, self-doubt , or criticism should be addressed through professional support, as negative cognitions of oneself can lead to symptoms of depression if not resolved.”

Wilson suggests some strategies that can help you practice self-reflection:

• Ask yourself open-ended questions: Start off by asking yourself open-ended questions that will prompt self-reflection, such as: “Am I doing what makes me happy?” “Are there things I’d like to improve about myself?” or “What could I have done differently today?” “Am I taking anything or anyone for granted?” Notice what thoughts and feelings arise within you for each question and then begin to think about why. Be curious about yourself and be open to whatever comes up.
• Keep a journal: Journaling your thoughts and responses to these questions is an excellent vehicle for self-expression. It can be helpful to look back at your responses, read how you handled things in the past, assess the outcome, and look for where you might make changes in the future.
• Try meditation: Meditation can also be a powerful tool for self-reflection and personal growth. Even if it’s only for five minutes, practice sitting in silence and paying attention to what comes up for you. Notice which thoughts are fleeting and which come up more often.
• Process major events and emotions: When something happens in your life that makes you feel especially good or bad, take the time to reflect on what occurred, how it made you feel, and either how you can get to that feeling again or what you might do differently the next time. Writing down your thoughts in a journal can help.
• Make a self-reflection board: Create a self-reflection board of positive attributes that you add to regularly. Celebrate your authentic self and the ways you stay true to who you are. Having a visual representation of self-reflection can be motivating.

You may avoid self-reflection if it brings up difficult emotions and makes you feel uncomfortable, says Francis. She recommends preparing yourself to get comfortable with the uncomfortable before you start.

Think of your time in self-reflection as a safe space within yourself. “Avoid judging yourself while you explore your inner thoughts, feelings, and motives of behavior,” says Francis. Simply notice what comes up and accept it. Instead of focusing on fears, worries, or regrets, try to look for areas of growth and improvement.

“Practice neutrality and self-compassion so that self-reflection is a positive experience that you will want to do regularly,” says Wilson.

Francis suggests some strategies that can help you incorporate self-reflection into your daily routine:

• Dedicate time to it: it’s important to dedicate time to self-reflection and build it into your routine. Find a slot that works for your schedule—it could be five minutes each morning while drinking coffee or 30 minutes sitting outside in nature once per week.
• Pick a quiet spot: It can be hard to focus inward if your environment is busy or chaotic. Choose a calm and quiet space that is free of distractions so you can hear your own thoughts.
• Pay attention to your senses: Pay attention to your senses. Sensory input is an important component of self-awareness.

Nowak A, Vallacher RR, Bartkowski W, Olson L. Integration and expression: The complementary functions of self-reflection . J Pers . 2022;10.1111/jopy.12730. doi:10.1111/jopy.12730

American Psychological Association. Self-concept .

Dishon N, Oldmeadow JA, Critchley C, Kaufman J. The effect of trait self-awareness, self-reflection, and perceptions of choice meaningfulness on indicators of social identity within a decision-making context . Front Psychol . 2017;8:2034. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02034

Drigas AS, Papoutsi C. A new layered model on emotional intelligence . Behav Sci (Basel) . 2018;8(5):45. doi:10.3390/bs8050045

American Psychological Association. Rumination .

By Sanjana Gupta Sanjana is a health writer and editor. Her work spans various health-related topics, including mental health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness.

THEORY, THEORISING AND CRITICALLY REFLECTIVE PRACTICE IN PRACTICE LEARNING

Sep 08, 2014

950 likes | 2.85k Views

THEORY, THEORISING AND CRITICALLY REFLECTIVE PRACTICE IN PRACTICE LEARNING. Siobhan Maclean November 2012. Ask a student or even a qualified social worker what theory are you using there? And …. We are leaving ourselves open to direction from others…. “Social work is what social workers do”

Share Presentation

• reflective practice
• social work
• emotional intelligence
• child sexual abuse
• critically reflective practice recognises

Presentation Transcript

THEORY, THEORISING AND CRITICALLY REFLECTIVE PRACTICE IN PRACTICE LEARNING Siobhan Maclean November 2012

Ask a student or even a qualified social worker what theory are you using there? And ….

