Reflective writing

Reflective writing is common in both the workplace and in academic settings, but how does it differ from writing an essay?

The aim of most reflective writing is to reflect upon and analyse a certain experience to identify how you learned and developed from it. Reflective writing is an excellent tool to aid your development as both a learner and a professional.

Reflection involves thinking critically about an experience and learning from it by:

• Reflecting upon how you felt, what you thought, how you behaved, and what skills or knowledge you applied during the experience.
• Identifying what went well and any areas for development.
• Identifying what you have learnt from the experience and how you will apply this new learning in similar scenarios.
• Using the process as a tool to help develop future practice.

• Because it is about personal experiences, it is generally acceptable to use the first person (‘I’) in reflective writing.
• Though reflective writing should be personal, it is not private.
• Remember that your module lead or tutor will be reading and potentially marking your work, so keep it formal.
• Reflective writing should be analytical, not merely a description of an experience.
• When it comes to writing reflectively, be selective and choose an event or experience which has been meaningful or impactful to you in some way as a learner or practitioner.
• Do reflect upon both positive and less positive experiences.

Many schools will recommend you use a reflective cycle such as Gibbs (1988) or Kolb (1974). These models help to structure your reflections, helping you to produce writing that is more analytical and that goes beyond descriptively recording what happened.

Explore the interactive resource for this topic

The following resource guides you through Rolfe et al.'s (2001) model of reflection.