Schon Reflective Model: Reflection in Action and on Action
Direct answer: Schon's reflective model distinguishes reflection in action, the noticing and adjustment that may occur during practice, from reflection on action, the later examination of what happened and what can be learned. A student should use only what they genuinely remember or documented, acknowledge the limits of hindsight, and connect the later analysis to evidence, role, supervision, and the assignment rubric.
Community signal: Students can flatten the model into before and after headings or retrospectively claim a polished thought process. Its useful distinction is when noticing occurred and what later evidence added.
Separate reflection in action from reflection on action
Schon's reflective model distinguishes reflection in action, the noticing and adjustment that may occur during practice, from reflection on action, the later examination of what happened and what can be learned. A student should use only what they genuinely remember or documented, acknowledge the limits of hindsight, and connect the later analysis to evidence, role, supervision, and the assignment rubric.
Copyable two-timepoint map
Use two columns for the same selected moment. The first records genuine contemporaneous noticing and response; the second records later interpretation, feedback, evidence, and learning.
Draft the in-action column first from genuine notes or memory and freeze it before consulting later sources. Then use feedback and literature in the on-action column. This sequence makes hindsight visible and prevents a polished later explanation from being presented as a thought the student definitely had during the event.
- Anonymized situation, role, source of recall, and assignment criterion
- In action: cue noticed, thought genuinely remembered, adjustment, and immediate observation
- On action: later question, feedback, literature, alternative perspective, and changed interpretation
- Uncertainty or memory limit that must not be filled in retrospectively
- Feasible next action, supervision, review point, and evidence of learning
Supervised-simulation worked outline
During a supervised simulation, the student notices that an explanation is not landing and slows down to check understanding. In the later account, the student separates that remembered cue and action from the additional interpretation developed through feedback, literature, and review of the learning outcome.
Preserve what was actually known at each time
Build the map around when the thinking occurred. For reflection in action, record only the cue the student genuinely noticed, the interpretation available at that moment, and the bounded adjustment actually made. If there is no reliable memory or note of an in-the-moment change, say so. Do not manufacture a polished internal monologue to satisfy the model.
The analytical value lies in comparing two kinds of knowing. In-action reflection concerns noticing and adjustment amid practice; on-action reflection can use distance, feedback, and sources to revise the first interpretation. A strong account acknowledges when no clear in-action thought is remembered and focuses on what later review genuinely added rather than filling the gap with a tidy story.
- Macquarie University: Schon reflection in and on action
- Monash University: approaching reflective writing
Use later evidence without rewriting memory
Use reflection on action to add what later became available: feedback, another documented perspective, literature, professional expectations, emotional distance, and awareness of consequences. Mark which ideas are hindsight. The analytical value lies in comparing the contemporaneous response with the later interpretation and identifying how evidence confirms, complicates, or changes the student's understanding.
Turn revised understanding into bounded action
End with learning and a feasible future action tied to supervision and a way of noticing its effect. Check whether the assignment actually expects a named model and whether the evidence supports both modes. Nurspective can flag unclear chronology, unsupported perspective, and description-heavy passages, but it cannot recover memory, create experience, or make clinical judgments.
Academic, authorship, and clinical limits
The student remains the author and must protect confidentiality and follow the actual assignment or revalidation rules.
- In-action claims are grounded in genuine memory or notes
- Later interpretation is not rewritten as contemporaneous certainty
- Evidence changes or qualifies the analysis
- The action stays within role and supervision
Sources and discussion
- Macquarie University: Schon reflection in and on action
official - Monash University: approaching reflective writing
official
Community posts describe individual experiences and questions; they are not treated as universal proof.
Related guides and tools
Review your own draft without handing over authorship.
Choose the model only when the experience supports both timepoints and the brief permits it. Nurspective can flag unclear movement or description-heavy writing; the student remains the author and clinical judgment stays outside the tool.
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