- Gibbs' Reflective Cycle in plain English
- Description prompts
- Feelings prompts
- Evaluation prompts
- Analysis prompts
- Conclusion and action plan prompts
- A short worked example
- Reflective writing for course portfolios
- How to get better reflective journal entries
- My advice for reflective journaling
- Frequently asked questions
Here are 30 reflective journal prompts organised around Gibbs' Reflective Cycle, the six-stage model used by universities, nurses, teachers and trainees to learn from experience. Each stage gets its own prompts, from describing what happened to deciding what you'll do next time, so a single reflection turns into a real plan.
A reflective journal is different from a diary. A diary records what happened; a reflective journal asks what it meant and what you'll change. That's why it's a staple of nursing placements, teacher training, coaching and professional development portfolios. The trouble is that 'reflect on your week' is a vague instruction. These prompts give the reflection a structure, so your entries are useful to you, and to an assessor if you're writing one for a course.
Gibbs' Reflective Cycle in plain English
The University of Edinburgh's Reflection Toolkit describes Gibbs' Reflective Cycle as one of the most famous cyclical models of reflection. Graham Gibbs developed it in 1988 to give structure to learning from experiences, and because it's a cycle, it works especially well for situations you'll meet again. Here are the six stages:
| Stage | The question it answers | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Description | What happened? | Writing too much story and too little reflection |
| 2. Feelings | What were you thinking and feeling? | Skipping it because it feels uncomfortable |
| 3. Evaluation | What was good and bad about the experience? | Only listing the bad |
| 4. Analysis | Why did it go that way? What sense can you make of it? | Blaming instead of explaining |
| 5. Conclusion | What else could you have done? What have you learnt? | Vague lessons like 'communicate better' |
| 6. Action plan | What will you do if it happens again? | No concrete next step |
The stage most people rush is analysis. It's where you move from 'it went badly' to 'it went badly because I didn't check the brief', and that's where the learning lives. The WOOP method's idea of naming the inner obstacle and planning for it fits neatly into the action plan stage.
Description prompts
Stick to the facts. Who, what, where, when.
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Describe one situation from this week that you keep thinking about.
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What happened, in the order it happened?
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Who was involved, and what was your role?
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What was the context: what was going on before it started?
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Describe the outcome in one or two sentences.
Feelings prompts
Be honest. Feelings are data, not weakness.
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What were you feeling at the start, the middle and the end?
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What were you thinking at the key moment?
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How do you feel about it now, looking back?
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What do you think the other people involved were feeling?
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Did your feelings affect what you did? How?
Evaluation prompts
Weigh it up fairly. Good and bad, not just one or the other.
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What went well, and why?
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What didn't go well?
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What did you contribute that helped?
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What would an observer say about how you handled it?
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Was the outcome what you expected?
Analysis prompts
Make sense of it. This is where reflection becomes learning.
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Why do you think it went the way it did?
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What factors were in your control, and which weren't?
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Have you seen this pattern before?
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What knowledge, skill or theory helps explain what happened?
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What assumptions did you make that turned out to be right or wrong?
Conclusion and action plan prompts
Finish the cycle. Make the next step specific enough to act on.
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What have you learnt from this experience?
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What could you have done differently?
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If this happens again, what exactly will you do?
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What inner obstacle might stop you, and how will you handle it?
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What's one skill you'll practise before a similar situation comes up?
A short worked example
A trainee teacher's lesson overran. Description: the class didn't finish the main task and the plenary was cut. Feelings: frustrated and a bit embarrassed. Evaluation: the starter was engaging, but it took twice as long as planned. Analysis: the starter had no time limit and I let a good discussion run. Conclusion: good discussion is valuable, but I need to protect the main task. Action plan: next time, set a visible timer for the starter and note a stopping point in my plan. That's six short paragraphs, and the action plan is specific enough to test in the next lesson.
Reflective writing for course portfolios
If you're writing reflections for a nursing, teaching or professional course, assessors usually look for the same things: a brief, clear description, honest feelings, balanced evaluation, analysis that draws on what you've learnt, and an action plan you could act on. Write in the first person, because reflection is about your own practice. Keep confidential details out, using roles rather than names. And show the cycle continuing: a strong portfolio often includes a later entry that checks whether an earlier action plan worked, which is exactly the loop Gibbs designed the model around.
How to get better reflective journal entries
- Keep description short. Aim for more reflection than story.
- Don't skip feelings; they often explain the analysis.
- Make every conclusion specific: what, when and how.
- Revisit old action plans to see if they worked, starting the cycle again.
- For course portfolios, link your analysis to theory or guidance where you can.
Reflection pairs well with a regular reset; my piece on why I give myself two new years explains a reflection habit I use myself, and my tips for the work-stressed entrepreneur help when the thing you're reflecting on is burnout.
My advice for reflective journaling
Pick one situation a week and work it through all six stages, rather than writing a little about everything. Spend most of your words on analysis and the action plan. And come back a fortnight later to check whether the plan worked; that second loop is where reflective practice makes the biggest difference.
Frequently asked questions
What are reflective journal prompts?
Questions that help you learn from an experience, usually by describing it, exploring your feelings, evaluating and analysing it, drawing conclusions and planning next steps.
What is Gibbs' Reflective Cycle?
A model developed by Graham Gibbs in 1988 with six stages: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan.
How long should a reflective journal entry be?
Long enough to cover all six stages. A few short paragraphs is often enough if you keep the description brief.
Who uses reflective journals?
Students, nurses, teachers, trainees, coaches and anyone building a professional development portfolio, as well as people reflecting for personal growth.
Should a reflective journal be written in the first person?
Yes. Reflection is about your own experience and practice, so writing as I is normal and expected, even in academic and professional portfolios.
What's the most important part of reflection?
Analysis and the action plan, because they turn an experience into learning and a concrete next step.
