Gibbs Reflective Cycle

Gibbs Reflective Cycle is a technique that teaches people to ponder over experiences they have had in a specific situation and think systematically. The cycle can be used to structure the reflection in phases. One can use Gibbs' Reflective Cycle to make sense of situations and understand what they did and how could they make these situations better in the future.

 The 6 stages of the Gibbs reflective cycle are as follows:

• Describing the experience during a situation or an event
• The person’s feelings about the experience
• Evaluating both the positive as well as the negative aspects of the experience
• Analyzing the aspects and making sense of the situation
• Concluding and realizing how you could have reacted differently
• Taking altered actions as per what you have learned

Theoretically, the model of Gibbs reflective cycle focuses on developing human understanding using actual experiences. The four key stages of the cycle are:

• Concrete experience, where you assess an event
• Reflective observation, where you analyse what happened and why
• Abstract conceptualization, where you come to a conclusion

Gibbs' reflective cycle can be referred to as an iterative model, where you learn through repetition. The best part about the Gibbs reflective model is that you can use it inadvertently while working your daily routine. In contrast, Kolb's model is more of an experiential gibbs learning cycle model, where you learn gibbs cycle through experience.