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- J Med Libr Assoc
- v.108(3); 2020 Jul 1
Elevation through reflection: closing the circle to improve librarianship
Jolene m. miller.
1 [email protected] , Director, Mulford Health Science Library, and Assistant Professor, Library Administration, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH
Stephanie Friree Ford
2 gro.srentrap@drofeerirfs , Manager, Library Resources, Mental Health Sciences Library, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA
3 ude.etatsonserf.liam@98gnaya , Science Librarian, University Library, California Health Sciences University, Clovis, CA
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Reflective practice is a strategy promoted as a way to improve professional performance and to develop expertise. Intentional reflection on work situations can lead to improved understanding of a specific situation, identify strategies for similar situations in the future, and uncover assumptions that hinder service to patrons. Research has identified lack of knowledge to be a barrier to health sciences librarians engaging in reflective practice. This article introduces the use of intentional reflection at work: what it is, how it helps, and how it can be applied in librarianship. It also provides practical advice on how to choose a format, how to use a model to guide reflection, and how to incorporate it into work.
Jolene M. Miller, MLS, AHIP
INTRODUCTION
In her 2017 article in the Journal of Information Literacy , Corrall captures the challenge of incorporating intentional reflection into professional practice: “reflection is a deceptively simple idea that is easy to grasp at a basic level but may be hard to put into practice in a professional [librarian] context” [ 1 ]. It is an everyday process that often happens without conscious thought, but reflection with the goal of improving professional practice requires intention. Reflective practice is the process of bringing intentional reflection to one's work to improve practice: providing better instruction, managing electronic resources more effectively, interacting with coworkers more collaboratively, and so on. It closes the loop: new understandings are applied to personal and organizational processes to improve performance. Discoveries about oneself have an impact on thoughts, feelings, and behavior; and relationships improve.
The good news is that no one is a blank slate with respect to reflection at work. The language of reflective practice and the use of models may be new, but the experience of thinking back on a situation and trying to make sense of it is universal. Having a formal process of reflective practice can help health sciences and medical librarians identify and develop best practices. This article, born out of an immersion session offered at the Medical Library Association (MLA) 2019 annual meeting [ 2 ], is designed to help readers incorporate reflection into their professional practice.
There are many diverse published models of reflective practice ( supplemental Appendix A ). They all have three main components: (1) description of the experience, (2) reflection on and exploration of why things happened as they did, and (3) identification of changes to thinking and behavior to improve the outcomes of future experiences. Reflective practice usually starts with consideration of a specific experience that had an unexpected outcome. Most models include guiding questions to make sure that all aspects of the experience are considered, such as external aspects (what happened, who was involved) and internal aspects (how one was feeling before, during, and after the experience). External sources of information such as observations of other people or data from evaluation forms may also be included.
After describing the experience, one reflects on it. This is the core of reflective practice. “Why” questions are common in this stage, guiding analysis and interpretation of the experience [ 3 ]. This stage includes judgments: What went well in the experience? What could have gone better? What was one's role in the outcome? What important aspects still need to be identified and considered? After reflection, there is an invitation to action. What could have been done differently? How might the outcome have been different? What needs to be done to improve practice in the future? This could be a change in how things are done or how other people are treated. It could also be a change in thinking about and approaching situations with a different mindset [ 4 ].
In addition to having different stages and questions, models approach reflective practice from different perspectives [ 5 ]. While all reflective practice models encourage deeper thought about a situation, critical reflection models encourage exploration of the assumptions underlying situations, which is a key step in critical librarianship. Use of critical reflective practice can “direct and inform action that carries social and ethical implications beyond the technical execution of library work” [ 6 ]. It provides a method for identifying personal and professional values, exploring where thoughts and actions diverge from these values [ 7 , 8 ], and identifying courses of action that are consistent with these values. It uncovers hidden biases that influence decision making and hinder high-quality service. In the context of critical librarianship, it is used to identify opportunities to dismantle oppressive social structures and systems such as white supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalism [ 9 ].
REASONS TO TAKE THE TIME TO ENGAGE IN REFLECTIVE PRACTICE
One of the greatest human attributes is the ability to think about and reflect on actions and experiences, whether an unexpected flash of self-reflection, a well-thought-out journal entry, or somewhere in between. As Taylor states, “Thinking can be a gift and a curse, depending on how we employ it in our daily lives” [ 10 ]. Based on one's mindset, an experience can be used for good or for ill. For example, an employee may use a negative evaluation as a reason to place full blame for their poor performance on others, rather than use it as a sign to explore their strengths and weaknesses, structural challenges, and ways to improve their performance.
Making the deliberate choice to engage in reflective practice harnesses the power of thought to improve professional practice. Using intentional reflection at work offers a variety of benefits. While the process directly benefits the librarian doing the reflecting, the resulting changes can extend out to the library, institution, and the profession. Some of the ways that reflective practice improves professional practice are explored below.
Uncovering inconsistencies in thought and action
There are often inconsistencies between what people say they believe and how they act. Critical reflective practice can be used to examine espoused theories (what one says one believes) and theory-in-use (how one acts) [ 11 , 12 ]. Identifying inconsistencies is the first step in understanding them and resolving them. Are they true inconsistencies or nuanced distinctions? What next actions are needed? Reflection can also facilitate the application of professional standards and ethics in practice [ 13 ].
Improving regulation of emotions
Reflective practice can improve regulation of emotions. It allows librarians to approach situations more objectively and less reactively by the process of cognitive reappraisal. Cognitive reappraisal is a way of thinking differently about a situation that changes internal emotional experiences and, in turn, external emotional expression [ 14 ], with the goal of modifying emotions that hinder effectiveness. Reflective practice provides space to explore situations and new ways of thinking about them, reducing their emotional impact and the emotional impact of future situations.
Reducing burnout
Health sciences and medical librarians provide an array of intensive services: systematic reviews, liaison support, evidence-based practice or critical appraisal instruction, and in-depth research assistance. Managing and providing these services can increase stress and burnout. As noted above, reflective practice facilitates cognitive appraisal, which in turn reduces the risk of burnout caused by emotional labor and suppression of emotions.
While reflective practice in and of itself cannot solve organizational issues that lead to burnout, it can be used to explore how role ambiguity and overload contributes to personal stress and burnout [ 15 ]. The results of this reflection can be used in conversations with supervisors to improve position-related and structural issues. In addition, reflective practice can reduce the chance of burnout resulting from “over-learning” repetitive and routine tasks [ 16 ]. Taking time to reflect interrupts the “hamster wheel” of activity, reconnecting daily work to the importance of health sciences librarians' role in patient care, education, and research.
