Reflective Practice

International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives

ISSN: 1462-3943 (Print) 1470-1103 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/crep20

A multi‐dimensional model of reflective learning

for professional development

Patricia E. Black & David Plowright

To cite this article: Patricia E. Black & David Plowright (2010) A multi‐dimensional model
of reflective learning for professional development, Reflective Practice, 11:2, 245-258, DOI:
10.1080/14623941003665810

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Published online: 20 Apr 2010.

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 Reflective Practice
Vol. 11, No. 2, April 2010, 245–258

A multi-dimensional model of reflective learning for professional

development
Patricia E. Blacka* and David Plowrightb
a
School of Pharmacy, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire, UK; bCentre for Education
Studies, Institute for Learning, University of Hull, Hull, UK
(Received 4 April 2008; final version received 25 January 2010)
Taylor and Francis
CREP_A_467103.sgm
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Reflective
10.1080/14623941003665810
1462-3943
Original
Taylor
202010
11
p.e.black@mema.keele.ac.uk;
PatriciaBlack
00000April
&Article
Francis
Practice
(print)/1470-1103
2010 (online)
pat.black@btopenworld.com

This study is set in the context of a postgraduate course for pharmacists where the
participants were exposed to a systematic reflective learning strategy facilitated by
a structured, written Reflective Portfolio. Data were generated using focus groups
and individual interviews. An inductive approach to data analysis resulted in a
Multi-dimensional Model of Reflection that has not previously been presented
elsewhere. It illustrates the complexities of reflective learning and therefore
challenges the simplicity with which ‘reflection’ is often portrayed in the
literature. It is argued that the research provides a significant contribution to an
understanding of reflection for learning and professional practice development. It
is further argued that the model of reflection is transferable or relatable to other
professional areas.
Keywords: reflection; reflective learning; reflective practice; professional
development; model

Introduction
On the face of it, ‘reflection’ appears to be straightforward and uncontentious. The
term is used freely in the literature, mostly without qualification and as a metaphor for
something that we all intuitively know the meaning of. So too are the terms critical
reflection, reflective learning and reflective practice. Analysis of the vast array of
literature available shows that the terms reflection and critical reflection are often
used interchangeably and not clearly distinguished from each other. Similar descrip-
tions are applied to one or the other, depending on the author. This has led us to
believe that there is an element of confusion about a phenomenon that is intangible
and is in fact a very sophisticated concept.
Like many other academics and teachers responsible for supporting adult learners
on professional development programmes, reflective practice has been an interest we
have both shared for a number of years. We have both been instrumental in introduc-
ing reflective learning activities for postgraduate students on a variety of professional
development programmes.
The research reported here draws specifically on pharmacists in one UK univer-
sity and was conducted at a time when pharmacy’s professional body, the Royal
Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, started to introduce mandatory continuing

*Corresponding author. Email: p.e.black@mema.keele.ac.uk

ISSN 1462-3943 print/ISSN 1470-1103 online

© 2010 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/14623941003665810
http://www.informaworld.com
 246 P.E. Black and D. Plowright

professional development (CPD). Pharmacists were being directed to adopt a reflec-

tive approach to their professional practice (Farhan, 2001). The Pharmaceutical
Society appeared to have taken the view that reflection on professional practice is
central to lifelong learning and continuing professional development.
As a result of the experience of developing and introducing curricula based explic-
itly on a reflective learning process, we both began to question what ‘reflection’
actually meant and began to work on the present research.
The research has resulted in the development of a new model of reflective learning
for professional practice. It is based on empirical research that is exploratory and
inductive in nature. We acknowledge that the model is by no means perfect, but is
offered as a heuristic device that is aimed at contributing to an understanding of reflec-
tion for learning and the development of professional practice. It is based on a study
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of a postgraduate professional development course (Prescribing Course) for pharma-

cists who were developing their role as prescribers. The curriculum for the course
includes learning outcomes around continuing professional development and the
contribution that reflection can make to learning.

