The Reflective Practice Guide: An interdisciplinary approach to critical reflection - Barbara Bassot 2015

What is reflective practice?

’Without reflection, we go blindly on our own way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.’

(Margaret J. Wheatley, 2002)

Introduction

In this first chapter we will begin by examining some definitions of the term reflective practice and consider some of the reasons why professionals need to think critically about their work. We will examine the four theoretical foundations of critical reflection and explore the concepts of reflection-in-action and tacit knowledge. We will discuss issues of time management and the importance of making time to reflect. The chapter concludes with a focus on the many benefits of reflection.

Definitions

If you were to look in a standard dictionary for a definition of the word ’reflection’, you would find at least two groups of words. The first refers to mirror images and the second to the act of deep thinking. In many respects this gives us very helpful clues in relation to what reflective practice is and what it involves. It can be likened to looking into a mirror to see our practice and ourselves more clearly and so give some serious thought or consideration to what we see.

So what is reflective practice? Lucas (1991) offers a useful definition when he argues that it involves a systematic enquiry to improve and deepen our understanding of practice. The use of the word systematic here implies far more than thinking about things, for example, whilst you are driving home. It suggests that it needs to be done in an organised way and to be undertaken in depth, in order to gain the maximum benefit from it.

Many people have their own ideas of what reflective practice is and how they would define it. For example, I have heard people say things like ’I know what reflective practice is. I reflect every day as I am driving home from work’. Of course, it is not for me to comment on the quality of someone’s driving, but suffice it to say that deep reflection is not likely to happen while you are behind the wheel of a car! It is helpful to think about what reflection is not as well as what it is, and Thompson and Thompson (2008) offer some useful pointers in relation to this. For example, it is not just pausing for thought from time to time, or something just for students who can then forget about it when they start work. It is not something that you only do alone, as reflecting with others can be very helpful too (see Chapter 9). It is not a replacement for theory, but involves drawing on theory to enhance your understanding of practice; reflection, then, is a key means of applying theory to professional practice. Thompson and Thompson are clear to point out that all practice involves the application of theory and that we all need to beware of ’the fallacy of theoryless practice’ (Thompson, 2000: 32).

Why professionals need to reflect critically

The definitions above show that the reflective process is a complex one. When reading published literature, certain key terms are not always defined clearly; indeed, the terms reflection, reflexivity and reflectivity are sometimes used interchangeably, which can be confusing. The aim of this book is to take you on a journey from reflective practice (which focuses on learning from experience in order to improve practice), to critically reflective practice with its focus on paying attention to your emotional responses and being prepared to challenge your assumptions and the things you take for granted in everyday working life. This involves examining our personal values and issues of power in the context of working relationships, which leads to a careful consideration of reflexivity.

Critical reflection is vital in professional practice for the following reasons.

Providing a space for deep thinking

If you are an emerging professional you are entering a world where the pace of life is fast and you can feel significant pressure to make decisions quickly. At times you may feel that time spent thinking something through is a luxury that you cannot afford, as distinct from time invested. However, taking time to analyse situations (what happened and why) can prevent mistakes occurring in the future and can help to build your confidence as you feel more secure in your ideas about your practice.

Evaluating and developing practice

Being a professional involves the need for you to review your practice in an ongoing way in order to keep your knowledge up to date and to continue to develop your professional skills. Professional practice is constantly changing and never static. Thankfully this means it is never boring!

Preventing stagnation

As you gain experience it is important to ensure that your practice does not stagnate, but remains vibrant and focused on the needs of the client. In a relatively short space of time it is easy to ’get stuck in a rut’, doing things in a particular way because you have always done them that way. Johns (2004: 5) sums this up very well when he states that reflective practice is ’the antidote to complacency, habit and blindness’.

Striving for excellence

It is essential that all practitioners are competent and can carry out their role in an effective way. However, the word competent could imply that the professional practitioner is only ’good enough’. Many in professional practice wish to strive for excellence and reflective practice offers one key way in which this can be achieved.

Making practice creative

Creativity is one important aspect of excellence, and practising reflectively means that new ideas can be generated. Reflection stimulates creative thought processes by taking a questioning approach. This encourages you to ’think outside the box’ in order to be innovative.

