Reflection is regarded as a higher order skill and reflective writing is something which takes practice. Part of the challenge with reflective writing is that the style involves a delicate balance of the personal with the academic. This can feel like walking a tightrope.

Some assignments require students to keep diaries or journals. Reflective writing often involves reflections on experience and the incorporation of thoughts and feelings. All of this means that the writing style can be quite personal. Diary entries suggest something quite cosy and informal, and traditionally, feature very personal reflections and are read only by the author.

How to balance this, then, with the expectation that reflective writing – like all academic writing – is expected to be formal, well structured, and carefully edited?

This is something that it is worth thinking about as you look at examples of good reflective writing. How do they balance the personal style with the features of formal academic writing features? How do they weave in thoughts and feelings? How do they use the academic literature?

An exercise that can be quite useful is to collect some examples of reflective writing and two highlighter pens. First, look out for personal reflections on experience and highlight these in one colour. Then look out for references to the theory and other literature on the topic. This can help you to see in quite a visual way how others have articulated their reflections and structured their writing.

In summary effective reflective writing includes:

exploring a specific topic or example
having a perspective, or line of reasoning
demonstrating that you are well informed, have read relevant literature and reflected on its relevance to your own development
showing that you recognise that situations are rarely simple and clear-cut
writing about the link between your experiences and your studies (theory and practice)
writing in an appropriate style (check with your tutors for the specific style required for your assignment).

Watch this short video to get a further overview of what good (and not so good!) reflective writing includes: