Reflective writing

Last updated

Reflective writing is an analytical practice in which the writer describes a real or imaginary scene, event, interaction, passing thought, or memory and adds a personal reflection on its meaning. Many reflective writers keep in mind questions such as "What did I notice?", "How has this changed me?" or "What might I have done differently?" when reflecting. [1] [2]

Contents

Thus, in reflective writing, the focus is on writing that is not merely descriptive. The writer revisits the scene to note details and emotions, reflect on meaning, examine what went well or revealed a need for additional learning, and relate what transpired to the rest of life. [1]

According to Kara Taczak, "Reflection is a mode of inquiry: a deliberate way of systematically recalling writing experiences to reframe the current writing situation." [3]

The more someone reflectively writes, the more likely they are to reflect in their everyday life regularly, think outside the box, and challenge accepted practices. [1]

Adaptation of learning researcher Graham Gibbs's model of reflection Steph Gib Model.jpg
Adaptation of learning researcher Graham Gibbs's model of reflection

Background

When writing reflectively, a writer attempts to convey their own thought process. Therefore, reflective writing is one of the more personal styles of writing as the writer is clearly inserted into the work. This style of writing invites both the reader and the writer to introspect and examine their own thoughts and beliefs, and gives the writer and the reader a closer relationship. [4]

Reflective writing tends to consist of description, or explaining the event and its context; interpretation, or how the experience challenged existing opinions; and outcome, or how the experience contributed to personal or professional development. [2]

Most reflective writing is written in first person, as it speaks to the writer's personal experience, but often it is supplemented with third person in academic works as the writer must support their perspective with outside evidence. [5]

Reflective writing is usually a style that must be learned and practiced. Most novice writers are not reflective initially and must progress from imitative writing to their own style of genuine, critical reflection. [4]

Kathleen Blake Yancey notes that reflection "is the dialectical process by which we develop and achieve, first, specific goals for learning; second, strategies for reaching those goals; and third, means of determining whether or not we have met those goals or other goals." [6]

The concepts of reflection and reflective writing are social constructs prevalent in academic literature, and in different contexts, their meanings have different interpretations. [7]

Characteristics of reflective writing

The main characteristics of reflective writing include: [4]

  1. Reflection: The writer reflects on the issue (that is, the topic they are writing about) and considers how their own experience and points of view might influence their response. This helps the writer learn about themselves as well as contribute to a better final product that considers biases.
  2. Evidence: The writer considers and cites different perspectives and evidence to provide a truly comprehensive reflection. "Evidence" can mean either academic evidence or the writer's own reflections and experiences, depending on whether the piece of reflection is personal or academic.
  3. Clarity: The writer must be clear and cohesive. As reflective writing takes the reader through both the writer's own thoughts and sometimes other outside perspectives, unity and readability are crucial to ensure the reader does not get lost between points of view.

If the reflection is written for academia—that is, it is not a personal reflection or journal—additional features include: [5]

  1. Theory: An academic reflection will integrate theories and other academic works to explain the reflection. For example, a writer might say: "Smith's theory of social engagement might explain why I reacted the way I did."
  2. Learning outcomes: An academic reflection will include commentary on how the writer learned from the experience, what they would have done differently, or how their perspectives or opinions have changed as a result of the experience.

Reflective writing in academia

Reflective writing helps students to develop a better understanding of their goals. Person writing in a note book.jpg
Reflective writing helps students to develop a better understanding of their goals.

Reflective writing is regularly used in academic settings, as it helps students think about how they think and allows students to think beyond the scope of the literal meaning of their writing or thinking. [8] In other words, it is a form of metacognition. Proper reflective writing is heavily influenced by metacognition. Metacognition allows for better self-reflection and allows the writer to take the material beyond the literal meaning. [9] Reflective writing can be seen as a metacognitive genre that heavily influences literacy narrative assignments due to the increased reflective thinking it applies to students. Students can consciously and unconsciously analyze their experiences and interactions through this assessment tool. [8] It is frequently assigned to postsecondary students and is particularly useful to students and practitioners in composition, education, and health-related fields as it helps them reflect on their practice. [10] [11] Typical academic reflective writings include portfolios, summaries, and journals. [12] Reflective writing is not limited to academic writing because it often takes many different forms. Sometimes it is used in stand-alone assessment tasks, and other times it is incorporated into other tasks such as essays. [13]