Reflection is …
In helping us think through the idea of reflection, we took as our starting point the
definition by Moon:

…a simple activity, a development of thinking that has associated with it a framework of

different inputs, contexts and purposes that cause confusion for those who study it.
(Moon, 1999, p.22)

This definition best described our personal view at the time the research began. It was
based on our own professional practice, our understanding of the literature and previ-
ous research undertaken. In addition, we also found the much quoted works of Dewey
(1933), Kolb (1984), Mezirow (1981) and Schön (1987) useful for understanding
reflection: Dewey for his analysis of reflective thinking; Kolb on experiential learn-
ing; Mezirow for his ideas around perspective transformation and Schön on
reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action. However, we felt it was necessary to
develop our own definition as our research progressed. The definition that follows not
only emerged from the data collection process, but also iteratively helped to continu-
ally frame the research that is reported here:

Reflection is the process of engaging with learning and/or professional practice that
provides an opportunity to critically analyse and evaluate that learning or practice. The
purpose is to develop professional knowledge, understanding and practice that incorpo-
rates a deeper form of learning which is transformational in nature and is empowering,
enlightening and ultimately emancipatory.

Our definition acknowledges the multi-dimensional nature of reflection. However, we

appreciate that it makes no explicit mention of an affective or creative element. Where
learning is transformational, we believe it is implicit that it includes both such dimen-
sions. We have therefore taken it for granted that our definition entails these elements.
We are, of course, aware that this may be an assumption too far, but we plan to explore
this more fully at a later date. The definition emerged from our earlier research and
suggested a 3-dimensional view of reflective learning and practice first reported in
(Black and Plowright, 2007). It consists of:
 Reflective Practice 247

(1) the source of reflection

(2) the target of reflection
(3) the purpose of reflection

These three dimensions are presented graphically in Figure 1.

Table 1 describes in more detail each cell of Figure 1. Each dimension is depen-
Figure 1. Dimensions of reflection.

dent on the others to explain the reflective process.

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Figure 1. Dimensions of reflection.

Table 1. Dimensions of reflection in detail.

Develop learning Develop learning
(1) (2) (3) (4)
Reflection on Reflection on Reflection on Reflection on
Reflection on

learning through learning through learning through learning through

Learning

a practice a learning a learning a practice

experience in experience in experience in experience in
order to develop order to develop order to develop order to develop
knowledge and knowledge and and improve and improve
understanding. understanding. practice. practice.
(5) (6) (7) (8)
Reflection on Reflection on Reflection on Reflection on
Reflection on

practice through practice through practice through practice through

Practice

a practice a learning a learning a practice

experience in experience in experience in experience in
order to develop order to develop order to develop order to develop
knowledge and knowledge and and improve and improve
understanding. understanding. practice. practice.
Practice Learning experience Practice
experience experience

Source
The source of reflection can be a learning experience or a professional practice expe-
rience. For the learners that were the focus of this study, formal learning experiences
include their engagement with (1) teaching sessions and (2) learning and teaching
materials that are used for a course of study. They are experiences that are not part of
 248 P.E. Black and D. Plowright

a pharmacist prescriber’s routine practice. On the other hand, informal learning expe-
riences take place outside of formal learning and include activities such as reading
professional journals and listening to radio and television broadcasts. They can be
seen as self-directed activities that contribute to knowledge and understanding.
Professional practice experiences are those that relate directly to practice in the
workplace, such as patient consultations.

Target
The target of reflection also includes two elements: reflection on learning and reflec-
tion on professional practice.
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Purpose
The purpose of reflection has two aims: first, to develop learning that is focused on
conceptual knowledge and understanding and second, as a result, to improve profes-
sional practice. This dimension entails an explicit causal relationship, where develop-
ing understanding results in the improvement of professional practice. Of course, the
latter may not always occur on every occasion, but would generally be considered as
the goal for pharmacists and other health professionals.
As the study progressed, we increasingly felt that reflective learning had been
inadequately explained in the literature. Several explicitly named models of reflection
have been published previously. They include those produced by Atkins and Murphy
(1993), Boud, Keogh, and Walker (1985), Burns and Bulman (2000), Driscoll and Teh
(2000), Johns (2004), and Rolfe, Freshwater, and Jasper (2001), but it is arguable
whether these are actually models of reflection. More accurately, they are checklists
of staged activities and questions for the learner to use to enable a deep analysis of the
situation that is the focus of reflection.
In general, the published models provide a tool to enable the learner to engage with
reflective thinking and have principally been constructed from the review and re-
modelling of the work of previous researchers in the field, for example Kolb (1984)
and Schön (1987). We felt, therefore, that a more sophisticated, conceptual model of
reflection was needed that identified the important elements of the reflective process
and showed the links between those different elements. The purpose of the model
would be to provide a theoretical framework that ‘contains concepts and explanatory
ideas related to a particular phenomenon’ (Blaikie, 2000, p. 169). It would provide ‘an
external and explicit representation of part of reality as seen by the people who wish
to use that model to understand … that part of reality’ (Pidd, 2003, p. 12). It would
aim to throw further light on what we perceived to be the complexities of reflection.
This also took us a step further than our earlier reported findings (Black and Plowright,
2008) on how postgraduate pharmacists conceptualise and approach learning.