We are leaving ourselves open to direction from others…. “Social work is what social workers do” (Health and Social Care Bill 2011) Ask a social worker what legislation they are using and they know – chapter and verse….

International Definition of Social Work “The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work.”

My Eureka Moment! It is impossible to theorise without critical reflection………. Theory – noun – ‘naming’ word Theoretical – adjective – ‘describing’ word Theorising – verb – ‘doing’ word Theorising is putting ideas into action and drawing ideas out of action.

Reflective practice : what is it? • Process of review to inform learning (eg: Schon, Reid etc) • Active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge (Dewey 1933) • Mental process of trying torestructure existing knowledge and insights(Korthagen 2001) CRITICALLY REFLECTIVE PRACTICE INCLUDES A CONSIDERATION OF POWER

WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT FOR SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS?

Key aspect of professionalisation • Active CPD activity • Improves accountability • Supports theorising – using theory in practice and drawing theory out of practice • Improves practice (Munro – critically reflective organisations) • Ensures ethical practice • Enhances a practitioner’s ‘core’ and their resilience

Social Workers who fly….. • Grant and Kinman (2009) research into the professional development of newly qualified workers identified two key factors that: • Enhance resilience to stress • Foster wellbeing • Are key qualities of those social workers who “fly” after they qualify. What are the two factors?

Emotional intelligence • Reflective abilities

Critically reflective practice: key components • Rethinking / deconstructing power • Awareness of values and implications for practice • Exploring emotions / emotional intelligence • Drawing on knowledge / developing knowledge and practice wisdom • Self awareness • Creating uncertainty through dynamic questioning – willingness to livewith that uncertainty

Safeguarding practice: key issues • Power and powerlessness • Changing societal values • Emotional impact / distress • Developing / emerging knowledge • Impact of personal experiences / values (self awareness) • More questions than answers (uncertainty)

POWER VALUES EMOTIONS KNOWLEDGE SELF AWARENESS UNCERTAINTY

Reflective Practice: Power • Fook – critically reflective practice • Deconstruction of ‘realities’ with a focus on power dynamics What are the power dynamics in each situation – individual,organisational, cultural, societal? Who is making decisions?

Reflective Practice: Self Awareness • Personal process relies on personal awareness How do you feel about the issue? How do you feel about the key players? How do you use your “self” inyour work?

Distress and emotions Reflection and self awareness are key aspects of emotional intelligence – “keeping distress from swamping the ability to think, to empathise and to hope” (Goleman 1996) How does a practitioner manage emotional distress and avoid the potential for helplessness? Is supervision sufficientlyemotionally supportive?

Drawing on Knowledge Knowledge is fixed and creates limitations to the way that we see things…… Knowledge is time, context and societally and culturally specific.. When was child sexual abuse first raised as an issue?

Freud’s Seminar ‘The Ateology of Hysteria’ (1896) “Almost all of my women patients told me that they had been seduced by their father. I was driven to recognize in the end that these reports were untrue and so came to understand that the hysterical symptoms are derived from phantasies and not from real occurrences…… It was only later that I was able to recognizein this phantasy of being seduced bythe father the expression of the typical Oedipus complex in women.” (Sigmund Freud 1933)

Reflective processes can potentially unearth any assumptions about anything…. Some crucial but hitherto deeply hidden assumptions may be uncovered. (Fook 2004) Do reflective processes bury as much as they unearth ?

The earth was flat……….

Child sexual abuse didn’t happen…. Sula Wolff (1973) Seminal text No mention of child sexual abuse

10 years on….. Judith Herman “This disturbing fact…. Has been repeatedly unearthed in the past hundred years, and just as repeatedly buried….. The information was simply too threatening to be maintained in public consciousness.” (1982:7)

Kristy Bamu’s murder raised issues of beliefs in witchcraft and evil spirit possession – but this issue has been raised a number of times since the deaths of Victoria Climbie and Khyra Ishaq. ……………..is this information “simply too threatening to be maintained in public consciousness?”

We talk about the realities of childhood sexual abuse – but how do we “know” what they are? Critically reflective practice recognises that there is no truth and that we need to be open to all possibilities…..An ability to “imagine” or thinkbeyond knowledge

What about childhood sexual exploitation? Think about the Rochdale Serious Case Review What about Jimmy Saville and the BBC…. The new North Wales inquiries……………

Despite the known importance of critical reflection there are a number of barriers….

