Reflective learning. 1.3:

Week 1: 1st - 7th May (Tutorial: Tuesday 4th May - 19:00 Hrs) + Activity 1.1

Reflective learning is a core skill in practice-based learning and developing these reflective skills will be an important theme of this module. One model used very widely in reflective learning is Kolb’s learning cycle (Kolb, 1984). He argued that learning from experience necessarily involves four stages, shown in Figure 1.2, and that each of these stages draws on different skills and characteristics.

Kolb’s learning cycle shows that learning from experience is about much more than simply acquiring experience (concrete experience) and thinking about what happened (reflection). It also means developing a more general understanding which can be applied in other situations (generalisation) and also finding ways to try out this new learning (action). This learning cycle can be very helpful in looking back on an experience and thinking about how you dealt with it or whether you might have handled it differently to produce a different outcome. This sort of reflection can form the basis of new judgements about how you will act in the future and can be a helpful way of developing new understandings which can inform your future performance.

Honey and Mumford (2006) developed a widely used learning styles inventory designed to help individuals to identify where they have the greatest strengths and weaknesses on the learning cycle. You will read more about learning styles in Unit 2.

Skilled reflection may also mean being very aware of the emotions that influence the way we think about our experiences – as well as the way they influence our actions. Pedler and colleagues (2001) refer to habitual ways of working (or thinking or behaving) as action-tendencies (Figure 1.3). These are often easier to recognise in others than they are in ourselves. Consider a person with whom you work closely: in a tense situation, how does that person behave? What is their usual response to a request? If it is hard to recognise your own action-tendencies, ask one or two people you trust to give you honest and non-judgemental feedback. However, try not to react negatively to what they say. Action-tendencies are not necessarily problematic or negative, but knowing what yours are can deepen your understanding of your own actions and help you to reflect on them.

Schön (1983) distinguishes between reflection on action and reflection in action. Reflection on action happens after an action and involves thinking back on what happened, why it happened, how you dealt with it and whether you could have handled it differently to obtain better outcomes. Reflection in action is the process of thinking about activities and experiences as they happen, and Schön identifies this as an important way of developing insights and knowledge in response to the growing complexity and ambiguity of professionals’ roles. It complements, rather than replaces, reflection on action – there are obviously times when swift action is needed and there is little time to pause and reflect.

Many writers have emphasised the importance of challenging the assumptions which underpin the sense we make of experience in reflection. Advocates of critical reflection go further than this and argue for the importance of challenging the social and political assumptions which inform both the actions which are the subject of the reflections and the reflections themselves. Arguing for the importance of critical reflection in management education, Reynolds (1998) says that the impact managers’ actions have on the lives of others gives them a responsibility to address and challenge these assumptions.

In the following activity you will read more about both reflection and critical reflection, and about some of the tools which can be used to support these in the workplace.

Activity 1.1: Reflection and practice-based learning