The reflective portfolio

A reflective learning log/portfolio element of coursework for assessment was devel-
oped specifically for the course and is the means by which students have the opportu-
nity to put into operation the process of reflection.
Requiring learners to write down their experiences and thoughts, using ‘instru-
ments’ such as diaries, learning logs/journals, portfolios, and relating this to their
 Reflective Practice 249

learning and developing professional practice, has generally been viewed as a valu-
able activity in aiding reflection. It has been advocated widely in the literature by,
amongst many, Boud et al. (1985), Bolton (2001) and Moon (1999).
In relation to health professionals, learning portfolios have reportedly been used
successfully with students from medicine, nursing and allied health professionals. For
example, Brady, Corbie-Smith, and Branch (2002), Kember et al. (1999, 2000), Pee,
Woodman, Fry, and Davenport (2000), Powell (1989), Rees, Shepherd, and Chamber-
lain (2005), Richardson and Maltby (1995), Snadden and Thomas (1998), Tate and
Sills (2004) and Wong, Kember, Chung, & Yan (1995). However, when we embarked
on our study, learning logs/portfolios were only beginning to be introduced to phar-
macy postgraduates and undergraduates as a learning strategy, as we have reported
elsewhere (Black and Plowright, 2005, 2007, 2008).
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The Prescribing Course Reflective Portfolio had two main functions. First, as a
tool to help the pharmacists develop their skills in relation to reflection, i.e. to enable
their reflection on learning and reflection on practice. Second, as a means of providing
evidence that they had achieved the learning outcomes and prescribing competencies
required by their professional body (the Royal Pharmaceutical Society).

Methodology
The overall research strategy employed was that of a qualitative case study and corre-
sponds to Bassey’s (1999, p. 3) category of a ‘theory-seeking’ investigation, which
aims to develop a theoretical understanding of the issue under study. The theoretical
understanding here is presented as the conceptual multi-dimensional model that was
developed from the data collection. The issue under study, of course, is that of reflec-
tive learning for professional development. In addition, our approach fitted Stake’s
instrumental case study, where the researcher is interested in a particular issue and
selects the cases to provide an insight into that issue (Stake, 2003).

Participants
During 2003–2004, 48 pharmacists were registered on the Prescribing Studies Course.
All were invited to participate thus forming a purposive approach to sampling.
A total of 26 (54%) volunteered to take part in the study. Thirteen participated in
three focus groups and 18 in individual interviews. Five participants took part in both
group interviews and individual interviews. Most of the pharmacists who participated
in the research did so shortly after completing their postgraduate course as alumni of
the university. Six participated in focus groups while actively studying.
All participants gave written, informed consent at the start of the research and
were assured of confidentiality through anonymity.

Data collection
Data were generated and collected first of all through group interviews. The data were
then explored further and in more depth with individual interviewees. Kitzinger (1995)
and Schofield (1993) argue that focus group interviews and individual interviews have
complementary strengths and therefore it was felt appropriate to employ both
approaches.
 250 P.E. Black and D. Plowright

Participants were informed that the purpose of the research was to find out whether
or not a theoretical model could be developed to explain the nature of reflection in the
context of learning for professional practice. More specifically, it was explained that
the interviews would provide an opportunity to find out what participants’ views were
about learning, reflection and using a written Reflective Portfolio.
All interviews were conducted by the first author. Participants were encouraged to
speak freely and the data represent their voices. Interviews were audio-taped with the
permission of the participants and subsequently transcribed in full. The purpose of the
interviews was to enable the following questions to be addressed:
● What do postgraduate pharmacy students perceive learning to be?
● What approaches to learning do they adopt for learning and professional
practice?
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● How do they perceive and use reflection in relation to their learning and profes-
sional practice?
● How does dialogue-with-self facilitate reflection in relation to learning and
professional practice?
● What do they perceive as the positive outcomes of, and obstacles to, reflection?