Self-awareness

A vital part of the reflective process is that you gain a clear understanding of the attitudes and values you bring to your practice. As human beings, we are not ’blank sheets’; we all have experiences (positive and negative) of life that we take with us to work. Being aware of our attitudes and values means either that we are better able to stand back from our own views, in order to put the needs of clients first, or we are more aware of issues of personal involvement and the need to refer a client on to someone who is better placed to support them. This level of self-awareness means being prepared to engage with our feelings and emotions.

Being slow to make assumptions

Each day the human brain has to process millions of messages in order to function. To do this effectively, the brain learns to group similar things together. Thankfully this means we do not have to think through every minor detail of our lives every day. The effect of this is that we all make assumptions about things and people on a regular basis. In addition, irrespective of where we live, we are all part of societies and cultures where certain things and particular people are valued more than others. Reflective practice helps us to question our assumptions and prevents us from accepting things at face value. It encourages a deeper examination of issues, which is vital when seeking to promote equality and social justice for clients.

Providing an aid for supervision

During the reflective process it is inevitable that, at times, you will become aware of issues that need to be discussed in the confidential and supportive environment of supervision. This could include things that surprise and challenge you (’I didn’t realise I thought like that’) and things that remind you of previous negative experiences in your own life (’that reminds me of . . .’). This can be uncomfortable, but time and space for such discussions can help to prevent ’burn out’. If you do not have access to supervision, a discussion with a trusted, experienced colleague can also be extremely helpful.

Providing a means for constructing professional knowledge

Students often marvel at the knowledge of experienced practitioners when they observe them whilst on work placements. These practitioners often cannot explain how they know things, and demonstrate Schön’s (1983: 49) ’tacit knowing-in-action’. This professional knowledge includes a high level of self-knowledge and can be constructed through the process of reflective practice.

Case study 1.1

Sally has just started a course in physiotherapy and her tutors have encouraged her to reflect on her learning. She feels that everything is very new and, although she has always wanted to be a physiotherapist, she now feels that she has so much to learn that it is all a bit overwhelming. Speaking to some second year students, she can see that they felt the same way as her when they first started, but rather than just letting things build up she decides she wants to try and identify some time and space for reflection as she believes this will help her in her studies. Initially, Sally decides to set aside 20 minutes per week (two slots of 10 minutes) for reflection. Each week she carries out a different task that she sets for herself; sometimes she reads through her notes in the coffee shop and on other occasions she visits the library to browse through the books on the shelves. She finds that she enjoys the calming atmosphere of the library and starts to spend more time there. In the basement there are some rooms that no one seems to know about and she decides to go there regularly.

Developing professional knowledge, skills and attitudes

All professionals show aspects of their professional knowledge, skills and attitudes in their daily practice. When seeking to develop as a professional practitioner, it is important to understand the differences between these three areas in order to become fully rounded.

Knowledge

This comes in many shapes and sizes and is usually specific to a particular profession. It will be important for you to build your professional knowledge continuously in order to keep pace with the changes happening around you. Often professional knowledge can be categorised as follows.

• Theoretical — explanations of practice usually published by academics and practitioners. A theory is simply one person’s (or a group’s) explanation of what they see in practice, or, as Brookfield (2006: 3) states, ’A theory is nothing more (or less) than a set of explanatory understandings that help us make sense of some aspect of the world’. However, such theory should be tested or explored in some way through research, otherwise it simply remains someone’s idea or assertion.

• Procedural — knowledge of processes, procedures and systems that structure and guide professional practice.

• Evidence based — using evidence from previous research to find out ’what works’.

• Tacit — things we know but cannot always explain in words.

Knowledge can be seen as the building blocks of professional practice. As professionals, people come to us for particular things because we have specific knowledge. For example, if I have a bad back, I would go and see my doctor. If I have a bad back because I have had an injury at work, I might also go and see a solicitor to make a claim for compensation. If you imagine your particular professional knowledge as the kind of solid wooden building blocks that very young children play with, it is easy to see that a beautifully constructed tower can easily fall apart by a careless younger brother or sister knocking it over. In the same way, our professional knowledge can easily crumple without reflection; indeed, reflection is the glue that holds the building blocks of our professional knowledge together.

Skills

Professionals use a broad range of skills in their practice; some are specific to their profession and some are more general. Here are some of the more general ones that all professionals need to develop.

• Communication — these include interpersonal skills (e.g. listening, asking open questions, rapport building) and written skills often carried out using ICT (e.g. writing case notes, reports).

