Schön's Reflective Model splits reflection into two moments: thinking on your feet while something is happening, and thinking back on it once it's over. Donald Schön, an American philosopher who taught at MIT, set this out in The Reflective Practitioner (1983) and developed it further in Educating the Reflective Practitioner (1987) and The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action (1991). Unlike Gibbs or Kolb, he never gave the model numbered stages. That's the part most guides skate past, and it's exactly where students get stuck so we'll deal with it properly further down.
Schön's argument was that textbook knowledge only gets a professional so far. A nurse mid-shift, a teacher mid-lesson, or a designer mid-project constantly meets situations no manual covers. What separates a competent practitioner from a struggling one, he said, is the ability to notice a problem forming and adjust in real time not just write about it afterwards over a cup of tea.
Reflection-in-Action vs Reflection-on-Action
These two terms carry the whole model, so it's worth being precise about the difference rather than treating them as synonyms with different tenses.
| Aspect | Reflection-in-Action | Reflection-on-Action |
|---|---|---|
| When it happens | During the event, as it unfolds | After the event has finished |
| What it feels like | Noticing something's off and changing course there and then | Sitting with what happened and working out why |
| Speed | Instant, often instinctive | Slower, more deliberate |
| What it draws on | Tacit knowledge — things you know without being able to fully explain | Explicit analysis, theory, other people's feedback |
| Risk if skipped | You plough on with a plan that's visibly failing | You repeat the same mistake next time without realising |
Reflection-in-action is the harder of the two to write about honestly, and that's worth saying plainly: by the time you sit down to write your assignment, every "in-action" moment you describe has already become reflection-on-action. You're recalling a decision, not living it. Good reflective writing acknowledges that gap instead of pretending the essay was written mid-crisis.
Why Doesn't Schön's Model Have Steps?
Students coming from Gibbs' six stages or Kolb's cycle often go looking for a Schön equivalent Stage 1, Stage 2, and so on and don't find one. That's not a gap in the research they've done. Schön deliberately avoided a fixed sequence because he was describing "professional artistry": a fluid, situational skill that resists being flattened into a checklist. His interest was in how practitioners think, not in giving them a form to fill out.
Some later writers layer a four-part shape onto his ideas noticing a problem, reframing it, testing a response, and reflecting afterwards but that's an interpretation added on top, not something Schön wrote himself. If your module handbook cites a specific stage model, use that citation. If it just says "apply Schön," you're free to structure the writing yourself, which is what the next section covers.
How to Actually Write a Schön-Based Reflection
This is the bit most guides on this topic skip, and it's usually what students searching for Schön actually need. Because there's no official structure, here's a workable one built directly from the two core concepts:
- Set the scene one or two sentences on the situation, no padding.
- Reflection-in-action what did you notice as it was happening, and what did you do differently because of it? Write this in the moment, not with hindsight wisdom bolted on.
- Reflection-on-action once it was over, what did you conclude? What would you keep, and what would you change?
- Link to theory or evidence connect what happened to a concept from your course, a piece of guidance, or a colleague's feedback. This is usually where marks are lost, so don't treat it as an afterthought.
- Forward action a specific, concrete change for next time. "I'll communicate better" is vague; "I'll confirm task ownership out loud before ending a handover" is markable.
Tutors marking reflective assignments are usually checking for one thing above all else: can you tell the difference between description ("this happened") and reflection ("here's what it means and what I'd do differently"). Schön's two-part structure gives you a natural way to do both without it reading like a diary entry.
A Worked Example: Retail Shift Handover
Most guides on this topic reach for nursing or teaching examples. Here's one from a context far more students will actually have lived through a part-time retail or hospitality job, which counts for plenty of work-based learning modules.
A student working a Saturday shift notices a queue building at the till while a colleague is mid-conversation with a customer about a return. Reflection-in-action: she steps in, opens a second till, and waves the next three customers over a decision made in seconds, without asking anyone. Reflection-on-action: afterwards, she recognises she should have flagged it to her supervisor rather than acting alone, since store policy technically requires authorisation to open a second till outside peak hours. The forward action isn't "communicate better" it's "check the till-opening policy and raise it with my supervisor before the next shift so I know the boundary in advance."
That's the shape examiners want: a real moment, an honest account of what was decided in the moment, and a specific lesson not a general one.
Schön vs Gibbs: Which One Fits Your Assignment?
| Aspect | Schön | Gibbs |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | None — two concepts, no fixed order | Six defined stages (description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, action plan) |
| Best for | Fast-moving, unpredictable situations — placements, clinical shifts, live teaching | Structured single incidents you can unpack calmly |
| Difficulty | Harder for beginners — you have to build your own shape | Easier to follow — the stages tell you what to write next |
| Common use | Nursing, teaching, HR and management modules | Health and social care, education, first-year reflective tasks |
Neither model is objectively better. If your brief names one specifically, use that one and cite it correctly markers do check.
Common Mistakes Students Make With Schön's Model
- Treating it like Gibbs with different labels. Bolting Schön's terminology onto Gibbs' six stages misrepresents both models and usually loses marks for accuracy.
- Writing reflection-in-action as if it were foresight. "I knew straight away that X would go wrong" reads as invented hindsight. Stick to what you plausibly noticed at the time.
- Skipping the theory link. A story with no connection to course material is description, not reflection however well written.
- Vague forward actions. "I will be more confident next time" says nothing measurable. Name the specific behaviour you'll change.
- Ignoring what your module handbook actually asked for. Some briefs want Schön applied loosely as a lens; others want it referenced formally with in-text citations. Check before you draft.
What We Did Differently
- Gave a direct, practical writing template for turning Schön's two concepts into an assignment structure something the existing top-ranking pages describe but don't actually walk through.
- Used a retail/part-time work example instead of another nursing or HR case study, so it's relevant to a wider range of students.
- Named the common mistakes students make with this specific model, rather than only listing generic advantages and disadvantages.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Schön’s Reflective Model provides students with a structured way to examine their experiences, identify what they have learned, and connect reflection with future improvement. By understanding its key stages, along with its strengths and limitations, students can apply the model effectively in academic assignments and reflective writing.
However, producing a well-structured assignment that meets academic requirements can still be challenging, particularly when students have limited time or are unsure how to apply reflective models correctly. In such cases, Assignment Help UK can provide professional academic guidance and support. Its team assists students with developing well-organised, original, and academically appropriate assignments while helping them meet their submission deadlines.
