ABSTRACT
Reflection-on-action is reflection undertaken at some distance from the action, both metaphorically and in reality, for example, through post-event reviews, briefing discussions about the immediate future, or through planning in relation to the longer term in team meetings. Reflective learning ‘after the action’ comes through people stepping back from their experiences to think through what is happening; literally or metaphorically, even if only momentarily. One view is that there can be no learning without reflection, bringing to mind the old adage about the person whose twenty years’ experience of their field is actually just the same year repeated twenty times. Reflective learning is not the experience itself. Discovering or creating new meaning or understanding is the product of reflective learning. This may lead to new actions or the further development or application of ideas.
