WHAT IS REFLECTION?

“…the way that we learn from an experience in order to understand and

develop practice”
(Jasper 2003)

We reflect on everyday problems and situations all the time: What went well?
What didn’t? Why? How do I feel about it? Reflection is a means of
processing thoughts and feelings about an incident, or a difficult day…and
gives us a chance to come to terms with our thoughts and feelings about it.

Reflection can be particularly useful in dealing with a difficult or challenging

situation. This type of reflection may take place when we have had time to
stand back from something, or talk it through, as in: ‘on reflection, I think you
might be right’, or ‘on second thoughts, I realise I was upset because…’ This
type of more focused reflection can lead to a new way of reacting in or
approaching a situation next time.

When you think and write reflectively as part of your academic studies, you
are expected to record the process of your reflection, and identify and
evaluate the learning that comes from it.

Whatever you are reflecting on, the following points are important:

Reflection is an exploration and explanation of events – not just a description.

Reflection often involves revealing anxieties, errors and weaknesses, as well

as strengths and successes.

It is usually necessary to select just the most significant parts of the event or
idea on which you’re reflecting. Don’t try to tell the whole story, or you will
end up only describing rather than reflecting.

It is often useful to reflect forward to the future – when you might do

something differently as a result of reflecting – as well as reflecting back on
the past.
 WHAT IS INVOLVED IN REFLECTION?

“Reflection is part of learning and thinking. We reflect in order to learn

something, or we learn as a result of reflecting, and the term ‘reflective
learning’ emphasises the intention to learn from current or prior experience”
(Moon 2004).

Reflection is a type of thinking aimed at achieving better understanding and

leading to new learning. All of the following are important aspects of the
reflective process:

Making sense of experience

We don’t always learn from experiences on their own. Through reflection, we
can analyse experience, actively attempting to ‘make sense’ or find the
meaning in it. This should lead to learning.
‘Standing back’
It can be hard to reflect when we are caught up in an activity. Reflection
provides a way of ‘standing back’ from the emotions and quick judgments
made at the time, in order to develop a clearer view or perspective.
Repetition
Reflection involves ‘going over’ something, often several times, in order to
explore what happened from different points of view.
Deeper honesty
Reflection is associated with ‘striving after truth’. Through reflection, we can
acknowledge things that we find difficult to admit at the time: feelings or
thoughts we might have chosen to ignore at the time, particularly if we felt
unsure or worried about what others might think.
‘Weighing up’
Reflection involves being even-handed, or balanced in judgement. This
means taking everything into account, not just the most obvious.
Clarity
Reflection can bring greater clarity, like seeing events reflected in a mirror.
This can help at any stage of planning, carrying out and reviewing activities.
Understanding
Reflection is about learning and understanding on a deeper level. This
includes gaining valuable insights that cannot be just ‘taught’.
Making judgements
Reflection involves an element of drawing conclusions in order to move on,
change or develop an approach, strategy or activity.
 WHAT IS REFLECTIVE WRITING?

Reflective writing is:

▪ your response to experiences, opinions, events or new information

▪ your response to thoughts and feelings
▪ a way of thinking to explore your learning
▪ an opportunity to gain self-knowledge
▪ a way to achieve clarity and better understanding of what you are learning
▪ a chance to develop and reinforce writing skills
▪ a way of making meaning out of what you study

Reflective writing is not:

▪ just conveying information, instruction or argument

▪ pure description, though there may be descriptive elements
▪ straightforward decision or judgement (e.g. about whether something is right or wrong,
good or bad)
▪ simple problem-solving
▪ a summary of course notes
▪ a standard essay

WHAT CAN I DISCUSS

▪ Your perceptions of the course and the content.