Maximizing professional development
Library school cannot prepare graduates for every possible future, especially health sciences and medical librarians. They must take an active role in their continuing professional development. Many attend webinars and training, while others obtain their credentials through MLA's Academy of Health Information Professionals. Reflective practice can be used to get the most out of the time and money invested in both continuing education and the development of a portfolio for the academy. Taking time to reflect before and after continuing professional development activities can improve learning and assist in the application of new knowledge and skills. Reflective practice can also be used for big-picture planning for professional development [ 17 ]. While some continuing education courses include reflection, many do not, requiring librarians to take a more proactive role. Suggestions on how to apply reflective practice in continuing professional development are provided in Table 1 .
Using reflective practice for professional development
| Reflections | Applications |
|---|---|
| Professional development over the course of your career | What knowledge and skills do you need to learn to be successful in your current position? Your overall career goals? Consider using the (available on ) to guide your reflection. Even more broadly: what are your overall career goals now? Have they changed over time? |
| Before participating in a professional development activity | What do you want to get out of this activity? Is there something specific that you want to learn or explore? Someone you want to meet? An idea you want to discuss? Review learning objectives and/or meeting programs or abstracts before and during reflection. |
| After the activity | What did you learn in the activity? If it does not match what you hoped to learn, what follow-up do you need to do to achieve your learning goals? Are there things that you want to do differently in your work? If so, what are they? Did you learn anything that changes how you understand your work and identity as a librarian? What impact might this have on your practice? What do you want to learn next? How will you learn it? |
| Special considerations for multiday meetings | The schedules of multiday meetings are often dawn-to-dusk meetings, papers, keynotes, networking, and more. Take time to reflect occasionally during the meeting. If this ends up as a simple “brain dump” with little reflection, that is okay. The key is to capture your thoughts and ideas. In-depth reflection can take place after the meeting. Consider what you have learned so far, questions you have, programs you could implement in your library, new research ideas, new people you have met, etc. Given your goals, what are your next steps? After multiday meetings, consider blocking out time on your schedule for reflection. It is very easy to fall back into day-to-day work and forget to take time to reflect. |
Demonstrating professional performance
While reflective practice works best when the librarian wants to be engaged in reflection, some institutions require self-reflection as a part of the performance evaluation process, such as part of a portfolio [ 18 , 19 ]. Because meaningful reflection requires privacy and a trusted environment, reflection on one's performance takes place before the self-evaluation document is written. The document reports on the outcomes of the self-reflection, rather than the full reflective process.
FORMATS FOR REFLECTIVE PRACTICE
Reflective practice can take on a variety of formats that can be used with a model, combination of models, or no model. Find the formats that work best, remembering that as needs change, so might preferred formats.
Reflecting alone without recording the reflections
The simplest way to engage in reflective practice is to reflect alone without recording the reflections. This is somewhat similar to meditation in that it is internal reflection; however, analysis and judgment occur that are absent in meditation. This format is a good option if time for reflective practice is short. It is better to think about a situation and not record, than to skip reflection altogether because of lack of time. One drawback to this format of reflective practice is that it relies on memory to track the outcomes of reflection.
Reflecting alone and capturing the reflection
Reflecting alone and recording the reflection is a popular format for reflective practice. Reflective writing (handwritten journal entry or typing an electronic document) is a common way to reflect, though audio or video recordings can also be used. The obvious benefit of this format is that the reflection is captured for future review. A less obvious but more important benefit of reflective writing is that the writing “is the reflective process,” rather than just a recording of the reflection [ 20 ], because the physical process of writing helps clarify thoughts and conclusions. Librarians who are not comfortable with writing could use a form (perhaps based on steps in a reflective practice model) to jot down key ideas from reflection.
Talking with another person, such as a colleague or mentor
For some, talking through reflection can be effective. Reflective conversation with another person, such as a colleague or a mentor, can lead to additional insight. An outsider's perspective and questions might shed some light on the situation and increase understanding. These conversations need to take place in an environment that is confidential in order to explore situations fully and honestly. Reflective conversations can also be held with a supervisor, though the power differential may hinder deep reflection and honesty. Reflective conversations have additional aspects that need to be considered, which are listed in supplemental Appendix B .
Talking with a group of people
Small group discussions are another format for those who would like to verbalize their reflections. Group members can support one another in their reflections and learn from each other's successes and mistakes. It can be a regularly scheduled meeting or one called specifically when someone is looking for outside perspectives. Health sciences and medical librarians who work in different environments (e.g., academic, hospital, corporate) can consider forming groups with the intention of conducting reflection. Having some commonalities and some differences supports rich discussion. While reflecting in a group has similar considerations as reflecting with one other person (confidentiality and potential power differentials), it has additional considerations, such as how the group will be facilitated. Supplemental Appendix B lists considerations for being part of a reflective small group.
Reflecting alone, followed by talking with others
Another option is a combination of reflecting alone and then talking with others, either one-on-one or in a group. This is particularly helpful for those who have trouble identifying the outside perspective or overcoming other challenges in the reflective process. Talking to one or more colleagues can foster deeper individual reflection. Personality, preference, and opportunity will have an impact on format choice. Regardless of the chosen formats, reflection can be freeform or follow a model.
USE OF A MODEL
There is no formal model for conducting reflection that is geared toward health sciences and medical librarians; however, there are many published models in other professions. A reflective practice model can be used exactly as described in the literature or it can be used as a loose guide. As noted above, it can be turned into a form, where brief answers or comments can be jotted down without extra narrative. Models often provide a visual structure of the reflective process, which allow individuals who are reflecting to incorporate a process for thinking about their experiences, rather than have thoughts float around out of context [ 10 ]. Using a model can be particularly helpful for people who are new to reflective practice or for those who want to deepen their practice. Three example models are described below. Additional models can be found in supplemental Appendix A .
Situation, Evidence, Action (SEA)-Change Model
There are varied reflective practices models from many disciplines, yet the nature of intentional reflection requires the three components described earlier: description of the experience, reflection on and exploration of why things happened as they did, and identification of changes to thinking and behavior to improve the outcomes of future experiences. Some models—such as the Situation, Evidence, Action (SEA)-Change Model ( Table 2 ) that originated in professional library education—focus on these three elements. Instead of including generic questions to guide reflection, the SEA-Change Model identifies characteristics of deep reflection, as defined by Moon [ 21 ]. While the complete model includes a de-scaffolding component to help instructors facilitate student autonomy during reflection, leading to independence, the core of the model is three steps: identify the situation, provide the evidence, and follow through with an action or change [ 22 ].
