Gibbs reflective cycle
After a meeting or project that went badly, in what order should a manager or MBA student review the experience to reach a conclusion and a plan for next time?
- Origin
- Gibbs, 1988
- Diagram type
- Cycle
- Level of analysis
- Individual
- Topics
- The MBA journey
Diagram
Gibbs reflective cycle
- DescriptionWhat happened? Describe only; no judgements or conclusions yet.
- FeelingsWhat were your reactions and feelings? Do not analyse them yet.
- EvaluationWhat was good or bad about the experience? Make value judgements.
- AnalysisWhat sense can you make of the situation? Bring in ideas from outside the experience.
- ConclusionWhat can be concluded in general, and about your own situation or way of working?
- Action planWhat will you do differently next time, and which steps will you take?
When to use it, and when not to
Use it when
Gibbs presents the stages as a structure for debriefing after an experience, alone or in a group. With enough time, move through them in order and change the working format at each stage (alone, in pairs, in fours, whole group) to mark the transition.
Pitfalls
Gibbs observes that debriefings often lurch from a superficial description to premature conclusions about what to do next, without enough reflection or analysis. After a powerful experience a group can stay stuck on description or feelings and return to them just when it should be discussing action plans.
Sources
References
Listed A–Z by author surname, Harvard style. A source with a DOI links to https://doi.org/…; one without links to its page or says plainly that it has no DOI.
- Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by doing: a guide to teaching and learning methods. London: Further Education Unit.No DOIopenlibrary.orgCited in 1 article