Reflective writing in education systems aids in adapting students' "knowledge in waiting" into "knowledge in practice" which encourages students to analyze previous professional experiences when applying these to future situations. This type of analytical skill is advantageous for students pursuing professions that have recurring unpredictable situations and allows students to be better prepared for the workplace. [14]

Evidence shows that reflective writing is a good way to increase empathy in medical students. [15] Another study showed that students who were assigned reflective writing during a camp developed greater self-awareness, had a better understanding of their goals, and were better able to recognize their personal development. [10]

It is also found that students who partake in critical reflective assignments use it as a way to let out their pent-up emotions, making critical reflection a way to seek cathartic relief. [16]

Reflective writing is useful to improve collaboration, as it makes writers aware of how they sound when they voice their thoughts and opinions to others. [11] Additionally, it is an important part of the reflective learning cycle, which includes planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. [5] [17]

Students can be hesitant to write reflectively as it requires them to not just consider but actively cite things they typically would hide or ignore in academic writing, like their anxieties and shortcomings. [5]

Reflective writing in academic settings is sometimes criticized, as concerns exist regarding its effectiveness. Reflective writing assignments are often weighted low in a course's grade calculations, and among a crowded workload, students can see them as an afterthought. It has also been argued that reflective writing assignments are only assigned as "busy work", as they are low maintenance and relatively easy to grade. [7] Additionally, because students know they will be graded on their reflection, it might be written in an inauthentic way. [7]

Nonetheless, reflective writing is becoming increasingly important in education, as reflecting on completed work helps students see room for improvement. [18]

Benefits of reflective writing

There are many benefits to reflective writing. A few are: increased self-awareness about personal writing techniques; improved critical analysis; and ability to examine and understand social, cultural, and political issues that involve language. [19]

Within professions, reflective writing can be used as a therapeutic form of expression, especially useful in stress-filled professions. [19]

Within a classroom setting, the addition of reflective writing assignments can help improve intellectual thinking by introducing assignments that encourage a deeper relationship between the individual and their writing. [20] The introduction of reflective assignments in classroom settings further aids in student retention of information being discussed in the classroom. [21]

By encouraging people to examine their ideas and experiences, reflective writing helps people become more self-aware and have a deeper understanding of their feelings and actions. It fosters critical thinking abilities by having people examine their own behavior and take into account different viewpoints, which promotes learning and personal development. Reflective writing also offers an organized way to manage feelings, enhance communication abilities, and encourage continuous personal and professional development. [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

Bloom's taxonomy is a set of three hierarchical models used for classification of educational learning objectives into levels of complexity and specificity. The three lists cover the learning objectives in cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains. The cognitive domain list has been the primary focus of most traditional education and is frequently used to structure curriculum learning objectives, assessments and activities.

Critical thinking is the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments in order to form a judgement by the application of rational, skeptical, and unbiased analyses and evaluation. The application of critical thinking includes self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective habits of the mind, thus a critical thinker is a person who practices the skills of critical thinking or has been trained and educated in its disciplines. Philosopher Richard W. Paul said that the mind of a critical thinker engages the person's intellectual abilities and personality traits. Critical thinking presupposes assent to rigorous standards of excellence and mindful command of their use in effective communication and problem solving, and a commitment to overcome egocentrism and sociocentrism.

Transformative learning, as a theory, says that the process of "perspective transformation" has three dimensions: psychological, convictional, and behavioral.