Situation, Evidence, Action (SEA)-Change model
| SEA-Change process phases | Characteristics of deep reflection process | |
|---|---|---|
| S: Situation | Trigger and/or catalyst: clearly defined and understood. Context: contextual consideration fully considered. Critical (analytical or deep) reflection of multiple perspectives. | |
| E: Evidence | Assimilation of the evidence from the past or present. Learning process based on evidence, new knowledge, or understanding acquired. | |
| A: Action | Need for action identified based on above. What action or change is needed? Future Action or change in behavior or the situation | |
Adapted by permission of Barbara A. Sen.
Gibbs Reflective Cycle Model
Other models, such as Gibbs' Reflective Cycle Model ( Table 3 ) from the literature of teacher education, include more stages—"Description,” “Feelings,” “Evaluation,” “Analysis,” “Conclusion,” and “Action Plan”—and provide guiding questions to foster a more complete reflection [ 23 ]. Even with these extra stages, the three core components of reflective practice are present.
| Description | Describe your experience. |
|---|---|
| Feelings | |
| Evaluation | |
| Analysis | |
| Conclusion | |
| Action plan |
Used under Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License by Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, Oxford Brookes University, Wheatley Campus, Wheatley, Oxford, UK, OX33 1HX.
Kim's Critical Reflective Inquiry Model
Some models apply the three main elements of reflective practice to a specific focus. Kim's Critical Reflective Inquiry Model ( Figure 1 ), from the literature of advanced nursing practice, describes three phases: “Descriptive,” “Reflective,” and “Critical/Emancipatory” [ 24 ]. In addition to reflection on the situation, it explicitly calls for reflection on one's espoused theories and intentions. This provides appropriate material for the final stage: critiquing practice and participating in the process that leads to change. The key aspect of this model requires critiquing beliefs, assumptions, and personal and professional values. Because of the nature of critical reflective practice, this model benefits from a combination of individual reflection and reflective conversation with others.
These three models are a small sample of published reflective practice models. When reviewing models for possible use, consider whether you are:
- New to reflective practice? Consider a model that includes guiding questions.
- Short on time? Consider a simple three-component model.
- Interested in a specific theoretical underpinning? Some models are highly informed by specific theories; others are more practical. Make sure to review the theories used and the assumptions made by potential models. For example, Ghaye offers a strengths-based model [ 25 ].
- Interested in creative expression? There are models that incorporate storytelling [ 26 ] and poetry [ 27 ] as part of the reflective process.
Remember that all models include describing a situation, using reflection to make sense of it, and identifying and making appropriate changes.
REFLECTIVE PRACTICE IN ACTION
The beauty of reflective practice is that it can be used by health sciences and medical librarians in any type of library, in any type of work, and at any stage in their careers. There are many ways in which reflective practice can be applied to librarianship.
Evidence-based library and information practice
Reflective practice is an important component of evidence-based library and information practice (EBLIP) [ 28 , 29 ]. Koufogiannakis and Brettle state that “EBLIP asks librarians to think critically about their practice and the process they use in making decisions” [ 30 ]. Reflection is embedded throughout the process, starting with an articulation of the problem to solve or decision to be made and ending with evaluation of the implemented solution or decision made. The journal Evidence-Based Library and Information Practice has a column called “Using Evidence in Practice,” which provides a place for librarians to share their experiences with applying evidence to a situation, including a reflection on their processes.
Reflective practice can also be used to improve librarians' skills as creators of evidence. Some authors focus on specific techniques, such as reflective writing [ 31 ], while others situate reflective practice in the broader context of research [ 32 , 33 ]. Hypothesis , the journal of the MLA Research Caucus, recently introduced a column called “Failure,” which is an opportunity for health sciences library researchers to reflect on challenges in the research process and how the challenges could have been avoided, allowing others to learn from their experiences [ 34 ].
Critical librarianship
Critical librarianship, “bringing social justice principles to…work in libraries” [ 35 ], relies on critical reflection to explore areas where libraries and librarians are supporting systems of oppression and to identify alternatives [ 36 ]. Articles on critical librarianship often identify examples and questions from librarianship or other disciplines that can be incorporated into critical reflection. For example, the #CritLib moderators post questions to be discussed at upcoming Twitter chats that can be adopted for individual critical reflection [ 35 ], and questions from parts of the chats are archived on the website. Regardless of the source of guidance for critical reflection, it is important to critical librarianship that the reflection results in action: “linking reflection to action is the enactment of critical practice ” [ 6 ].
Improvement of teaching
Teacher education has a long tradition of reflective practice to improve instruction and classroom management, resulting in a large body of knowledge that has informed the professional development of librarians in teaching roles. Reflective practice has been promoted as a tool for improving teaching skills [ 37 – 39 ] and as a technique for developing one's identity as a teacher [ 4 , 38 ]. The Association of College & Research Libraries' Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education has been suggested as a tool to guide reflection with the purpose of improved instruction [ 40 ]. Reflective practice is a key component in the development of a teaching portfolio [ 18 ].
Management and leadership
Reflective practice is a helpful tool for administrators, both for helping employees improve their performance and improving the supervisor's own practice. An institution may require employees to complete self-evaluations of their performance prior to the supervisors' evaluations. These annual self-evaluations can be difficult as employees struggle to remember a year's worth of activity. Reflective practice can mitigate the process. Supervisors can encourage their employees to reflect on a regular basis, whether it be monthly, quarterly, or biannually, as an effective way for employees to review their own work and track what was done, constructively gain insight into their performance, and document outcomes of practice improvement processes. This use of reflective practice enables thoughtful consideration of performance and can be used in informal or structured ways.
Reflective coaching can be used with employees between annual evaluations [ 41 ]. Reflective practice is beneficial to individual managers and to management teams. Just as the act of reflecting on one's own past work is a helpful tool for employees, it is also helpful for managers. It is a learning process itself, and that learning enables future change and a higher understanding of one's own strengths and weaknesses. Beyond specific work situations, resources are available to use reflection to explore core aspects of leadership [ 19 , 42 ].
It is not easy to engage in reflective practice. It takes time, dedication, and energy, any or all of which can be in short supply. Investing in one's self and one's career to become a better health sciences or medical librarian is worth the cost. Here are some tips to support exploration of reflective practice.
Pay attention
Reflective practice includes aspects of mindfulness, as only through paying attention can situations that would benefit from reflection be identified, such as surprising outcomes or uneasy feelings [ 43 ]. With a mindful approach, one can explore situations and alternatives in a way in which defensiveness is reduced, improving one's ability to plan and take action.
