The schön reflection model: in action and on action

The Schön reflection model explains how professionals learn by examining their practice, both while they are working and afterwards. Its central distinction is simple: reflection-in-action means questioning and adjusting your approach during an activity; reflection-on-action means looking back afterwards to understand what happened and inform future practice.

For a tutor, manager or workplace trainer, this might mean changing an explanation when it is not landing, then reviewing later why the original approach fell short.

Although often called a model, Schön’s work is not a fixed reflective cycle with prescribed stages. It is an account of professional judgement, particularly when situations are uncertain and a standard procedure does not provide the whole answer.

What is the schön reflection model?

Donald Schön explored reflective professional practice in The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. His work challenges the idea that competent practice consists simply of applying established theory or techniques to clearly defined problems.

In everyday work, the problem itself may be unclear. A learner’s silence could indicate confusion, anxiety, disagreement or simply time spent thinking. A manager cannot always resolve a difficult conversation by following a script.

Schön’s approach draws attention to how practitioners recognise these uncertainties, question their initial interpretation and test a different response. Three concepts help explain this:

• Knowing-in-action: the practical knowledge expressed through skilled performance.
• Reflection-in-action: examining and potentially reshaping your approach while the situation is still unfolding.
• Reflection-on-action: looking back at an experience to examine your decisions, assumptions and results.

These are related ideas, not three compulsory steps. You do not have to move through them in order, and not every routine task requires deliberate reflection.

Knowing-in-action: the expertise behind everyday practice

Knowing-in-action is the knowledge you demonstrate through doing, even when you cannot fully explain how you do it.

An experienced assessor may notice that a learner can repeat a process but cannot explain why it works. A skilled chair may sense when a meeting needs a pause. Much of this judgement draws on experience that has become familiar and partly tacit.

This is not the same as having an infallible instinct. Familiar habits can be effective, but they can also conceal assumptions. A tutor might routinely interpret quick answers as understanding, overlooking learners who need more processing time.

Reflection becomes useful when something interrupts that familiar pattern. The result is unexpected, a colleague questions the approach, or the practitioner notices a mismatch between what they intended and what is happening.

The useful question is not just “What do I usually do?” but “What am I taking for granted when I do it?”

Reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action: the difference

Reflection-in-action: thinking within the situation

Reflection-in-action happens while you can still influence the activity or encounter. You notice something significant, reconsider your understanding and make a considered adjustment.

It is often described as thinking on your feet, but that phrase can make it sound like any quick reaction. Schön’s idea involves more than speed. You are questioning how you understand the situation, rather than simply switching tactics automatically.

For example, a trainer notices that participants can follow a demonstration but cannot complete the task independently. Rather than repeating the demonstration more slowly, the trainer questions whether the missing ingredient is prior knowledge. They ask a short diagnostic question and adapt the activity in response.

Useful prompts include:

• What is happening that I did not expect?
• What might my initial interpretation have missed?
• What safe adjustment could I make now?
• What response would help me judge whether that adjustment is useful?

Reflection-in-action need not happen in a split second. It can include a brief pause during a lesson, meeting or task, provided the reflection still shapes the unfolding situation.

Reflection-on-action: learning afterwards

Reflection-on-action takes place after the relevant event. With less immediate pressure, you can examine your reasoning, compare perspectives and consider evidence that was unavailable at the time.

This is more than describing what happened. A useful review asks why you acted as you did, what assumptions influenced your judgement and what you might retain or change.

You might review learner work, discuss an encounter with a supervisor or compare your recollection with a colleague’s observations. Feelings can matter too, particularly if frustration, anxiety or confidence affected your decisions.

Useful prompts include:

• What did I notice, and what did I overlook?
• Why did my response seem appropriate at the time?
• What evidence supports my interpretation of the outcome?
• What will I try or investigate next?

Aspect	Reflection-in-action	Reflection-on-action
Timing	During the unfolding situation	After the event
Main opportunity	Adjust current practice	Develop understanding for future practice
Available evidence	Immediate observations and responses	Records, feedback and wider perspectives
Typical question	“What should I reconsider now?”	“What can I learn from how I handled this?”

Later reflection can inform future action, which creates an ongoing relationship between experience and learning. Any loop used to illustrate that relationship is an explanatory aid, not a fixed sequence prescribed by Schön.

Example: an FE tutor adapts a functional skills lesson

The following examples are illustrative scenarios, not reported case studies.

An FE tutor is teaching percentages to a group of adult learners. The planned activity asks learners to calculate discounts from a worksheet. Several learners leave their answers blank, while one says, “I never understood percentages at school.”

Reflection-in-action during the lesson

The tutor initially thinks the group needs another explanation of the calculation. However, a short conversation reveals that some learners are struggling to interpret the written questions before they reach the maths.

The tutor reconsiders the problem: perhaps the worksheet is creating a reading barrier as well as testing numeracy. They work through a price-label example using £40 and a 25% discount, invite learners to explain their reasoning verbally, then offer a similar question to try independently.