Transformative learning is the expansion of consciousness through the transformation of basic worldview and specific capacities of the self; transformative learning is facilitated through consciously directed processes such as appreciatively accessing and receiving the symbolic contents of the unconscious and critically analyzing underlying premises.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Experiential education</span> Philosophy of education

Experiential education is a philosophy of education that describes the process that occurs between a teacher and student that infuses direct experience with the learning environment and content. The term is not interchangeable with experiential learning; however experiential learning is a sub-field and operates under the methodologies of experiential education. The Association for Experiential Education regards experiential education as "a philosophy that informs many methodologies in which educators purposefully engage with learners in direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills, clarify values, and develop people's capacity to contribute to their communities". Experiential education is the term for the philosophy and educational progressivism is the movement which it informed. The Journal of Experiential Education publishes peer-reviewed empirical and theoretical academic research within the field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Service-learning</span> Pedagogy combining learning objectives with community service

Service-learning is an educational approach that combines learning objectives with community service in order to provide a pragmatic, progressive learning experience while meeting societal needs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Experiential learning</span> Learn by reflect on active involvement

Experiential learning (ExL) is the process of learning through experience, and is more narrowly defined as "learning through reflection on doing". Hands-on learning can be a form of experiential learning, but does not necessarily involve students reflecting on their product. Experiential learning is distinct from rote or didactic learning, in which the learner plays a comparatively passive role. It is related to, but not synonymous with, other forms of active learning such as action learning, adventure learning, free-choice learning, cooperative learning, service-learning, and situated learning.

Critical literacy is the ability to find embedded discrimination in media. This is done by analyzing the messages promoting prejudiced power relationships found naturally in media and written material that go unnoticed otherwise by reading beyond the author's words and examining the manner in which the author has conveyed their ideas about society's norms to determine whether these ideas contain racial or gender inequality.

Reflective practice is the ability to reflect on one's actions so as to take a critical stance or attitude towards one's own practice and that of one's peers, engaging in a process of continuous adaptation and learning. According to one definition it involves "paying critical attention to the practical values and theories which inform everyday actions, by examining practice reflectively and reflexively. This leads to developmental insight". A key rationale for reflective practice is that experience alone does not necessarily lead to learning; deliberate reflection on experience is essential.

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is one of the domains of self-regulation, and is aligned most closely with educational aims. Broadly speaking, it refers to learning that is guided by metacognition, strategic action, and motivation to learn. A self-regulated learner "monitors, directs, and regulates actions toward goals of information acquisition, expanding expertise, and self-improvement”. In particular, self-regulated learners are cognizant of their academic strengths and weaknesses, and they have a repertoire of strategies they appropriately apply to tackle the day-to-day challenges of academic tasks. These learners hold incremental beliefs about intelligence and attribute their successes or failures to factors within their control.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Composition studies</span>

Composition studies is the professional field of writing, research, and instruction, focusing especially on writing at the college level in the United States.

An edublog is a blog created for educational purposes. Edublogs archive and support student and teacher learning by facilitating reflection, questioning by self and others, collaboration and by providing contexts for engaging in higher-order thinking. Edublogs proliferated when blogging architecture became more simplified and teachers perceived the instructional potential of blogs as an online resource. The use of blogs has become popular in education institutions including public schools and colleges. Blogs can be useful tools for sharing information and tips among co-workers, providing information for students, or keeping in contact with parents. Common examples include blogs written by or for teachers, blogs maintained for the purpose of classroom instruction, or blogs written about educational policy. Educators who blog are sometimes called edubloggers.

Formative assessment, formative evaluation, formative feedback, or assessment for learning, including diagnostic testing, is a range of formal and informal assessment procedures conducted by teachers during the learning process in order to modify teaching and learning activities to improve student attainment. The goal of a formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work. It also helps faculty recognize where students are struggling and address problems immediately. It typically involves qualitative feedback for both student and teacher that focuses on the details of content and performance. It is commonly contrasted with summative assessment, which seeks to monitor educational outcomes, often for purposes of external accountability.

Multiliteracy is an approach to literacy theory and pedagogy coined in the mid-1990s by the New London Group. The approach is characterized by two key aspects of literacy – linguistic diversity and multimodal forms of linguistic expressions and representation. It was coined in response to two major changes in the globalized environment. One such change was the growing linguistic and cultural diversity due to increased transnational migration. The second major change was the proliferation of new mediums of communication due to advancement in communication technologies e.g the internet, multimedia, and digital media. As a scholarly approach, multiliteracy focuses on the new "literacy" that is developing in response to the changes in the way people communicate globally due to technological shifts and the interplay between different cultures and languages.

