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Reflection Toolkit

Gibbs' Reflective Cycle

One of the most famous cyclical models of reflection leading you through six stages exploring an experience: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan.

Gibbs' Reflective 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.

Below is further information on:

  • The model – each stage is given a fuller description, guiding questions to ask yourself and an example of how this might look in a reflection
  • Different depths of reflection – an example of reflecting more briefly using this model

This is just one model of reflection. Test it out and see how it works for you. If you find that only a few of the questions are helpful for you, focus on those. However, by thinking about each stage you are more likely to engage critically with your learning experience.

A circular diagram showing the 6 stages of Gibbs' Reflective cycle

This model is a good way to work through an experience. This can be either a stand-alone experience or a situation you go through frequently, for example meetings with a team you have to collaborate with. Gibbs originally advocated its use in repeated situations, but the stages and principles apply equally well for single experiences too. If done with a stand-alone experience, the action plan may become more general and look at how you can apply your conclusions in the future.

For each of the stages of the model a number of helpful questions are outlined below. You don’t have to answer all of them but they can guide you about what sort of things make sense to include in that stage. You might have other prompts that work better for you.

Description

Here you have a chance to describe the situation in detail. The main points to include here concern what happened. Your feelings and conclusions will come later.

Helpful questions:

  • What happened?
  • When and where did it happen?
  • Who was present?
  • What did you and the other people do?
  • What was the outcome of the situation?
  • Why were you there?
  • What did you want to happen?

Example of 'Description'

Here you can explore any feelings or thoughts that you had during the experience and how they may have impacted the experience.

  • What were you feeling during the situation?
  • What were you feeling before and after the situation?
  • What do you think other people were feeling about the situation?
  • What do you think other people feel about the situation now?
  • What were you thinking during the situation?
  • What do you think about the situation now?

Example of 'Feelings'

Here you have a chance to evaluate what worked and what didn’t work in the situation. Try to be as objective and honest as possible. To get the most out of your reflection focus on both the positive and the negative aspects of the situation, even if it was primarily one or the other.

  • What was good and bad about the experience?
  • What went well?
  • What didn’t go so well?
  • What did you and other people contribute to the situation (positively or negatively)?

Example of 'Evaluation'

The analysis step is where you have a chance to make sense of what happened. Up until now you have focused on details around what happened in the situation. Now you have a chance to extract meaning from it. You want to target the different aspects that went well or poorly and ask yourself why. If you are looking to include academic literature, this is the natural place to include it.

  • Why did things go well?
  • Why didn’t it go well?
  • What sense can I make of the situation?
  • What knowledge – my own or others (for example academic literature) can help me understand the situation?

Example of 'Analysis'

Conclusions.

In this section you can make conclusions about what happened. This is where you summarise your learning and highlight what changes to your actions could improve the outcome in the future. It should be a natural response to the previous sections.

  • What did I learn from this situation?
  • How could this have been a more positive situation for everyone involved?
  • What skills do I need to develop for me to handle a situation like this better?
  • What else could I have done?

Example of a 'Conclusion'

Action plan.

At this step you plan for what you would do differently in a similar or related situation in the future. It can also be extremely helpful to think about how you will help yourself to act differently – such that you don’t only plan what you will do differently, but also how you will make sure it happens. Sometimes just the realisation is enough, but other times reminders might be helpful.

  • If I had to do the same thing again, what would I do differently?
  • How will I develop the required skills I need?
  • How can I make sure that I can act differently next time?

Example of 'Action Plan'

Different depths of reflection.

Depending on the context you are doing the reflection in, you might want use different levels of details. Here is the same scenario, which was used in the example above, however it is presented much more briefly.

Adapted from

Gibbs G (1988). Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further Education Unit. Oxford Polytechnic: Oxford.

IMAGES

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COMMENTS

  1. Essays tagged as: Gibbs' Reflective Cycle

    Gibbs' Reflective 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.

  2. Gibbs' reflective cycle

    Gibbs' Reflective 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.

