Hey, I'm also doing my level 3 course and need to share my research on a forum so hoping you dont mind me jumping on your post.
There are many theoretical perspectives on reflection in relation to professional development. They all highlight the importance of reflection in order to identify strengths and weaknesses of our own, and sometimes other’s, practice, which can promote us to further our professional development through continuing to learn and develop at every opportunity we get. Here I have summarised the 4 main theories that I feel are relevant to explain the importance of reflection for professional development.
Kolb’s Experimental Learning Cycle (1984)
David Kolb’s experimental learning theory presents a cyclical model of learning which consists of four stages. This cycle encourages learners to understand the reflective process through progressing through each stage in logical order, promoting effective learning. The stages are:
1. Concrete experience - the first stage of the cycle, when a new situation or experience has been encountered or an existing experience is reinterpreted.
2. Reflective observation - once the concrete experience has occurred, the learner must reflect on the experience, thinking about what happened, how it went, what went particularly well and what didn't go well. This could also include feedback from others who have observed or were part of the experience.
3. Abstract conceptualisation - the reflection can then lead to conclusions on how to improve the experience, showing what has been learnt and what can be changed to make it better.
4. Active experimentation - this is when the ideas and Improvements are applied in practice to see what happens. The cycle can then begin again to continue the reflection, learning and development process.
Gibb’s Cycle of Reflection (1988)
Gibb’s Cycle of Reflection was developed from Kolb's theory, but is referred to as an interative model. It is a more structured approach which can be used to encourage the learner to reflect on their experiences they had during a certain activity, situation or event. Gibb’s cycle encourages the learner to think about the experience in detail, looking at both the positive and negative impacts to make them aware of their own actions and learn from them. This reflective process follows 6 steps:
1. Description - describing the experience in detail, ensuring all information is recorded to allow a better understanding of the event, e.g.
What happened?
When and where did it happen?
What did the learner do?
Who was involved and what did they do?
What's the result of these actions?
2. Feelings - what were the learners, and the others involved in the event, feelings before, during and after the event. Encouraging the learner to talk about their own feelings and looking at the event from other’s perspectives.
3. Evaluation - during this stage, the learner must evaluate what went well during the event and what did not go well.
4. Analysis - now the learner must analysis what they've learnt from the event, both positive and negative aspects, so they can know what to do if a similar event occurs again.
5. Conclusion - during this step, the learner must make conclusions from the information gathered so far, explaining what else they could have done or what they would do differently next time.
6. Action plan - the learner them puts an action plan in place, explaining the changes they will make and the mistakes that they will not make again. This could also be used as part of a professional development plan.
John's Five Stage Model (2000)
Christopher John's model of reflection is based on five question cue’s which enable the learner to break down the experience and reflect on the process and the outcomes. The question cues are:
1. Description of the experience - describe what occurred and what were the significant factors.
2. Reflection - what was the learner trying to achieve and what were the consequences of doing this.
3. Influencing factors - what factors affected the learner's decision making, including internal, external and knowledge based factors.
4. Could I have dealt with it better? - what other choices did the learner have and what were the consequences of those.
5. Learning - what will the learner change after this experience and how did they feel about it. It could have changed their ways of knowing through empirics (scientific), ethics (moral knowledge), personal (self-awareness) or aesthetics (what we do).
Schon's Process of Continuous Learning (1995)
Donald Schon defines reflective practice as the practice in which professionals become aware of their implicit knowledge base and learn from their experiences. He suggested that there were two processes of reflection –
Reflection-in-action - when you reflect on your behaviour and practice as it happens.
Reflection-on-action - when you reflect after the event, reviewing, analysing and evaluating the experience.
All of these theories are similar in the way in which we must reflect on the experience, which could be a specific activity that was planned or an event which has occurred, to come to terms with what went well and what did not go well. This enables us to learn from the experience, improving our practice as we continue to learn and develop both personally and professionally.
Sources:
www.simplypsychology.org
www.toolshero.com
www.afpp.org.uk
‘The Reflective Practitioner’ By Donald A Schon
Thanks :)