Donna Alvermann is an American educator and researcher in the field of Language and Literacy Education whose work focuses on adolescent literacy in and out of school, inclusive of new media and digital literacies. Her most recent research interest involves developing historical-autobiographical methods for uncovering silences in scholarly writing that mask more than they disclose. She is the Omer Clyde and Elizabeth Parr Aderhold Professor in Education in the Mary Frances Early College of Education at the University of Georgia (UGA). She is also a UGA-appointed Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education.

Revision is a process in writing of rearranging, adding, or removing paragraphs, sentences, or words. Writers may revise their writing after a draft is complete or during the composing process. Revision involves many of the strategies known generally as editing but also can entail larger conceptual shifts of purpose and audience as well as content. Within the writing process, revision comes once one has written a draft to work with, so that one can re-see and improve it, iteratively. Working at both deeper and more surface levels a writer can increase the power of the text.

A dialogue journal is an ongoing written interaction between two people to exchange experiences, ideas, knowledge or reflections. It is used most often in education as a means of sustained written interaction between students and teachers at all education levels. It can be used to promote second language learning and learning in all areas.

Feminist pedagogy is a pedagogical framework grounded in feminist theory. It embraces a set of epistemological theories, teaching strategies, approaches to content, classroom practices, and teacher-student relationships. Feminist pedagogy, along with other kinds of progressive and critical pedagogy, considers knowledge to be socially constructed.

<i>What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy</i>

What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy is a book by James Paul Gee that focuses on the learning principles in video games and how these principles can be applied to the K-12 classroom. Video games can be used as tools to challenge players, when they are successful. They motivate players to persevere and simultaneously teach players how to play the game. These games give a glimpse into how one might create new and more powerful ways to learn in schools, communities, and workplaces. Gee began his work in video games by identifying thirty-six learning principles that are present in—but not exclusive to—the design of good video games. He further argues for the application of these principles into the classroom environment. What Video Games Teach Us about Learning and Literacy is a call to educators, teachers, parents and administrators to change the approach to pedagogy.

In education, authentic learning is an instructional approach that allows students to explore, discuss, and meaningfully construct concepts and relationships in contexts that involve real-world problems and projects that are relevant to the learner. It refers to a "wide variety of educational and instructional techniques focused on connecting what students are taught in school to real-world issues, problems, and applications. The basic idea is that students are more likely to be interested in what they are learning, more motivated to learn new concepts and skills, and better prepared to succeed in college, careers, and adulthood if what they are learning mirrors real-life contexts, equips them with practical and useful skills, and addresses topics that are relevant and applicable to their lives outside of school."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital media in education</span>

