REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
Name:
Job Title:
Department:
The purpose of this journal is to help you to enhance your learning
experience by getting you to think on, and document, your
experiences. With reflection you will be able to keep a record of your
thoughts and ideas, demonstrate learning and skill development and
identify strengths, weaknesses and areas for further improvement.
You will also find this journal useful to refer to when writing C.Vs or
preparing for job interviews as it can help you to think of concrete
examples that you can use to demonstrate specific skills you possess.
At the conclusion of your AberForward placement you will be asked to
hold a 2-3 minute presentation about your time as a trainee. This
journal will be a useful log in preparation for this presentation.
The AberForward team and your supervisor will be monitoring completion
of this journal. You are required to bring this journal to workshops and the
Goodbye Event at the end of your placement.
WHY IS THIS JOURNAL USEFUL?
The purpose of this learning journal is to help you analyse the skills and
experiences that you will develop during your AberForward placement.
The reflections that you record will help you during a job application
process.
The AberForward team received a large number of applications and
interviewed many candidates. We found that candidates who are not
successful at either the application or interview stage were those who
were not able to evidence the specific skills or experience required for
the essential criteria. For instance in an interview the candidate may
have given a stellar first impression and answered basic questions quite
well. However, when asked about specific competencies such as team
working or communication, they had not prepared examples that
demonstrated that they possess a strong understanding of these key
skills.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of common competencies:
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Communication
Team Working
Decision Making
Organisation /Time management
Creativity/Innovation
Openness to change
You can find more examples and what employers might be looking for
in each competency: http://bit.ly/1ALhXYL
Employers will usually include a number of questions that will test the
candidate’s specific skills and experiences. You will be expected to back
up your answers with concrete examples. The interviewers may then
ask probing questions by asking for specific explanations about your
behaviour or skills during the example you gave. Before writing an
application form or attending an interview YOU MUST carefully read
the job specification and tailor your application to suit the specification
and criteria supplied. If a post requires an applicant with good teamworking skills, then you must provide an example that evidences YOUR
role in effective team-working.
Examples of questions could be as follows:
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Please describe a specific occasion where you had to communicate
something difficult of important to someone?
Please describe a situation in which you were a member of team.
What did you do to positively contribute to it?
You may feel that you do not have examples that you can provide. You
may have heard the old saying ‘I need a job to get experience, I can’t
get a job because I have no experience’. With this attitude it is no
wonder some people find it difficult to provide examples! The truth is
this: you already possess a number of skills and it is more likely that
you do not recognise what you have rather than you do not have any
at all.
To answer these questions you can provide examples from any parts of
life, they do not have to be directly related to the job you are applying
for. You can pick up skills anywhere; volunteering, sports or hobbies
can provide good examples for some competencies.
You may evidence strong communication skills if you had to have a
difficult conversation with a friend or relative. If the best example you
have for a question about organisation is from a holiday you organised,
then use that. An example of being committed could be your goal of
getting to the gym every day! As long as your example evidences the
criteria of the job, it does not necessarily matter what you use.
Keep in mind that it is helpful to provide different examples for
different questions. Relying on one example for multiple questions
might make the interviewer think that you are a ‘one trick pony’.
It is also worth remembering that employers are usually quite prepared
to train you up to the standard they require. They will be well aware
that you may not have been employed under the exact same job
before. As long as you have developed the skills they require, it does
not matter where they came from.
To reiterate:
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You have skills and experience. This placement and the workshops
will help you recognise them.
You should record any skills you develop or learn and any
experiences you have
Read the job criteria carefully and tailor your application to suit
Prepare different examples that evidence you meet the criteria
Make sure you know these examples well so that you can answer
any probing questions
Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle
Gibb’s reflective cycle is a popular theoretical model that is used to
help framework reflective writing. The aim to using this cycle is to
encourage you to challenge your assumptions, to explore different
ideas and to promote self-improvement.
Description
Plan of
Action
Feelings
Gibb's
Reflective
Cycle
Conclusion
Evaluation
Analysis
The questions and guidelines in the template are examples to help you write
each stage of the model. You do not have to answer all the questions. Try to
select those that are relevant or add ones of your own.
Description:
Feelings:
Evaluation:
Analysis:
Conclusion:
Action plan:
Using specific and relevant detail, please describe the
experience/event/action you are reflecting on.
 What did you think and how did you feel prior to the
experience?
