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Demonstrate Understanding and Knowledge of Key Theories of Critical

Reflection and Development Towards Becoming a Reflective Practitioner

Dr. Nancy Agens, Head,

Technical Operations, Tutors India

In Brief

You will find the best dissertation research

areas/topics for future researchers enrolled

in various subjects. In order to identify

future research topics, we have reviewed

the Subjects. (recent peer-reviewed studies).

Keywords: Critical Reflection,

Reflective Practitioner, Dissertation,

Theories, Key, Knowledge, Reflection.

I. INTRODUCTION

Through this article, readers will come to

know about the significance of critical

reflection and the ways in which an

individual can become a reflective

practitioner. We live in a world where

people expect everything to be professional

and so it is common to hear the terms

critical reflection and reflective practitioners

in which the term critical creates a deeper

meaning to it and sound more intriguing.

II. DEFINING CRITICAL REFLECTION

AND REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

The concept of reflection has been in

use over a very long time dating back as far

as 300 BC where it was described by the

great philosopher, Aristotle (Kraut, 2018).

Moreover, research on reflective practice

was mainly found from the works done by

educational philosophers such as John

Dewey and Donald Schon. Philosopher

Dewey defined reflective practice as “the

active, insistent and careful consideration of

any belief or supposed form of knowledge

24 in the light of the grounds that support it

and the further conclusions to which it

tends”. According to Dewey, an individual

must have a questioning approach and

question why things are the way they are

and how they can be.

III. EFFECTIVE USE OF CRITICAL

REFLECTION

Pedagogical thinkers are more

aware of their actions asking the questions

“What is my rational reaction to this, and

why do I feel or why do I behave like this?

''(McGregor & Cartwright, 2011). Labosky

indicates that it is by taking conscious

control that pedagogical thinkers “take a

long-term view of how problems can be

solved ... remain open to learning ...

acknowledge that there are no simple

answers and the conclusions they draw are

likely to be provisional”.

IV. MODELS OF REFLECTION

BOUD'S REFLECTIVE LEARNING

MODEL

Reflective learning model of Boud

(1985) includes three stages that are

interrelated and cyclic in nature. In addition

to describing their model Boud offer

suggestions on how to encourage the skills

needed for reflection during each point.

During the first step called' returning to the

moment,' they recommend that the student

be given a set period of time to document

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the sequence of events that happened during

the encounter, either in a diary or by talking

to someone else. Likewise, in the second

stage, called ' attending to feelings, ' Boud

recommend that the student explain the

event's positive and negative reactions and

emotions either in a diary or to someone

else. The third level called ' re-evaluating

the experience ' is more difficult than the

two previous steps because it consists of

four stages: affiliation, inclusion,

clarification, and appropriation. These three

stages constitute the reflective cycle.

Fig 1. Reflective Cycle

GIBBS‟S REFLECTIVE CYCLE

Gibb‟s reflective process in 1988,

indicated that after an event, reflection takes

place. It provides a framework which

generally guides the reflecting process. The

system consists of cue questions, based on

key concepts, which includes a checklist for

learners to work through, react and interpret

the cue questions as they progress. The

reflective cycle focuses on learning from

experiences through the incorporation of

feelings, thoughts and recommendations for

future actions. (Gibbs, 1988) describes how

the reflective cycle is applied to a variety of

educational methods including case studies,

games, role-plays, and other experiments.

(Gibbs, 1988) compares the process of

reflections to a formal debriefing. He notes

that “learners frequently lurch from

superficial accounts of what happened to

premature assumptions about what to do

next, without sufficient reflection or study”.'

In addition, „if the experience has been

particularly powerful then the conversation

may never go beyond explanation of what

has happened or the feelings associated with

the experience. When definition and feelings

are not adequately addressed, learners can

refer to them at a later stage when

considering the implications and plans of

action. (Gibbs, 1988) reflective cycle

comprises of six stages.

Behavior Ideas

Feelings

Returning to Experience

Utilizing positive feelings

Removing Obstructing Feelings

Re-evaluating experience

New perspectives Change in Behavior

Readiness for application

Commitment to action

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Fig 2. Gibbs‟s Reflective Cycle

V. ATKINS AND MURPHY MODEL OF

REFLECTION

The model which more embodies the

empowerment process is that of Atkins,

(1994) who introduced a concept of

reflection. The concept of reflection aims at

describing the situation including thoughts

and feelings, analyzing feelings and

knowledge relevant to their current situation,

assessing the relevance of knowledge and

identifying any learning that has taken place

and ultimately creating an awareness of

uncomfortable thoughts and feelings (Atkins

& Murphy, 1994).

2.Feelings

What were your feelings? What were your thoughts? Do

not move to analyzing these yet

3.Evaluation

what was ‘good ‘ about the experience?; What was ‘bad’?;

Make value judgments

4.Analysis

What sense can you make of the situation? Bring in ideas from outside the experience; were others 'experience similar or different in important ways?