Digital Media in education is measured by a person's ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and produce media content and communication in a variety of forms. These media may involve incorporating multiple digital softwares, devices, and platforms as a tool for learning. The use of digital media in education is growing rapidly in today's age, competing with books for the leading form of communication. This form of education is slowly combating the traditional forms of education that have been around for a long time. With the introduction of virtual education, there has been a need for more incorporation of new digital platforms in online classrooms.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Helyer, Ruth (2015). "Learning through reflection: the critical role of reflection in work-based learning (WBL)". Journal of Work-Applied Management. 7: 15–27. doi: 10.1108/JWAM-10-2015-003 .
  2. 1 2 Hampton, Martin. "Reflective writing: a basic introduction" (PDF). University of Portsmouth, Department for Curriculum and Quality Enhancement. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  3. ↑ Taczak, Kara (2015). "Reflection is Critical for Writers' Development". In Adler-Kassner, Linda; Wardle, Elizabeth (eds.). Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies. Utah: Utah State University Press. p. 78. ISBN   978-0-87421-989-0.
  4. 1 2 3 Dwivedi, Amitabh Vikram (2016). "Critical Skills: Reflective writing". Salem Press Encyclopedia.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Turner, J., Reid, M., & Shahabudin, K. (n.d.). "Practice-based learning 2: Reflective writing". University of Reading.
  6. ↑ Yancey, Kathleen Blake (1998). Reflection in the Writing Classroom. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press. p. 6. ISBN   0-87421-238-3.
  7. 1 2 3 McCarthy, John (2011). "Reflective Writing, Higher Education and Professional Practice". Journal for Education in the Built Environment. 6: 29–43. doi: 10.11120/jebe.2011.06010029 .
  8. 1 2 Alexander, Kara Poe (2015). "From story to analysis: Reflection and uptake in the literacy narrative assignment. Composition Studies". Gale Literature Resource Center. 43 (2) – via University of Massachusetts Boston.
  9. ↑ Harding, Lindsey (March 2014). "Writing Beyond the Page: Reflective Essay as Box Composition". Teaching English in the Two-Year College. 41 (3): 239–257. ProQuest   1505017796 – via ProQuest.
  10. 1 2 Wegner, Lisa (2017). "'The pen is a powerful weapon; it can make you change': The value of using reflective writing with adolescents". South African Journal of Occupational Therapy. 43 (3): 11–16. doi: 10.17159/2310-3833/2017/v47n3a3 . hdl: 10566/3329 – via GALILEO.
  11. 1 2 Sahin, Figen (2019). "Early Childhood Preservice Teachers' Experiences with Reflective Journal Writing". Eurasian Journal of Educational Research. 19 (84): 93–114. doi: 10.14689/ejer.2019.84.5 – via ERIC.
  12. ↑ Roskos, Kathleen; Vukelich, Carol; Risko, Victoria (2001). "Reflection and learning to teach reading: a critical review of literacy and general teacher education studies". Journal of Literacy Research. 33 (4): 595–635. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.938.6651 . doi:10.1080/10862960109548127. S2CID   145652427.
  13. ↑ "The structure of reflective writing". Research & Learning Online. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  14. ↑ Szenes, Eszter (2021). "Deconstructing critical reflection in social work and business: Negotiating emotions and opinions in reflective writing". Journal of English for Academic Purposes. 49: 49. doi:10.1016/j.jeap.2020.100931. S2CID   228870312.
  15. ↑ DasGupta, Sayantani (2004). "Personal Illness Narratives: Using Reflective Writing to Teach Empathy". Academic Medicine. 79 (4): 351–356. doi: 10.1097/00001888-200404000-00013 . PMID   15044169.
  16. ↑ Szenes, Eszter (2021). "Deconstructing critical reflection in social work and business: Negotiating emotions and opinions in reflective writing". Journal of English for Academic Purposes. 49: 49. doi:10.1016/j.jeap.2020.100931. S2CID   228870312.
  17. ↑ Ryder, Mike; Downs, Carolyn (November 2022). "Rethinking reflective practice: John Boyd's OODA loop as an alternative to Kolb". The International Journal of Management Education. 20 (3): 100703. doi: 10.1016/j.ijme.2022.100703 . S2CID   252152374.
  18. ↑ Chang, Bo (2019). "Reflection in learning". Online Learning. 23: 95–110. doi: 10.24059/olj.v23i1.1447 .
  19. 1 2 Alexander, Kara Poe (2015). "From story to analysis: Reflection and uptake in the literacy narrative assignment. Composition Studies". Gale Literature Resource Center. 43 (2) – via University of Massachusetts Boston.
  20. ↑ Harding, Lindsey (March 2014). "Writing Beyond the Page: Reflective Essay as Box Composition". Teaching English in the Two-Year College. 41 (3): 239–257. ProQuest   1505017796 – via ProQuest.
  21. ↑ Anthony, Jared Judd (September 2009). "Classroom computer experiences that stick: Two lenses on reflective timed essays". Assessing Writing. 14 (3): 194–205. doi:10.1016/j.asw.2009.09.001.
  22. ↑ "Model for reflection - Gibbs' Reflective Cycle" . Retrieved 25 March 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.