Model of Reflection - Kolb's 1984 Experiential Learning Cycle and 1974 Learning Style model:

The next model of reflection I will use throughout my placement is ‘Kolb’s 1984 Experiential Learning Cycle and Learning Style' model to critically self-reflect my performance and development during  my placement experiences. It is essential that I understand what learning actually is, and how I learn personally. Kolb, 1984:38 defines learning as "the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience”. Therefore throughout my placement, I will be taking my experiences gained, applying them to Kolb's experiential model of reflection, in order to understand my learning styles and process, which will create my knowledge, which will be used for future situations.

The adult learning specialist, David Kolb, has described the learning process as a four-phase cycle (see below) in which the learner touches all bases, which include:

1.       Having a concrete experience, which provides a basis for reflective observation.

2.      The learner's observation and reflection on the experience and his or her own response to it.

3.      These observations are then assimilated into a conceptual framework or related to other concepts in the learner's past experience and knowledge from which implications for action can be derived;

4.      Then tested and applied in different situations, known as active experimentation.

The self-reflection model is along the same lines of the previous model mentioned in the blog (Gibbs, 1988) model of reflection, whereby both models aim to analyse and evaluate the experiences, and plan out the experiences again to create successful outcomes. However, in addition Kolb's learning cycle also incorporates 'learning styles' 1974 model (see below) into the self-reflection model, which aims to allow myself to determine what type of learning style I possess throughout my placement experiences. 

Kolb explains that different people naturally prefer a certain single different learning style. There are various factors influencing a person's preferred style, for example, social environment, educational experiences, or the basic cognitive structure of the individual. Whatever influences the choice of style, the learning style preference itself is actually the product of two pairs of variables, or two separate 'choices' that we make, which Kolb presented as lines of axis, each with 'conflicting' modes at either end:

A typical presentation of Kolb's two continuum's is that the east-west axis is called the Processing Continuum (how we approach a task), and the north-south axis is called the Perception Continuum(our emotional response, or how we think or feel about it).

Kolb believed that we cannot perform both variables on a single axis at the same time (i.e think and feel). Our learning style is a product of these two choice decisions. It's often easier to see the construction of Kolb's learning styles in terms of a two-by-two matrix. Each learning style represents a combination of two preferred styles. The diagram also highlights Kolb's terminology for the four learning styles; diverging, assimilating, and converging, accommodating (McLeod, 2010). 

           As shown above there are four different types of learning styles, and each style is suited for different individuals. One of my aims prior to starting my placement is to identify what type of learning style I am, and then monitor my learning over the course of the placement to analyse whether I've change my learning styles or not. Currently I'm a 'Reflector' (Diverging - feeling and watching - CE/RO) learner. In order for myself to know what learner i'm currently, I took the 'Honey and Mumford: Learning Styles Questionnaire' which asked me 80 questions on my personality. Therefore this psychometric test tested my personality type and concluded that I was a 'Reflector' first, followed by a Pragmatist, then Theorist and lastly an Activist learner. This questionnaire has enabled me to identify that I like to feel and watch experiences more so, and also look at situations from different perspectives. I consider this to be a true reflection on my current learning styles, but i'm open to experiencing new situations to develop my activist, theorist and pragmatist learning styles, and will be critically reflecting upon all my experiences on placement throughout my blog.

References:

Businessballs. (n.d.). Kolb learning styles David Kolb's learning styles model and experiential learning theory (ELT). Available: http://www.businessballs.com/kolblearningstyles.htm. Last accessed 1st February 2015.

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development (Vol. 1). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, p38.

McLeod, S. A. (2010). Kolb - Learning Styles. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html