The reflection lies in questioning the first interpretation and using learners’ responses to guide the adjustment. Changing resources alone would not necessarily demonstrate reflection.

Reflection-on-action after the lesson

Afterwards, the tutor compares the worksheet responses with learners’ independent answers. They also ask a colleague to review the wording of the original questions.

The tutor concludes that language demands may have obscured some learners’ mathematical understanding. However, the improvement does not prove that wording was the only issue. The worked example and additional practice may also have helped.

For the next session, the tutor plans a short starting-point check and clearer instructions, while retaining opportunities to develop mathematical vocabulary. They will check understanding through a new independent task rather than relying on participation alone.

Example: a manager rethinks a performance conversation

A manager in a UK customer service team meets an employee whose case completion times have increased. The manager expects to discuss prioritisation and time management.

During the conversation, the employee explains that a revised process requires duplicate data entry. They also mention receiving conflicting advice about which cases need escalation.

Reflection-in-action occurs when the manager questions the original assumption that the issue is individual performance. They pause the planned coaching conversation, ask the employee to walk through a typical case and agree an interim clarification within their authority.

Reflection-on-action happens afterwards. The manager checks a sample of cases, consults the process owner and considers whether other team members face the same difficulty. They also reflect on whether their opening questions made it easy for the employee to raise concerns.

The next action might involve clearer guidance, targeted training or a process review. Reflection does not remove accountability, but it helps the manager avoid choosing a solution before understanding the problem.

How to use schön’s ideas in professional development

You do not need to write a lengthy account of every working day. Start with one situation that surprised you, challenged your assumptions or went particularly well.

Keep a brief, evidence-informed record

The following prompts are a practical adaptation, not a framework created by Schön:

1. Situation: What was happening, and what were you trying to achieve?
2. Judgement: What did you notice, assume and decide?
3. Adjustment: Did you change your approach during the event? If not, why not?
4. Review: What do outcomes, feedback or other evidence suggest?
5. Next step: What will you retain, change or investigate, and how will you check its effect?

A short note can be enough. For example: “I treated silence as agreement. Afterwards, two colleagues raised concerns privately. Next time, I will invite written questions before confirming the decision.”

For a CPD portfolio, follow your organisation’s or professional body’s requirements. An honest account of uncertainty is more useful than inventing a neat moment of insight to fit a template.

Involve another perspective

A mentor or colleague can help you test interpretations rather than simply confirm them. Ask “What else could explain this?” or “Whose perspective have I not considered?”

The Health and Care Professions Council’s reflective practice guidance provides professional context for reflection, including learning with others. Its requirements apply to its registrants, but the broader practice of discussing experience can be useful across workplaces.

Follow through on one manageable change

Choose a specific action and a review point. “Improve communication” is difficult to assess. “Ask learners to explain the task in their own words at the next session” gives you something observable to review.

Reflection supports development when it changes what you notice or do, not merely when it produces a completed document.

Limitations and common misunderstandings

Schön’s work is not a fixed cycle. Presenting knowing-in-action, reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action as mandatory stages can obscure the flexibility of the ideas.

Reflection is not a substitute for expertise or procedure. In safety-critical, safeguarding or regulated situations, follow required procedures and escalate concerns. Questioning an approach does not authorise unsafe experimentation.

Not every adjustment is reflection-in-action. An automatic response may be knowing-in-action. The reflective element involves examining the situation or the understanding that guides your response.

Hindsight can distort the account. Once you know the outcome, it is easy to believe you should have predicted it. Consider what information was actually available when you made the decision.

Self-reflection cannot establish impact by itself. Feeling that a lesson or meeting improved is not the same as demonstrating improvement. Use proportionate evidence and acknowledge alternative explanations.

Workplace conditions matter. Reflection cannot, on its own, fix excessive workload, inaccessible systems or unclear responsibilities. Some findings require organisational action rather than further individual development.

Protect confidentiality. Record only necessary details and follow relevant policies. The General Medical Council’s reflective practice guidance offers sector-specific guidance on professional reflection, including handling sensitive information. Reflective notes do not replace required reporting or formal records.

Summary: start with one moment of uncertainty

Schön’s central distinction is between reflecting during practice, while you can still adjust your response, and reflecting after practice, when you can examine the experience more fully.

Start with one recent moment when events challenged your expectations. Identify what you assumed, what the available evidence suggests and one change worth testing. You do not need a perfect account or a completed cycle, just a thoughtful link between experience and your next professional decision.

Sources and further reading

• Donald Schön, The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action: the primary text underpinning the discussion of professional knowing and reflection.
• Health and Care Professions Council: Reflective practice: professional guidance and resources for applying reflection in practice.
• General Medical Council: Reflective practice: guidance for doctors and medical students, with useful considerations about learning, confidentiality and reflective records.