Difficulties / barriers • Time constraints • Striving for certainty • Evidence based practice • Reflective practice can be painful and create a crisis of confidence • Organisational constraints • Lack of reflective supervision • Lack of clarity about reflective practice

So how can we support students to be more reflective? • Support them to find a model of reflective practice which they are comfortable with – this will vary for each individual • Enable them to understand the need for “critical friendships” – and be a critical friend to them during placement • Develop their awareness of what is impacting on their reflection • Make sure that they don’t avoid the questions – but likewise don’t delay actions

Critical Friends…. Introduced by Stenhouse (1975) as a method to support action research. Research indicates that whilst having a critical friend is useful, acting as one is even more helpful to professional development (Dahlgren et al 2006)

Schön • Reflection in action • Reflection on action • reflection for action (Killian and Todnem 1991)

Reflective cycle Plan – reflection for action Do – reflection in action Review – reflection on action

So what are the models? Remember Schön is a theory of reflection not a model – it highlights the need to do it but not how to do it! The models include: • Gibbs • Borton • Boud, Keogh and Walker • Fook • Korthagen

Theorising on practice Examples of students and practitioners theorising on models of reflective practice…

RACHEL RAYNER HAIR-RAISING MOMENTS What were the moments that made you think “wow”? i.e. the things that shocked you; That you were not expecting? What gave you goose-bumps? HEART-WARMING MOMENTS What went well? What made you feel good about your work/practice? What are you proud of? TOE-CURLING MOMENTS What were the moments that made you feel uncomfortable? The moments that you had not/could not plan for that you learn from the most? i.e. the moments that in years to come you will look back and say, “I remember… and these “awful” moments are often the ones that we learn from the most. TUMMY-SINKING MOMENTS What are the moments you think did not go as hoped? What, if anything, gave you the “sinking feeling”? i.e. what might you do differently next time?

Practice Educators: The Roller Coaster • Before you get on the ride – what are you expecting? Any apprehensions? etc • During the ride – how does it feel? Do you want to get off? etc • After the ride – how do you feel? What was it like? etc • POWER – who put you on the ride? Did you have any choices? etc

“The weather model” • Sunshine – what went well? What felt good? • Rain – what didn’t go so well? • Lightening – what came as a shock? • Fog – where did you get lost? What couldn’t you see? Why?

The Cake model (Welsh Practice Educators) Preparation What ingredients have you got? What recipe are you using? How are you feeling about making the cake? Making the cake Did you follow the recipe? Did you add any spice? Did you make a mess? If so, how did you tidy it up? Cont….

Digesting the cake Did you burn your fingers? Did you share the cake? Did it sink or did it rise? What did it taste like? If you had changed the ingredients would it have tasted the same? Did you cater for all tastes? What was the “icing on the cake”?

Reflective practice is more than the icing on the cake……. It is the cake And we can have our cake and eat it……….

SOME OF THE TRADITIONAL MODELS……

Gibbs (1988) Stage 1: Description Stage 2: Feelings and thoughts Stage 3: Evaluation Stage 4: Analysis Stage 5: Conclusion Stage 6: Action planning

Borton (1970) • What? • So what? • Now what?

• More by User

Reflective practice

Reflective practice. Session 4 – Working together. Welcome to the fourth and final session on reflective practice. In this session we are going to be exploring reflective practice as a collaborative activity and planning for a shared approach.

912 views • 18 slides

8 Reflective Practice

8 Reflective Practice. What is reflective practice?. An ongoing, dynamic process of thinking honestly, deeply and critically about all aspects of professional practice with children and families It occurs spontaneously as well as in essential planned reflection time

650 views • 34 slides

Reflective Practice

Reflective Practice . reflective practice. Reflection is what allows us to learn from our experiences: it is an assessment of where we have been and where we want to go next. ~ Kenneth Wolf. Definition.

459 views • 24 slides

Reflective Practice Workshop

Reflective Practice Workshop. RCSLT: Sharon Woolf Head of Professional Development Dominique Lowenthal Professional Development Services Manager. Reflective Writing. Introduction to writing reflectively Why do reflective writing? What does good reflective writing look like?

