Hi all,
I am also currently doing my Level 3 course and I would like to share my research and discuss the importance of reflection in relation to professional development. There are two theoretical perspectives on reflection in relation to professional development. One theory is Kolb's learning cycle and the other theory is Gibb's reflective cycle.
In my opinion, I think that Kolb’s learning cycle is very easy and straightforward to understand and to follow. I believe that it is a very useful way to develop professionally and improve our practice. In Kolb's learning cycle there are four processes and he thought that to be able to learn effectively all of these would need to take place. The first step is concrete experience which means doing something or having an experience. In regard to early years this could be for example sitting down with children and teaching them how to play the game of 'what's the time Mr. wolf?'. The second step is reflective observation which is all about reviewing the experience you have had and how it went. In regard to early years this could mean reflecting upon the teaching of the game of what's the time Mr. Wolf to the children and analysing what went well and what went not so well. The third step is abstract conceptualisation which means developing new ideas. In regard to early years this could be for example how to make the game of what's the time Mr. wolf more fun for the children so they don't get bored or to perhaps include a large clock when playing so the children can associate the game with the time on the clock. Finally, the fourth step is active experimentation which is all about putting our new ideas into practice. In regard to early years this could be using our new idea of including a large clock when playing what's the time Mr. Wolf and have one practitioner hold the clock and change the times as we play the game. Kolb's learning cycle is therefore represented as a cycle because once we have tried out our new ideas in practice, we will need to reflect on them again.
As Kolb’s learning cycle only has four different stages I believe that this makes it easy to follow and doesn’t take up a lot of time. I also believe that Kolb’s cycle is good because it gives us the opportunity to reflect on our experiences and examine what went well and what could have been done differently. I think that this makes Kolb’s learning cycle good because it is very important to be able to reflect in professional development.
The second theory is Gibb's reflective cycle. Gibbs adapted Kolb's work and created a more structured approach. His approach would help adults after situations have arisen to reflect on their responses and to decide on what could be done in a different way in the future. Gibb's reflective works by having the first step which is a description of what has happened. The second step is feelings so what did you think and feel at the time? The third step is the evaluation which is when you would think of what was good or bad about the experience. The fourth step is the analysis which means what sense can you make of what happened?. The fifth step is the conclusion in which you have to think about what conclusions you can draw from this. Finally, the sixth step is the action plan which is how you will change the way your work to make improvements for next time.
I think that Gibb’s reflective cycle is more detailed than Kolb’s learning cycle as there are only four steps in Kolb’s learning cycle and six steps in Gibb’s reflective cycle. I believe that this makes Gibb’s reflective cycle more detailed as it not only requires us to think of what happened but also how it made you feel and what you were thinking at the time. Also, Gibb’s reflective cycle includes an evaluation, analysis and conclusion which allows us to have a more in depth reflection which is beneficial for our professional development.
Personally, I prefer Gibb’s reflective cycle to Kolb’s learning cycle because it allows us to reflect in more depth which is important for our professional development.
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