Be intentional and purposeful
Start each reflection with an intention to guide the time: why reflect on the identified situation? It is easy to start reflecting on a particular situation and then drift to something else. Granted, the tangent might lead to an important discovery, but an intention can help maintain focus. Sample intentions are how to improve an instruction session with negative evaluations or how to work more efficiently with the information technology (IT) department to streamline access to library resources.
Use a model to get started
As noted above, using a model can help visualize the process and provide a structure for the reflection. Most reflective practice models include a series of questions that can be used to guide reflection. Pick one that seems likely to work well for the current situation (time available, experience with reflective practice, complexity of the intention, and so on). If it does not work as well as expected, try another.
McCorquodale advises: “Value yourself enough to take time to reflect on your practice” [ 44 ]. One of the most common factors identified as a barrier to engaging in reflection is lack of time [ 45 , 46 ]. Everyone leads busy lives, and scheduling time for reflection is the first step to incorporating reflective practice into work life. What is needed: scheduling reflection time regularly or reflecting when a situation arises? If regular reflection is desired, when would be the best time and day to schedule it? Is it scheduled after certain kinds of events, such as after each instruction session? How long might a reflection period last? Block out reflection time on the schedule and defend it. Remember why investing time and effort in reflective practice is worthwhile.
Finding a space to reflect is as important as making time. The office is not ideal as there are often too many distractions and interruptions. Whether it is a couch in the library or a table at a coffee shop, find a space to conduct reflection. The space should be a place where one feels confident, protected, free from discrimination, and secure to conduct efficient reflection.
Find support
There are many different types of support that can be utilized to help to make the reflection process easier. Support from a supervisor can help facilitate the process by helping to find time to reflect. This support will allow the supervisor to see an interest in assessing the quality of the employee's work for professional growth. Supplementing independent reflection with conversation with trusted colleagues (individually or in a group) can provide feedback, clarity, support, and accountability. There are multiple opportunities to find a mentor through professional organizations such as MLA, the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries, and regional or state associations.
Be consistent
Reflective practice is not a skill learned overnight. Like all skills, experience brings improvement both in the reflective process and the application of insights from reflection to professional practice. Consider keeping track of reflections and outcomes in order to reflect on them. Reviewing that history can help identify how reflective practice skills have improved. Reflective practice is not a “one-size fits all” methodology, and there will be some trial and error to find what works best. Additional resources about reflective practice can be found in supplemental Appendix C .
Developing a practice of using intentional reflection does not happen quickly or spontaneously. It requires practitioners to be purposeful and build processes for reflective practice. The investment of time and energy in intentional reflection allows health sciences librarians to learn from their experiences and most importantly, helps them close the circle and apply what they have learned to improve their professional practice.
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Supplemental files.
- Schools & departments
Gibbs' Reflective Cycle
One of the most famous cyclical models of reflection leading you through six stages exploring an experience: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan.
Gibbs' Reflective Cycle was developed by Graham Gibbs in 1988 to give structure to learning from experiences. It offers a framework for examining experiences, and given its cyclic nature lends itself particularly well to repeated experiences, allowing you to learn and plan from things that either went well or didn’t go well. It covers 6 stages:
- Description of the experience
- Feelings and thoughts about the experience
- Evaluation of the experience, both good and bad
- Analysis to make sense of the situation
- Conclusion about what you learned and what you could have done differently
- Action plan for how you would deal with similar situations in the future, or general changes you might find appropriate.
Below is further information on:
- The model – each stage is given a fuller description, guiding questions to ask yourself and an example of how this might look in a reflection
- Different depths of reflection – an example of reflecting more briefly using this model
This is just one model of reflection. Test it out and see how it works for you. If you find that only a few of the questions are helpful for you, focus on those. However, by thinking about each stage you are more likely to engage critically with your learning experience.
This model is a good way to work through an experience. This can be either a stand-alone experience or a situation you go through frequently, for example meetings with a team you have to collaborate with. Gibbs originally advocated its use in repeated situations, but the stages and principles apply equally well for single experiences too. If done with a stand-alone experience, the action plan may become more general and look at how you can apply your conclusions in the future.
For each of the stages of the model a number of helpful questions are outlined below. You don’t have to answer all of them but they can guide you about what sort of things make sense to include in that stage. You might have other prompts that work better for you.
Description
Here you have a chance to describe the situation in detail. The main points to include here concern what happened. Your feelings and conclusions will come later.
Helpful questions:
- What happened?
- When and where did it happen?
- Who was present?
- What did you and the other people do?
- What was the outcome of the situation?
- Why were you there?
- What did you want to happen?
Example of 'Description'
| For an assessed written group-work assignment, my group (3 others from my course) and I decided to divide the different sections between us so that we only had to research one element each. We expected we could just piece the assignment together in the afternoon the day before the deadline, meaning that we didn’t have to schedule time to sit and write it together. However, when we sat down it was clear the sections weren’t written in the same writing style. We therefore had to rewrite most of the assignment to make it a coherent piece of work. We had given ourselves enough time before the deadline to individually write our own sections, however we did not plan a great deal of time to rewrite if something were to go wrong. Therefore, two members of the group had to drop their plans that evening so the assignment would be finished in time for the deadline. |
Here you can explore any feelings or thoughts that you had during the experience and how they may have impacted the experience.
- What were you feeling during the situation?
- What were you feeling before and after the situation?
- What do you think other people were feeling about the situation?
- What do you think other people feel about the situation now?
- What were you thinking during the situation?
- What do you think about the situation now?
Example of 'Feelings'
| Before we came together and realised we still had a lot of work to do, I was quite happy and thought we had been smart when we divided the work between us. When we realised we couldn’t hand in the assignment like it was, I got quite frustrated. I was certain it was going to work, and therefore I had little motivation to actually do the rewriting. Given that a couple of people from the group had to cancel their plans I ended up feeling quite guilty, which actually helped me to work harder in the evening and get the work done faster. Looking back, I’m feeling satisfied that we decided to put in the work. |
Here you have a chance to evaluate what worked and what didn’t work in the situation. Try to be as objective and honest as possible. To get the most out of your reflection focus on both the positive and the negative aspects of the situation, even if it was primarily one or the other.
- What was good and bad about the experience?
- What went well?
- What didn’t go so well?
- What did you and other people contribute to the situation (positively or negatively)?
Example of 'Evaluation'
| The things that were good and worked well was the fact that each group member produced good quality work for the agreed deadline. Moreover, the fact that two people from the group cancelled plans motivated us to work harder in the evening. That contributed positively to the group’s work ethic. The things that clearly didn’t work was that we assumed we wrote in the same way, and therefore the overall time plan of the group failed. |
The analysis step is where you have a chance to make sense of what happened. Up until now you have focused on details around what happened in the situation. Now you have a chance to extract meaning from it. You want to target the different aspects that went well or poorly and ask yourself why. If you are looking to include academic literature, this is the natural place to include it.