Data analysis
An inductive, grounded theory approach to data analysis aimed to develop a theoreti-
cal understanding of the use of reflective learning for developing professional prac-
tice. The approach is taken from Glaser and Strauss’s (1967) original ideas about ‘the
discovery of theory from data’ (p. 2) which advocates the use of systematically
collected empirical data and ‘serves as a way to learn about the worlds we study and
a method for developing theories to understand them’ (Charmaz, 2006, p. 10). In this
research, the theory is the conceptualisation of the application of reflective learning to
the development of professional practice and this process is represented by the
conceptual model which was the purpose and outcome of the research.
The approach involved analysing the data to systematically construct and develop
appropriate categories that is the hallmark of grounded theorising. The categories
were subsequently refined as more data were analysed until we were confident that
our emerging model had a coherence that was supported by the data. The strategy is
aimed at generating ‘a rich, deep and well-integrated conceptual system, organized at
various levels of theoretical abstraction all of which in some way articulate with the
data’ (Henwood & Pidgeon, 1992, p. 104).

The Model of Reflection

Figure 2 presents the proposed Multi-dimensional Model of Reflection. The model
attempts to show the complexities of reflective learning for professional development.
It represents the learning process through the three dimensions of reflection that were
introduced at the beginning of this paper: the source, the target and the purpose of
reflection.
In addition, we have recently added an important fourth dimension: the realisation
Figure 2. A multi-dimensional model of reflective learning for professional development.

of reflection. This element represents the transformational process of ‘dialogue with

self’ and emerged in our analysis of the data collected. It is manifested either through
writing the reflective portfolio or the internal dialogue that individuals use to think
through and reflect on learning and professional practice.
 Reflective Practice 251
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Figure 2. A multi-dimensional model of reflective learning for professional development.

Source of reflection
Prescribing Course participants felt that, prior to the course, they had reflected on
what they had learned as part of their day-to-day professional practice. Reflection,
therefore, appeared to be a ‘normal’ approach to learning. However, they had not been
particularly aware of this until prompted by their studies on the Prescribing Course,
and did not appear to have been using it with much effect:

… think I’ve been doing it [reflecting] quite a bit in the past, but I haven’t been using it
properly … And I think harnessing this ability to reflect, and this need to reflect is some-
thing that the [prescribing] course has taught me … (Participant: 28)

Participants used phrases and examples that indicated an existing engagement with
experiences that had resulted in reflection on their professional practice:

… I tend to review my consultations, sometimes in the light of day, a day or two later if
I’ve time, just to think back and say, “I could have done that better”… (Participant:14)

By completing the Reflective Portfolio, participants realised that they had been taking
a reflective approach to their practice to some extent anyway. They appeared stimu-
lated to think about their day-to-day experiences. Reflective learning and experiential
learning were therefore synonymous as far as they were concerned.
Published literature is very persuasive regarding the fundamental contribution of
the learner’s experience as the basis or source for all meaningful, transformational
learning (Boud, Cohen, & Walker 1993; Brockbank & McGill, 1998; Kolb, 1984;
Rogers, 2002).
The source of reflection, comprising learning experience and practice experience,
is therefore represented as the experiential process in our model of reflection.
 252 P.E. Black and D. Plowright

