Reflective Writing

What is Reflective Writing?

Reflective writing refers to essays that are composed based on a critical examination of a
specific life experience. This type of writing can be compared to journal or diary entries, with
the main difference being that in writing a reflective essay you are very conscious and
intentional, since you are writing with the knowledge that someone else will read your text.
The essay still follows a similar structure to an essay, with a need for coherence and cohesion
throughout the writing.

Benefits of Reflective Writing

Reflection provides you with the opportunity to contemplate how your personal experience
and thoughts form your overall perspective on matters and how this impacts your approach to
new ideas. Reflective writing has many benefits including:
• helping you to develop an inquisitive attitude and analytical skills
• allowing you to identify areas for improvement in your writing or reading practices
• developing the ability to respond effectively to new challenges
• developing the ability to generalise and apply your newfound knowledge to new
situations

The Reflective Learning Cycle

Reflective thinking is key in order to succeed in

unpredictable and difficult circumstances or with
complex texts and theories. The Reflective
Learning Cycle will help structure the way you
approach these challenges and provide you with
the tools you can pull out in any new encounter.
A quick note on the cycle: this cycle is iterative.
This means it does not stop after one full rotation
but continues on its clockwise spin for as long
Figure 1 Reflective Learning Cycle as is necessary in each situation.

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 1) Plan: Consider the wider context, models of knowledge and practice, specific theories,
previous personal and other people’s experience, and interaction with the text or task
at hand. Use this information to construct, alter, adapt, modify and then develop an
action plan for approaching the task or text before you.

2) Act: Use the approaches or the method developed in the step before, the Plan. Remain
self-aware of each action. Be ready to adapt and modify your goals and material as
you proceed through this step whilst still keeping the main plan at the forefront.

3) Observe: Once the main action is complete, take the time to review what occurred,
and how the situation produced an effect on you. Prepare an accurate and objective
report of the event.

4) Reflect: This is where the reflective writing practice comes in. Reflect on the previous
session or event and evaluate your reaction. Consider the strengths and weaknesses
of your approach and actions, pinpoint problems and areas needing improvement.
Develop your insight of the session. There is no correct or incorrect answer here and
you may find yourself struggling to interpret some areas. Some questions to keep in
mind here are: did you achieve the main points of your plan? did (and how did) your
goals alter? what role did your actions affect the situation and how did you react to the
situation? did (or do) your observations reflect the theories you are acquainted with?

5) Plan (again): Write a new action plan based on the first cycle. Use the outcomes of
the reflective step to form the new action plan. Don’t forget to incorporate the wider
context of models of knowledge and practice and the theories of knowledge.

6) Act (again): The process continues.

Reading Reflection

Critical reflection is attributed to meditative and insistent analysis. Although it is important to

consider the basic questions such as “what is the thesis statement?”, “what is the main
argument?” and “what is the evidence?” in order to aid your comprehension, critical reflection
expects you to go a step forward. You are asked to evaluate your own assumptions and pre-
conceptions on the subject in order to deepen your analysis and focus your attention on the
various aspects of the text.

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Assess the text(s):

• What is the main argument? How is this developed? Pinpoint the purpose and/or the
main theoretical frameworks of the tex.

• What ideas struck you and why? Were they nuanced or opposing any existing
preconceptions or scholarship?

Develop ideas:

• What do I already know about the main subject? From where did this existing
knowledge stem? What experiences form my understanding?

• What is my stance on this main argument? Do I agree or disagree? Why?

Make associations:

• How does this text underline my existing preconceptions? How does this text challenge
my existing assumptions and ideas?

• How does this text develop my understanding of the subject?

Writing a Reflective Essay

In the following section, we will investigate the features that form a good reflective essay.
These featured include the structure, the content and the writing process.

The Format

We have already mentioned how the primary focus of a reflective essay is to place a writer’s
personal experience under the microscope including their revelations coming out of the
experience. There are various formats that reflective writing can occur within, but the most
common formats include journal, essay and diary entry structures.

One factor to keep in mind when thinking about the format is the target audience. In an
academic context, reflective writing will take the format of an essay. The focus will most likely
be on a specific text of literature, theory or model of knowledge and practice and how this
material applies and affects the student’s own experiences. The topic is most likely to be
assigned by your tutor as a starting point for your writing.

