Reflective Writing

     Written reflection is defined as a meta-cognitive process or thinking about thinking. There are several ways to approach the written reflection process. One way is to use a writer’s log. This is a quick-write focusing on general information over a week’s time. Another type of written reflection is a draft focusing on a single piece of work. Still another is a polished piece of writing that discusses a body of work. In each reflection the students revisit information they have learned. The reflection can describe struggles, strengths, or weaknesses encountered. In each case the reflection moves past superficial thinking and into the realm of a true cerebral process or thinking about thinking (Swartzendruber-Putnam, 2000).

     A team of researchers devised a scheme for scoring reflective journals. They wanted to meet their needs and the needs of future researchers/educators. The scoring techniques were field tested and found to be reliable. The researchers asserted that the scheme that was developed can be used in practical application for scoring reflective thinking, whether it is in an academic study or incorporated into a grading system for students’ work (Kember, Jones, Loke, McKay, Sinclair, Tse, Webb, Wong, Wong, & Yeung, 1999).

     Another researcher/educator instructed students to write reflective journal entries using three different methods: structural, holistic, and post-structural. After analyzing each method the researcher noted that structural entries were limiting and depersonalized the reflection process. The other two avenues were more open ended and allowed for reflective thinking. The open ended reflection formats helped the writers review what they had learned and how they were changed, or not, by the learning experience (Mannion, 2001).

     Many school systems in America teach to a very ethnically diverse population. To meet their educational needs researchers and teachers are developing curriculums with student input that encourage engagement through individual and collaborative activities. Students write reflections about their personal ethnicity and share in co-operative learning groups. It has been found that students who are invited to be part of the curriculum process from their cultural background think more profoundly about the material presented and engage in the comprehension process more fully (Nelson-Barber & Harrison, 1996).

     Critical reflection is a skill. Educators who require reflective journals from their students realized that they must teach and model reflection skills to observe the desired outcome in the journals. Reflective thinking and writing are skills that must be taught through deliberate instruction and modeling. Devoting time to teach these skills produces quality, in-depth reflective thinking (Spalding & Wilson, 2002).