Target of reflection
Participants articulated the notion of target of reflection, namely reflection-on-learning
and reflection-on-practice, and also the levels of reflection that they achieved in rela-
tion to the target. We have therefore represented this as the reflective process element
within our model. This element is similar to commonly published experiential learning
or continuing professional development (CPD) cycles (Tate & Sills, 2004) that refer
to ‘reflection’ at one or two stages, often annotated as ‘learning’ and ‘practice’.
Associated with target of reflection is the idea of different depths of reflection.
This has been developed into hierarchical representations of reflection by previous
researchers. These include, for example, Atkins and Murphy (1993), Boyd and Fales
(1983), Brockbank and McGill (1998), Day (1985), Griffiths and Tann (1991), Handal
(1990), Kember et al. (1999, 2000), Mezirow (1981), Modra (1989), Powell (1989)
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and Richardson and Maltby (1995). In relation to health professionals, research has
generally shown practitioners to engage with the lower, non-transformational levels
of reflection.
It is possible, of course, that levels of reflection constitute an additional fifth
dimension to the reflective process. This may reward further research, but for the
moment we see level as an integral part of the realisation of reflection and not a sepa-
rate dimension.
From their reflection on the targets of learning and professional practice,
Prescribing Course participants articulated their perception of qualitatively different
levels of reflection by using words such as ‘simple’, ‘thorough’, ‘surface’, ‘superfi-
cial’ and ‘deep’:

There’s different levels, aren’t there? … superficial reflection, and then deeper reflection
and really how you feel about something. (Participant: 10)

Deeper, formal levels of reflection were expressly related to a systematic/ structured

reflective process that they were aware of engaging with during the course:

[before the course] … I did [reflect on work], but not formally … it was very disjointed
… and certainly you didn’t do any formal [reflection]… the sort of reflective learning
circle … (Participant: 18)

Participants discussed experiences that differentiated between immediate/on-the-spot

reflection and delayed reflection. Such examples seemed to imply a qualitatively
superior reflective process, in relation to the target of reflection, with the passage of
time. Interviewees also implied there was a qualitative difference between initial
reflection compared to further reflection at a later date that would deepen the overall
level of reflection. This may indicate that the quality of the reflections had improved
over time. For example, one participant said:

… [I looked] at what I wrote, say perhaps three, six months down the line. I went back
to those things … but it was a different way … involved greater reflection, and probably
at more of a deeper level … (Participant: 22)

Further, participants appeared to be describing learning within the single-loop/double-

loop learning construct (Argyris & Schön, 1974; Brockbank & McGill, 1998). For
example, the following participant articulated different levels of reflection, as indi-
cated in square parentheses and italic type:
 Reflective Practice 253

… I knew it was the wrong thing to say the minute I’d said it [immediate, ‘on-the-spot’
reflection; first level] … immediately I reflected that I’d said the wrong thing … then
you come away and you think “well I really have said the wrong thing” [further reflec-
tion with time delay; second level] … and every day I think “… do I need to do some-
thing about this? Do I need to go back to her and apologise? Do I need to leave it?”
[further time-delayed reflection for action; third level]. So you’re reflecting then at a
deeper level again, and then you could go on from that and go to her and apologise …
[reflection to take action and make change; fourth level]. (Participant: 25)

Realisation of reflection
The design of the activities for the Reflective Portfolio facilitated the realisation of
reflection through written dialogue-with-self and was the principal means for students
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to overtly express their reflections about their learning. This is represented as the
transformational process element of our model of reflection.
Most reported to having found writing ‘a chore’, and a few participants admitted
that they found writing difficult in general and particularly for the Reflective Portfolio.
For example:

… I wouldn’t naturally turn to pen and paper to write things down … I know that I think
[reflectively], but to actually sit and write it down it’s quite hard work … (Participant: 25)

… finding the words, the right words. I knew what I wanted to say but actually to write
it down, very difficult to do … facts and figures, very easy to do … but when you’re talk-
ing about feelings, and sort of things going wrong, if you like, that’s really quite hard.
It’s much harder … (Participant: 26)

Clouder (2004), Griffiths and Tann (1991), Kember et al. (2001), Park (2003), Rees
(2004) and Varner and Peck (2003) all referred to the general concern that reflective
writing is hampered by students’ writing ability. This seems to be a concern whether
or not English is the student’s first language, and crosses disciplines, as evidenced by
the aforementioned work which covers teacher education, undergraduate geography
and health courses and a postgraduate business course. In the case of undergraduate
pharmacy students (Rees, 2004), this difficulty is conceivably related to the writing
style that is generally adopted for scientific reports. This discourages students from
using their own voices in their writing. The pharmacists who participated in our study
found their comfort in the ‘scientific’ approach to writing was threatened by the type
of writing they were now involved in.
Interestingly however, despite (or because of) the difficulties experienced, partic-
ipants were almost unanimous in their perception of the value of reflective writing.
They felt that it enabled them to engage in a deeper learning process than was possible
otherwise. One said:

