A knowledge development lifecycle for reflective practice

Reflective practice is valuable because of its potential for continuous improvement through feedback and learning. Conventional models of knowledge practice however do not explicitly include reflection as part of the practice, nor locate it in a developmental cycle. They focus on modelling in a knowledge plane which itself is contextualised by active knowing processes, and ignore the influence of power in their activity models. Further, many models focus on either an artefact or a process view, resulting from a conceptual disconnect between knowledge and knowing, and failure to relate passive to active views. Using the idea of higher order loops that govern knowledge development processes, in this paper we propose a conceptualisation of a reflective Knowledge Development Life Cycle (KDLC). This explicitly includes the investigator and the organisation itself as dynamic components of a systemic process and is suited to either a constructivist or realist epistemological stance. We describe the stages required in the KDLC and discuss their significance. Finally we show how incorporation of reflection into process enables dynamic interplay between the knowing and the knowledge in the organisation