• ICT (information communication technology) skills — these include updating databases, communicating by email, sending text messages and using the internet for research.

• Self-management and time management — many professionals work with a certain level of autonomy and need to be able to manage their own work by prioritising tasks and managing their time effectively.

In addition, there will be specific skills that you will need to develop that are vital for your own particular profession.

Attitudes

The word attitude is used to describe our ways of thinking about things, which in turn influences the way we do things. It goes without saying that professional practitioners need to foster positive attitudes, but what does this mean? Here are some words that describe a practitioner with positive attitudes towards their professional practice.

• Approachable.

• Patient.

• Calm.

• Supportive towards colleagues and clients.

• A good communicator.

• Well organised.

• On time.

• Hard working.

• Follows things through and does what they say they are going to do.

• Slow to make assumptions.

• Non judgemental.

• Committed to anti-discriminatory practice.

• Quick to respond and act.

• Reflective.

Your ongoing development in the areas above will demand a high level of self awareness and openness to feedback from others in order to ensure that you can identify your strengths and those areas that you need to continue to work on.

Reflective activity 1.1

Imagine you overhear some of your colleagues having a conversation about you. What would you hope they would be saying in relation to your knowledge, skills and attitudes?

From unconscious incompetence to unconscious competence

A competent professional has well developed knowledge, skills and attitudes. One well known and useful model (sometimes referred to as the conscious competence learning model, the conscious competence matrix or the conscious competence ladder) describes the journey that people make when learning something new from ’Unconscious Incompetence to Unconscious Competence’. The origins of the model are unknown and it has the following four steps.

1 Unconscious incompetence — this is where most learners start. They are unaware of their lack of knowledge and skill and, put simply, they do not know what they do not know.

2 Conscious incompetence — as the learner progresses they become much more aware of their limitations and start to recognise what they do not know and cannot do.

3 Conscious competence — as the learner continues to move forward, they become more knowledgeable and skilled and begin to apply their learning. Typically, the learner does this in a deliberate step by step way.

4 Unconscious competence — by this point the learner can perform well in their work without much conscious thought, as their knowledge, skills and attitudes become embedded in their practice.

The model is depicted in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1 The conscious competence learning model

Whilst the model is very helpful and resonates with many people’s learning experiences, the idea of professional practice at the fourth level without much conscious thought requires a note of caution. Such practice could easily run the risk of drifting back to the base of the model as we ’rest on our laurels’ and bad habits set in. There can be a fine line between unconscious competence and unconscious incompetence and we need to be careful not to slip to the base of the model unconsciously, as shown in Figure 1.2 below.

Figure 1.2 Slipping back to unconscious incompetence

Case study 1.2

Ben is training to be a primary school teacher and has just started his first placement. He respects and admires his mentor in school, and he feels lucky to have such good support, but finds it difficult to understand how and why she does certain things in her practice. He can see that she is a very skilful teacher, but often she cannot explain why she is doing what she is doing. She seems to put this down to intuition and sometimes even luck and often says to Ben things like ’I don’t know why I did that’ and ’I know, that was lucky, wasn’t it?’ Ben finds this frustrating, as he wants to learn how to become as good a teacher as he can. Instead of asking her how she knew which approach to take, he decides to ask her how she learned to approach a situation in a particular way. This helps Ben’s mentor to realise how she has built her knowledge and skills over a period of time, which she is then happy to share with him.

The four theoretical foundations of critical reflection

When evaluating the relevance of critical reflection, it is important to understand its theoretical origins. Brookfield (2011) argues that there are four theoretical foundations that have informed critical reflection, which are as follows.

Analytic Philosophy — as human beings we have the capacity to be logical, to distance ourselves from the way things are usually done and to exert some conscious control over our thoughts and actions. This is often described as reasoning — seeing the different sides of an argument and reaching sound conclusions.



Natural Sciences — this is our capacity to look at a phenomenon and to try to explain it. For example, we have a hypothesis that we test by experiment, and through this process our hypothesis is either confirmed or refuted.



Critical Theory — power dynamics are present in all situations and critical theory helps us to understand how these manifest themselves. It helps us to recognise hegemony — this is when we are deceived, even manipulated, into accepting the dominant ideology as being in everyone’s best interest, even when this serves to work against certain groups of people, usually those without power and therefore on the margins of society.