… you won’t reflect properly unless you write … you do superficial levels of reflection
… I do do reflection, but it’s not the same quality if I don’t write it down, and I know
that. (Participant: 14)

Another felt writing down their reflections gave them an opportunity to review their
understanding:

… You can reflect internally, but until you’ve written it down, until you’ve seen it on
paper, you don’t have the full picture. Because sometimes when you write things down
 254 P.E. Black and D. Plowright

they look different. And they’re not how you felt. The words don’t say what you felt, or
thought at the time, so you have to go back and re-arrange them to make it right, or make
it say what you thought … (Participant: 23)

They appeared to be saying that when they wrote down their reflections, the process
was more effective. They also argued that as a result of their writing, they had made
discoveries about their learning and practice that had led to change or the transforma-
tion of self:

… one of the most interesting aspects of the course, was that I’d learned a lot about
myself, and about scenarios that I resolve everyday … actually writing down your reflec-
tions is actually a very powerful tool in learning and actually changing and modifying
your behaviour. (Participant: 29)
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Birenbaum and Amdur (1999), Hedlund, Furst, and Foley (1989) and Pee et al. (2000)
also expressed similar findings about the importance of the written word. They argued
that it enabled reflection to be realised in practice and led students to make meaning
from their experiences that were potentially transformational.
An additional theme that emerged from the data was the notion of returning to the
written word at a later date. This resulted in an even deeper level of reflection on their
learning. Participants in our study perceived that writing provided a structure and
discipline for reflection. It provided permanence to their internal dialogue-with-self
that could not be achieved without writing. It also provided a potential source of
further input to the reflective learning process:

… the writing helps. ‘Cause it’s OK reflecting in your own mind and storing it in the
back of your memory, then you have a tendency not to revisit if, whereas I think if it’s
written down on a piece of paper with a date on it, it’s easy to revisit … and re-examine
what you’ve written … “What did I do about it that time? What could I have done differ-
ently? … Right, next time” … (Participant: 18)

The permanence provided by the writing process was not perceived as being fixed and
static, but as dynamic and evolving. Learning from a single event could continue to
grow, deepen and maintain currency through further reflection:

… you can then also go back to it [reflective writing] and re-visit how you felt … it’s
ongoing, so the process becomes like a living thing … (Participant: 26)

Participants in our study felt that the reflective writing required for the Prescribing
Course had helped prepare them for future reflection that would not necessarily need
to be written down, i.e. ‘thinking’ reflection as opposed to ‘doing’ reflection:

I think the process of writing things down through the six months [of the course] was
about learning how to do it, so maybe one doesn’t have to write everything down now
… it’s like ingrained to do reflective thinking … (Participant: 10)

Birenbaum and Amdur (1999), Pee et al. (2000), Richardson and Maltby (1995) and
Varner and Peck (2003) all referred to the potential of the written portfolio as a train-
ing tool for future systematic reflection not expressed in writing. One of the partic-
pants in the current study said:

… I don’t do it now [use writing for reflection] but I’m probably better at doing it in my
mind to myself. (Participant: 32)
 Reflective Practice 255

There is evidence here that the Reflective Portfolio was perceived as developing the
mindset and necessary skills for reflective learning. For participants who successfully
exploited opportunities provided by the portfolio for deep, meaningful reflection, it
was a transformational process. The literature is scarce in relation to these positive,
personally satisfying aspects of the transformational aspects of reflection. Kember
et al. (2001) used the terms ‘emancipatory, enlightening and empowering’ to describe
the outcomes experienced by the health professionals they studied:

Enlightenment is to understand the self in the context of practice. Empowerment is to

have the courage and commitment to take necessary action. Emancipation is to liberate
oneself from previous ways of being to achieve a more desirable way of practice.
(Kember et al., 2001, pp. 24–25)
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There is some evidence from our research that this transformational process was
evident in the reported experiences of the pharmacists, hence the inclusion of this in
our model. However, at the same time we acknowledge that this deserves more
detailed discussion than space allows here. It moves the focus from an explanation of
what constitutes the model to how it explains the impact of the learning process at a
deep, personal level through a process of transformation. We plan to make this latter
the focus of a separate paper.

