• by Siobhan Maclean
• 03rd Sep 2018

A ‘Purrfect’ model of reflection?

In my reflective practice training sessions, I explore the main models of reflection that can be used in social work (and wider human services). The day concludes with small group work where participants develop their own personal models of reflection. These can be based around the process of reflection (as Gibbs model is) or they can build on the key components of reflection (as Korthagen’s onion does). Most of the time participants develop a model that is picture based (often around an analogy) building on visual learning. They generally combine aspects of process and component models to bring reflective practice to life. This model was developed at a recent session. I posted the image on twitter and it was incredibly popular with social workers. Is that reflective of the fact that social workers need to be reflective in their practice or is it about how keen social workers are on cats?