Demonstrate the Ability to Reflect on Practice

Not all of the learning you do will take place on a course or a lecture, or through the latest textbook. A very large amount of your learning will take place while doing your job. Everything you do at work is part of a process of learning. Even regular tasks are likely to be important for learning because there is always something new each time you do them. A simple task like taking someone a hot drink may result in a lesson – for example, you may find that the person tells you they do not want tea, but would prefer coffee this morning. You will have learned a valuable lesson about never making assumptions that everything will be the same. Learning from working is also about using the huge amount of skills and experience that your colleagues and supervisor have. Not only does this mean they will be able to pass on knowledge and advice to you, but also you have the perfect opportunity to discuss ideas and talk about day-to-day practice in the service you are delivering. Everyone makes mistakes – they are one way of learning.

It is important not to waste your mistakes, so if something has gone wrong, make sure you learn from it. Discuss problems and mistakes with your supervisor, and work out how to do things differently next time. You can use reflective skills in order to learn from situations that have not worked out the way you planned. It is important that you consider carefully why things turned out the way they did and think about how you will ensure that they go according to plan next time. Unfortunately, there are real people on the receiving end of any mistakes in social care, and learning how not to make mistakes again is vitally important. Talking to colleagues and supervisors is equally useful when things work out really well, as it is important to reflect on success as well as failure. If you reflect on why something worked, this will make it more likely that you can repeat it.