Reflective writing

Having reflected on your purpose, you may now like to practice reflective writing as Lucy suggested:

Writing to Reflect Activity

Look back at an experience you could learn from. It doesn’t matter if it went well or badly. Use the tips and terminology below to help you write a longer reflective piece on the experience:

Looking back at an experience, reflect on:

• Your expectations before the experience
• How you approached it
• What parts you found easy/hard

Think about what you learned as a result:

• How did your knowledge and understanding change?
• What would you do differently if faced with a similar situation?

Consider how you might use your learning in the future:

• How might you put into practice what you have learnt?
• What challenges might you face?
• How would you deal with these?

 

Reflective writing tips

Reflective writing is ...	Reflective writing isn't ...
Written in the first person	Written in the third person
Analytical	Descriptive
Free flowing	What you think you should write
Subjective	Objective
A tool to challenge assumptions	A tool to ignore assumptions
A time investment	A waste of time

 

Suggested terminology:

• The most important thing was...
• At the time I felt...
• Late I realised...
• It was likely due to...
• After thinking about it...
• I wonder what would happen if...
• I learned that...
• I'm still unsure about...
• I need to know more about...
• My next steps are...

NEXT: Communicating your experience ➜