Melanie Jasper, an expert on reflective practice within healthcare, defines reflection as “the way that we learn from an experience in order to understand and develop practice”. It is not a statement of events that have transpired, nor is it an account. Instead, reflecting on our experiences allows us to digest new information, to change our view of the world and how we interact with it.
Practitioners incorporate reflection throughout their lives. It is by incorporating small moments of reflection within day-to-day life that the most growth will occur. This principle is a variant of the ‘1% rule’: small compounded improvements (here, small experiences of reflection) lead to significant overall gains. It also allows the building of a healthy habit, which will serve well in the future. Reflection builds awareness of the self, which can inform later reflections.
Reflective practice is ‘learning through and from experience towards gaining new insights of self and practice.’ Reflection is a basic part of teaching and learning and aims to make you more aware of your professional knowledge and action by ‘challenging assumptions of everyday practice and critically evaluating practitioners’ own responses to practice situations’ (Finlay, 2008). The reflective process encourages you to work with others as you can share best practice and draw on others for support. Reflective Practice is helpful for personal fulfilment and happiness. Being reflective will ensure you have a wider range of skills. This will develop your confidence as you find the best ways to deliver your knowledge of a subject. By reflecting, you will develop abilities to solve problems.
See: https://thenewhealthcarestudent.wordpress.com/2020/12/02/reflective-writing-for-reflective-students/
Reflection is a personal rather than prescriptive process. Before beginning to write and reflect on experiences, it is vital to understand what the reflective process entails. One should take a step back from a given thing that has happened, and instead, focus on what is to be done as a result.