features of reflective writing

features of reflective writing

The Benefits of Reflective Writing

1. Introduction

Reflective writing is an analysis of a practice, process, or event that is intercepted through many individuals. This is an efficient tool in most professional development along with organizational change. It assists individuals to gain an understanding of their own practice, turning to findings to help determine what is positive and beneficial about their work, and learning from their mistakes. It is a highly personal tool and can aid in decision making. Reflection can be structured or unstructured. Reflection is usually an internal process of a piece of work. It is drawn from experience and deals with contextual. It is a return to experience to discover meanings and it will result in changed conceptual perspective. Reflection can be self or other focused. An example of self-focused reflection is keeping a photo diary of experiences faced. Then there is a conversation-focused reflection. This occurs when the individual shares with another and discusses what they have experienced. Both are very good tools. The conversation with others can offer new perspectives. The photo diary offers the opportunity to start and stop at any point and can capture experiences to think and talk about at a later date. Reflection is an all-important practice within healthcare and is integral to any decision or change in practice but can differ in efficacy.

2. Understanding Reflective Writing

Reflective writing is about you as a writer, how you have grown, changed, or maintained your current level of understanding about a topic. Successful reflective writing will be more than your personal diary or self-evaluation activity. It will reveal a journey of development, with that journey, and the personal thoughts and experience throughout, providing a valuable learning exercise for anyone reading your work. As aforementioned, a reflective task will always be based around something you have learnt, often in the workplace. Your writing will be expected to relate that something to your wider knowledge, understanding and personal and/or professional development or practice. This might involve an analysis of such learning to evaluate and make generalisations. This is a very important process because the act of doing this often triggers changes, hence development in personal attitude and in the way things are done. Another possibility is to start with thoughts about the wider learning experience and use these to shape interpretation of the meaning of what has been learned. These various types of writing will contribute to your full analysis of the learning process. This is extremely useful when the findings are translated into future action plans.

3. The Importance of Reflective Writing

With the need for quality reflective writing, a student can reveal the depth of their understanding on a topic. When reflective writing is thoroughly examined, we find that it is a tool used to dig into one’s true intellectual potential. A chance to challenge and expand on existing knowledge, this genre is a systematic process of continuously redefining and constructing meanings and understandings. It helps students better understand the nuances of thought and to use inquiry skills to pose thoughtful questions to the subject at hand. Through reflection, students can grasp the power of knowledge derived from experience. This, in turn, gives them the confidence to handle future experiences by knowing the consequences of one’s actions, the ability to right the wrongs, and the ability to seize the moment. Reflective writing can enhance the learning experience by paving the way for a student to articulate an understanding of the subject material. This makes it possible for the individual to connect their knowledge of past experiences to what is being learned, which then leads to a formulation of a new understanding and a possible change in behavior. With a clearer understanding of the subject, a confident and informed decision can be made. The appreciation of the transfer of knowledge attained through reflective writing is, in itself, a higher form of learning.

4. Techniques for Effective Reflective Writing

Keeping a reflective journal during your placement is an important aspect of your professional development. But don’t restrict yourself to writing it up once you return home from your placement. Stirling (2001, p.116) suggests that you make informal jottings ‘in the field’. This may be in the form of Post-it notes or a voice recorder if appropriate. This will be crucial in providing vivid detail and tapping into your emotions during an event later on.

Other models are more general and are based on a continuous cycle: breaking the event down into stages, reflection on what happened and the outcomes, followed by forming conclusions and an action plan if appropriate. An example of this is Gibbs Reflective Cycle.

To enhance the level of reflection, it is suggested that you adopt a model or framework. This will aid you in breaking down the event, allowing you to focus on every aspect in detail. Many models of reflection are available; some encourage a step-by-step approach. An example of this is Rolfe’s Framework for Reflexive Practice.

Remember, when writing your reflective journal, you are focusing on your thoughts and feelings. An effective strategy is to focus on a ‘small chunk’ of time, reflecting in detail what happened. This will then weave in theories or scholarly perspectives. This enables you to work at a higher level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

5. Conclusion

This essay has aimed to cover the areas of reflective writing. It is apparent that it is an important sub-skill of the academic genre. It allows for students to think deeply about content being learnt and to express their thoughts in their own words. It allows for teachers to understand the learning pathways of their students and assess their level of understanding about a certain piece of content. Reflection can be done individually or as a collective group, which could at a later stage be presented or exchanged with other groups. A concept, which when coupled with peer feedback, could create possibilities for informative and constructive feedback. It is a skill that is practiced by professionals in various fields, which is a good basis to begin teaching this to students. With many newcomers to the workforce lacking written communication skills or a practice of such a skill. An example is given in Orland’s article of student nurses reflecting on clinical experiences during their placement.