Hi, my name is Summer and I work in an Early Years setting in London. I am nearing the end of my CACHE level 3 Early Years Educator Course and would love to engage in discussions about the main theoretical perspectives on professional development. I have been learning about the reflective practices of Kolb and Gibbs and am curious to hear other viewpoints and/or theories on reflective practice. Here is what I know so far:
Kolb
Kolb suggested that for effective learning, four processes need to take place:
Concrete Experience - The doing (for example, recently I taught my class how to play a game)
Reflective Observation - Reviewing and reflecting (I then thoughts about the elements of the game worked well and which didn’t work so well as the activity wasn’t completely successful)
Abstract Conceptualisation - Developing new ideas (I then came up with new, more effective ways of teaching game, for example I simplified it, making it more age appropriate for the class)
Active Experimentation: Putting the new idea into practice (I then played the game again with the new changes. The children were able to understand and enjoy the game better this time)
Even once changes are made, we may need to continue to reflect in order to make it as successful as we can. Kolb’s learning style is described as a cycle because it is good practice to repeat the cycle to continually learn and improve practice as highlighted in the EYFS.
Gibbs
Gibbs adapted Kolb’s cycle to create a more structured approach which helps adults to reflect on their responses to situations. It guides adults through two more stages and helps adults to come to a conclusion about how they can respond and act differently to the same situation in the future.
The stages are:
DESCRIPTION - What happened? Give an objective account.
FEELINGS - What were you thinking and feeling before and after the event? How did you feel at the the time?
EVALUATION - What was good/bad about the experience? What did I and others around me contribute to the situation?
ANALYSIS - What sense can you make of what happened?
CONCLUSION - What can you conclude from this? What can be learnt from the experience. During this stage, changes to working practice are considered to obtain a positive outcome in future.
ACTION PLAN - What are you going to do now to change the way you work? This could form part of a professional development plan.
Both of these theories are certainly useful in improving professional development and practice. Personally I prefer Gibbs’ reflective cycle as it encourages you to reflect deeper and take accountability for your actions within a particular scenario. It also gives support in enabling you to gain closure on a situation and move forward, bringing to light where you can improve and develop your practice.
What are your views? Are there any other theories that you prefer which relate to reflection in professional practice?
I look forward to reading your responses,
Summer