This document discusses reflective practice and defines it as seriously thinking about an experience in order to learn from it. Reflection can be done in action during an experience or on action after an experience. The purpose is to consider one's learning process, critically review behaviors and outcomes, build theory, engage in personal development, and make informed decisions. Various models of reflective practice are presented, including levels of reflection from descriptive to critical analysis. The importance of reflection for learning and improvement is emphasized.

1. 1. What do you think I do?
2. How do I travel to work every day?
3. How old am I?
4. What kind of education have I had?
5. Where do you think I grew up?
6. How do you think I’m feeling?

6. What is Reflective Practice?

7. Dumbledore: "I use the Pensieve. One simply
siphons the excess thoughts from one's mind,
pours them into the basin, and examines them at
one's leisure. It becomes easier to spot patterns
and links, you understand, when they are in this
form."

8. ‘Serious thought or
consideration’
OED, 2009

9. ‘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
that allow new situations to be tackled effectively.’
(Gibbs 1988)

10. ‘… a form of mental processing with a purpose
and/or anticipated outcome that is applied to
relatively complex or unstructured ideas for which
there is not an obvious solution’.
Moon 1999 pp23

11. Progress
Perspective
Learning
Possibilities
Mistakes

12. ‘We reflect in order to:
● Consider the process of our own learning – a process of metacognition
● Critically review something - our own behaviour, that of others or the product of
behaviour (e.g. an essay, book, painting etc.)
● Build theory from observations: we draw theory from generalisations - sometimes in
practical situations, sometimes in thoughts or a mixture of the two
● Engage in personal or self development
● Make decisions or resolve uncertainty …
● Empower or emancipate ourselves as individuals (and then it is close to self-
development) or to empower/emancipate ourselves within the context of our social
groups.’
(Ibid pp23)

13. Reflection on action
Reflection in action
Scohn

14. Reflection in action Reflection on action
What do you think, in the
moment, would lead to
success?
What do you think, after the
moment, would have lead to a
greater level of success?
● Experiencing
● Thinking on your feet
● Thinking about what to do next
● Acting straight away
● Making informed judgements and
decisions
● Thinking about something that has
happened
● Thinking what you would do differently
next time
● Taking your time
● Judging levels of success

15. Reflection in action Reflection on action
You are in a lecture and keep being
distracted by thinking about what to have
for lunch!
You want to get the most from the lecture
so need to find a way to help you focus.
You decide to start making some notes of
the key points.
You notice that sometimes after a lecture
you can’t remember what was covered.
You find out about the lecture topic in
advance and write down some questions
you want answered. You make notes
during the lecture to help you focus.
You arrange to go for a coffee after the
lecture and talk with your peers about what
was presented, to help you understand and
form your own opinions.
You file your lecture notes and any
handouts.

16. Kolb

17. Gibb

18. Rolfe
Borton

19. Johns

20. Smyth

21. Descriptive Writing
Descriptive Reflection
Critical Reflection

22. Account 1
‘I had to talk about the project that I am on. I was confident but I
did spend quite a bit of time preparing. During the presentation I
became nervous when I realised they were all waiting for me to
speak and my nerves made my voice wobble. Afterwards I was
disappointed that my presentation did not seem to have gone
well. My boss suggested that I do a presentation to the team
next week to improve my performance.’

23. Account 2
‘I was scared about not saying the right things and not being able to answer questions
properly. I did a presentation in my course at university and had felt the same about it
initially.
During the presentation I realise that I was desperately trying to prove that I could
present as well as my colleague. I wanted to impress everyone. Early on it went
wrong and I began to panic. Trying to pretend I was confident made the situation
worse because I did not admit I needed help. The more I spoke, the more my voice
wobbled.
Following on from the presentation, my self esteem is low at work now. However,
partly through talking over the presentation and the things that went wrong, I can see
several areas that I could get better. I am hoping to have a chance to practice with
some of the team.’

24. Account 3
‘I had to talk about the project that I am on. I spent quite a bit of time preparing it in the
way that I have seen others make similar presentations.
When it came to the presentation, I really wanted to do it well – as well as the
presentations were done the week before. Maybe I wanted too much to do well? My
efforts to be calm failed and my voice went wobbly – that’s how it felt to me anyway.
My colleague said afterwards that I looked quite calm despite what I was feeling.
In the event, the session was a disaster and has left me feeling uncomfortable in my
work and I even worry about it at home. I need to think about why a simple
presentation could have such an effect on me.
I am feeling more positive generally and I can begin to analyse what I could do better
in the presentation. It is interesting to see the change in my attitude after a week. I
need to think from the beginning about the process of giving a good presentation.’

25. Critical Thinking

28. What do you think I do?
How do I travel to work every day?
How old am I?
What kind of education have I had?
Where do you think I grew up?
How do you think I’m feeling?

32. ‘Without reflection, we go blindly on our way,
creating more unintended consequences, and
failing to achieve anything useful.’
Margaret J. Wheatley

33. ‘Follow effective action with quiet reflection.
From the quiet reflection will come even more
effective action.’
Peter Drucker