Activity 2.4 - Criteria for reflective writing

Readings
Moon (2001)
Richards (2005)

Advice to students on good reflective writing.

You need to understand what reflection is first, what its importance is to helping you learn. You likely already do it in a "non academic" common sense way , to think about something in more detail but often in a free thought or unstructured way (i.e. without a specific purpose or reason to do so) (Moon, 2001).

However we want you to practice more academic based reflection. Why? Academic based reflection is more guided, more purposeful. Reflection here is seen as realizing a deeper understanding of things, to connect that understanding with other things you know or to even challenge what you may already know. It often involves a critical evaluation of what you know to come up with more "sound", more "grounded, perhaps more confident judgements (Habermas) of things you have experienced and have come to "know". The alternative is to simply understand things in a simple, unconnected, isolated manner (Moon - surface learning). It can be seen not as a static "one off" process but part of a cycle featuring action then thought; a process of acting then refining your understanding of what it is you've done .. to then possibly repeat that action but with adjustments made that are based on your new understanding of the action (Kolb - experiential learning) . That process can be repeated to become an "activity reflection" cycle (Richards) directed to improving your understanding of things which in turn help move you closer to realizing a desired goal, overcoming an obstacle or solving a problem.

Put into the context of reflective writing, writing takes on new meaning. Writing means summarizing something. The content for that summary might be a thought, theory, experience or feeling. The act of summarizing invites you to interpret and personalize this content further. Reflecting on this writing invites you to relate these ideas to previous experiences to further personalize them or give them more meaning. You may find yourself going back to the same writing again and again, each time reviewing and refining it because your ideas have been changed by new experiences or ideas that impact on your understanding of the initial idea. These may test or challenge your earlier views causing a complete rewrite of them or they may invite you to refine the wording of them still more. Over time, you realize a deeper understanding of your initial idea. All of the writing, reviewing and editing also becomes a record of something potentially more useful to you - a deeper understanding of your learning processes.

This reflective writing process can be broadened through the inclusion of your peers. Their review or questioning of your work can also draw your attention to common themes or contradictions in your ideas. These too can cause you to clarify or refine your understanding of ideas.