  3. Reflection on Personal Development and Self-Awareness

    The title of this essay is "The Voyage" . It's a reflective essay, and I am using the Gibbs Reflective Cycle (Gibbs, 1988) as a template for this exercise. It's a critical reflection on the importance of personal development and self-awareness, which are necessary if one is successful in becoming, and remaining a councillor.

  4. Reflecting on Individual Professional Practice with Gibbs

    Gibbs' Reflective 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.

  5. Gibbs Reflective Cycle 1988 Nursing Essay

    Gibbs' Reflective 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.

  6. Reflection Diagram Of Gibbs Cycle

    The Gibbs Learning Cycle is very popular among the learning model and it is good for reflection of study where it consists of six steps for the whole process. Model of reflection diagram of Gibbs Cycle (Queen Margaret University, 2011) This six steps or stages contain Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion, and Action Plan.

  7. Reflective Essay On Patient Encounters Using Gibbs Cycle Nursing Essay

    Gibbs' Reflective 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.

  8. Essays tagged as: Gibbs' Reflective Cycle

    Gibbs' Reflective 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.

  9. Individual Reflective Report On Gibbs Cycle Of Reflection ...

    Individual Reflective Report On Gibbs Cycle Of Reflection Education Essay. The Gibbs cycle of reflection is used in 2 incidences in the report. The first incident is the group project for CLS course on starch and second is the feedback given for the SIM course for the business report. In both of the incidences, problems are evaluated and ...

  10. Clinical Skills Reflection: Gibb's Model

    Gibbs' Reflective 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.

  11. Incorporating Gibbs Reflective Cycle in a Group Setting

    Incorporating Gibbs Reflective Cycle in a Group Setting. This incident that I would like to analyze using the Gibbs' (1988) reflective cycle happened a few weeks ago. Our group was composed of seven members and meetings were held online using the social media platform. This group was considered as a closed group as we have decided not to take ...

  12. Reflective Portfolio of an Occupational Therapist

    Graham Gibbs developed his reflective cycle (Gibbs 1988) based upon each stage of David A. Kolb's experiential cycle (Kolb 1984). He suggested how a full structured analysis of a situation could take place using prompt questions at each stage. ... Your UKEssays purchase is secure and we're rated 4.4/5 on reviews.io. Bespoke. All work is ...

  13. Gibbs' Reflective Cycle

    Overview. Gibbs' Reflective 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.

  14. Models of Reflective Practice Lecture

    Gibbs' reflective model. Gibbs' (1988) model of reflection, like the Rolfe model described above, was originally devised for nursing, but - like Rolfe's work - has become popular across many disciplines, and is widely applied as a prominent model of reflective practice. This model is cyclic and has six principal elements:

  15. Sample Essay Using Gibbs' Reflective Model

    This essay aims to critically reflect on an encounter with a service user in a health care setting. The Gibbs' Reflective Cycle will be used as this is a popular model of reflection. Reflection is associated with learning from experience. It is viewed as an important approach for professionals who embrace lifelong learning (Jasper, 2013).

  16. Gibbs' reflective cycle

    Gibbs' Reflective 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.

  17. PDF Annex 3 An introduction to reflective practice

    This has also been used as the basis for the portfolio template provided as part of the VEPR applicants' application form, i.e. candidates are asked to describe a project which illustrates the capability being explored and in the review are then asked to reflect on the following questions: Reflection. Evaluation (1):

  18. A growing understanding of the link between movement and health

    Since the pandemic, which accelerated the shift to a virtual existence, people are moving less than ever, Gibbs said. Just 1 in 4 men and 1 in 5 women and adolescents currently get the recommended amount of aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercise, the federal guidelines say. "We have engineered physical activity out of our lives," Gibbs said.

  19. Gibbs' reflective cycle

    Gibbs' reflective cycle has 6 stages. They are usually given the following headings: 1. Description 2. Feelings 3. Evaluation 4. Analysis 5. Conclusion 6. Action Plan As part of my Overseas Nurse program, I am required to make a reflective essay. This essay is based on my experience in clinical placement in the Operating Theatre.

  20. Reflective Essay On Patient Encounters Using Gibbs Cycle ...

    Gibbs' Reflective 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.

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  23. Incorporating Gibbs Reflective Cycle in a Group Setting

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