How can reflection in groups be stimulated?

Although everyone agrees that reflection in group discussions is important, there has been surprisingly little research on the structure and process of group reflection. Often it is suggested that reflection sessions need to be formally structured, and that this would lead to more fruitful discussions and new insights.

Anne de la Croix and I analyzed approximately 80 hours of video-recordings of collaborative reflection in the General Practitioner's vocational training in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. We found that, contrary to the advice to formally structure reflection meetings, it is precicely the "messy" moments in the discussion that are rich and valuable. During these transitions, when it is not clear who speaks next and how, group participants have to do work to define their relationships to each other and to the topic under discussion.

In traditional research on reflection, these ambiguous moments in the interaction are dismissed as "noise" or "off-topic", but we believe them to be pivotal for the reflective process. We also make some comments about the role of the facilitator of these discussions, and the difficulties they encounter.

If you are interested in reading the full publication which was published in Teaching & Learning in Medicine, message me. You can find the abstract here. In the meantime, Anne and I are working on a next submission of our reflection research for the journal Medical Education.