reflective writing style

reflective writing style

The Importance of Reflective Writing

1. Introduction

While there is still ambiguity over what reflective practice actually involves, the idea of self-assessment and examination of one’s own thoughts and actions is a common theme. Schon (1983) proposed that the process of reflection involves thinking about what happened in a certain situation, how it made you feel, and what could be done differently in the future. Reflection is thought to be a deliberate, voluntary, and conscious process, where the practitioner engages in an inner dialogue and takes a stance of self-inquiry into their own experiences (Leung et al, 2015). The weighting of evidence-based practice in mental health services is frequently directed at interventions; however, a strong argument can be made that the proficiency of the person delivering the intervention is equally as important. The current high demand for mental health services due to the complex and chronic nature of mental illness has significantly increased the pressure to deliver effective and efficient treatment. Here lies a potential conflict, as the necessity to be efficient in what we are doing does not always result in us doing the right thing (Gamble & Brennan, 2006). This raises concerns about the quality of care that consumers receive, and as such, it is important to take time to consider our work and ensure that we are doing the best thing to facilitate a positive outcome for the consumer. In developing an understanding of what we are doing as mental health clinicians, Leung et al (2015) proposes that reflective practice holds a direct link to clinical judgment, influencing our decisions on what would be the best course of action to take and the ability to modify decisions based on evaluation of their outcomes.

This essay has been written to explore the significance of reflective practice within clinical mental health care. Reflective practice has been defined as the process of making sense of events, situations, and actions that occur in the workplace (Leung, 2004). Given the emphasis placed on the utilization of evidence-based practice, professional reflection is essential in facilitating the development of clinical reasoning and critical thinking. It is recognized that in order to provide the best possible care for consumers, nursing staff must continuously strive to improve their knowledge and skills. As such, this essay aims to explore the theoretical basis and professional rationale for the implementation of reflective practice, its application within clinical mental health care, and models and methods that can be used to facilitate the reflective process.

2. Benefits of Reflective Writing

These seemingly simple activities are considered the building blocks of reflection. They aid the individual’s ability to form a clear picture of a situation, to describe it in detail, to generate questions about what happened, and to consider alternative explanations of events. By doing this consistently, a habit is formed and with sufficient practice, the skill may be used in an ongoing sequence of events or ‘internal dialogue’. The ability to replay events in the mind is extremely useful in many areas, for example, athletes mentally replaying a game or performance, or medical practitioners thinking about an interesting case. An increased clarity about situations and problems often leads to an increased sense of understanding, and as a result, the individual becomes more adept at finding solutions. Sportspeople report that journaling about the day’s events and their performance has brought about improved mental and physical performance.

2.1 Clarity and Focus

This prompts many benefits, which can help learners at various stages with their personal development. Data from research on the Reflective Learning Journal will be used to support the case for one method of reflective practice. Throughout the essay, it will be seen that many of the benefits are not limited to specific stages or situations and may also be obtained from alternative methods of reflective practice.

3. Strategies for Effective Reflective Writing

Reflective writing provides a means for you to articulate the fruits of your efforts and the results of your learning. It also helps in the evaluation of your work. Many classes have a specific rubric to follow and many just want a general format. A good example of a reflective essay is an essay from literature that provided examples from the story to support an idea and made inferences. This essay also showed a lot of depth and using quotes and ideas of the story in the essay. Using the creativity and new ideas can be represented in the reflective essay. Including the real or hypothetical dialogue that isn’t about or isn’t directly quoting the work you’re reflecting about. This can show depth and connects the reader of your work with you during your reflections. This can include new dialogue with a character of a story or even the author of the work you’re reflecting about. Using different tenses in the same writing and making connections between a series of reflection fragments. This provides a good structure for the writing and it is proven that most people understand better the knowledge when it’s presented in a story. Your reflection must be clear and coherent with the other content. When someone is reflecting it is important to keep on topic and hold a close connection with the work being reflected. This includes formal, logical links so that the reader understands what was, what is, and what one is thinking in the reflection. Remember that reflective writing has in-depth personal content. When reflecting it’s important to express true feelings and insights about the event and what one has learned from it. This includes stating the learning event and confirming a true regret or satisfaction. Then express one’s personal reaction and feelings about it. Try to take the reader with you on a journey of your reflection. Engage the reader of your reflection as if you were speaking to them. This can include the use of the second person pronoun “you”. When reflecting, one must remember that the sole purpose is to include the personal insights and ideas about the event. This will provide a better understanding of the event and learn more deeply. Reflective writing forces evaluation. This learning method is heavily evaluated as it is meant to explain one’s thoughts on an experience and if they have learned from it. Practice reflective writing and continued evaluation will lead to further improvement in your writing. This is a lifelong strategy that can be applied through many phases of life. Whether you are a student reflecting on a learning event, a traveler that has had an experience that may change a part of your life, or even just someone trying to learn more about yourself. This is a good method in all different areas to connect the inner thoughts and feelings and the evidence of the event.

4. Examples of Reflective Writing

Reflective writing involves writing about an experience you have had. You may be asked to write reflectively during the post-experience or post-placement phase of the practicum. Reflective writing takes many forms – often it is a formal requirement of a workplace or course. For students or recent graduates, it may be part of the process of individual development planning. Reflective writing may also be something you choose to do for personal reasons or for an audience of your own choosing. The examples of reflective writing provided here illustrate how, starting with the detail of the event, experiences, or course, the writer moves on to a personal evaluation of the meaning of the experience and its value, then questioning new understandings and testing them against past experience or common knowledge. This process of analyzing an event and later backtracking a focus on learning can be the essence of a simple “learning cycle”. This may not be the only style of learning cycle or reflective practice, and feedback should also be sought on one’s reflective writing to encourage further higher order thinking and writing. Understanding oneself and being well able to reflect on and apply learning from experience is a highly prized attribute in many areas of work.

5. Conclusion

Whether one is trying to learn a difficult concept in a class or learning from an experience on the job, reflection is an often used strategy for learning. The “Reflection” is what happens when an individual looks back and evaluates the work they did. “Reflective writing is evidence of reflective thinking” (Dann, 2002:7). It is considered that in order to become a good reflective writer, we must understand and possess some of the characteristics of a good thinker. Some of these characteristics include the thinker being open-minded, being well informed, being able to think through problems, and being a person who is willing to take actions and risks. The reflection process is thought to be a very effective way of helping the individual to understand and learn from any experience. If a person has done something in a certain way and the outcome has not been positive, then this individual would be able to look back and possibly determine the reasons as to why the results were not what they were expecting. By evaluating the alternative courses of action that could have been taken and having thought through possible outcomes of these alternatives, it could possibly prevent similar occurrences happening in the future. Reflection is also considered as an important element of existential learning as it is a term that describes the learning that takes place inside an individual’s own personal experiences. This concept is more student-centered than teacher-centered and makes the student the chief agent in their own developmental process. This is why reflection can be so important to these types of learners. There are strong links with the identification of learning styles to both reflective and learning theory. Honey and Mumford (1982) suggest that learners either learn through activists, reflectors, theorists, or pragmatists. They state that reflectors are thoughtful people who like to consider all possible angles and implications before making a move, similar to the actions of reflective writers.