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Reflective writing

This guide provides an introduction to reflective writing and some tips for doing it well.

Reflective writing: An introduction

Writing reflectively involves critically analysing an experience, recording how it has impacted how you now think or act and what you plan to do with what you have learned as a result of that experience. It can help you to reflect on a deeper level, as writing down your feelings and opinions can help you to think an experience through. 

Using the tabs on the left of the screen you can find out lots of useful information and examples of how to revise effectively and prepare for you exams well.

If you prefer, you can also access a word version of this guide by downloading the Reflective Writing Word.Doc at the end of this page.

However, if you're short on time, we have created this short video as a quick guide. 

Reflective thinking versus critical thinking

Reflective writing involves reflective thinking. We cannot produce any reflective writing without undertaking some reflective thinking, and reflective thinking is often supported by reflective writing.

 

The terms critical thinking and reflective thinking (and therefore critical writing and reflective writing) are often used interchangeably. However, reflective thinking is a part of critical thinking. The main difference between them is that critical thinking is the ability to think in an organised and rational manner, understanding the logical connection between ideas or facts, whereas reflective thinking is the process of reflecting on your emotions, feelings, experiences, reactions and knowledge, and creating connections between them.

 

At university, you may be asked to produce a piece of reflective writing for an assignment, to demonstrate that you have reflected on what you did, what you thought, how you felt and consequently, what you have learned from a particular experience. 

Reflective practice

Reflective writing involves engaging in reflective practice. This is defined as “the ability to reflect on one’s actions so as to engage in a process of continuous learning” (Schon 1983). An easy way to get started with reflective practice is to follow a model of reflection and to start asking yourself questions about the experience you want to reflect on, for example:
 

  • What went well?  
  • What went badly?  
  • Why did I feel the way I did?  
  • What did I learn?  
  • How can I improve in the future?  

See some more examples of reflective questions in Models of reflection. Once you have started to ask yourself these questions, you can write down the answers and use them to begin building a structured piece of reflective writing. 

Schon, D. A. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Basic Books, New York. 

Why reflect?

Why reflect?

  • To apply experiences from one situation to another 
  • To self-motivate and deal with new challenges confidently 
  • To identify ways to improve your performance and evaluate your progress 
  • To demonstrate that you are an independent learner 
  • To consider your learning goals and plans for the future 
  • To challenge assumptions and see things from a new perspective

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