Discuss the importance of reflection in relation to professional development

[Fern2522]

Hello

I am also on the last unit for my Level 3 EYFS course and looking at the question regarding the important of reflection in relation to professional development. I have looked through some of the research others have shared and hope that I too can join this forum and share my research for any comments with you all.

I decided to undertake the course whilst volunteering within a local nursery setting near my home as I have three children of my own and I wanted to gain a qualification that would enable me to start new career in childcare. Like many of you I have looked at my own way of working and reflected on my own development as I have progressed through the course and become more confident with the practices and procedures at the nursery.

When researching I feel that, as I see others do as well, two main theories reflect professional development, the Kolb’s learning cycle and the Gibbs’ reflective cycle.

David Kolb first published his styles of learning in 1984. His theory worked on two different levels – a four-stage cycle of learning and four separate learning styles and was concerned with the learner’s internal cognitive processes. His theory was that development is provided by witnessing new experiences. I look at this in relation to my own development: what issues seemed significant – the needs of the children. What was I trying to achieve – to become experienced in child care to learn and experience as much as possible to enable me to achieve my goals. How did I feel I was doing and did I act the best that I could were more questions that I needed to ask myself to ensure that I reflected on my own experiences. It was essential that I looked at this in relation to the children within the setting, they too learn from experience and by trying something. For example a child who simply says “I can’t do it” when asked to tie their shoe laces will be better encouraged “let’s have a go shall we”. So by helping the children to achieve their goal you are following one of Kolb’s learning cycle theories – observe what the child is doing, look at what their problem is (are they holding the laces awkwardly) help and show them. Then look at new ideas of ways to help the child to practice more – a simple card threaded with lace so the child can sit and practice is just one of the ways to aim to achieve this.

Professor Graham Gibb published his “Reflective Cycle” book in 1988 – his theory was that if you don’t reflect on your experiences and if you don’t consciously think about how you can do better next time, it is hard to learn anything at all. This I think is true. You need to be able to look at the way that you work and consider your strength and weaknesses and reflect on these in a positive way. Gibbs had a reflective cycle with followed: Description; feelings; evaluation; conclusions and action. Description – look in detail at the task you are doing i.e. when and where did it happen? Why were you there? Who else was there? What happened? What did you do? What did other people do? What was the result of the situation/session? These questions are particularly relevant to the nursery setting when planning sessions for the children to take part in. Next look at feelings – what did you feel before and after? What do you think other people felt? What did you feel after the situation? etc. Then the evaluation – what was positive, what was negative? What went well and what didn’t go well? Finally your conclusions and actions – how are you going to change things for the better? Do you actually need to change anything?

[bek4h4llen94]

Hi all, I’ve enjoyed reading your thoughts on reflective practise. I have also been researching and studying this topic and thought I’d share of my thoughts too!

Of the theorists I researched (David Kolb, Graham Gibbs, and Donald Schon) I found that, whilst all of their theories are slightly different, they all revolve around a similar premise. This premise is the professional development is a process or a cycle that requires at least the following stages:
• An actual experience, something that happens
• A time of reflection about what was good/bad about what happened, and what the practitioner did well/could improve on next time. This stage should also involve thinking of ideas of how to improve in the future.
• The implementation of a plan, which attempts to puts the improvements thought of at stage 2 into practise.

To go into a bit more detail on the specifics of the various theorists, I will describe what I understand of each of their particular theories.

Kolb’s experiential learning cycle states that development in a professional capacity is about a cycle of events, reflection and practise, which repeats over and over again, and that this is how effective learning happens. The cycle consists of four stages:
• Concrete experience – A practitioner does something. In an early years setting, this could be sounding out the letters at the start of various fruits.
• Reflective observation – Practitioners review and reflect on the experience. What parts of the activity went well, and which did not work so well?
• Abstract conceptualisation – Practitioners use the results of reflections to develop new ideas. This could be by engaging a child’s particular learning style or interest i.e. you could make up and teach a song about the letters of the alphabet (jolly phonics songs are good for this).
• Active experimentation – Practitioners implement the activity, including the new ideas.

Gibbs’ reflective cycle is more useful for if an incident or particular event has happened in the setting, and a practitioner wishes to reflect on the role they played in the event. Similarly to Kolb’s theory, the cycle begins with something happening. Practitioners then follow a set of structured steps to inform and improve their practise should a similar event happen in the future. Practitioners ask:
• How was I feeling/what was I thinking at the time?
• What was good about the situation? What was bad?
• On reflection, what seemed to be happening during the incident? What was the cause? What can I learn about how and why the situation arose?
• What else could I have done in the situation? What could I have done differently?
Once a practitioner has asked these questions of themselves, they can collate the information gleaned into an action plan, of what they would do if a similar situation arose in the future.

Schon’s process of continuous learning highlights two different ways in which practitioners can be successfully reflective in their practise, as an everyday norm. Firstly, reflecting-in-action, whereby practitioners think about what they are doing well, and what about the activity they are currently involved in is successful/not so successful. Secondly, reflecting-on-action; when practitioners take time after an event or an activity to consider how it went, and what they could do differently in the future, and ideally recording their thoughts somewhere for future reference.

