Reflective writing 101

• The content will be determined by you (you choose what to focus on and what to include). 
• The sources you refer to are often not pre-determined (they depend on your evaluation). 
• You can write using the personal pronouns I and me OR we and us if you are reflecting on group work. 

One of the most popular frameworks is Gibbs’ reflective cycle which he outlined in his work Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods in 1988. 

• Describe a moment of learning or a particular experience. 
• Record your feelings/thoughts/reactions at that time (and if they have changed over time). 
• Evaluate the moment based on your feelings/thoughts/reactions. 
• Analyse your feelings/thoughts/reactions. Where are they coming from / what are they based on? This is a good place to bring in referenced sources to validate or explain your feelings/thoughts and reactions. 
• Draw a conclusion by stating what you’ve learnt and potentially what you could do differently. This is another good place to bring in referenced sources to support potential alternatives. 
• Indicate how you might deal with that kind of moment of learning or experience in the future. 

However, your assignment brief OR guidance in class may guide you towards a specific model so check your instructions carefully. 

Reflection is not:

• just describing (a summary of events)
• just noting the emotive response to events​

Reflective writing is:

• describing
• analysing your emotive response
• moving forward with learning

Moon, J.A. (2004) A handbook of reflection and experiential learning: theory and practice. New York: RoutledgeFalmer. 

• Resource 4 gives you examples of poor and good reflective writing. 
• Resource 5 shows how to move from poor reflective writing to good reflective writing. 
• Resource 7 gives you questions to ask yourself as and after you have written your first reflection. 

Williams, K., Woolliams, M. and Spiro, J. (2012) Reflective writing. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.  

• On page 8 of the work listed above, you’ll find other types of reflective writing listed. You can use this list to check if the words used in your assignment brief are there. 
• In chapter 15, four reflective frameworks by Rolfe et al., Schön, Kolb, Honey and Mumford are explored.