Graham Gibbs and Chris John theories of reflective practice - Essay Example

? Compare and contrast 2 models Graham Gibbs and Chris John theories of reflective practice. Reflective practice involves throwing back thoughts and memories and cognitive actions such as contemplation, thinking, viewing past experiences objectively, empathy, valuing past strengths and weakness are involved (Taylor, 2000).Through refection, practitioners view the world differently based on past experiences and this helps them to act differently as a changed person (Boyd and Fales, 1983).Reflective practice can also be defined as examining ones thoughts and actions. For clinical practitioners, it involves looking on how they interact with other people and with environment in order to obtain a clear picture of their own behavior. Through this process, practitioners are able to understand themselves better, take the right actions and discover many techniques which can help them develop both their personal and professional competences (Somerville, 2004). Reflective practice plays a vital role as it enables professional practitioners to have practice based approach as opposed to having formal learning or theoretical approaches. Donald Schon is the one who first introduced reflective practice in his book called The reflective practitioner in 1988.Since then many people have written on this subject and John Dewey is among the first people to write on it (Dewey, 1933).There are two fundamental forms of reflection which are; reflection on action and reflection in action. Reflection in action involves examining your behavior and that of others in situations that provide learning opportunities. It also involves making connections between what you see and feel, focusing on ones responses and connecting with previous experiences. On the other hand, reflection on action is the commonly used form of reflection and it is characterized by careful re-running of events that have occurred in one’s mind. It helps a person to evaluate his/her strength and establish a different or more effective way of acting in the future events (Somerville, 2004).Reflection should be viewed as a way of exploring approaches to clinical supervision , governance and clinical effectiveness. Historically, reflective practice has been applied mostly in medical and educational fields. There are a number of reflective models that have been explained. Chris John and Graham Gibb’s models are examples of such models and they have helped professional practitioners to learn from experiences. Reflective models are important as they function as a structural framework within which clinical and other management practitioners can work. John’s model is built on carper’s theory and is composed of a series of cues which help practitioners to re-think of their past experiences, evaluate such experiences in a manner which generates new insights and understanding which can have applications in new experiences. These cues catalyze thought progress and the reflection to be used. Such cues are explained under headings of aesthetic, personal, ethics, empirics and reflectivity. Roffe et al, (2001) explains that, the first four cues are well researched and most of the clinical practitioners are familiar with. However, questions have been raised on the cues under reflectivity heading both in Gibb’s and John’s models, as these cues do not allow the practitioner to reflect on ongoing experience, but rather on the past experiences (Roffe et al, 2001). In John’s model, reflective practice needs structure and guidance in the forms of support and challenge .It is therefore not just a simple linear process because it requires the use of reflective journals and dairies in addition to the model. John’s model is more structured and more comprehensive as it touches on many important components. Its design therefore helps the experience to be learned much faster than the reflection it’s self. Steps involved in John’s model are: Description of the experience Questions asked under this heading are; what was the experience?, what factors influenced the experience? and what factors contributed to this experience? (John, 2000) Reflection Under reflection, questions asked are; what was the goal being achieved?, why did I act the way I acted and what factors influenced the action?, What was the impact of the action to me, to patients and colleagues?, What was the feeling during the happening of the experience and why did I feel that way?, How did my patients colleagues or clients feel about it?, why do I think they fell that way and how did I know this?. (John, 2000) Alternative strategies Cues asked here are; what alternative choices did I have? , what could have been the impact of such alternative options? (John, 2000) Learning In this step cues asked are; how do I feel about the this experience?, In what ways could I have been more effective ?, what will I do now confronted with a similar situation? And what have I learned from such an experience? (John, 2000) John’s model, it stresses on the description of stages of event around your thoughts and emotions and reflecting on what was the goal, looking at factors which influenced these strategies used such as expectations from others, time factor, anxiety of the event, normal practice, focusing on alternative strategies that could have been used and the learning from such experience (John, 2000).Compared to Gibb’s model, John’s model is more prescriptive and a linear approach which can frame the completeness of one’s reflection much better. Because of many questions in this model, it can lead to long written reflection unlike in Gibb’s model. Being detailed is also useful as it can remind us of the several different streams of information which can impact health care practice. On the other hand Gibb’s model (Gibbs, 1988) is a cyclical analysis which is clear and uses prompt questions at all stages. It is less structured as compared to John’s model. The core features of this model are: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis and conclusion and action plan for the future. Gibbs reflective cycle (Gibb’s, 1988) Through this mode is mostly used in health care