1.4 Reflective thinking and practice – developing reflective practice infographic transcript
Set aside some time
Dedicate time to regular reflection sessions. It might be something like 20 minutes a day, or a longer session weekly, or monthly, but having time set aside will help you build the habit of reflective practice.
Find the right space
If possible, find a quiet and comfortable space without distractions. It might be helpful to leave your usual work or study space. A change in scenery can stimulate your brain and help you see things from new perspectives.
Choose a reflective activity
Choose an activity that suits you and your needs. There are lots of different ways to reflect. Examples include journaling, writing reports, mind mapping, self-questioning, and discussing experiences with a trusted friend, mentor, or colleague. There are also online tools and apps designed to help with reflective practice.
Decide which model to use
Choose an established reflection approach like Discoll’s What Model or the ERA cycle, or create your own. Engage in self-questioning. Ask yourself questions that encourage deep thinking and analysis and try to answer them objectively.
Work through the reflective process
Follow the reflective process by describing, interpreting, evaluating, and planning.
You will start by asking yourself questions like this:
What happened?
Why did it happen?
What could have been done differently?
What worked particularly well?
What have I learnt from this experience?
What will I do now?
Do I need any resources or support to take action?
Reflect on your experiences and analyse them, looking for patterns and connections. Evaluate your actions, decisions, and their consequences and try to think about the experience from different perspectives.
When you have finished evaluating, plan your next step. Consider what made the experience a success and/or the potential alternative approaches which could work better next time. Identify the course of action for your personal and professional development. It can be very useful to use SMART goals for this stage of the process.
Talk to other people
Talk about your reflective practice with trusted friends, classmates, colleagues, supervisors or mentors, to get feedback and gain different perspectives on your reflections. You don’t have to incorporate everything people say into your practice, but be open to new perspectives and constructive criticism. Your reflections and evaluations are also likely to be valuable to the people you collaborate with, and talking through experiences and potential solutions to issues in groups can help you and others feel like active members of your academic or professional community.
Record the process and your goals
Keep a record by writing down or documenting your experiences, thoughts, and observations. Include both positive and negative aspects. You should include your personal experience but try to approach it objectively. Keeping a record will help if you need to put your reflective practice into writing.
Reflective writing varies a lot depending on the activity. Your personal journal might be a hand-drawn mind map, or freeform and informal writing. It doesn’t matter how you note down your reflections in some cases, as long as you can read it later! However, other types of reflective writing that are common at university and in workplaces, like logbooks, reflective essays, and critical incident reports, will need to be more formal and structured.
Implement changes
Once you have gone through the full reflective process and have an action plan, it’s time to start implementing changes and making improvements based on your reflections. This could be as simple as downloading an app to learn Japanese after writing in your journal that you want to enhance your cultural knowledge. It could also be a significant undertaking, like completely overhauling an outdated process at your workplace after reflective practice sessions show it is preventing efficiency.
Review progress
Reflective practice is all about continuous improvement. Once you put your improvement plans into action, you should regularly check in with your progress, and make adjustments to your goals and expectations if necessary.
