Academic Development in the School of Health
How to write reflectively
Academic Development Tutors
School of Health
studySMART@gcu.ac.uk
Academic Development in the School of Health
Today’s session
1. What is reflection and why should I use it?
2. Reviewing different models of reflection
3. Reflective writing
4. Tips for wording
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Academic Development in the School of Health
What is reflection and why
do I need to use it?
• Thinking about and analysing your actions in order to improve your
professional practice
• Involves exploring and explaining events, not just describing them
• Involves analysing your anxieties, errors and weaknesses, as well
as your strengths and successes
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Academic Development in the School of Health
What is reflection and why
do I need to use it?
Linking practice to theory
Your experience and description of an event show the what.
You can reflect on the event and learn from it for the future.
Bu you also relate it to theory to understand the why.
-Provides a broader perspective and looks at experiences from different viewpoints.
-Shows an awareness of the evidence and knowledge base.
-Involves a search for meaning in events.
-Takes your experiences and puts them into the wider context.
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Academic Development in the School of Health
What is reflection and why
do I need to use it?
• Helps students and practitioners make explicit links between
theory and practice
• Many different definitions
• Essentially, refers to learning from experience and using that
learning to improve your practice in the future
• ERA cycle
• Schon’s (1983) reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action
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Academic Development in the School of Health
What is reflection and why
do I need to use it?
• A key component of Kolb’s learning cycle.
• A way of problem solving for everyday practice
• Encourages students to think critically.
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Kolb’s Learning Cycle (1984)
Concrete
experimentation
Active
experimentation
Abstract
conceptualisatio
n
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Reflective
observation
Academic Development in the School of Health
Reflective models
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle (1988)
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Johns’ Model of Structured
Reflection
(2000)
Looking in
• Find a space to focus on self
• Pay attention to your thoughts and emotions
• Write down significant thoughts and emotions
Looking out
• Aesthetics: What was I trying to achieve? Why did I respond as I did?
• Personal: Why did I feel the way I did within this situation?
• Ethics: Did I act for the best? (ethical mapping)
• Empirics: What knowledge did or could have informed me?
• Reflexivity: Does this situation connect with previous experiences?
How could I handle this situation better?
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Rolfe’s Framework for
Reflective Practice (2001)
• What?
• So what?
• Now what?
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Reflective writing
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Reflective Writing
- Different to other forms of academic writing. Switch from 3rd to 1st
person for example.
- Develop style of writing that uses ‘I’ and personal experience.
- Might feel strange at first. You may not be used to writing about
your feelings or actions.
- Will take practice.
-Experiment with different models of reflection.
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Reflective Writing
- But it is still academic.
- It is not a diary entry, blog or email to a friend.
- It is not simply a description of events. Reflection is in the
analysis of those events. It is the considered exploration of your
own role in the experience.
- it should not be chatty in style.
- It should still contain a clear introduction, a main body, and a
conclusion.
- It may even include evidence and references.
- It should be clearly linked to theory.
- It should show what you have learned from the process.
- It should consider other perspectives
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Reflective Writing
- It has lots of advantages.
- Students often get frustrated that there is nothing of themselves
in their assessments. Your reflective work is all about you and your
experiences.
- It concerns the reality of your profession rather than being purely
academic or theoretical.
- Nursing, social work etc are reflective professions. It is a skill you
require and will use for the rest of your career.
See, Fulbrook, P. (2003) ‘Writing in the first person – time to change’,
Nursing in Critical Care, Vol. 8, no. 6, pp. 229-230.
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Academic Development in the School of Health
In pairs:
Please read the extracts and discuss:
- What the strengths of the texts are – do you think they are
reflective?
- How do they differ from other types of writing?
- How effective have the authors been in applying their chosen
models of reflection?
- What things might they learn from their experience to improve their
future practice?
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Vocabulary aid
•
To convey what the event meant to you:
For me the most significant/relevant/useful aspect/idea/experience
was….
•
To pinpoint your thoughts to different times:
Previously/at the time/at first/subsequently I
thought/felt/noticed/questioned/realised….
When I think back to my feelings about…
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Vocabulary aid (cont)
•
To demonstrate what you have learned:
–
–
–
–
–
Having reflected on/analysed/read….I now
feel/think/realise/wonder/question…..
Most importantly, I have learned that…..
I have significantly developed my skills in…/my knowledge
of…/my ability to…
However, I have still not sufficiently….
This knowledge/skill could be essential/useful to me as a
practitioner because…
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Vocabulary aid (cont)
•
To introduce your action plan:
–
–
–
Because I did not/am not yet confident about/do not yet
understand….I will need to….
As I next step I shall…
Having considered how I still need to develop, I have
identified the following steps…
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Academic Development in the School of Health
Other resources
Bowden, S. 2003. Enhancing your professional nursing practice through critical reflection. Abu
Dhabi Nurse, Summer, pp. 28-31. Ask us for a copy.
Our leaflet on common mistakes in reflective writing. Ask us for a copy.
Jasper, M. 2003. Beginning reflective practice. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes
Maslin-Prothero, S. (Ed.) 2005. Bailliere's study skills for nurses and midwives. London: Bailliere
and Tindall
Bulman, C. and Schutz, S. (Eds) 2004. Reflective practice in nursing. Oxford: Blackwell
Publishing
University of Bournemouth Academic Support, Reflective Writing,
http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/study_support/reflective_writing.html
studySMART@gcu.ac.uk
Academic Development in the School of Health
References
Gibbs, G. 1988. Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods. Oxford: Oxford
Further Education Unit
Johns, C. 2000. Becoming a Reflective Practitioner: a Reflective and Holistic Approach to Clinical
Nursing, Practice Development and Clinical Supervision. Oxford Blackwell Science.
Kolb, D. 1984. Experiential Learning as the Science of Learning and Development. New Jersey:
Prentice Hall.
Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D. and Jasper, M. 2001. Critical Reflection in Nursing and the Helping
Professions: a User’s Guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Schon, D. 1983. The Reflective Practitioner: How professionals think in action. London: Temple
Smith.
studySMART@gcu.ac.uk