Purpose of reflection
For Prescribing Course participants, the realisation of reflection through dialogue-
with-self facilitated their achievement of the purposes of reflection, i.e. reflection for
learning and reflection for practice.
These were referred to, unprompted, in the interviews as: reflection on learning for
further learning and self-development; reflection on learning for applying to profes-
sional practice; reflection on professional practice for further learning and self-
development; and reflection on professional practice for applying to future profes-
sional practice. They suggest that completing the portfolio was developmental and
enabled the learners to use reflection for the purposes intended. The following extract
from one participant’s interview captures this complexity and is shown through the
italic text in parentheses. The context was a dilemma that this participant faced with
regard to achieving optimal drug treatment for a particular patient group:

… so you think, ‘right, I’ve got a hypertensive patient, they’ve been on their normal
drugs, now what do I do?’ Right, so first thing I’ve done is I’ve identified that I’ve got a
gap in my learning, OK? [reflection on practice for learning] Right, what am I going to
do about it? Right, I’m going to go and look up sources of drug information for [these
patients]. So, contact drug companies, database searches, get some information down.
Then reflect back on why I did it in the first place, and have I actually learned anything.
‘So what have I learnt at the end of all this?’ [reflection on learning for learning] And
sometimes it’s just like a three line summary, or as it is now, a flow chart stuck on the
wall of my consulting room, [reflection on learning for practice] … and then come back
after a week, and say ‘right, has that changed my practice? Am I now treating my hyper-
tensive patients differently to what I did at the beginning?’ And the answer is ‘yes’, and
therefore I feel that I’ve taken a step forward as a professional [reflection on practice for
practice]. (Participant: 18)

These also show the dynamic nature of the reflective learning process in action,
described as ‘… a living thing …’ (Participant: 26).
 256 P.E. Black and D. Plowright

Conclusion
Overall, we believe that this study provides an important contribution to the under-
standing of reflection for learning and professional practice development. It is based
on the use of systematic and structured reflective activities to facilitate dialogue-with-
self through the medium of a written portfolio.
The model we have developed here consists of the source, target and purpose of
reflection and argues that the reflective process can involve transformation through
both written and internal dialogue with self. The model attempts to show that learning
for professional development is complex and sophisticated. It draws on experiential,
reflective, transformational and developmental processes that are both iterative and
cyclical in order to explain the learner’s progression to a greater understanding of their
professional responsibilities.
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Our study is innovative in its use of a grounded approach drawing on learners’

views to help produce a new model of reflective learning. Some may feel that the
study is limited by the fact that it generated data from a small number of self-selected
pharmacists who participated on the same postgraduate course. However, we would
argue that our model of reflection has intuitive generalisability or transferability
(Schofield, 1993) particularly to other professionals in similar situations or contexts.
We have cited studies in both health and other disciplines such as education and
social work where the link has been in the use of reflection and reflective portfolios
as a learning mechanism. Many educationists working with participants of in-service
CPD courses that draw on employing reflection as a learning strategy will recognise
the conversations reported in this paper. This suggests transferability of our data and
also potential generalisability of the Multi-dimensional Model of Reflective Learning
for Professional Development.

Notes on contributors
Patricia E. Black is senior lecturer, Postgraduate Courses Development manager/director of
Postgraduate Studies, Medicines Management at the School of Pharmacy, Keele University.
She has overall strategic responsibility for a portfolio of postgraduate programmes for health
professionals working in or with the NHS, including medical and non-medical prescribers. She
has a record of leadership and innovation for her work, particularly in relation to open, distance
and flexible learning, and the use of structured reflective learning portfolios. The distance
education system of delivery and flexible course design that she has been instrumental in
setting-up and directing are unique, both within Keele and the wider pharmacy education
provider community, and enable greater numbers of practising health professionals to engage
in learning.

David Plowright is programme director: EdD Educational Policy and Values at the Centre for
Education Studies, University of Hull. He lectures in research methodologies and educational
leadership and management at the University of Hull. His main research interests are focused
on reflective learning for professional development and the use of reflective self-evaluation for
organisational improvement. He is currently undertaking British Academy funded research in
South Africa aimed at exploring the role of district officials in school improvement. His book:
Using Mixed Methods, Frameworks for an Integrated Methodology is to be published by
SAGE in 2010.

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