5. Conclusion

What else could you have done?; What can be concluded, in general sense, from

these experience and the analyses?

6.Action plan

If it occurs again, What would you do differently in this type of situation next time?

1.Description

What happened?, Do not make judgment's yet or try to

draw conclusion, simply describe

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Fig 3. Murphy Model of Reflection

VI. BECOMING A REFLECTIVE

PRACTITIONER

In order to become a reflective

practitioner:

1. SELF-AWARENESS

Self-awareness and reflection in the

practice have been described as the

foundation of professional development.

The ability to engage in reflection has been

found to develop proficiency, prevent

exhaustion and create life-long learning

within the self-awareness of professionals as

a process of getting to know oneself,

although the understanding of what

reflective practice is varies considerably

within different disciplines.

2. DESCRIPTION

Description requires remembering

and recollecting relevant incidents. This may

involve remembering common signs and

symptoms in patients with a particular

condition, and may involve presenting a new

discovery. In a group discussion, written in a

clinical guideline, journal article or book,

the description could be verbalized in order

to allow for learning through reflection.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

It includes analyzing a situation's

components. This process involves looking

at existing knowledge, challenging

assumptions, imagining possibilities and

exploring them. The creativity and discovery

of alternatives often encourages new

concepts and creativity. A critical analysis

often requires an assessment of how relevant

knowledge is to a particular situation.

4. SYNTHESIS

This is the process of incorporating

new knowledge or experience into our'

personal knowledge base.' This expertise is

Awareness of uncomfortable

feelings and thoughts

Action / new

experience

Describe the situation

including thoughts and feelings

• Salient events

• Key features

Analyse feelings and knowledge relevant to the

situation

• Identify knowledge

• Challenge assumptions

• Imagine and explore

alternatives

Evaluate the relevance of knowledge

• Does it help to explain / solve

problems?

• How complete was your use of

knowledge?

Identify any learning

which has occurred

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used to solve problems in a creative manner

and to predict the possible results. This is

especially important, as the outcome of

reflection includes developing a new

viewpoint.

5. EVALUATION

Evaluation is defined as making

judgments about something's worth. It can

also be defined as' the value of something to

judge or evaluate.' Both the synthesis and

the evaluation are essential to developing a

new perspective. A decision on whether a

change in practice is appropriate would then

have to be made.

VII. TOOLS USED IN REFLECTIVE

PRACTICE

It is important to identifying the

methods employed to engage in reflective

practice. Serious accidents, reflective diaries

and monitoring are the most widely used

methods for reflective practice (Laming,

2009). The definition and interpretation of

critical events has been found to enable

practitioners to understand the wider

contextual problems and thus encourage

critical thinking (Griffin, 2003). Reflective

diaries were also highlighted as an effective

reflection tool (Finlay, 2008), although they

were criticized for their long process.

VIII. REFLECTIVE PRACTITIONERS IN

VARIOUS FIELDS

Teaching reflective skills in

education has grown steadily in prominence,

as it became more evident from strong

beginnings in professions such as nursing as

to how valuable the practice was for work-

based learners in general. Reflective

teaching skills are beginning to appear

throughout the curriculum, with many

different types of students being asked to

compile reflective papers, studies, journals,

records, diaries, or portfolios as part of their

UK university assignments (Helyer and Kay,

2015). Assistance with this reflection is

frequently found in student handbooks as

part of orientation days, allowing exposure

to the effective reflective work of past

students and through specified sessions

containing learning theories and styles,

meta-cognition, self-analysis of strengths

and weaknesses and writing personal

statements (Helyer and Price, 2015).

REFERENCES

[1] Atkins, S. and M. (1994). Models of reflection. Nursing

Standard,. [Online]. 8 (39). Available from:

https://latrobe.libguides.com/reflectivepractice/mode

ls.

[2] Finlay, L. (2008). Reflecting on ‘Reflective practice’.

[Online]. Available from: http://ncsce.net/wp-

content/uploads/2016/10/Finlay-2008-Reflecting-on-

reflective-practice-PBPL-paper-52.pdf.

[3] Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by doing : a guide to

teaching and learning methods. [Online]. London.

Available from:

https://thoughtsmostlyaboutlearning.files.wordpress.

com/2015/12/learning-by-doing-graham-gibbs.pdf.

[4] Griffin, M.L. (2003). Using Critical Incidents to

Promote and Assess Reflective Thinking in

Preservice Teachers. Reflective Practice. [Online]. 4

(2). pp. 207–220. Available from:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/146239

40308274.

[5] Kraut (2018). Aristotle on Becoming Good:

Habituation, Reflection and Perception. [Online].

Available from:

https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/163199/1/163199.pdf.

[6] McGregor, D. & Cartwright, L. (2011). Developing

Reflective Practise: A guide for beginning teachers.

[Online]. Available from:

https://epdf.pub/developing-reflective-practice-a-

guide-for-beginning-teachers.html.