Discuss the importance of reflection in relation to professional development

[Justjen]

The Gibbs' reflective cycle is a structured approach that we use in our setting to self reflect and self evaluate. Writing down or talking about an event and what happened, the feelings of the person involved, evaluating the quality of the practice in the event, analysing why and then using the conclusions drawn to form an action plan is a very useful practice and has lead to professional development across the setting. This links in to Kolb's learning cycle as the reflective observation part of the cycle. How do you self reflect in your setting?

[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.

[RYDYL72]

Hi,
I am on my last unit for Cache level three early years educator course and one of the questions was to discuss the importance of reflection in relation to professional development. I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts they would like to share?
Since studying I have been reflecting on my practice throughout and looking at ways in which I could improve my practice trough the way I plan activities and the way I implement them. I suppose I would relate more to Kolb’s theory.
Has anyone had the same thoughts on reflective practice?

The two theorists that I have researched have been very influential in helping people to understand the reflective process. These theorists are Kolb’s learning cycle and Gibbs’ reflective cycle which I have summarised below.
Kolb’s learning cycle
Kolb’s learning cycle can be used to help us reflect on our learning and is represented by a four-stage learning cycle.
For learning to be effective there are four processes that need to take place.
These are:
Concrete experience – This is about doing such as teaching children how to play a game or teaching them to use scissors.
Reflective observation – This is where the practitioner reviews and reflects on the activity/experience. This means that the practitioner will look at what happened during the activity what parts worked well, which elements wasn’t as successful.
Abstract conceptualisation – This is how you might change things, develop new ideas, modify an existing concept. An example of this would be to plan cutting activities that links to the child’s interests or experiences like pictures of superheroes. Or change a game to make it more interesting preventing children from becoming bored.
Active experimentation – This is about putting new ideas into practice. Here we may carry out the activity using new ideas. The learner applies new ideas to see what happens. We will then reflect on them once more and the whole cycle continues.
Kolb’s learning cycle can help practitioners think about areas of their practice that they need to develop by reflecting on what they do, putting into action changes, before reviewing them again.

Gibbs’ reflective cycle.
Graham Gibbs’ took Kolb’s work and adapted it to create a more structured approach.
This was used to help adults reflect on their responses after situations.
It was also to come to some conclusion about what they could do differently.
Gibbs’ cycle works where you follow a situation which could either be positive or negative.
The practitioner thinks about what happened and their feelings at the time and evaluates it.
Description – what happened?
Feelings- what were you thinking and feeling at the time?
Evaluation – What was good or bad about the experience?
Analysis – What sense can you make of what happened?
Conclusion -What can you conclude from this, what you could have done?
Action plan – What are you going to do now to change the way you work?
Example:
A child is throwing all the boxes on the floor and is told by the practitioner to stop on more than one occasion but the child continues. The practitioner shouts at the child and makes them cry. The supervisor uses Gibbs’ cycle to help the practitioner reflect on what has happened.
The cycle provides steps to support the practitioner to understand how the situation could have had a better outcome. It helps the practitioner to understand what happened, how they felt at the time. Were they tired, did their tiredness cause them to get angry or frustrated?
The elevation step looks at if the practitioner’s responses were right, was it good or bad practice? If not then to move on to the analysis step to understand why or if there were underlying issues or lack of knowledge on how to manage behaviour.
The conclusion brings all the information together about the situation, looking at where the practitioner my need to improve their practice to avoid the situation happening again.
Action plan step is where the supervisor and practitioner agree on an action plan to prevent the situation from happening again. This could be that the practitioner agrees to go on some training to manage behaviour or take part in a learning opportunity like shadowing the supervisor how to defuse similar situations.
Looking at the conclusion stage of the example above it was suggested that the practitioner needed some training on manging behaviour. This was then fed into the action plan which therefore links to professional development.
I would say that Kolb’s learning cycle is easy to follow and is a good way as it allows us to think about ways in which we can improve our practice which benefits us and the children we work with. Reflecting on my practice has been something that I have had to do a lot of during this course. It has really helped me with my planning and helped me to be confident when trying new ideas and not feel deflated if an activity didn’t go to plan. It’s made me look at ways of changing and adapting activities so that they are more successful. It has also given me opportunities to look at areas in which I need to develop to continue to support the children that I work with.

[SteffEarlyYears]

Hi everyone!

I am completing the last unit of my Cache Level 3, too. I am now thinking about the importance of reflection in relation to my professional development, and I would like to share my thoughts and my research with you.
First of all, I need to say that this course helped me a lot to reflect on my practice since the first unit. In fact, every activity plan and session sheet that I have written asked me to reflect on my needs and also to ask for advice from my placement supervisor. This helped me both to evaluate myself, but also to see my practice from another perspective, in particular from my supervisor who is more experienced than me.
The two theoretical perspective that are helping me now to understand what the reflective process is are: Kolb’s learning cicle and Gibb’s reflective cycle.
Regarding the first one, Kolb theorised that learning is a cycle, which has four stages. The first stage is called Concrete experience, which happens when the learner experiences something new. The second stage of the cycle is the Reflective observation, in which the learner reviews and reflects what they have done. The third stage is the Abstract conceptualisation, which happens when the learner develops a new idea or reviews an existing one following the process of Reflective observation. Finally, the last stage is Active experimentation, in which the learner tries out by putting into practice the result of his reflection and abstract conceptualisation with the purpose of seeing what happens next. In order for the learning to be effective, it is important that the learner goes through all these stages of the cycle. I think that Koln’s theory is very useful to my professional development. In fact, whenever I plan a new activity for the children, I can use this cycle as a way to reflect on my practice and modify it when I see that some aspects could improve. For example, once I carried out a storytelling activity with the pre-school children (3-5 years, CONCRETE EXPERIENCE). Reflecting on the activity, I thought that I had asked many questions to promote sustained shared thinking, however only the oldest children answered them (REFLECTIVE OBSERVATION). This led me think that I need to change the way I ask questions to the children so that I plan for some simple questions for the younger children (ABSTRACT CONCEPTUALISATION). Then, I put it into practice by reading another story, and this time I asked more varied questions of different diffuculties, so more children could get involved in the activity. (ACTIVE EXPERIMENTATION)
Regarding Gibb’s reflective cycle, I can say that it is really effective to make sense of the situations that we have experienced, whether they are positve or negative. The model is divided in 6 stages. The first one is the description, in which the learner describes what happened in the experience without drawing to any conclusions. The second part is the Feelings, in which the learner talks about how they felt during the experience. The thrid fase is the Evaluation, in which the learner thinks about whether his/her approach worked or did not. The fourth stage is the analysis, in which the learner analyses what happened that worked or did not work in deep. The fifth stage is the conclusion, in which the learner draws some conclusion about the experience, by thinking again about what happened. The sixth stage is the action plan, in which the learner plans for how to deal more effectively with similar situations in the future.
I think that Gibbs method is really useful for my professional development because it can help me reflect on my skills/experiences without being biased by my personal opinions. In fact, reflecting on feeling comes third and drawing to conclusion is the fifth stage. I also like that it concludes with an action plan so that I can be motivated to improve my practice in a clear and organised way.

[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