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Reflection

The reflective process should form the core of the writing of this type of essay and, therefore,
it is imperative to plan accordingly. Consider your personal reactions and experiences with the
text carefully by using your memories and feelings to lead your thought-process. Writing
down notes is highly encouraged, describing the experience as vividly and coherently as you
can, record your reactions and responses, preconceived notions and perceptions and the
feelings from the experience.

Once your memories are on paper, the reflection process can begin. A useful way to approach
this process is by using these reflection questions to help deepen the practice.

• What are your general thoughts regarding the experience? Was it a useful and
effective learning experience? What specific perspectives or skills did you collect on
the way?

• What lessons have you drawn about yourself as an outcome of the experience?

• Have you developed as a result? How?

• Did the experience have a positive or negative impact on your life?

• Thinking back, are there an aspects/behaviours/actions you would have changed?

• Why do you think you made those particular choices during those particular points in
life? Do you think your choices were right?

These questions can act as springboards to ignite your reflective process. Remember, by
asking yourself a multitude of questions will guarantee you think critically and deeply about
your experiences.

Planning

Although you may feel quite confident and prepared having spent significant time reflecting on
the experience, make sure you do not jump straight into writing without a solid, comprehensive
written plan. This will ensure your writing is coherent and clear, conveyed through a well-
organised structure. The benefits of a plan (or outline) are listed below:

• A plan provides you with the opportunity to determine the basic points you intend to
include in your essay. This is extremely valuable in removing any superfluous and
inconsistent information from the essay that will not add to its overall value.

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 • Your plan acts as a map that helps you navigate through the various discussions in
your writing. A coherent outline will ensure a clear line of thought through the writing,
giving the reader a more enjoyable and easier reading experience. It will also help you
avoid missing out any key stops in your writing. You wouldn’t want to arrive at the
dragon’s den without adequate weaponry-a fire-breathing creature will laugh at your
mere fists!

• The plan will assist you to be more effective and efficient with your time. Since the plan
(outline) operates as the skeleton of the essay, you will be able to save time not having
to think about what you need to write: you already know what exactly you are writing
about at each point of the essay. Instead, more time can be allocated to the editing
and proofreading process.

A plan or outline shares a similar structure as an essay. What changes is the content of each
section and the personal approach within each point. Let us review the structure in detail by
discussing each section of the reflective essay: the introduction, main body and conclusion.

Introduction

As in every essay, your reflective essay should begin with an introduction that incorporates a
clear thesis statement. The thesis statement is a brief and overall summary of the focus of the
essay, which in your case would be the particular experience or text that influenced you in this
instant. The purpose of this thesis statement is to grab the attention of your reader from the
onset. A good tactic is to summarise the exciting aspects of your essay in the introduction so
that you may have the best chance to catch the reader’s interest. Don’t give too much away
or you will not be able to maintain the reader’s attention as you progress through the essay.

Main Body

It is easy to fall into the trap of saying too much and end up repeating yourself throughout,
even in the plan. The trick here is to spend time ensuring the plan avoids waffling and
repetitions. You can do so by adopting a chronological order. This will make sure your work is
coherent and systematic. It is important to note that a reflective essay does not essentially
have to be linear but working under a chronological structure will avoid a chaotic reiteration of
your memories. By organising the main elements in a timeline will help you connect the
different pieces of the narrative together.

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Ensure the main body of your essay is organised and includes appropriate and effective
critique and reflection. The main body is not just a place for a summary of the experience
but should also investigate how the experience affected you, and discuss the lessons and
insights you gained. The focus should be on reflection rather than merely on summation. This
will also assist you in maintaining the interest of your reader.

Conclusion

Once you have reached the conclusion, it is time to tie the main points together neatly by
providing a summary of each and the insights you gained through the newly acquired
knowledge. You may also include information on how and why your attitudes and approach
have developed. What conclusions can be raised about your problem-solving skills? What
steps have you followed to consolidate all that you have learned from your experience?

Writing the essay

The first step is to write the first sentence. This is often the most difficult and daunting step in
beginning your essay. However, if you have put in the time and effort to draw out a wholesome
plan, you should be ready, and the writing process should come out smooth. Here are a few
more pointers to assist in the writing of your essay:

• Try finding a few examples to help you get a feel of the format and tone that is usually
associated with reflective writing. An example is provided at the end of this document.

• Don’t loiter over the first sentence; just begin and return to modify it later. The first draft
will not necessarily end up being the version you send off. You will be returning to edit
and re-edit the essay later.

• For each point you make about the experience, be as specific as you can. Avoid
ambiguity and vagueness.

• Use a first-person narrative structure to ensure your essay is personal and reflective.

