Gibbs' Reflective Cycle
Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30
CORE DEFINITION
A six-stage reflective model proposed by Graham Gibbs: Description (what happened), Feelings (what you were thinking and feeling), Evaluation (what was good and bad), Analysis (why it happened), Conclusion (what else could you have done), Action Plan (what will you do next time). Scaffolding role: structured debriefing. It goes deeper than simple 'after-action review', forcing us to address emotional responses and transform experience into concrete future action guidelines, making it a powerful tool for enhancing 'learning in action'.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
Structured debriefing. It goes deeper than simple 'after-action review', forcing us to address emotional responses and transform experience into concrete future action guidelines, making it a powerful tool for enhancing 'learning in action'.
Anchor fast decisions
Simple 'summarizing' tends to stay at factual retelling, skipping emotions and attribution, making it hard to convert into capability. The Gibbs cycle uses six steps to force through 'Description—Feelings—Evaluation—Analysis—Conclusion—Action Plan', incorporating emotional responses from experience (avoiding defensive forgetting), and moving from attribution to concrete improvement actions, forming a closed-loop learning of 'experience → reflection → behavior change'.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflective_practiceverified
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