1.4 Reflective thinking and practice
The ability to reflect is essential in everyday life, education, and in the workplace. Reflective thinking involves taking a moment to look back and consider our experiences, thoughts, and actions. When we use reflective thinking intentionally, to learn from our challenges and successes, it becomes reflective practice – which gives us the tools to become more aware of ourselves and others, develop personally and professionally, solve problems, and make more effective decisions.
This resource will guide you through the basics of reflective thinking and reflective practice.
Reflective thinking in everyday life
You probably use your reflective thinking skills all the time without even realising it! Reflection is something that we do every day as part of being human. We plan and undertake actions, then think about whether each one was successful or not, and how we might improve next time. We can also feel reflection as emotions, such as satisfaction and regret, or as a need to talk to friends about things that have happened.
The cards below offer some examples of common experiences and habits that lead to reflective thinking in everyday life. You’ve probably experienced some of them before!
Select ‘turn’ to see how each situation can lead to reflective thinking.
What is reflective practice?
Reflective practice is the ability to reflect on one’s actions so as to engage in a process of continuous learning.
– Donald Schon
Just like in the examples above, you reflect on things and make changes all the time without giving it too much thought. This works for things like missing the train and burning your toast, but larger issues like consistently missing the mark on important assessments, or challenges that come up in the workplace, may require a more conscious approach to reflection and change.
Reflective practice first developed in disciplines such as teaching, medicine, and social work as a way to learn from real life experiences. People in these areas would think about encounters with their students, patients or clients, and what lessons they could take away from them. Over time many other areas have adopted the principles of reflective practice — including universities. You might use reflective practice during your studies, practical placement or work-integrated learning, as part of a portfolio as well as in your career and personal life.
Reflective practice is a process of intentionally thinking deeply about experiences with a view to learning from them. The reflective process often involves noting or recording our observations and asking ourselves questions about our feelings and responses to experiences. This process enables us to gain new understandings of why things have happened in certain ways, why people have responded in particular ways, how challenges can be overcome, or how successes could be repeated. The insights you gain through reflective practice may result in a change of behaviour, perspective or action.
Models of reflection
If you are not used to being reflective, it can be hard to know where to start the process. Luckily, there are many models which you can use to guide your reflection.
Move through the presentation below to see four of the most popular models of reflection.
You will notice many common themes in these models and any others that you come across. Each model takes a slightly different approach, but they all cover similar stages. The main difference is the number of steps included and how in-depth their creators have chosen to be. Different people will be drawn to different models depending on their preferences and discipline.
Reflect
Think about the models outlined in the presentation above.
- What do you think are the advantages of using a model when you reflect?
- Do you find models in general helpful or are they too restrictive?
- Do any of them appeal to you or have you found another model which works for you?
These are just some of the reflective models that are available. You may find one that works for you or you may decide that none of them really suit. They provide a useful guide or place to start – but reflection is a personal process, and everyone will work towards it in a different way.
Developing reflective practice
Now that you know what it is, you might be wondering how you can start developing your own reflective practice. It involves intentionally cultivating the habit of reflection, and then using it as a tool for growth. How you use reflective practice is a personal journey, and may also depend on the area you study and work in. It can take time to develop the habit of intentional reflection and see tangible results, but the key is to be consistent and to stay focused on your development.
Here are some steps to help you get started. Select the ‘+’ symbol to learn more about each step.
Great! Now you know what reflective thinking and reflective practice are – the next step is to enhance your skills in these areas and see how they can be used in the context of your discipline. Continue through this chapter to learn about reflective writing, and how reflective practice is applied practically in different academic disciplines and professions.
This page includes content adapted from:
- Reflective Writing by University of York Library licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
- Reflective Practice Toolkit by Cambridge University Libraries licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