- Why did things go well?
- Why didn’t it go well?
- What sense can I make of the situation?
- What knowledge – my own or others (for example academic literature) can help me understand the situation?
Example of 'Analysis'
| I think the reason that our initial division of work went well was because each person had a say in what part of the assignment they wanted to work on, and we divided according to people’s self-identified strengths. I have experienced working this way before and discovered when I’m working by myself I enjoy working in areas that match my strengths. It seems natural to me that this is also the case in groups. I think we thought that this approach would save us time when piecing together the sections in the end, and therefore we didn’t think it through. In reality, it ended up costing us far more time than expected and we also had to stress and rush through the rewrite. I think the fact we hadn’t planned how we were writing and structuring the sections led us to this situation. I searched through some literature on group work and found two things that help me understand the situation. Belbin’s (e.g. 2010) team roles suggests that each person has certain strengths and weaknesses they bring to a group. While we didn’t think about our team members in the same way Belbin does, effective team work and work delegation seems to come from using people’s different strengths, which we did. Another theory that might help explain why we didn’t predict the plan wouldn’t work is ‘Groupthink’ (e.g. Janis, 1991). Groupthink is where people in a group won’t raise different opinions to a dominant opinion or decision, because they don’t want to seem like an outsider. I think if we had challenged our assumptions about our plan - by actually being critical, we would probably have foreseen that it wouldn’t work. Some characteristics of groupthink that were in our group were: ‘collective rationalisation’ – we kept telling each other that it would work; and probably ‘illusion of invulnerability’ – we are all good students, so of course we couldn’t do anything wrong. I think being aware of groupthink in the future will be helpful in group work, when trying to make decisions. |
Conclusions
In this section you can make conclusions about what happened. This is where you summarise your learning and highlight what changes to your actions could improve the outcome in the future. It should be a natural response to the previous sections.
- What did I learn from this situation?
- How could this have been a more positive situation for everyone involved?
- What skills do I need to develop for me to handle a situation like this better?
- What else could I have done?
Example of a 'Conclusion'
| I learned that when a group wants to divide work, we must plan how we want each section to look and feel – having done this would likely have made it possible to put the sections together and submit without much or any rewriting. Moreover, I will continue to have people self-identify their strengths and possibly even suggest using the ‘Belbin team roles’-framework with longer projects. Lastly, I learned that we sometimes have to challenge the decisions we seem to agree on in the group to ensure that we are not agreeing just because of groupthink. |
Action plan
At this step you plan for what you would do differently in a similar or related situation in the future. It can also be extremely helpful to think about how you will help yourself to act differently – such that you don’t only plan what you will do differently, but also how you will make sure it happens. Sometimes just the realisation is enough, but other times reminders might be helpful.
- If I had to do the same thing again, what would I do differently?
- How will I develop the required skills I need?
- How can I make sure that I can act differently next time?
Example of 'Action Plan'
| When I’m working with a group next time, I will talk to them about what strengths they have. This is easy to do and remember in a first meeting, and also potentially works as an ice-breaker if we don’t know each other well. Next, if we decide to divide work, I will insist that we plan out what we expect from it beforehand. Potentially I would suggest writing the introduction or first section together first, so that we have a reference for when we are writing our own parts. I’m confident this current experience will be enough to remind me to suggest this if anyone says we should divide up the work in the future. Lastly, I will ask if we can challenge our initial decisions so that we are confident we are making informed decisions to avoid groupthink. If I have any concerns, I will tell the group. I think by remembering I want the best result possible will make me be able to disagree even when it feels uncomfortable. |
Different depths of reflection
Depending on the context you are doing the reflection in, you might want use different levels of details. Here is the same scenario, which was used in the example above, however it is presented much more briefly.
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|
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In a group work assignment, we divided sections according to people’s strengths. When we tried to piece the assignment together it was written in different styles and therefore we had to spend time rewriting it. |
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I thought our plan would work and felt good about it. When we had to rewrite it, I felt frustrated. |
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The process of dividing sections went well. However, it didn’t work not having foreseen/planned rewriting the sections for coherence and writing styles. |
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Dividing work according to individual strengths is useful. Belbin’s team roles (2010) would suggest something similar. I have done it before and it seems to work well. The reason piecing work together didn’t work was we had no plan for what it needed to look like. We were so focused on finishing quickly that no one would raise a concern. The last part can be explained by ‘groupthink’ (e.g. Jarvis, 1991), where members of a group make a suboptimal decision because individuals are afraid of challenging the consensus. |
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I learned that using people’s strengths is efficient. Moreover, planning how we want the work to look, before we go off on our own is helpful. Lastly, I will remember the dangers of groupthink, and what the theory suggests to look out for. |
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I will use Belbin’s team roles to divide group work in the future. Moreover, I will suggest writing one section together before we do our own work, so we can mirror that in our own writing. Finally, I will speak my mind when I have concerns, by remembering it can benefit the outcome. |
Adapted from
Gibbs G (1988). Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further Education Unit. Oxford Polytechnic: Oxford.
- DOI: 10.33776/remo.vi19.7224
- Corpus ID: 260547847
Gibbs’ cycle review. Emotions as a part of the cycle
- Fabio Galli , Carline New
- Published in Revista de Educación… 9 December 2022
- Psychology, Education
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Reflection as part of continuous professional development for public health professionals: a literature review
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Nishamali Jayatilleke, Anne Mackie, Reflection as part of continuous professional development for public health professionals: a literature review, Journal of Public Health , Volume 35, Issue 2, June 2013, Pages 308–312, https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fds083
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For many years, reflection has been considered good practice in medical education. In public health (PH), while no formal training or teaching of reflection takes place, it is expected as part of continuous professional development. This paper aims to identify reflective models useful for PH and to review published literature on the role of reflection in PH. The paper also aims to investigate the reported contribution, if any, of reflection by PH workers as part of their professional practice.
A review of the literature was carried out in order to identify reflective experience, either directly related to PH or in health education. Free text searches were conducted for English language papers on electronic bibliographic databases in September 2011. Thirteen papers met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed.
There is limited but growing evidence to suggest reflection improves practice in disciplines allied to PH. No specific models are currently recommended or widely used in PH.
Health education literature has reflective models which could be applied to PH practice.
