Key points about reflective writing across disciplines

1. Reflective Writing is:
 a combination of theory and practice
 based on personal experience but is
backed up with evidence from other
sources
 about what you have learnt from an
event or experience and how you would
do things differently next time

2. Reflective writing is not:
 a long and detailed description of
an event
 an impersonal text (It’s ok to use “I”)
 about making yourself look good but
honestly examining the strengths and
weaknesses of your practice

3. Why write reflectively?
 To think about how you learn
 To promote deep learning
 To make connections between theory
and practice
 To learn from your mistakes
 To think about what you want to do
differently in the future

4. Structure
 Usually written in paragraphs and has an introduction, body and conclusion
 There is not one structure for reflective writing but it will probably include:
 An introduction which identifies the key focus and the context including a
description of the event/practice/experience
 Subsequent paragraphs each focus on an important issue, add more
description, link issue to theory/literature
 A conclusion summarises the key learnings/personal strengths/areas for
improvement or different practice with reference to literature

5. Examples of reflective writing
NB sometimes reflective writing is only a part
of an assignment but it could also be:
 Journal entries
 A reflective report
 Diaries
 Reflective portfolios
 A reflective essay