Pragmatism — this involves having a strong need to be open to constant experimentation, to explore new and better ways of doing things. This results in discovery and change.

Reflective activity 1.2

Think about the four theoretical foundations and write some notes on the evidence you can see in your own profession for each of these. Are some more dominant than others?

Tacit knowledge

As mentioned on page 4, students often marvel at the knowledge of experienced practitioners when they observe them whilst on work placements. Very experienced practitioners often cannot explain how they know things and demonstrate Schön’s (1983: 49) ’tacit knowing-in-action’, sometimes referred to as tacit knowledge. When asking such professionals why they did certain things in certain ways, many will reply ’I don’t know — I just did it that way’ or ’It just seemed right at the time’. This can lead to common misunderstandings about tacit knowledge. It would be easy to assume that the practitioner’s response is based on intuition. However, being able to reach such conclusions quickly, almost on the spur of the moment, will undoubtedly have been learned through many past experiences. For example, none of us can say that we have always known how to be a good nurse, teacher or social worker. We have learned it. This is an important point because if this is not the case, then anyone could do what we do without any training, which undermines our knowledge and skills as professional practitioners. Just because we cannot always explain why we do things in words does not mean they are intuitive or simple. Some professions (for example career guidance and teaching) have suffered as a result of those with power thinking that given a simple set of instructions, anyone can do the work. This is simply not the case and, as professionals, we all need to beware of the danger of minimising the nature of our tacit knowledge.

From technical rationality to reflection-in-action (Schön)

In his seminal publication The Reflective Practitioner, Schön (1983) discusses the concept of reflection-in-action in some depth. All of us spend time thinking — it is so much part of our everyday lives that sometimes we do not even realise we are doing it. Reflection-in-action is the kind of thinking we all do as we are working, studying and living generally, and as human beings we all have a capacity to think as we are doing other things. When writing about reflection-in-action, Schön (1983: 54) describes it as ’thinking on your feet’.

This type of reflection is very important for people who work with people, or as Schön would say, people in the minor professions. Such people cannot rely on the laws of science (what he calls technical rationality) to give them logical solutions to everyday problems. Because people are unique, there is no single response or action that will suit every situation. When working with clients it will often be necessary to try a number of different strategies to enable them to engage with the process. By reflecting-in-action, you will be able to assess the strategies you are using as you go along, deciding whether or not your approach is working with that particular individual or group. If not, you can change your approach and in many (but not all) cases find something that will work, or will at least work more effectively.

Reflection-in-action, like all reflection, is a skill that develops with practice. At first it is very difficult to concentrate on listening to the client, applying a theoretical model or approach, being sure to follow important procedures and thinking about what you are doing at the same time. Thankfully, practice makes perfect (well, better anyway!)

There are clear parallels here with learning to drive. At first it seems impossible to remember everything (mirror, signal, manoeuvre, etc.) But in time, and with good constructive feedback, things begin to fall into place. The day of the test arrives, and things go well. Congratulations! Of course, we know that now bad habits can set in, and this points to the dangers of relying on reflection-in-action only. This also serves as a reminder of ’the fallacy of theoryless practice’ (Thompson, 2000: 32) when we might be fooled into thinking that we could do this all along.

Making time to reflect

As mentioned in the list of attitudes, being organised is vital for professional practice, and effective time management is an important skill that all professionals need to continue to work on. In my experience, time management is rather like fishing by hand — one day I think I’ve got it and the next it slips away from me! If there were one simple model that would guarantee that I could always manage my time well, then someone would have thought of it, published it and made millions, and hopefully that person would have been me! Meanwhile, visit any bookshop or browse on the internet and you will find lots of different books on time management. If you find one that helps you, use it, but don’t become a slave to it, as it may not work for you forever.

One important theme in time management literature is recognising the difference between the important and the urgent. Being able to differentiate between these two concepts will undoubtedly be a key factor in achieving success in your professional life. Here are definitions of the two terms.

Urgent — things that demand our immediate attention and at least give us the impression that they need to be done now.



Important — things that help us to achieve our long-term goals.

Covey (2004) presents a useful model to help us to make this important distinction. This is represented by a square with four quadrants, which can be described as follows.

Quadrant 1 (top left) — things that are both important and urgent. These are things that demand our immediate attention. They need to be done now and are often key elements of our job.