industry , it has limitation as it does not have the depth of number of prompt questions that are contained in other models such as John’s model (John, 2000).In this model, a situation is focused on and it includes describing of what happened followed by feelings /emotions about the event. Reflection is then based on what where the thoughts and feelings at that time of the situation. This is then followed by evaluating whether the experience has been of help or not. Conclusions are then made depending on what else could have been a suitable alternative to solve the problem. A future plan is the made on how to handle the situation in future. For complex situations especially those that occur over long periods of time, reflection can spill over into another cycle. Unlike all other models in Gibb’s model, emotions and feelings are considered as the most important point of discussion (John, 2000). In both models, the fact that reflective practice is an ongoing activity is underpinned .The two models are also similar in that, they are only applicable to specific incidents and not in everyday life activity (Roger et al, 2003).For instance, Gibbs reflective cycle is widely used in sport psychology practice (Deonport and Andrew, 2009). A person can also use this model to identify his/ her learning needs in order to continue academic growth. In general this model can be applied in any situation that requires reflection and where improvement is needed. . Models of reflective practice are an essential component for professional practitioners. They help practitioners to be more responsible and discharge their responsibilities at best to both their families and patients (Somerville2004).Through focusing on their skills, behaviors and knowledge, they are able to meet the demands required by their profession. These models also help professional practitioners to keep on improving their professional skills by identifying their weakness and strengths. This is very important for their future development (Somerville, 2004). They also help practitioners to know how to interact and communicate with others in their profession by cultivating a culture of mutual support. The practitioners are also able to become more self aware, self driven and have a direct connection with their environment. This is very important considering that success of their profession is depended on a good culture of mutual support (Somerville, 2004). These models offer professional practitioners with a chance to obtain feedback of their impact on their colleagues, the institution or organization, their patients and patient’s families. This feedback is vital as it helps professional practitioner to make appropriate decisions for future improvement (Somerville, 2004). Through these reflective models, practitioners gains more ability to express emotions and develop skills that are necessary for solving problems. All these are needed for any professional practitioner to have both personal and professional growth. Those professional practitioners who do not change their practice may not be able to meet the needs of their patients. Therefore, reflective practice through use of models, benefits both the patient and the clinical practitioners. (Street, 1981) explains that reflection models empower nurses and other medical practitioners in order to make them fully cognizant of their own actions, knowledge and skills. Considering the high demand for health care professional services and the changing health environment , those health practitioners who employ reflective practice models are likely benefit more from such programs .The use of reflective practice among health professionals will for instance help them detect unexpected treatment outcomes, critically review the problem and offer alternative solutions (Mamede and Schmidt, 2004).Reflective models enables them to respond to new cases from a changed perspective and to reflect on the practice more effectively. These models also provides practitioners with a new learning situation that will help them to develop their knowledge and skills (Walter, 1996).For those nurses who employ reflective practice; it helps them to carefully plan and monitor their actions so that they are beneficial to their patient (Walter, 1996). Conclusion Even though reflection models can be of great help they may impose a representation of a reality to health care professional that compels them to fit into the models rather than using such models as a creative opportunity. References Boyd, E.M and Fales, A.W (1983). Reflective learning:A key to learning from experience. Journal of humanistic psychology , 23 (2), 99-117. Deonport, T.J and Andrew, M.L (2009). Reflecting on the delivery of a longitudinal coping intervention amongst junior national netall players. Journal of sports science and medicine , 8, 169-178. Dewey, J. (1933). How we think.A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process (Revised edition ed.). Boston,D.C. Gibbs, J. (1988). Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning. London: Further Education Unit. John, C. (2000). Becoming a reflective practitioner:a relective and holistic approach to clinical nursing, practice development and clinical surpervision. (1st ed. ed.). Oxford:Balckwell science. Mamede, S. and Schmidt, H.G (2004). The structure of eflective practice in medicne. Medical medicine , 38 (12), 132-8. Roffe, G., Freshwater, D and Jasper, M (2001). Critical reflection for nursing and helping proffession. New York: Palgrave. Roger, E., Gates, R and Kenworthy, N. (2003). Interpersonal communication in nursing (2nd ed. ed.). Livingstone.Lincoln. Somerville, D. (2004, March 23). A practical approach to promote reflective practice within nursing. Retrieved Dec 6th, 2011, from Nursing times net: Retrieved from http://www.nursingtimes.net/nursing-practice/204502.article. Street, A. (1981). Inside nursing.A critical Ethnography of clinical nursing. New York: Suny. Taylor, B. J. (2000). Reflective practice .Aguide for nurses and midwives. Bucangham: Open University press. Walter, S. (1996). Reflective practice in the accident and emergency setting. Accident and emergency nursing , 27-30. Read More