The 5R framework for reflection

The 5R framework for reflection will guide you through Reporting,

Responding, Relating, Reasoning, and Reconstructing to make sense
of a learning experience.
Overview
This framework developed by Bain et al. (for example 2002), focuses on five core stages,
each addressing one aspect of reflection. By thinking about all 5 stages individually you will
engage with all the essential components of reflection, enabling you to produce a critically
engaged reflection based in your experience. This model can also be helpful for structuring
reflective writing.

The 5 stages are:

• Reporting of the context of the experience

• Responding to the experience (observations, feelings, thoughts, etc.)
• Relating the experience to knowledge and skills you already have
• Reasoning about the significant factors/theory to explain the experience
• Reconstructing your practice by planning future actions for a similar experience
Below is further information on the model – each stage is given a fuller description, tips
about language use, guiding questions to ask yourself and an example of how this might
look in a reflection.

This is just one model of reflection. Test it out and see how it works for you. If you find that
only a few of the questions are helpful, focus on those. However, by thinking about each
stage you are likely to engage more critically with your learning experience.

The model
The 5R framework for reflection
This model lends itself well to structuring both the thinking process and the write-up of a
reflection. To get the full benefit of this model you will have to know the characteristics of
each of the 5 R’s. Being able to recognise the language that is relevant for each step will
also benefit you if using the model for academic reflection.
The ‘Reporting’ and ‘Responding’ can sometimes interlink and be presented as one level.
This highlights the fact that while there is a natural progression through the stages, when
producing written reflections you might want write more freely without a clear boundary
between the areas.
A number of helpful questions as well as key components are outlined below for each of
the stages. You don’t have to answer all of them, but they can guide you to what sort of
things make sense to include in that stage. You might have others questions that work
better for you.

Reporting
Here you can present the context with little or no comment or interpretation of the
experience.
What to do What’s included Helpful questions
• What happened?
• What are the key
A brief description of the The key elements of the situation that are essential for aspects of this
experience/problem or issue you to communicate the context to reader. situation?
• Who was involved?
• What did I do?

Key language points: You are reporting on an event that happened so use the past tense.
Helpful phrases are ‘I saw…’, ‘I noticed…’, ‘I/they said…’, ‘I had…’ and words indicating
time such as yesterday, last week, etc.
Example of Reporting
Yesterday, I had a meeting with my supervisor to discuss my final project. I requested the meeting as I had a series of
concerns about the next steps for my methods section of my report. During the meeting we got side-tracked, spending
30 minutes talking about my literature review, which did not leave us enough time to discuss what I needed. As a result,
I left with no answers to my concerns.

Responding:
Here you can present your reaction or response to the situation. This can be thoughts,
feelings, and observations.
What to do What’s included Helpful questions
• How did what
happened make
me feel?
Provide your personal Your feelings and thoughts about the experience, as well as any
• What did I think?
response to the situation. observations and potential questions you have.
• What made me think
and feel this
way?

Key language points: You are writing about thoughts and feelings that happened, so use
the past tense. Helpful phrases are ‘I felt…’, ‘I thought…’, ‘I believe…’, ‘I think…’. It can be
useful to use transitional language to connect experiences with feelings and thoughts, for
example ‘next’, ’subsequently’, ‘afterwards’, ‘finally’, ‘leading to’ etc.
Example of Responding
When I came out of the meeting I remember thinking that I had wasted our time, leading me to feel really frustrated. I
think I felt that way because I was hesitant to say to my supervisor that the conversation on the literature review was not
what I wanted to discuss. The reason I was hesitant is that my supervisor has so much more experience than me, so if
they wanted to spend time on the literature review that was probably the right thing to do. However, given I believe we
wasted our time I realised afterwards that it was probably not the right thing to do.