Quadrant 2 (top right) — things that are important, but not urgent. Things in this quadrant tend to be more long term and do not need to be done now. However, they are very important to us and are often linked to things that we want to achieve as professionals.



Quadrant 3 (bottom left) — things that are urgent but not important. It is easy to be deceived into thinking that everything that appears urgent is urgent, but this is often not the case. Sometimes things appear urgent because they are important to other people, particularly managers.



Quadrant 4 (bottom right) — things that are neither important nor urgent. We could say that such things should not be part of professional life, but we can easily slip into them when we feel ’swamped’, tired and overloaded.

Many professionals spend a lot of time (if not too much time) in Quadrant 1. Covey is clear about the consequences of this, which include a range of symptoms caused by high levels of stress, feeling that you are constantly ’fire fighting’ and managing crises; here the risk of ’burn out’ is high.

Spending lots of time in Quadrant 3 is also something to beware of, as here you run the risk of being a ’slave’ to the priority of others — in other words, focusing on things that are important for others but not for you. Your manager or those who are making demands on your time say ’jump’ and you respond with ’How high?’ Again, the risks here are high as you begin to see your own goals and plans disappear and become pointless, as you rarely achieve them. Your focus is on the short term and you begin to feel worthless and even victimised as your work spirals out of control.

Quadrant 4 is full of procrastination, often called ’the thief of time’. Here, time is stolen from us because we drift and put things off that we know we should be doing, and sometimes even things that we want to do. We do this for a range of reasons that are often personal to us and these can include:

• Fear of failure, or even fear of success.

• Not knowing where to start.

• Being so overwhelmed by the volume of work that we are experiencing that we cannot see a way forward.

• Boredom and lethargy.

Perhaps it is difficult to imagine professionals in Quadrant 4 as it is contrary to many of the professional attitudes we looked at earlier in this chapter. However, it is important not to be deceived by things that appear as legitimate work tasks, which can conspire against us if we are not careful. For example, the feeling that we need constantly to check emails to be sure we are up to date and not letting others down. Checking messages that do not apply directly to our work can waste many hours, for example when colleagues have clicked the ’reply all’ button — something that we ourselves can avoid and only use when absolutely necessary to protect our colleagues.

Covey advocates spending a significant amount of time in Quadrant 2 where our own goals and priorities are in focus. Here, we are clear about what we hope to achieve in the longer term: such tasks and projects do not need to be done now, but they will help us to achieve our long-term goals. Much of this clarity comes from reflection and spending time thinking through what you hope to achieve will be important, particularly when it comes to managing large pieces of work. Remember too that taking time to reflect is a choice. However, if we spend too much time thinking about our long term goals, over time these will shift into Quadrant 1 as time runs out on us. What was previously ’not urgent’ then becomes so as deadlines loom. Or worse, we fail to achieve them as we minimise their worth and they ’fall off the end’.

Reflective activity 1.3

Now think about your work or course and identify two things that you would place in each quadrant. Remember, to achieve your long-term goals your focus needs to be in Quadrant 2. How can you achieve this?

Case study 1.3

Rajesh is a student social worker who is beginning to feel that he needs to be more organised in his approach to his studies. On his Access course at college, most things were organised for him by his tutors and he could always go to them for support whenever things became difficult. He has moved away from home and knows that he needs to be an independent learner if he is going to succeed on his course. He decides to attend a time management course offered by the university’s study support centre and can see that there are a lot of people like him, which is comforting. In addition he devises some strategies that he feels will help him; in particular, making sure that all his regular commitments (lectures, seminars and tutorials) are prioritised and itemised in his diary. This helps him to look at the rest of the time he has for reading and volunteering. In addition, Rajesh decides to ask for a peer mentor — a student in the year above him who can give him some support when he feels he needs it.

Avoiding distractions

When life is very busy it is all too easy to be distracted, and, before we even realise, we have wasted precious time on activities that might appear urgent, or that we have deceived ourselves into thinking could be important. If we are not careful, we have then lost our time for reflection. Here are some ideas for protecting our time.

• Get into the habit of blocking out a short amount of time in your diary — this need not be a big amount. You will be surprised how much you can achieve in 15 minutes per week.

• Do not let things interfere with your plans and see the time you have blocked out as time for your personal and professional development.

• Turn your phone off or turn it to silent if you do not feel you can turn it off. Only answer it if you know the call is genuinely urgent.

