1. Some thoughts on reflective writing
Simon Andrews LET-DOS
Some thoughts on
reflective writing

2. The models (frameworks)
Gibbs (1988)
Driscoll
Johns (2006)
“To think about what one is doing whilst one is doing it; it is typically stimulated by surprise, by something which puzzled the practitioner concerned”(Greenwood, 1993).
‘contemplation of practice undertaken in order to uncover the knowledge used in practical situations’ (Fitzgerald, 1994pp67)

3. https://safaashaaban.wordpress.com/core-module/final-reflection-2/

4. http://www. nottingham. ac

5. Johns
‘contradictions between desirable [ ] and actual practice are made visible and become a focus for action’
‘Action may be difficult because of [ ] social norms or barriers embedded within the practitioner or the workplace … the practitioner may feel powerless’
Empirical
Knowledge:
what used what needed
Ethical
(envisaging and responding)
My: beliefs and actions
Congruent?
If not why not?
Personal
(knowing self)
How did I feel
Internal factors for this
Reflexive
Connect – my: past experience Alternatives All: consequences My: feelings now My: capability to support All
My: new ‘ways of knowing’
Aesthetical
(contra-empirical)
My: Goal/response
All: Consequences
Client: feelings (evidence)

6. Foundations
Gibbs finds its roots in the work of Kolb (1984) on experiential learning
Kolb discovered that adults learn in a ‘reflective cycle’ – so you may find that you automatically reflect when you are learning. In this case all you have to do is learn how to write your natural reflection in a structured way following one of the models – to make reflection ‘conscious’.
Johns used (ref) Carper (1978) ‘patterns of knowing’
Driscoll uses Borton’s (1970) ‘stem questions’

7. Pure reflection? There are several ways you may be asked to ‘reflect’
By ‘pure reflection’ I mean reflecting on a single aspect of an event
You may be asked to reflect on several things, or your learning over the year
You may be asked to include a little reflection in an essay
Each of these requires a little practice, the first is perhaps the easiest.

8. Common problems Too much description Not enough feeling
Evaluation and analysis difficulty – the power of topic sentences
Covering too many ‘aspects’
No ‘story’ linking the sections
Not enough referencing

9. The power of topic sentences
Contain key words that tell the reader what the paragraph is about
Signpost the reflective step, e.g. feelings
Highlight important or interesting points
Is a good place to evaluate

10. List of feelings words
It is difficult to talk about feelings in a professional way, and we are not used to doing this in writing
OPEN
INTERESTED
CONFUSED
GOOD
understanding
concerned
upset
calm
confident
affected
doubtful
peaceful
reliable
fascinated
uncertain
at ease
easy
intrigued
indecisive
comfortable
amazed
absorbed
perplexed
pleased
free
inquisitive
embarrassed
encouraged

11. Make it one story
D - I was on the ward and a man was very confused, but I needed to treat him
F - I was unsure how to deal with his problem, but confident I could communicate with him
E - I felt I handled the situation well
An – this was because I communicated clearly with him and this helped him calm down and understand
C - Alternatively I could have found someone he was familiar with, like a family member
AP - I will find out what the protocol is for contacting family members, my supervisor may know so I will ask her
Note: equal space given to each part of the story

12. Divide your writing equally
Yes I know I just said this – but this is the number one issue!
Too much description will make the following sections difficult to complete
Too much description will make the story hard to follow
It is difficult to evaluate without analysing too, so perhaps combine these
The description looks back, the conclusion and action plan look forward
There are easy points for each section! ‘evaluating the experience ….’

13. Make it useful to You!
This is the key to maintaining motivation in reflective writing
Kolb said reflection (experiential learning) was how adults learn from practice
Pick something that is meaningful to you – that you want to see the answer to
Keep it positive – the point is we are looking for better solutions
Pick a scenario that might happen again

14. Learning to evaluate and Analyse
In school and college it was enough to describe – so evaluation and analysis are new skills that need practice
A good start is to use a list of evaluative words:

15. Don’t forget to reference
It is not at first obvious how to reference reflective writing
People often say ‘This is all my own experience, it can’t be referenced’
But there are a myriad of things you can reference, and then you can include details from the references to back up your work:
When I was on placement at patient fell down (REF ‘patients falls increasing in hospitals’). The patient had been drinking (REF ‘alcohol and the emergency room’). I felt unhappy that I hadn’t prevented this (REF ‘emotional impact of patient accidents on nurses’).

16. Starter sentences The aspect of the event I will concentrate on …
If you get stuck on how to start:
The aspect of the event I will concentrate on …
My feelings were ….
Evaluating the experience ….
Analysing the experience …
Other things I could have tried are …
My action plan is …

17. Sources
.html
ork%20for%20Reflection.doc
HCS_Life_Long_Learning_Project_Team.pdf good overview of a few models and including Harvard style citations for the key papers
Johns ‘becoming a reflective practitioner’