Briant Nepomuceno

BSED 3 – Major in Mathematics

Discuss the different frameworks in critical reflection

1. Kolb’s Reflective Model

- is referred to as “experiential learning”. The basis for this model is our own experience, which is then
reviewed, analyzed and evaluated systematically in four stages. Once this process has been undergone
completely, the new experiences will form the starting point for another cycle.

It covers 4 Stages:

 Concrete experience
 Reflective observation
 Abstract and conceptualization
 Active experimentation

2. Gibbs’ Selective Cycle

- was developed by Graham Gibbs in 1988 to give structure to learning from experiences. It offers a
framework for examining experiences, and given its cyclic nature lends itself particularly well to
repeated experiences, allowing you to learn and plan from things that either went well or didn’t go well.

It covers 6 Stages:

 Description of the experience

 Feelings and thoughts about the experience
 Evaluation of the experience, both good and bad
 Analysis to make sense of the situation
 Conclusion about what you learned and what you could have done differently
 Action plan for how you would deal with similar situations in the future, or general changes you
might find appropriate.

3. John’s Model of Reflection

- was originally developed in a nursing context, but has since become widely applied across a variety of
disciplines, including education. Johns' approach to reflective practice has become influential, not least
because it provokes a consideration in the individual of matters which are external to them as well as
elements which are internal to the practitioner.

2 Sets of related processes in this model:

1. 1. Looking in

First, the practitioner is asked to look inwards upon themselves and recall the experience being
analyzed. It may be useful to write notes to clarify one's memories. Write a descriptive account of the
situation, paying attention to the emotions conjured up in the moment of the event being reflected
upon, and those emotions and other thoughts which have been provoked since. Take note of issues
arising from the event and its consequences.
1. 2. Looking out

The looking out element of the model is structured around 5 key sets of questions. The diagram below
indicates the working of Johns' model:

2. 1. Aesthetic Questions

Aesthetics in the sense in which Johns is using it means questions raised in relation to one's sensory
perceptions, rather than in the more common usage of referring to an appreciation of art and beauty.
For Johns, aesthetic questions include:

 What was I trying to do?

 What did I react in the ways that I did?
 What were the repercussions for myself / for others?
 How did others feel?
 How did I know what others felt?

2. 2. Personal questions

Personal questions relate to self-examination, and ask if you can identify the nature of your actions and
reactions, and the elements which influenced or provoked those. Relevant questions to ask here
include:

 What internal factors influenced my actions?

 How was I feeling at the time of the event?
 Why was I feeling this way?
2. 3. Ethical questions

Ethical questions in this model relate to the coherence of your actions when compared to your moral
and professional codes. Was how you acted consistent with your sense of self, and the values which you
usually embody? Relevant questions to ask may include:

 To what extent did my actions in this instance match my wider beliefs?

 Was I acting in an uncharacteristic way?
 If so, what elements came together to influence me to act in a way contrary to my usual
behaviors, or at odds with my sense of ethics?
 Did I act with best intentions?
2. 4. Contextual questions

The contextual element of the model asks you to consider if there were environmental or other factors
acting on you from outside. Relevant questions to ask here include:

 What outside influences were a work?

 Were those influences reasonable?
 Who or what informed my actions?
 Would I have acted differently with alternative outside information?
 How might I work to act more positively in the future for the benefit of all?
 How have I changed because of this event?
2. 5. Reflective questions

Some versions of Johns' model refer to this section as asking empirical questions; the word 'empirical' in
this usage meaning being based on evidence, observation, and experimentation. The process of working
through the reflective cycle has generated evidence based upon your observations, and that leads you
to be able to make assessments. Relevant questions to ask here can include:

 How does this event compare with other similar ones?

 What could I have done differently?
 What might have been the outcomes of such alternative approaches? Consider this regarding
yourself, other colleagues, and the learner/s.
 What are my feelings about the event now?

4. Borton’s Model of Reflection

- a straightforward model that is very easy to use and easy to implement in many situations. It allows the
user to think about a situation without adding too much structure. This makes the model a favorite
among many students and healthcare professionals.

It includes 3 Questions:

1. 1. What?

In this first phase of Borton’s model of reflection, the question is: what? This part of the reflection
process describes what exactly happened in relation to an event, task or experience. You briefly describe
what happened and what you and others did.

Ask yourself the following questions to make it easy, but avoid including unnecessary details. Keep it
concise.

 What happened?
 What have I seen?
 What have I done?
 What was my reaction to this?
 What did others involved do?
 What was I trying to achieve?
 What went well and what went badly during the experience?

1. 2. So What?