 What did you think and how did you feel during the
experience?
 How did you react to the experience?
 What did you think and how did you feel after the
experience?
 What went well? What did not go well?
 Consider the things that went well and record why
you think they went well and what consequences
there might be. What could be done to improve this?
 Consider the things that went wrong and record why
you think they went wrong and what consequences
there might be. What could be to done to avoid this
in the future?
 What should or could I have done differently?
 What stopped me from doing this?
 What did I learn about myself during the experience
(positive and/or negative)?
 What did I learn about my current knowledge or level
of practice (strengths and weaknesses)?
 Did the experience achieve any of my learning goals
or meet any of my required competencies?
 What do I need to do in order to be better prepared
to face this experience in future?
 Even if the experience was positive and I did well, in
which areas can I improve?
 What are the priority areas that need to be
developed?
 What specific steps do I need to take in order to
achieve these improvements?
What should I write about?
The Learning Journal should focus on your response, reaction and
reflection of your placement experience.
You do not need to fill in an individual entry each time you attend a
placement session/work shift. The idea is rather to identify 4 or 5 key
learning situations where you can demonstrate your mastery of
particular skill areas.
Make time for writing by regularly setting aside time to focus on your
thoughts about the following:
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Any issues raised during your placement
Any flashes of inspiration or new ideas that you had
What you understand so far
Anything that surprised you
Issues that occurred and how you dealt with them. Would you do
anything differently?
What you find puzzling, difficult or contradictory
What do you need to know more about, and how you can go about
finding more?
What resources have helped you to understand and/or been
interesting to use?
How do you feel about the way you have approached the
issue/topic?
What new knowledge, skills or understanding have you gained
during the process of writing your learning journal?
The questions and guidelines are examples to help you write your
reflections. You do not have to answer all the questions. Try to select
those that are relevant or add ones of your own.
DESCRIPTION
Using specific and relevant detail, please describe the
experience/event/action you are reflecting on.
REFLECTION
Remember the other five Gibbs’ steps: Feelings, Evaluation,
Analysis, Conclusion, Action Plan.
DESCRIPTION
Using specific and relevant detail, please describe the
experience/event/action you are reflecting on.
REFLECTION
Remember the other five Gibbs’ steps: Feelings, Evaluation,
Analysis, Conclusion, Action Plan.
DESCRIPTION
Using specific and relevant detail, please describe the
experience/event/action you are reflecting on.
REFLECTION
Remember the other five Gibbs’ steps: Feelings, Evaluation,
Analysis, Conclusion, Action Plan.
DESCRIPTION
Using specific and relevant detail, please describe the
experience/event/action you are reflecting on.
REFLECTION
Remember the other five Gibbs’ steps: Feelings, Evaluation,
Analysis, Conclusion, Action Plan.
End of Placement Evaluation
Now that you have completed your AberForward work placement and
have filled up this reflective journal, you should have a number of
examples to help you answer the questions below. Please try and be
specific and really drill down into your answers as they will help you to
recognise the skills and experience you have gained from this
placement. Try and compare your experiences to the competencies
listed here: http://bit.ly/1ALhXYL .Which ones can you evidence?
The achievement of which I am proudest is:
The thing I found most surprising was:
The area I found most challenging was:
The area I would like to improve is:
An example of when I worked effectively in a team was:
An example of when I communicated effectively was:
An example of when I solved a problem was:
An example of when I used my own initiative was:
An example of when I effectively organised a task was:
Have you changed your opinion on what you thought you were
skilled in and what you want to do in the future? Or have your
experiences helped to reinforce your ideas?
In the remaining space below, please jot down some ideas for the next steps
for further career and personal development that will help get you the career
that you want.
Useful Contacts
ABERFORWARD
01970 6228678
aberymlaen@aber.ac.uk
aberforward@aber.ac.uk
WEB
http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/aberforward/
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@AberForward
https://twitter.com/?lang=en-gb
Use our linked in group to connect professionally with other
AberForward trainees:
AberYmlaen / AberForward
https://www.linkedin.com/grp/home?gid=8252242
Completion of the Journal
During the Goodbye event at the end of this placement we will be assessing
your use of this learning journal.
Employers are keen to recruit candidates who can demonstrate that they
have engaged with continued professional development. Therefore, the
reference you receive from us will reflect if you have engaged with this
learning journal.