Reflective learning
Review experience or evidence to understand learning and improve future approaches.
Why it matters
Looking back at an approach helps you identify what you might retain or change in another situation. Reflection is more useful when it draws on what happened and why, rather than only a general feeling of success or disappointment.
What this can look like
- identifies what helped and what got in the way
- explains what was learned from an experience, drawing on what happened
- identifies what to repeat or change next time
Youth relevance
After a placement, volunteering task or group project, young people can compare what they expected with what happened. Looking at decisions, outcomes and feedback can help them choose what to repeat or change.
Ways young people can practise this skill
- look back at a completed task and identify what to repeat or change
- compare expectations with what actually happened
- use feedback alongside their own experience to identify a next learning step
Connected themes
Related skills
Explore these connected skills for another perspective.
Learning to learn
Giving & using feedback
Give useful feedback and use feedback received to improve an approach or outcome.
Learning to learn
Self-directed learning
Identify what needs to be learned and take an active role in planning how to learn it.
Problem-solving
Testing & improving solutions
Try a possible solution, observe what happens and use the result to improve it.