The practice of public health (PH) is a science as well as an art. 1 PH professionals may work across all or some of its main domains—health improvement, health protection and health services. The Faculty of Public Health provides direction and guidance to enable the development of professionals and establish competencies that specify behaviour, skills and attitudes. The Faculty encourages professionals to reflect as part of essential practice. 2 Many different disciplines contribute to the PH workforce, but all are expected to keep themselves up to date through continuing professional development (CPD). However, the mere experience of carrying out some developmental activity may not be sufficient to enable future improvements and thus many medical specialities encourage their practitioners to reflect on their experiences. 3
Reflection can contribute to learning. 4 Illeris 4 describes learning to consist of emotional and social dimensions as well as cognitive. In practice, the cognitive aspects are most easily measured through assessments or performance, while the emotional and social aspects may be less easily captured. Frameworks of reflection could support the development of both these dimensions. 5 Further to this, if learning is considered to take place in the form of a cycle, as shown in Fig. 1 , the role of reflection becomes apparent.
Four stages of Kolb's learning cycle 6 .
The cycle of learning comprises four elements—a concrete experience, an observation and reflection, formation of abstract concepts and testing in new situations. 6 The circular model does not mean each stage should be equally weighted in time and emphasis. 7 Kolb and Fry, in their theory, argue that the cycle can begin at any of those points. However, in its simplified form, the learning cycle will begin by carrying out a task, the person would reflect on that experience and apply the learning in a new situation. In order to apply experience to the new situation, the ability to generalize through identifying principles and their connections to actions over a range of circumstances is required. Throughout the process, learners rate themselves which is an important element for adult learners 8 and could be considered relevant for continuous professional development. In his work, Donald Schon 9 concludes that the possible objects for reflection can be as varied as the situations faced and the systems in which they occur. Reflection can be understood as the ‘ability to gain understanding of specific issues in practice through critically contextualizing, observing and analysing to generate new knowledge and insights which can enhance practice’. 10 This may mean the individual might reflect on the feeling for a situation which has led to adoption of a particular course of action, the way in which the problem has been framed and/or the role this has created for the individual in the wider institution as a result. 9 It can be seen as the process of reasoned thought which enables a critical assessment of both self as a professional and as an agent of change. 10 This latter is of particular relevance to PH professionals in their roles of influencing decision-making.
However, as a speciality on the whole, PH has focused heavily on quantitative measures for evaluation. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a framework for learning to reflection for individuals as well as for teams and to identify approaches to guide continuous professional development. This paper describes how this could be implemented and used in everyday work to enable professional development.
Literature search strategy
A literature search was undertaken using CINAHL, Medline and OvidSP electronic databases in September 2011. The search terms used were evidence-based practice, research evidence, medical education, qualitative research, reflective practice, reflection and evidence. Other sources included handpicking of books on evidence-based practice, reflection and research. Full texts of potentially relevant articles were obtained. Papers were identified for inclusion in the review by examination of full text articles. Data relating to characteristics of the population, intervention, outcome measures, study design and outcomes were collected.
Inclusion criteria
Papers written in English only were included. Articles pertaining to reflection in or on practice in PH or related disciplines were included. Documents published between 1970 and 2011 were included. Peer- and non-peer-reviewed publications were considered.
Exclusion criteria
Articles that included reflection as by-product rather than the main focus were excluded. Non-English language publications were excluded.
Electronic searches yielded over 100 citations. Further citations were obtained by hand searching of reference lists. More than 20 full articles were retrieved and assessed against the set inclusion criteria. Of the five papers included in this review, none were from PH, two from nursing and two from other allied health professions or other education literature. One further model was included from non-health background.
The search did not find evidence that particular frameworks were in regular use in current PH practice. The search identified educational concepts from the literature which could be applied to PH. Several approaches to reflection were found. While none of these were linked directly to PH practice, their use in medicine was referenced. The literature discussed here were selected on relevance and focused on the synthesis on framework, service-based learning and mentorship.
Burton's approach 11 was to use the core questions focused on reflection on action but with the ability to be applied in and before action. Burton's cycle of three questions comprises the questions: What? So what? Now what? These are questions which the reflector can answer during the reflective process.
Boud et al . 12 defines reflection in the learning context and focuses on the personal experience as the object of reflection—as the intellect and affects lead to new understandings and appreciations. Boud describes three main components to consider—experience, reflection and outcome. The experience can be a behaviour, ideas or feelings. The reflection will include returning to the experience, attend to feelings that it brought about and a re-evaluation of the experience. The outcome will look at new perspectives, changes to behaviour and an application of learning into practice.
The Gibbs' reflective cycle (1988) encourages a clear description of the situation, analysis of feelings, evaluation of the experience and an analysis to make sense of the experience. This would be followed by conclusions where other options are considered and reflection upon experience to examine what one would do if the situation arose again. 13 In essence, Gibbs describes a cycle of description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan. The description is questioning what happened followed by the feelings brought about through the questions—‘what were you thinking and feeling?’. The evaluation component describes what was good and not so good about the experience. The analysis should identify what sense can be made of the situation and the conclusion details of what else could have been done. The process of reflection is ended with an action plan for what could be done if the situation arose again.
Atkins and Murphy 5 through their model suggest that for reflection to have a real effect it needs to be followed by an action commitment. The authors describe a cycle of awareness, description, analysis, evaluation and learning. The reflective process begins with the awareness of uncomfortable feelings and thoughts from the action or new experience followed by a description of the situation including thoughts and feelings. This would need to include salient events and key features identified by the reflector. The reflector would need to analyse feelings and knowledge relevant to the situation—identifying knowledge, challenging assumptions, imagining and exploring alternatives.
The reflection process would also need to include evaluation and consolidating learning. Evaluate the relevance of knowledge through asking questions includes the following: ‘Does it help to explain and/or solve problems’? ‘How complete was the use of knowledge’? These steps would be followed by identifying any learning which has occurred.
After-action review is a de-brief process in practice originally developed by the US army which aims to identify how to improve, maintain strengths and focus on performance of specific objectives. The de-brief manual provides guidance for individuals and group reviews. 14 The review would answer the following four questions: What was supposed to happen? What actually happened? Why were they different? What did we (I) learn?
Main findings
There is no published evidence of the use of particular models of reflection in PH practice. The general medical education literature contains various approaches to reflection.
The evidence base to suggest learner's self-reflection skills can be improved through formal training is still lacking.