897 views • 45 slides

What is Reflection? . ?? A process of reviewing an experience of practice in order to describe, analyse and evaluate and so inform learning on practice"(Reid, 1993 ? cited in Burns

591 views • 20 slides

CRITICALLY REFLECTIVE PRACTICE IN SOCIAL WORK

CRITICALLY REFLECTIVE PRACTICE IN SOCIAL WORK. Siobhan Maclean NOPT Conference Workshop July2012. Critical reflection. Domain 6 of the PCF: Critical reflection and analysis Essentially draws together holistic assessment

700 views • 32 slides

Reflective Practice Theory of Action

Reflective Practice Theory of Action. Reflective Practice Technology means using video and earbud technology to enhance professional practice . Review of professional practice is a key component of all teacher and leader support strategies Reflective Practice Technology: .

326 views • 8 slides

Reflective Practice . By Paula Marty. Questions. What brought me here? What have I learned? How did I learn from my experiences? What do I see in my future?. What brought me here?. I want to like what I see when I look reflectively at me…. Nanny. Walking down the aisle.

269 views • 14 slides

Reflective Practice. Aims &amp; Outcomes. Clarify what is meant by reflection Identify &amp; discuss strategies &amp; techniques of reflective practice Recognise how this leads to evidence of output / impact. Common-sense views of reflection. Links between reflection and learning

457 views • 12 slides

Reflective Practice. Definitions, Models &amp; Methods Certificate in Education Year 2 2008-9. Reflection: A Definition (1).

352 views • 19 slides

Adversarial Learning: Practice and Theory

Adversarial Learning: Practice and Theory. Daniel Lowd University of Washington July 14th, 2006 Joint work with Chris Meek, Microsoft Research. “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” -- Sun Tzu, 500 BC. Content-based Spam Filtering.

539 views • 42 slides

Reflective Practice. Leadership Development Tool. Context. recognised that a key differentiator between places where people wanted to work and places where people did not want to work was “Leadership” staff with varying degrees of training ie short courses to Masters

377 views • 15 slides

Reflective Practice. Keeping a journal. Why reflective practice. To create distance between the events and yourself So that you can analyse the events from a neutral perspective To move through the world in conscious ways rather than unconscious ways

422 views • 16 slides

Reflective Practice. Postgraduate certificate in Education Mini teach. Aims and Objectives. Aim Introduction to the concept of reflective practice to encourage personal and professional growth. Objectives Identify the purpose of reflection

520 views • 10 slides

Reflective Practice. Reflective Practice -Aims. To build a shared understanding of what the term ‘reflective practice’ means. To decide what we might do to help each other become more reflective. Reflective Practice -Objectives. By the end of the session participants will be able to:

1.14k views • 18 slides

Reflective Practice. In our community of practice. Something to start us thinking!. IQ is a reliable indicator of learning ability Reflectiveness is a critical element in learning Teaching adults is the same as teaching children Learning on-the-job is the best way of learning.

447 views • 19 slides

ACTION LEARNING, ACTION RESEARCH AND REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

ACTION LEARNING, ACTION RESEARCH AND REFLECTIVE PRACTICE. BY PROFESSOR RON PASSFIELD. PURPOSE OF SESSION. to explain action learning and how it underpins Work-Applied Learning to highlight the role of reflective practice in Work-Applied Learning

219 views • 20 slides

Reflective Practice. reflective practice. Reflection is what allows us to learn from our experiences: it is an assessment of where we have been and where we want to go next. ~ Kenneth Wolf. Definition.

280 views • 24 slides

Reflective Practice . Dr Caroline Whelan GP Registrar August 2012. Why do we need it?. We have to do it to pass To find gaps in our knowledge so we can address them &amp; then apply what we learn To widen our professional boundaries To benchmark our performance against our peers &amp; supervisors

165 views • 14 slides

Learning Networks: Theory and Practice

Learning Networks: Theory and Practice. Stephen Downes National Research Council Canada March 9, 2005. Traditional Online Learning Institution Based Online courses, learning management system Content ‘federations’ – closed network Product Based Content packaging and CD-ROM delivery

276 views • 27 slides