Introduction to Reflection and
Reflective Writing
•What is reflection?
•Sources of reflection
•Skills / attitudes for reflection
•Starting reflective writing
•Frameworks for reflection
(Gibb’s reflective cycle and the
‘What?’ model of reflection) 11/16/202
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What is Reflection?
•Thinking about…..
•Pondering on…..
•Asking yourself questions about…..
•Discussing with yourself…
•Trying to work something out…..
•Making sense of things…
•Learning from experience...
•Helping you plan for the future…..
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Sources of reflection.
Everyday events
Positive experiences
Negative experiences
Eventful incidents
Unusual incidents
Routine activities
Important events
Meaningful events
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What might you reflect
upon in day to day life?
‘’I’m always late for work’’
‘’That was a great holiday’’
‘’My car has turned out to be an old banger’’
‘’I’ve had a very productive weekend’’
‘’I keep running out of money before the end of
the month’’
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So why is it important in EBP
Reflection is seen as helping to
bridge the theory practice gap
reduce practices based on custom and
practice
develop and understand your practice,
decisions made, lessons learnt and
implication of these for future practice
ensure that care remains patient centred
and based in the patient experience
Skills / attitudes for
reflection
Willing to learn from experience
and change things
Able to make time for reflection
Being open and honest
Willing to share and discuss your
experiences
Being motivated to replay /
describe / analyse experiences
Able to make an action plan
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Starting reflective writing
Have a pen and paper available at all
times
Be spontaneous
Write down ideas as they come to you
Don’t worry about structure, order,
spelling, grammar
Be imaginative
Make sense later with the help of a
more formalised structure
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Choose an incident / experience
from the course so far
Make notes on the following:
Describe the experience - who?
where? what was happening?
What were your thoughts and
feelings?
What was positive?
What was negative?
What have you learned?
Discuss with a colleague
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‘’Putting your thoughts on paper’’
Discuss in your pairs the
experience of putting pen to paper
- transferring your thoughts into
writing
How easy was it?
Did it change your views in any
way?
What is it like to see your thoughts
written down?
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Gibbs’s Reflective Cycle
(1988)
Description
Feelings
Evaluation
Analysis
Conclusion
Action Plan
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Description
Where was I?
Who else was there?
Why was I there?
What was I doing?
What happened?
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Feelings
How was I feeling at the beginning?
What was I thinking about?
What did other people’s actions make me think /
feel?
How did I feel about the outcome?
What do I think about it now?
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Evaluation
What was good about the experience for me, the
patient, others?
What was bad about the experience for me, the
patient, for others?
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Analysis
‘Breaking it down’
What did I do well / not so well?
What did others do well?
Did it go as expected?
Why / why not?
What theory / research helps me understand the
experience?
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Conclusion
Could I have done anything differently?
What are the key things I have learned from this
incident - about me, my performance, others and
their performance?
Can this be evidence of achievement of
placement outcomes / competencies?
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Action Plan
What would I do in a similar
situation in the future?
What aspects of my knowledge /
skills could I develop?
How will I do this?
What goals can I set myself for
the future?
What outcomes / competencies
do I need to focus on now?
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The What? Model of structured
reflection (Driscoll 2000)
What….
..is the purpose of returning to this situation?
..happened?
..did I see / do?
..was my reaction?
..did other people do?
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So What?
How did I feel?
How did these compare with other
people’s feelings?
Do I still feel the same?
What were the effects of my actions?
What are the positive aspects?
What have I noticed about my practice?
What have other people noticed about
my practice?
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Now what?
What are the implications of this analysis
– for me and others?
What if I do nothing?
What information / skills would I need to
cope with similar experiences?
What help would I need to acquire these?
What is the main learning from this
experience and reflection?
Is this evidence of achievement of
placement outcomes / competencies?
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Basic things to put in
place to be successful
Experiment with different approaches until
you find one that ‘fits’
Commit to giving time to reflection in
whatever form you choose. See it as an
essential aspect to your practice rather than
an ‘add on’.
Start small and work up to the big issues
Be open to new ideas and new ways of
thinking
Be willing to challenge your assumptions
and practices
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Reflective writing
Helps you learn from experience
Helps you build on your expertise
Developing your expertise is an
important aspect of evidence based
practice
Reflective writing can be used as
evidence to include in your portfolio to
help you achieve your placement
outcomes
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