In this phase of the reflection process, the question is: so, what? This is an analysis of an event or
experience. It is important during this phase that you begin to understand what actually happened in
the situation you are describing. Why did things go the way they went?

Terry Borton argues that this stage is rational, intellectual, and cognitive. This is also where you apply
theory to help understand what happened.

Some people use literature to consider different perspectives in order to interpret a situation. Keep the
focus on yourself during this process.
Ask yourself the following questions:

 So, what exactly did I feel in that moment?

 So, what are my feelings now? Are they different from then?
 So, what has changed since then?
 So, what are the positive aspects of that experience?
 So, what were the effects of what I did or didn’t do?
 So, what have I noticed from the situation in practice?

1. 3. Now What?

This third phase of Borton’s model of reflection revolves around the question: now what? This involves
taking suggested actions after an event or experience. This is a process of thinking about what someone
will do next and what the consequences of certain actions might be.

Many students and professionals find this part the most difficult because it almost always involves some
degree of change. Change will require effort from a person.

These kinds of analyses sometimes reveal painful insights into their own behavior that need to be
addressed. Also (inter)personal challenges with colleagues can come to the fore. Thinking about your
own behavior (Metacognition) is never easy and requires experience.

Some questions that can help you with this are:

 What are the implications for me and others of what I have described earlier?
 What difference does it make if I choose to do nothing now?
 What is the most important thing I learned about my reflection?
 What kind of help do I need to see results from my reflections?
 What do I need to improve first?

5. Fish & Twinn’s Model

- This model is a starting point for engaging in reflection and can be used to think further about BOTH
one’s own professional practice and one’s teaching.

It includes 4 Strands:

1. The Factual Strand

This gives a descriptive narrative of the events and processes of the practical situation (what happened,
and what the learner/practitioner felt thought and did about it). It stresses the immediate and
apparently piecemeal nature of the practice.

a) Setting the scene

For example:

Describe the context of the practical situation

b) Telling the story

For example:

Give a chronological reconstruction of the facts (the events and processes) of the practical situation as it
happened (was experienced) step by step.

 What happened, how did the learner/practitioner think, feel and act, and why?
 What new knowledge have you created in practice? What new vision have you gained?

c) Pin-pointing the critical incidences

For example:

Identify and consider critically the key moments of the story.

What key professional judgements were made during practice?

How do you regard these now?

2. The Retrospective Strand

This is concerned with looking back over the entire events and processes of the practice as a whole and
seeing patterns and possibly new meanings in them (but this is still about surface performance).

For example:

 What are – main patterns of logic, aims, intentions, goals, reason and/or motive, crucial
incidents, failures, successes, emotions, frustrations, limitations, constraints, coercions?
 How might others (other professionals, patients) involved in the practice see it overall?
 Analyze the oral language used between practitioner, patient, fellow professional
 How does the learner/ practitioner see him/herself as a whole within the practice?

3. The Sub-Stratum Strand

This is concerned with discovering and exploring the assumptions, beliefs and value judgements that
underlie the events and the ideas which emerge in Strands A and B above, perspectives from formal
theory and other professionals’ personal experience and theory.

This strand encourages professionals to tolerate the idea that a range of views exist about procedures
and that there is no right answer.

For example:

 What ideas about theory and practice, what basic assumptions, beliefs, values are implicit in the
practice and in the reflections upon it?
 What forms of knowledge were used and/or created during the event? Comment on
appropriateness
 What beliefs are emerging about knowledge and how it is gained/used/created?
  What beliefs are emerging about teaching and learning? (How do you learn new things; what
helps?)
 What makes things difficult to learn? Are all learners like you?
 What customs, traditions, rituals, beliefs, dogmas, prejudices were brought to/endemic in the
situation? Where did they come from? (Are your beliefs about learning true for all learners?)
 What moral and ethical issues were raised for you by this experience?

4. The Connective Strand

The information and understandings accumulated via Strands A, B, and C are now explicitly related to
the wider world – that of other practical situations, the experiences, views, reflections, theorizing and
actions of other professionals, other personal theory of the student, and (via reading) that of formal
theory. This is concerned with how the practical and theoretical results of Strands A, B and C night be
modified for use in future practice, or might or ought to relate to it, and with the practical implications
of this.

For example:

 What has been learnt from this situation as a whole, how has it related to past experiences, and
how will it relate to future ones? What theories might be developed for future action? What
issues and practices need further exploration?
 How might both the thought and action specific to this practical situation be modified in the
light of experience, of further thought and of further reading? (What do you need to find out
more about? How will you do this?)
 What explorations/investigations of future practice might be planned to help improvement?