Many courses ask students to write reflectively. There are many different models of reflection and it is vital that you follow any guidelines given by your tutors. Reflective writing is evidence of reflective thinking. In an academic context, reflective thinking usually involves:
Reflective writing is more personal than other kinds of academic writing. We all think reflectively in everyday life, but perhaps not to the same depth as that expected in good reflective writing at university level.
Specific tasks were shared out amongst members of my team. Initially, however, the tasks were not seen as equally difficult by all team members. Cooperation between group members was at risk because of this perception of unfairness. Social interdependence theory recognises a type of group interaction called ‘positive interdependence’, meaning cooperation (Johnson & Johnson, 1993, cited by Maughan & Webb, 2001), and many studies have demonstrated that “cooperative learning experiences encourage higher achievement” (Maughan & Webb, 2001). Ultimately, our group achieved a successful outcome, but to improve the process, we perhaps needed a chairperson to help encourage cooperation when tasks were being shared out. In future group work, on the course and at work, I would probably suggest this.
Reflective thinking - especially if done in discussion with others - can be very free and unstructured and still be very useful. Even reflective writing can be unstructured, for example when it is done in a personal diary. In assignments that require reflective writing tutors normally expect to see carefully structured writing. The example of basic reflective writing on the previous page can be broken down into three parts:
Description (keep this bit short!) What happened? What is being examined? |
Specific tasks were shared out amongst members of my team. Initially, however, the tasks were not seen as equally difficult by all team members. |
Interpretation What is most important or interesting or useful or relevant about the object, event or idea? How can it be explained, for example, with theory? How is it similar to and different from others? |
Cooperation between group members was at risk because of this perception of unfairness. Social interdependence theory recognises a type of group interaction called ‘positive interdependence’, meaning cooperation (Johnson & Johnson, 1993, cited by Maughan & Webb, 2001), and many studies have demonstrated that “cooperative learning experiences encourage higher achievement” (Maughan & Webb, 2001). |
Outcome What have I learned from this? What does this mean for my future? |
Ultimately, our group achieved a successful outcome, but to improve our achievement, we perhaps needed a chairperson to help encourage cooperation when tasks were being shared out. In future group work (on the course and at work), I would probably suggest this. |
This is just one way of structuring reflective writing. There are others and you may be required to follow a particular model (for example, GIbbs). Whichever approach to reflection you use, try to bear in mind the following four key points (all of which were made by course tutors who set and mark reflective work):
Description (the short bit!)
We are not suggesting specific vocabulary for any descriptive elements of your reflective writing, because the range of possible events, ideas or objects is so great. Remember that if describing an idea, such as a theory or model, it is usually best to use the present tense, for example ‘Social interdependence theory recognises…’ (not ‘recognised’). Events are nearly always described using the past tense.
Interpretation (probably the most important bit)
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aspect(s) | |||||
element(s) | ||||||
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meaningful | experience(s) | ||||
significant | issue(s) | |||||
For me, the (most) | important | idea(s) | ||||
relevant | ||||||
useful | ![]() |
arose from ... | ||||
learning | happened when.. | |||||
resulted from ... |
Previously, | ![]() |
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thought (did not think) ... | |
At the time, | felt (did not feel) ... | |||
At first, | I | knew (did not know) ... | ||
Initially, | noticed (did not notice) ... | |||
Subsequently, | questioned (did not question) ... | |||
Later, | realised (did not realise) ... |
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might be | ![]() |
because of ... | ||
[Alternatively] | This | is perhaps | due to ... | ||
[Equally] | could be | explained by ... | |||
is probably | related to ... |
This | ![]() |
is similar to ... | because ... |
is unlike ... |
[Un]like | this | ![]() |
reveals ... |
demonstrates ... |
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read ... | ![]() |
feel ... | |||
experienced ... | think ... | |||||
Having | applied ... | realise ... | ||||
discussed ... | I now | wonder ... | ||||
analysed ... | question ... | |||||
learned ... | know ... |
[Additionally,] | ![]() |
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[Furthermore,] | I have learned that ... | |
[Most importantly,] |
I have | significantly | ![]() |
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my skills in ... | ||
slightly | ![]() |
developed | my understanding of... | |||
improved | my knowledge of ... | |||||
However, I have not [sufficiently] | my ability to ... |
This means that ... | ||
This makes me feel ... |
knowledge | ![]() |
is | ![]() |
essential | ![]() |
to me as a learner [because ... ] |
understanding | could be | important | to me as a practitoner [because ... ] | |||
skill | will be | useful |
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did not ... | ||
have not yet ... | |||
Because I | am not yet certain about ... | I will now need to ... | |
am not yet confident about ... | |||
do not yet know ... | |||
do not yet understand ... |
As a next step, I need to ...
When assessing your reflective writing your tutor will be expecting more than a superficial review of your experience, they will be seeking evidence of deeper reflection. This means moving beyond the descriptive, and subjecting your experience to greater scrutiny.
In Learning by Doing, Gibbs (1988) outlines the stages for a ‘Structured Debriefing’, which are based on Kolb’s (1984) Experiential Learning Cycle and which encourage deeper reflection:
Description: | What is the stimulant for reflection? (incident, event, theoretical idea). What are you going to reflect on? |
Feelings: | What were your reactions and feelings? |
Evaluation: | What was good and bad about the experience? Make value judgements. |
Analysis: | What sense can you make of the situation? Bring in ideas from outside the experience to help you. What was really going on? |
Conclusions (general): | What can be concluded, in a general sense, from these experiences and the analyses you have undertaken? |
Conclusions (specific): | What can be concluded about your own specific, unique, personal situation or ways of working? |
Personal Action plans: | What are you going to do differently in this type of situation next time? What steps are you going to take on the basis of what you have learnt? |
The Data Protection Act (1988) forbids the use of patients’ names or any other information that could identify them from being used. So, when referring to a patient in a reflective piece of writing, take care not to use patient related data that could allow the reader to identify who they are. The patient must remain anonymous or be given a false name (pseudonym). You should always ask the patient’s permission before writing about an experience that involved them.
Good luck!