• Turn off your email. Most people can wait 15 minutes for a reply, and if not they will call you.

• Do not be afraid to ask people for a few minutes. Most people will understand if you are busy doing something important.

A reflective space

As well as making time to reflect, many people find having a reflective space is also important. This can help if, like many practitioners, you find it difficult to ’switch off’ from work and activity. A space that you have identified as somewhere offering you the opportunity to focus on your development can be extremely helpful. Here are some examples of reflective spaces.

• A room at home where you can relax and not be distracted.

• A quiet spot in the library.

• A corner in your local coffee shop.

• A bench in your local park.

• A walk through the town or countryside.

• The quiet coach on a train.

It is important to understand that this space will be different for different people and the key is finding what suits you best; this is a key theme that will occur many times in this book. Of course, not everyone needs or indeed wants quiet in order to reflect; some of us do our best thinking with life’s regular hustle and bustle around us. If that is you, do not be tempted to conform, but do what suits you best.

Case study 1.4

Emma, who has just started a degree in counselling coaching and mentoring, understands that she needs to take a reflective approach to her studies and her future work with clients. Emma decided to do the course because she gets on so well with people. At school, many people loved to talk to her because she is such a good listener and Emma liked the fact that people used to single her out as a good person to share their troubles with. Emma is living in a busy hall of residence and is already finding that people knock on her door when they need someone to talk to. This is fine, but it often means that Emma’s room is a place for sharing, not somewhere where she can have any time to herself. She knows that she needs to find some space away from her room where she will be able to reflect on her development. After trying several different places, she finds a space in the corner of one of the busy coffee shops where she can blend in with the people around her. She also knows that the time will come where she will need to be kind but assertive in order to protect her time for reflection.

The benefits of investing time in reflection

There are many benefits from investing time in reflection and the case study below illustrates some of these.

Case study 1.5

Jackie is a second year nursing student and is in the early part of a placement on an adult general surgery ward. She is finding the workload very demanding as the ward is very busy and she is still often unsure about procedures. She is also aware that often things have to be dealt with quickly and efficiently in order to ensure that theatre timetables are adhered to and surgeons are not kept waiting. Jackie often feels nervous about the possibility of making mistakes and knows that when she feels anxious she is more likely to make errors. Jackie decides to set aside 15 minutes after each shift to reflect on what she has learned and to discuss this with her mentor.

It is very easy in professional practice to become overwhelmed by the amount of things to learn and by a fear of making mistakes. Regular times for reflection helped Jackie in both of these areas of difficulty. She found being a student nurse and fitting into a busy ward to be a demanding and intense experience. Spending time reflecting meant that she could go over some of the procedures in her head and on paper; this helped her to build her confidence and, as a result, she was less likely to panic.

There are many more benefits of investing time in reflection, which will become evident as this book progresses. It is always worth noting that any time spent in reflection is time invested not wasted.

Conclusion

In this chapter we have examined some definitions of reflective practice and the reasons why professionals need to think critically about their work. We have looked at the four theoretical foundations of critical reflection and have explored the concepts of reflection-in-action and tacit knowledge. Throughout, the emphasis has been that critical reflection is a choice and that professionals need to make time to reflect in order to reap the many benefits from it. In the next chapter we move on to look at the whole area of self-awareness in relation to professional practice.

References

Brookfield, S.D. (2006) The Power of Critical Theory for Adult Learning and Teaching, Maidenhead: Open University Press, McGraw-Hill Education.

Brookfield, S.D. (2011) ’Critical Reflection’ paper presented at ESRC Critical Reflection in the Professions: the Research Way Forward seminar, Birmingham, June 2011.

Covey, S. (2004) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, London: Pocket Books.

Johns, C. (2004) Becoming a Reflective Practitioner, 2nd edn, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Lucas, P. (1991) ’Reflection, new practices and the need for flexibility in supervising student teachers’. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 15 (2), 84—93.

Schön, D.A. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner, Aldershot: Ashgate.

Thompson, N. (2000) Theory and Practice in Human Services, Maidenhead: Open University Press, McGraw-Hill Education.

Thompson, S. and Thompson, N. (2008) The Critically Reflective Practitioner, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Wheatley, M.J. (2002) It’s an interconnected world. Available from www.margaretwheatley.com/articles/interconnected.html. Accessed 7 May 2015.