Relating:
Here you can relate your experience of the reported situation with your knowledge and
skills from outside of the situation.
What to do What’s included Helpful questions
• Have I seen this
before?
• What was
Provide your understanding of how the Your connections between past experiences,
similar/different
situation relates to your own knowledge and your skills, knowledge, your understanding and
then?
past experiences. the situation.
• Do I have skills and
knowledge to
deal with this?

Key language points: You are commenting on an experience from the past but in the
present so you should consider writing in the present tense. Helpful phrases are ‘This
reminds me of…’, ‘This is like when…’. It can be useful to use comparative language as
‘previously’, ‘similarly’, ‘unlike’, etc.
Example of Relating
I realise that similar things have happened before when I am in meetings with people who have more experience than I
and I don’t have a clear plan. This reminds me of my meeting at work, where I had a concern I wanted to raise with my
boss but we never got around to it. I think the common factor in these situations is that I feel that people with more
expertise than I always make better decisions than I do.

Reasoning:
Here you can make sense of the situation in terms of significant factors and, if relevant (for
example if requested in assessments), the theoretical literature relevant to your experience.
What to do What’s included Helpful questions
• What is the most important aspect of this situation
and why?
• Is there any theoretical literature that can help me
Explore and
Significant factors within the situation and make sense of the situation?
explain the
how they are important to understanding • How do different perspectives (for example
situation or
what happened. personal, as a student or professional) affect
experience.
the way I understand the situation?
• How would someone who is knowledgeable about
these types of situations respond?

Key language points: These are your current thoughts so write in the present tense.
Helpful phrases are ‘I understand that…’, ‘I realise’, ‘For me the most significant
aspect...’. It can be useful to use analytical language as ‘critically’, ‘imply’, ‘support’ (as in
supporting evidence), etc.
Example of reasoning
The most significant thing about the meeting situation is what happens when I am going in with a vague plan of what I
want. I have realised that I do not get the things I need from the meeting. This is especially problematic when the person
I am meeting with has more experience than me. My previous experience with my boss would support this idea. I think if
I address them like peers and not superiors, I can be differently prepared. I imagine that if I was an expert at leading
meetings I would have a clear plan, which I would state at the beginning of the meeting so that we both know what we
need to discuss. I think what has been holding me back is being afraid of looking bossy. However, if I look at it from their
perspective and see that I am actually saving them time by only meeting once, I would actually be coming across as
professional rather than bossy.

Reconstructing:
Here you make a conclusion about your future plans based on the previous four sections.
What to do What’s included Helpful questions
• How would I need
to do this
differently in
the future?
Your deeper understanding and summary of the • What might work
learning. and why?
Reframe or reconstruct future • Are there different
practice by drawing conclusions from You will also have to include an action plan, arguing for options?
the four previous stages. why it will work. • Are my ideas
Use this to develop an action plan for That can be based on literature included in the previous supported by
what to do next. theory?
stage or from the new knowledge gained from the • Can I make
Relating and Reasoning stages. changes to
benefit
others?
• What might
happen if…?
Key language points: These are your current thoughts about what you want to do in the
future so use the present or future tense. Helpful phrases are ‘I will now…’, ‘I realise’, ‘I
have learned that…’, ‘As a next step, I need to...’. It can be useful to use words indicating
future as ‘will’, ‘may’, ‘could’, etc.
Example of reconstucting
Based on the previous reflection stages, I have learned that I need to write an agenda before going into a meeting. I
realise by taking 10 minutes before a meeting to prepare what I need from it, I can save time for both myself and the
person I am meeting with. Firstly in the meeting, I will share the agenda so the objectives are clear from the start to
enable the outcome I want. Alternatively, I could email the person beforehand telling them what I need from the meeting
so they can prepare. I think the latter will work at university, but maybe not at my work where there is no email culture. I
think if I do this, my meetings will be shorter and I can get what I need from them.

Adapted from:
Bain, J.D., Ballantyne, R., Mills, C. & Lester, N.C. (2002). Reflecting on practice: Student
teachers' perspectives, Post Pressed: Flaxton, Qld
This article was published on 5 Nov, 2018