• Consider beginning your introduction with a short anecdote, with a flashback or with a
quote to grab your reader’s attention.

• Pick vocabulary that will best convey your emotions and feelings. Reflective writing
has a descriptive element and should offer a variety of adjectives to build a vivid
landscape. Avoid vague descriptive words such as “nice” as they do not offer much
discernment into the experience.

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 • Honesty with your feelings and opinions is expected in reflective writing. Do not be
ashamed to admit you failed at a certain task; this task is more interested in what you
learnt from the experience rather than your performance or the active sections of the
experience.

• Use a variety of punctuation.

• Incorporate imagery to draw diverse and vivid imagery of your experiences.

• Emphasise the turning point moments in your essay. Without these moments, your
feelings are left flat and invalid.

• Keep reiterating the lessons you gained from this experience.

• Draw on external sources to demonstrate a holistic understanding of the experience

that includes a theoretical perspective. This will also validate the credibility of your work
against opposing views.

Final thoughts

Let us summarise what we covered today. The main focus of a reflective essay is to illustrate
the lessons you gained from the text and the experience of it, and how and why these
experiences have shaped you.

The reflective thinking process starts with a conscious effort to locate and examine your
thoughts associated with that particular experience. You should also explore any pre-emptive
knowledge or experience with the subject, which will assist you in understanding why you have
formed the opinions on the subjects that you have. The heart of the reflective essay is the
study of your attitudes, assumptions and values, so make sure you remain honest in your
reflections. Reflective writing can be quite meditative, allowing you to identify your strengths
and weaknesses, especially in terms of the knowledge gaps you may still have. This will
enable you to take on an introspective posture in analysing your experiences and how you
can learn from this experience.

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Example of a Reflective Essay:

Fieldwork experiences can often be a daunting way of conducting research but they can also
be fulfilling. I have had first-hand experience conducting fieldwork for my master’s degree, and
while it was a generally enjoyable experience, I did make a number of mistakes during the
process. However, I learned some valuable lessons as a result of this too. During my fieldwork
in Rwanda, I increasingly realised that it was important to incorporate primary research data
into my study, but because of a lack of data on my topic, I made use of other sources of
qualitative data to validate my findings. This strategy, according to Denzin (1970), is known
as methodological triangulation and it allows researchers to make use of various data
gathering methods to ensure internal validity. Based on the use of methodological
triangulation, I specifically designed interviews targeted at both elite groups and slum dwellers
in Rwanda to investigate the thinking behind the urban policies designed by political elites,
and how it impacts marginalised slum dwellers.

The first group of interviewees that I targeted comprised of government officials and the
second comprised of a group people living in slums. The elite interviews were generally semi-
structured in nature and were based on open- and closed-ended questions. Scholars such as
Harvey (2011) have noted that this is the best approach for elite interviews because it allows
flexibility and hence, maximises response rates. Notably, scholars such as Aberbach and
Rockman (2002), Hoffmann-Lange (1987) as well as Zuckerman (1972) have also shown that
elites prefer to engage with open-ended questions so that they can articulate their views
coherently. During my interviews with elite groups, I did not always draft formal questions, but
I made sure that I was familiar with the topic so that I could comfortably develop a natural
rapport with the respondents. Interview times ranged from thirty minutes to up to two hours,
and respondents commonly offered me some data sets to consult, which followed with some
discussion. I was often required to submit a formal application to access these files, and
although I formally submitted a request letter to the Ministry of Urban Development, my efforts
proved futile, and it became increasingly frustrating for me to access the data sets I needed.

In some of the interviews, I found that political elites provided evasive answers because of the
politically sensitive nature of some of the questions posed. The general etiquette according to
Peabody et al. (1990) suggests that political elites should ideally not be interviewed using
recording devices as it can cause elusiveness and anxiety – although I did not use a recorder,
I continued to receive elusive responses which sometimes left me frustrated and disillusioned
with my project. I felt particularly irritated because the absence of a recording device meant I

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was unable to get hold of a verbatim record of my interviews. Because I had to write down
observational notes while engaging with the respondent, it was difficult to record all the
information and I lost out on some important points. I tried to strike a balance between note
taking and the interview process, but I found this to be a difficult endeavour. I was able to
access more political elites than initially anticipated, however it often felt futile because I
couldn’t source as much information as I had wanted from this sample group. I tried to
counteract these limitations by shifting my focus to the second sample in my study, the slum
dwellers, although this was also fraught with some complications. Comparatively and overall,
the second sample group proved to be more cooperative and I quickly learned that I had
wasted a significant amount of time focusing on political elites, when a lot of the responses I
desired could have easily been sourced from policy documents and government reports.

