Why and when to reflect

Why we reflect

We reflect in order to engage in personal and self development and in order to make decisions or resolve uncertainty. Simply having and experiencing is not sufficient. Reflection upon this experience is needed in order to learn from it, with out reflection, experiences are often quickly forgotten and therefore the opportunity for development is lost. The feelings and thoughts developed through reflection are what generate concepts and it is through these concepts that we learn and accordingly adapt our attitudes, beliefs and actions. (Gibbs, 1988)


When to reflect

-Something that went really well
-A crisis
-An uncomfortable situation
-A situation where what usually works was not working
-An occasion when a usual explanation did not suffice prompting the need for a new explanation.