There are a variety of theories on reflection in the education literature. The implication this brings to individual PH practitioners is to consider when and how they will reflect as part of their continuous learning cycle. In addition, whether the act of reflection should be done alone or as part of a team or both will need to be established. As a discipline that has focused less on reflection in the past it is possible to draw on theories and models already existent and in use within medicine. There are a range of ways to reflect which include methods like journal writing, discussions and use of technology such as blogs. 15 There is also a range of aspects to be considered, for example, individual perspective, team dynamics and societal impacts. Ultimately, the aim of reflection would be to improve practice and learn from relevant experiences. It is obvious that this comes from being an analytical reflector and moving beyond pure description. As some of the literature suggests, it is useful to recognise emotional influence and challenge one's ideas. In broader learning terms, it is also useful to consider the relevance of prior experience.
Reflection enhances personal development by leading to self-awareness. 16 If the focus of reflection is improvement in patient care, it helps to expand and develop clinical knowledge and skills. 17–19 The process slows down activity providing time to process material of learning and link to previous ideas. 20 It should also enable more ownership of the learning taking place. 20 Reflection has been reckoned to promote optimum effectiveness and efficiency in an ever evolving and complex health-care system through practitioners auditing their own practice. 21 , 22 ‘Reflection reminds qualified practitioners that there is no end point to learning about their everyday practice’. 18
Where it exists, the practice of reflection has tended to focus on individual professionals at specific points in time and/or on specific elements of practice. 10 This, however, can form only a part of the experience as many PH actions involve many disciplines. Often action takes place across multi-sectoral teams and involves multi-phased interventions. Programme delivery is often longer term, should be population focused and policy led.
The learner involvement is a key fundamental principle of adult education. PH CPD and the reflection that forms part of it can be viewed in light of adult education as individuals need to take ownership and engage in setting their learning agenda. 23 Therefore, the mere act of reflecting supports the androgogical model as adults need to be able to establish the purpose of the activity undertaken and identify how to cope effectively with real-life situations. 24
There needs to be opportunity to reflect as individuals as well as in teams in an acute manner while carrying out the longer term projects. Reflection can be used as a tool to facilitate professionals to assess beliefs, values and approaches to practice. 25 These factors determine how individuals personally and the policies/programmes which they deliver, act as agents of change, contributing to empowerment. Adult learners are more likely to believe and instil ideas that they help create. The environment can provide many structured activities that generate the ideas, concepts or techniques if an active decision to do so is taken. The practitioner could then experience surprise, puzzlement or confusion associated with the situation. Reflecting on the phenomena that is being experienced and prior understanding which have implicated, the resulting behaviour will lead the learner to new understanding. 9
In the health promotion literature, reflection on external and internal factors is recommended. These factors, however, could be equally applied to other domains of PH as they will include policy, professional and societal influences (examples of external factors) and attitudes, skills, experiences and team dynamics (examples of internal factors). 26
The practice of self-reflection in academic achievement has been captured in disciplines that contribute to PH. A positive impact was noted through reflective journal writing over only scientific report writing for those studying biology. 27 This was evidenced through greater awareness of cognitive strategies and conceptions of learning when learners constructed more complex and related knowledge when learning from text. In studies of mathematics students, while reflection was not necessary for high grades of achievements, it supported better conceptualization of meanings of the technical definitions. 28 Practice, shaped through reflection can develop professionals, organizations and society. This is already considered important within health promotion. 25
Educational concepts and the impact of reflection are not easily measurable. 29 Therefore, its merits may be overlooked. One can argue that this approach of reflecting on an issue is too straight forward and, in practice, difficult issues may take months to reflect on. Doing so quickly might lead to a paper exercise. Explicit frameworks may not be suitable for some situations. Frameworks vary in their focus of contexts. However, they are aimed to be critical analyses of knowledge and experience to deepen understanding. Time, motivation, initial expertise and lack of peer support are recognized barriers to reflection. To add to this are organizational contexts and team dynamics—frequent problems faced by PH professionals. 10 However, a structure to guide the process of reflection on the content and the process of learning would be deemed useful. 30
Limitations
With the aim of providing a broad overview of reflective approaches relevant to PH professionals, this work provides a selection and not a complete comprehensive collection of medical education literature.
What does this report add?
There are very few articles relating the use of reflection to current PH practice and furthermore on the strengths and weaknesses of different models that could be applied. This review article outlines some of the most applicable and outlines their merits and otherwise. Individuals working in PH may consider some of the approaches described here alongside their current professional development activities either as individual learners or as part of learning within teams.
At present, the strength and extent of the evidence base for the educational effects of reflection in a PH setting is limited.
However, there is evidence of an improving trend in the quality of reported studies. ‘Higher quality’ papers identify improvements in knowledge and understanding, increased self-awareness and engagement in reflection and improved opportunities through specialist training and continuous professional development.
In recognition of the time commitment involved, the benefits to the profession must be apparent. In addition, the opportunity cost of other learning and developmental activity forgone needs to be considered. Further work is needed to strengthen the evidence base for reflection, particularly, where possible, comparative studies which observe changes in knowledge and abilities directly.
Given its merits, while the quantitative evidence base is limited, what are the implications for practice? Given PH's stated desire to base practice upon evidence there is urgent need to formally assess the effectiveness of reflection in the improvement of PH practice.
We would like to thank Joanne Harcombe for her helpful comments on the draft manuscript.
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Gibbs Reflective Cycle
Posted on: January 6, 2020
Author: Clare Hopkinson
Reflection is a key aspect of the personal and professional development that nurses are required to undertake to keep pace with the changing nature of practice. It helps ensure safe and effective evidence-based care by allowing nurses to constantly improve their skills.
This article brings a fresh perspective to G ibbs Reflective Cycle for nurses starting out in practice and shows how critical reflection can be used as a systematic and thoughtful approach to improve and develop skills. It also explains why it is necessary to go beyond this model and includes ideas and activities for how to put this into practice by keeping a diary.
Why is Reflection important for nurses?
We all engage in the kinds of conversations in which the shortcomings of systems, organisations or other people are identified and where simple solutions for making things better are suggested. Unfortunately, the same cannot always be said in relation to ourselves: indeed, we rarely engage in conversations that identify our own shortcomings, let alone provide solutions for improving our performance as nurses. If nothing else, reflection provides an opportunity to review the effects and consequences of our behaviour and actions.
By using a structured form of reflection it can enable you to identify your role in an incident and to help you to begin to understand how the incident might have been avoided altogether. From this a plan of action can be constructed to assist you with personal and professional development.
To develop is to improve. Development occurs when things can be said to have improved. Development is intimately bound with thinking; thinking about the way things are now and thinking about the way things might be improved: and to engage in thinking about things in this way is to engage in reflection. Thus reflection is an essential feature of development, and as suggested above, most of us engage with this type of activity on an everyday basis. We might not normally call this ‘reflection’ but when we think about how things are and how they might be improved we are reflecting on what is and what might be.
