Reflective Practice

Reflective practice is, in its simplest form, thinking about or reflecting on what you do.

It is closely linked to the concept of learning from experience, in that you think about what you did, and what happened, and decide from that what you would do differently next time.

Thinking about what has happened is part of being human. However, the difference between casual ‘thinking’ and ‘reflective practice’ is that reflective practice requires a conscious effort to think about events, and develop insights into them. Once you get into the habit of using reflective practice, you will find it useful in all areas of your life.

Reflective Practice as a Skill

Various academics have touched on reflective practice and experiential learning to a greater or lesser extent over the years, including Chris Argyris (the person who coined the term ‘double-loop learning’ to explain the idea that reflection allows you to step outside the ‘single loop’ of ‘Experience, Reflect, Conceptualise, Apply’ into a second loop to recognise a new paradigm and reframe your ideas in order to change what you do).

They all seem to agree that reflective practice is a skill which can be learned and honed, which is good news for most of us.

"Reflective practice is an active, dynamic action-based and ethical set of skills, placed in real time and dealing with real, complex and difficult situations." (Moon, J. (1999), Reflection in Learning and Professional Development: Theory and Practice, Kogan Page, London.)

Find more at: http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/reflective-practice.html#ixzz3yspQdmVH