Reflective writing for professional practice

Abstract

This chapter introduces reflective writing as a valuable tool for professional practice and activities to support reflective writing. Reflection is inextricably related to learning, whether in an educational or a professional setting. Writing reflectively about a particular episode or period allows us to examine it in detail, and to immerse ourselves in the thoughts, feelings and actions that were prevalent at the time. To be effective, however, reflective writing needs to go further than merely describing an episode: the writer needs to analyse, challenge, perhaps evaluate, what has occurred, or even to consider the perspectives of others. The writer needs to consider their behaviour in that particular situation and to seek reasons for their reactions. To facilitate this, many different models of reflection have evolved, such as Schon, Kolb, Gibbs and Cowan. Cowan's model is represented as a loose spiral, which more accurately illustrates the progression generated by reflection.