As mentioned, I discovered that slum dwellers, after gaining their trust, provided a great deal
of nuanced insight into my understanding of urban regeneration in Rwanda, which was very
beneficial for my project. Harvey (2011) has highlighted how field researchers must endeavour
to earn the trust of their respondents to gain access to high quality data and looking at the
results I garnered, I believe I was able to do this successfully. The data acquisition from the
sample group was however, not without complications. The first complication pertained to my
status as a foreigner, which I realised made several people wary of my presence. After visiting
the research site continuously over a period of time, they became more familiar with me and
thus opened up to the idea of participating in my study. I also ensured that I hired a local
research assistant, and I realised that my association with a local gave me a greater deal of
legitimacy in the eyes of my potential research respondents.

While oftentimes the data collection process was extremely stressful, and sometimes
precarious, I learned to be resilient in, and how to maintain focus on meeting my set objectives.
Concurrently, I also learned when to change approaches in the field – especially when a
particular research method had proven to be unsuccessful. In hindsight, I should have
changed my approach much earlier to save a lot of the time I wasted. Looking back, I would
have placed less emphasis on the elite sample group as primary data was not necessary for
addressing my research questions concerning government policy. I could have saved time
and effort in sourcing this information from secondary sources such as government reports
and books. I also would have employed a local researcher much earlier in the process as it
paved the way for gaining the trust of respondents. At the same time, I realised that I should
have provided a lot more training for the research assistant who also served as a translator,
due to the events that ensued in the field.

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According to scholars such as Temple and Edwards (2002, p.2) “the interpreter is a conduit
linking the interviewer with the interviewee and ideally is a neutral party who should not add
or subtract from what the primary parties communicate to each other” but in my research, I
quickly realised that this was not the case. Generally, the research assistant was highly
opinionated and in some instances tried to impose his political views on my respondents.
Looking back, I think I could have done a better job in training him and getting him to
understand why the responses of interviewees should not be pre-empted. There were several
instances where I also noticed that the translation process was not as effective as it should be
during the fieldwork process. Due to my increasing familiarity with local dialects, I was able to
discern when the translator was not providing the full picture with respect to the responses of
the respondents. In my opinion, this was indicative of the lack of training which the translator
received and I learned to not just assume that job roles were obvious, especially in this context.
In instances where omissions were obvious, I questioned the translator to gain further details.
During the early stages of the fieldwork, he was also far too independent and, in some
instances, did not stick to the script, in terms of the interview questions I had drafted. In
hindsight, I should have done a trial run or pilot study, so that he was better acquainted with
the standard of research I was expecting.

Overall, the process was a challenging one that introduced me to the iterative nature of
fieldwork. It became increasingly obvious to me that in the field, nothing ever goes as neatly
as planned on paper. I realised how imperative both resilience and flexibility was in the field.
In hindsight, I would have prepared back-up alternatives for each aspect of my study, since in
some cases I was completely thrown off guard and had to take a few days off to re-strategise.
I lost a few valuable days by doing this and if I had managed my expectations with more
caution, I believe I would have been better prepared for the unexpected occurrences in the
field. On reflection, I would also have taken my positionality far more seriously, as I never
imagined that the way I was perceived by others could affect my study. During my interviews
with elite groups, they were often bemused and yet intrigued at the same time about my role
as a foreign female researcher. Scholars such as Kobayashi (1994) have highlighted how
gender identities play out during fieldwork, meaning women are often discriminated against
on the basis of their sex. I did not experience discrimination, but I feel my being a woman
helped me gain access to certain respondents that I never anticipated to access, because I
was somewhat perceived as a damsel in distress who needed help. While the pity I received
worked in my favour, it had no bearing within the interviews themselves as I was not able to
acquire the data that I hoped to. Having a better understanding of the cultural nuances would
have helped me to manage my expectations better. Indeed, researchers such as Denzin and
Lincoln (2011) have highlighted how a researcher’s ability to gain access is shaped by
personal characteristics, including gender. Looking back, I believe my fieldwork project was
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fairly successful, mostly because of its ability to gain nuanced insight from the second sample
involving slum dwellers. The major pitfalls of the project mostly pertained to the logistics of the
project – specifically the lack of training for the research assistant, and the general lack of a
research focus.

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