Gibbs originally advocated its use in repeated situations, but the stages and principles apply equally well for single experiences too. This can be either a stand-alone experience or a situation you go through frequently, for example meetings with a team you have to collaborate with. This model is a good way to work through an experience. However, by thinking about each stage you are more likely to engage critically with your learning experience. If you find that only a few of the questions are helpful for you, focus on those. Test it out and see how it works for you.

Different depths of reflection – an example of reflecting more briefly using this model.

The model – each stage is given a fuller description, guiding questions to ask yourself and an example of how this might look in a reflection.

Action plan for how you would deal with similar situations in the future, or general changes you might find appropriate.

Conclusion about what you learned and what you could have done differently.

Analysis to make sense of the situation.

Evaluation of the experience, both good and bad.

Feelings and thoughts about the experience.

It offers a framework for examining experiences, and given its cyclic nature lends itself particularly well to repeated experiences, allowing you to learn and plan from things that either went well or didn’t go well. Gibbs' Reflective Cycle was developed by Graham Gibbs in 1988 to give structure to learning from experiences.

Tell no one gone for good