▪ Experiences, ideas and observations you have had, and how they relate to the course or
topic.
▪ What you found confusing, inspiring, difficult, interesting and why.
▪ Questions you have
▪ How you:
▪ solved a problem;
▪ reached a conclusion;
▪ found an answer;
▪ reached a point of understanding.
▪ Possibilities, speculations, hypotheses or solutions.
▪ Alternative interpretations or different perspectives on what you have read or done in
your course.
▪ Comparisons and connections between what you are learning and:
▪ your prior knowledge and experience;
▪ your prior assumptions and preconceptions;
▪ what you know from other courses or disciplines.
▪ How new ideas challenge what you already know.
▪ What you need to explore next in terms of thoughts and actions.
Writing style
As it concerns your thoughts, reflective writing is mostly subjective. Therefore, in addition to
being reflective and logical, you can be personal, hypothetical, critical and creative. You
can comment based on your experience, rather than limiting yourself to academic
evidence.
▪ Reflective writing is an activity that includes description (what, when, who)
and analysis (how, why, what if). It is an explorative tool often resulting in more questions
than answers.
▪ A reflective task may allow you to use different modes of writing and language:
▪ descriptive (outlining what something is or how something was done)
▪ explanatory (explaining why or how it is like that)
▪ expressive (I think, I feel, I believe)
▪ Use full sentences and complete paragraphs
▪ You can usually use personal pronouns like 'I', 'my' or 'we'
▪ Keep colloquial language to a minimum (eg, kid, bloke, stuff)

Tips to help you in your reflective writing process

▪ Think of an interaction, event or episode you experienced that can be connected to the
topic
▪ Describe what happened
▪ What was your role?
▪ What feelings and perceptions surrounded the experience?
▪ How would you explain the situation to someone else?
▪ What might this experience mean in the context of your course?
▪ What other perspectives, theories or concepts could be applied to the situation?

Types of reflective writing assignments

Journal: requires you to write weekly entries throughout a semester. May
require you to base your reflection on course content.
Learning diary: similar to a journal, but may require group participation. The
diary then becomes a place for you to communicate in writing with other
group members.
Log book: often used in disciplines based on experimental work, such as
science. You note down or ‘log’ what you have done. A log gives you an
accurate record of a process and helps you reflect on past actions and
make better decisions for future actions.
Reflective note: often used in law. A reflective note encourages you to think
about your personal reaction to a legal issue raised in a course.
Essay diary: can take the form of an annotated bibliography (where you
examine sources of evidence you might include in your essay) and a critique
(where you reflect on your own writing and research processes).
Peer review: usually involves students showing their work to their peers for
feedback.
Self-assessment: requires you to comment on your own work.
Learning Journal (weekly reflection)

Last week’s lecture presented the idea that science is the most powerful form of
evidence [1]. My position as a student studying both physics and law makes this 1. Description
an important issue for me [2] and one I was thinking about while watching the of topic
‘The New Inventors’ television program last Tuesday [3]. The two ‘inventors’ (an encountered in
odd name considering that, as Smith (2002) says, nobody thinks of things in a the course
vacuum) were accompanied by their marketing people. The conversations were 2. The author’s
quite contrived, but also funny and enlightening. I realised that the marketing voice is clear
people used a certain form of evidence to persuade the viewers (us?) of the 3. Introduces
value of the inventions [4]. To them, this value was determined solely by whether ‘everyday’ life
something could be bought or sold—in other words, whether something was experience
‘marketable’. In contrast, the inventors seemed quite shy and reluctant to use 4. The style is
anything more than technical language, almost as if this was the only evidence relatively
required – as if no further explanation was needed. informal, yet still
uses full
This difference forced me to reflect on the aims of this course—how sentences
communication skills are not generic, but differ according to time and place. Like 5. Makes an
in the ‘Research Methodology’ textbook discussed in the first lecture, these explicit link
communication skills are the result of a form of triangulation, [5] which I have between
made into the following diagram: ‘everyday’ life
and the topic
...

References
Brookfield, S 1987, Developing critical thinkers: challenging adults to explore alternative ways of
thinking and acting, Open University Press, Milton Keynes.
Mezirow, J 1990, Fostering critical reflection in adulthood: a guide to transformative and emancipatory
learning, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Schön, DA 1987, Educating the reflective practitioner, Jossey-Bass. San Francisco.