Thinking About Reflective Practice

Reflective practice is well established in the literature across a range of professions (Finlay, 2008; Galea, 2012; Timmins, Murphy, Howe & Dennehy, 2013; Husebo & O’Regan, 2015; Potter, 2015; Zalipour, 2015) to evaluate outcomes, using evidence, to challenge held assumptions, formulate alternate hypotheses, and concretise these hypotheses by putting theory into practice.  The purpose of genuine reflection in education is to develop a deeper understanding of personal learning and professional knowledge with a view to improving both personal and learner outcomes.  In this way practice informs reflection and reflection informs practice – Figure 1 (Zalipour, 2015).

                                                                      

 Figure 1

If we assume the willingness to be better practitioners, then it seems self-evident that we need to become better reflectors (of that practice). 

Reflective practice is a critique (internally/externally or both) of existing practice, and should not be a criticism of it.  To critique is to give a detailed analysis of something based in evidence.  It has as its foundation personal improvement.  To criticise is to point out shortcomings.  Criticism need not be negative, but it’s often judgmental nature means it can devolve into negativity (often without an evidence base).  Therefore, the purpose of reflective practice as a critique of practice, is performance improvement.

While the benefits are clear, the fait accompli manner by which it been “systemised” (Galea, 2012, p.246) in institutions can lead to, “bland, mechanical, routinized and unthinking ways of doing reflective practice” (Finlay, 2008, p.10).  This would suggest that we should be actively encouraging reflective practice but not prescribing any single best way of doing reflective practice.  People need to see that levels of reflective practice exist along a continuum from lower to higher levels of emotional engagement, time and resource investment.

Many models exist for reflective practice (see https://goo.gl/Lesp9d for an excellent synopsis), no single model stands above others.  Potter, (2015, p.338) suggests this is because reflective practice is a “fuzzy concept” which reflects its complexity.  Consequently, the range of models would suggest individuals engaging in reflective practice find a model that is the “best fit” for them in terms of personality, personal comfort, empowerment, and time (Finlay, 2008; Galea, 2012; Husebo and O’Regan, 2015).  It could therefore be argued, irrespective of the reflective practice model chosen, that reflective practice in any form is better than no reflective practice at all.

I use Gibbs Reflective Cycle (1998, in Husebo & O’Regan, 2015) – Figure 2.  This model seems intuitive and taps into my process oriented nature.  Within Gibbs’ model, the space exists to be an “assimilator” - in keeping with my personal learning and reflective style.  This means someone who prefers the evaluation, analysis and conclusion stages to think about what they are doing and form abstract concepts based in sound evidence to understand why they are doing what they are doing (McLeod, 2013).

     

 Figure 2 (https://thegptraineessurvivalguide.com/category/esr/)

While the strengths of Gibb’s Reflective cycle are its relative simplicity and step-by-step process, this also presents its greatest limitation in that it can lead to superficiality as one moves from step to step in a mechanistic manner.  However, as Potter (2015, p.338) notes, this is linked to the “cognitive opacity” of reflective practice in that the level of reflective interest or value occurs within the practitioner and is not directly observable.  Hence its value is highly individualistic.  Who are we to judge if someone has been reflective enough?  It may be better to conceptualise the reflective process not as a cycle, but a spiral such that conclusions and plans for action will stimulate further reflection when applied – Figure 3.

 

                                                                      

  Figure 3 (https://sites.google.com/site/reflection4learning/why-reflect)

This way, one never stops reflecting.

References: 

ESR – The GP trainee's survival guide. (2017). Thegptraineessurvivalguide.com. Retrieved 13 November 2017, from https://thegptraineessurvivalguide.com/category/esr/

Finlay, L. (2008). Reflecting on “Reflective practice.” Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c128/691f2615de873dfe544fcb5dc902fe812675.pdf

Guide to models of reflection – when & why should you use different ones? (2016). Lifelong Learning with OT. Retrieved 13 November 2017, from https://lifelonglearningwithot.wordpress.com/2016/05/02/different-models-of-reflection-using-them-to-help-me-reflect/

Husebø, S. E., O’Regan, S., & Nestel, D. (2015). Reflective Practice and Its Role in Simulation. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 11(8), 368–375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecns.2015.04.005

Kolb, D. A., Boyatzis, R. E., & Mainemelis, C. (2001). Experiential Learning Theory: Previous Research and New Directions. In R. J. Sternberg & L. Zhang (Eds.), Perspectives on thinking, learning, and cognitive styles. The educational psychology series. (pp. 227–247). Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc. Retrieved from http://www.d.umn.edu/~kgilbert/educ5165-731/Readings/experiential-learning-theory.pdf

McLeod, S. (2013).  Kolb's Learning Styles and Experiential Learning Cycle | Simply Psychology. (2017). Simplypsychology.org. Retrieved 12 November 2017, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html

Potter, C. (2015). Leadership development: an applied comparison of Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle and Scharmer’s Theory U. Industrial and Commercial Training, 47(6), 336–342. https://doi.org/10.1108/ICT-03-2015-0024

Timmins, F., Murphy, M., Howe, R., & Dennehy, C. (2013). “I Hate Gibb’s Reflective Cycle 1998” (Facebook©2009): Registered Nurses’ Experiences of Supporting Nursing Students’ Reflective Practice in the Context of Student’s Public Commentary. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 93, 1371–1375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.10.046

Why Reflect? - Reflection4Learning. (2017). Sites.google.com. Retrieved 13 November 2017, from https://sites.google.com/site/reflection4learning/why-reflect

Zalipour, A. (2015). www Reflective Practice. Retrieved from https://www.waikato.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/360861/Reflective-Practice-June-2015.pdf