Thanks, Bekah

[Justjen]

Hi
I'm also doing the final unit of my level 3 EYE course. Here are my thoughts:
Self reflection and self evaluation are an important part of learning about yourself and your practice. Learning about your strengths and weaknesses as a practitioner are an important way to find out the areas where you can improve and start a discussion with colleagues or managers about how these can be improved whether that is further peer observation - perhaps observing a senior colleague, training courses, reading professional journals or visiting another setting. Self reflection and self evaluation can also help improve the environment or resources. Reflecting on every adult led activity I lead has proven a valuable activity because it has meant that I have analysed the setting layout and, working with colleagues, have changed the layout and how the room is set up. I have also identified that we didn’t have enough of certain resources to run activities successfully. Reading through the previous Ofsted report they said the preschool children should have more activities that they participated in as a group and they should be able to stay at them for longer than observed by the inspectors. While the children are much more engaged now than they were on this observation, children may be put off an activity if they have to wait too long for a turn.
Looking at the theoretical perspectives on reflection in professional development, I noticed that much of the cycle in Gibbs’ reflective cycle was outlined in the “Understanding Children displaying behaviour that challenges” course that I have completed alongside this Level 3 Early Years Educator. Describing what happened and then analysing the feelings involved then evaluating the experience is the first part of the cycle then analysing why it might have happened and then drawing conclusions about what could have changed the way it happened leads to an action plan being drawn up. This is a reflection cycle I tend to use personally, primarily as I had to use it many times during that course that it became second nature to me. However I also find the principles of Kolb’s learning cycle useful. This is how I’ve assessed my activities throughout this course and for the setting. The “concrete experience” could be the adult led part of an activity such as using a ‘shape monster’ for children to feed by finding shapes that have been hidden around an area. The “reflective observation”is how as a practitioner reviews and reflects on the activity. When I reflected on this I realised that it did not challenge the children enough to push their development on. As part of the “abstract conceptualism” I chose to play it a different way with the children having to differentiate between shapes and colours to feed the monster otherwise he spat it out. As the “Active experimentation” I implemented these changes and the children played the game, learning more and interacting with each other more. This game, like most activities, has been played and reflected on and adapted several times.
These two theories can work together. I use them in different areas of my practice.

[MonikaT123]

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.

[Kellymb]

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 :)

[scamps]

Hi im really needing some help with the last question on my EYE 10 the question is

Explain the relationship between all the components of a learning cycle (ensure you interlink these and give examples of practice where possible).

I have looked up forums with this question and it seems there is no feedback from people.

id be extremely grateful for any help.

[lnesling1x]

In response to the first theory you discussed - Kolbs - I believe this to be the method that the majority of us find ourselves using day to day. In relation to children, this would be how we plan their next steps, its the planning cycle. We observe, plan, carry out, assess, etc. In regards to ourselves, we do something, realise it didnt work as well as it could have, and then alter it so that it works better next time. Regarding Gibbs' theory, I think this one is slightly more relevant to us as actual practitioners. It focuses more on the WHY this situation happened. And we all know, to reach the best conclusions, we need to figure out the why, before we figure out the how (it can be changed). Both of these mens work, is very simple and easy to follow, they provide for quick refelctive practice, but I would argue that following their theories, would lead to us reflecting - and then forgetting, without actually making a change. I personally think that Phil Race's experiential learning mode, is the best theory (and most relateable). He provided us with four basic elements - Needing/Wanting, Doing, Feedback, and Digesting. Whilst this theory is simialr to Kolbs, Races' see's the process as a "whole", we have to reach each element, before we can do better. In my day to day life, as well as my job, I constantly find myself asking myself what is it I want out of this, I then do what I think is needed to achieve that goal, I get feedback from colleuges, as well as family and other loved ones, and then I digest it... by which, I think about it, I own it.

[Jayzee]

reflecting is all well and but would it not drive you insane constantly thinking about what to change or what went wrong ?

How often should you reflect on yourself and your practice, would love to hear your thoughts

[amyeyfs]

Hello everyone, I too am undergoing my level 3 early years educator and am looking at the importance of reflection in relation to professional development. This is my research:
There are two main theoretical perspectives on reflection in relation to professional development. They are Kolb's learning cycle and Gibbs reflective cycle.
Kolb's learning cycle
Kolb's learning cycle consists of a four stage learning cycle, where the following four processes need to take place for you to effectively learn. These are:
Concrete experience: This is doing something in the setting, for example teaching the children the words and actions of a new song.
Reflective experience: This is where you review and reflect on the experience created. What worked well about the song and actions and what elements were not successfully, how did the children respond.
Abstract conceptualisation: This process is about developing new ideas. Using the reflection experience, ask yourself what can you change in the experience to keep the children engaged and interested.
Active experience: This is where you put the previous processes into practice, carrying out the activities using your new ideas.
This cycle allows for professional development as you are continuously reflecting on ideas, once one cycle is complete you will repeat the cycle again. If there were ideas that you as a Practitioner needed further training or knowledge to complete your cycle of learning, the next cycle would then be influenced by that training, therefore creating professional development.
Gibbs reflective cycle
Gibbs was inspired by Kolb, adapting the learning cycle to create a more structured cycle, known as the cycle of reflection. The cycle has six steps including;
Description - Describe what happened in the incident.
Feelings - What were you thinking and feeling at the time of the incident.
Evaluation - Evaluate what was good and bad about the incident. Was your own practice good or bad?
Analysis - Analyse the incident.
Conclusion - What conclusions have you made about your practice during the incident.
Action Plan - Create an action plan which will prevent an incident like this happening in the future, this may include training or supervision that may be needed to support personal professional development.
The reflective cycle is a more structured approach for the practitioner to reflect on how a situation was handled. The cycle can be used for a positive or negative incidents, as the adult is reflecting on their own practice and feelings.

Kolb's learning cycle helps the practitioner think about how opportunities and activities are successful or not. The cycle helps you reflect, plan and change future activities making them better and more interesting for the children. This may be using different equipment or resources however through abstract conceptualisation, you could conclude that undergoing training, further research or visiting another setting is needed to develop your practice. Gibbs' reflective cycle, reflects on your own behaviour/practice or the children's behaviour and how to react appropriately next time.

P Tassoni early years educator 2014
https://www.silkysteps.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21322