Personal development is personal improvement, while professional development involves improving experiences of health and nursing care for patients. So in a professional sense, engaging with reflection (i.e., thinking about how things are and thinking about how they might be improved for patients) must be accompanied by action (i.e., actually doing something in an attempt to make things better for patients). Thus reflection is an integral part of personal and professional development.
Gibbs Model Of Reflection
The simple cyclical structure of gibbs reflective cycle model makes it easy to use and popular among nurses. It is useful as it emphasises the link between reflection and action (and this can assist in setting a personal development plan). However, it neither encourages consideration of other people in (or affected by) the event nor does it require examination of motives, values, knowledge, or congruence between thoughts and actions. While action-based and thus relevant for professional development it may not encourage deeper reflection of self and thus may be limited in terms of personal development.
Reflective Nursing Journal
A deeper understanding of ourselves can be achieved through writing. Written reflection is a common theme in the literature as a way of reflecting on action but it is strewn with confusing language. There are learning logs, journals, portfolios, structured accounts, reflective models, reflective reviews and personal diaries. Some reflective writing is public (e.g., a portfolio for an assignment) while other writing is private (e.g., a diary). Through writing, nurses can be encouraged to reflect on critical incidents from practice (I prefer the term ‘stories of experience’). These stories are usually prompted by some emotional or ethical discomfort. Stories can focus on positive or negative experiences and allow you the chance to view events from a distance, considering:
• What happened, paying attention to the context and detail of the story. • What you did and why you did it. • What you felt about the experience and how this may connect with past experiences. • What you have learned about yourself, others, your practice. • What were the gaps in your knowledge, attitudes and skills. • What could be done differently. • How your practice has changed now you have read or considered a different way of working.
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COMMENTS
Considering Gibbs' Reflective Cycle framework, in this article, we detail the design, implementation, and evaluation of a reflective writing assignment integrated into a lower-year undergraduate public health biology course. Through the design and implementation of the reflective writing assignment, four key lessons are drawn.
Other models, such as Gibbs' Reflective Cycle Model ( Table 3) from the literature of teacher education, include more stages—"Description," "Feelings," "Evaluation," "Analysis," "Conclusion," and "Action Plan"—and provide guiding questions to foster a more complete reflection [ 23 ].
The aim of this article was to provide an overview of Gibbs's reflective cycle ( Gibbs, 1988) and its application to debriefing as part of simulation practice. First, we explore the concept of reflection and reflective practice, describe and analyze Gibbs's cycle, and compare how this cycle relates to contemporary debriefing methods.
The Gibbs' cycle, used in reflective practice, is a tool for self-reflection, mental wellbeing monitoring, academic learning and teaching activities, personal and professional development.
The implementation of reflective assessment using Gibbs' reflective cycle in assessing students' writing skill
Reflection is important for learning in simulation-based education (SBE). The importance of debriefing to promote reflection is accepted as a cornerstone of SBE. Gibbs's reflective cycle is a theoretical framework comprised of six stages and can be used during structured debriefing to guide reflection. The aim of the article was to provide an overview of Gibbs's reflective cycle and its ...
Another commonly used model is Gibbs' reflective cycle, published in 1988, which further expands on Kolb's work and has been used for reflections in various medical professions,
Gibbs' Reflective Cycle One of the most famous cyclical models of reflection leading you through six stages exploring an experience: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan.
Gibbs' cycle review. Emotions as a part of the cycle. The Gibbs' cycle, used in reflective practice, is a tool for self-reflection, mental wellbeing monitoring, academic learning and teaching activities, personal and professional development. It is structured in six phases: description, feelings, evaluation, conclusions, and action plan.
Using a framework for reflection: Gibbs' reflective cycle. cknowledge the importance of feelings and emotion in learning:It is from the feelings and thought emerging from thi. reflection that generalisations or concepts can be generated. And it is generalisations o. concepts that.
For many years, reflection has been considered good practice in medical education. In public health (PH), while no formal training or teaching of reflection takes place, it is expected as part of continuous professional development. This paper aims to identify reflective models useful for PH and to review published literature on the role of reflection in PH. The paper also aims to investigate ...
The Gibbs' cycle, used in reflective practice, is a tool for self-reflection, mental wellbeing monitoring, academic learning and teaching activities, personal and professio- nal development.
The Gibbs Reflective Cycle is one of the most commonly used reflective cycles used by those studying to be a nurse. This model of reflection will help you critically analyse your experiences.
Gibbs Reflective Cycle. Author: Clare Hopkinson. Reflection is a key aspect of the personal and professional development that nurses are required to undertake to keep pace with the changing nature of practice. It helps ensure safe and effective evidence-based care by allowing nurses to constantly improve their skills.
Delve into Gibbs' Reflective Cycle, a powerful tool fostering critical thinking, deep learning, and professional growth through reflection.
To make reflection an intentional activity for your team, you'll want to run a Gibbs Reflective Cycle exercise to help you make reflection an intentional activity. In this article, we'll review the Gibbs Reflective Cycle, the corresponding model, and how to run the exercise, as well as provide you with a template you can use with your own team.
Gibbs' Reflective Cycle, lends itself particularly well to repeated experiences. It covers 6 stages: • Action plan for how you would deal with similar situations in the future, or general changes you might find appropriate. Critical reflection is viewed by many as the cognitive process linking theory and practical work, vital in critical ...
Gibbs' reflective cycle was developed by Dr. Graham Gibbs in 1988 - a research leader in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of Huddersfield. Gibbs' reflective cycle is a framework giving structure to the process of learning from experience through six stages: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusions, and action plan.
Find out what Gibbs' Reflective Cycle is. Discover its 6 Steps and How to use it with lots of Real Helpful Examples explained Step by Step.
The Gibbs' cycle, used in reflective practice, is a tool for self-reflection, mental wellbeing monitoring, academic learning and teaching activities, personal and professional development.
The findings of the study revealed that Gibbs' reflective cycle is a good framework to be used by the students in writing reflections upon literary works they are working on.
Looking for an example of Gibbs reflective cycle? This essay aims to critically reflect on an encounter with a service user in a health care setting, using the Gibbs Reflective Cycle.
Gibbs Reflective Cycle Pros and Cons Following are some pros and cons of Gibbs Reflective Model to elaborate on its utility and limitations.
The purpose of this study was to assess the awareness and practice of Secondary School teachers about employing reflective approach. It was a qualitative study involving two government secondary schools, namely, Biftu Secondary School and Shashemene Secondary School which were selected purposively. Likewise, a total of 12 teachers were selected using a purposive sampling technique. The primary ...