WAJ3103 English Language Proficiency II

TOPIC 6 WRITING REFLECTIONS

6.0 This topic intends to introduce to course participants the importance of writing critical
reflections and how to write a good critical reflection.

6.1 Learning Outcomes

 Read and identify the strengths and weaknesses of a piece of reflection.

 Use correct and appropriate language in writing a reflection.
 Write a critical reflection.
 Assess own reflection through critical analysis.
 Aware of the importance of writing a reflection.

6.2 Content

WRITING REFLECTIONS

DEFINITION IMPORTANCE HOW TO ANALYSIS

REFLECT
6.2.1 Definition

“It is generally believed that the thinking process involves two aspects: reflective thinking
and critical thinking. They are not separate processes; rather, they
PRACTICE
are closely
WRITE1987).”
connected (Brookfield A CRITICAL
REFLECTION
Reflective writing is writing which involves '… consideration of the larger context, the
meaning, and the implications of an experience or action' (Branch & Paranjape, 2002,
p.1185).

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Reflective thoughts can be presented and shown orally or in written form. For example, you can
do a class oral presentation on your reflection of your first semester’s experience as a PPG
student, or you can also write your reflection in an essay form.

Below is what reflective thinking is and what is not:

YES NO

• your response to experiences, opinions, • just conveying information, instruction or

events or new information argument

• your response to thoughts and feelings
• a way of thinking to explore your learning
• an opportunity to gain self-knowledge
• a way to achieve clarity and better
understanding of what you are learning
• pure description, though there may be
descriptive elements
• straightforward decision or judgement (e.g.
about whether something is right or wrong,
good or bad)
• simple problem-solving

• a chance to develop and reinforce • a summary of course notes

writing skills
• a standard university essay
• a way of making meaning out of what you
study

Thus your reflective thoughts are what you think, feel and believe about an event, incident or
experience. Writing reflection is a good exercise to develop and reinforce your writing skills as
it includes description (what, when, who) and analysis (how, why, what if). It is an explorative
tool often resulting in more questions than answers.

a) Write ‘R’ for reflection or ‘NR’ for not reflection for each of the examples below.

i ) The exhibition was clearly a failure. It was disorganized _______

and staff did not know their duties.
ii ) There were about twenty booths at the exhibition and each _______
one had its own theme.
iii ) It is important for staff to know their duties well as this would _______
enable them to be effective team players. However, this
was not the case at this exhibition.
iv ) It was a breezy day and the sun was shining brightly. It was _______
a good day to have an exhibition of this scale.

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v ) A manager or project manager of an exhibition should have _______

several preliminary meetings with the staff prior to the
exhibition. The failure of this exhibition is mainly due to the
lack of communication and weak empowerment to the staff.

6.2.2 Importance

Why is doing or writing reflection important to the learning process? Biggs 1999 in King 2002
claims that "Reflection is indicative of deep learning, and where teaching and learning activities
such as reflection are missing… only surface learning can result."

This is to say that if a student is able to write a good piece of reflection on a given task, it is an
indication that the student has understood and has a good grasp of that particular topic. This is
true of reflection as it does not only consist of mere description but also embedded with
analytical descriptions which are derived from good understanding of the theoretical aspects of
the topic.

Thus reflective writing tasks are given to students to help students learn through reflection,
precisely because of the established link between reflection and deeper learning. As well as
facilitating learning and monitoring learning, the intention is to produce graduates who have
acquired the habit of reflection as a means of continuing to learn and grow in their professions.

Reflection can lead to:

 personal growth
 professional growth
 meaningful change

"Reflection leads to growth of the individual – morally, personally, psychologically, and

emotionally, as well as cognitively".
Branch & Paranjape, 2002, p. 1187

Reflection can help you to:

 better understand your strengths and weaknesses

 what you are good at
 identify and question your underlying values and beliefs
 acknowledge and challenge possible assumptions on which you base your ideas,
feelings and actions
 recognize areas of potential bias or discrimination
 acknowledge your fears, and
 identify possible inadequacies or areas for improvement

Reflection can lead to greater self-awareness, which in turn is a first step to positive change – it
is a necessary stage in identifying areas for improvement and growth in both personal and
professional contexts. Taking time to reflect can help you identify approaches that have worked
well, and in that way reinforce good practice.

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6.2.3 How to reflect and write a critical reflection

A critical reflection is a combination of thoughtful description and analysis of a topic.

Below are the 5 steps to writing a critical reflection.

STEP 1 Establish topic . What happened?

At this stage you can describe, explain, summarize or narrate what you
saw, heard, experienced or felt. You should also state the background of
the reflection task. Why and what do you do the reflection for.

STEP 2 Develop topic. So what?

At this stage you make a point or develop a thesis about the topic.
Below are several ways to generate ideas and organize your thoughts.
Define
Classify: Explain a topic by categorizing.
Compare/Contrast: Illustrate the similarities or differences
Cause: Consider the cause or root of something
Effect: Discuss the effects of something.
Evaluate: Determine whether a topic is good or bad, desirable or
undesirable, ethical or unethical, effective or ineffective, etc. Or is the
topic somewhere in between?

Propose: Suggest a necessary action to take or propose a solution to a

problem.

STEP 3 Conclude. Now what?

At this stage you can conclude by stating the importance of the topic to
you or to your readers. It is also recommendable to include implications
and significance of your ideas.

STEP 4 Style. What style should you use?

Reflections are mostly informal but the style you choose may depend on
the situations. Academic paper may have a conversational tone but
research paper may be a bit more formal.

STEP 5 Special effects.

You may provide and include sketches, photographs, graphs, etc .

6.2.4 How to analyse

A good critical reflection is based on analytical questions which lead to self- reflection and not
self-criticism. Thus you must also include in your description and analysis how you felt, lessons
you have learnt from the experience, and how this will form and affect your future behavior and
beliefs.

Below is a sample of a written reflection. Note how possible questions are raised to help
improve the reflection.

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i. “When the teacher shouted to the student for no apparent reason, I was
shocked. It reminded me to maintain an appropriate communication style with
students when I am a teacher.”

Analytical questions : What actually took place?

What was the student’s reaction or feeling?
What is the ‘appropriate communication style’?
Why did the teacher shout?
What do you think triggered this behaviour?
What have you learnt from this experience?

Below is the improved critical reflection of the trainee teacher.

ii. “When the teacher raised his voice to the student for no apparent reason, I
was shocked and the student appeared to feel humiliated. Clearly this behaviour
by the teacher was not appropriate, even though the teacher was obviously
frustrated at the student’s apparent inability to understand the simple
instructions. While it is the responsibility of every teacher to behave respectfully
with students, on this occasion an excessive workload and the communication gap,
as the teacher didn’t speak the student’s first language, no doubt contributed to
the teacher's behaviour. It reminded me that language and cultural factors within
the education system, such as first and second language proficiency, can have an
impact on the quality of instructions given by teachers.”

6.2.5 Reflective essay structure

Before you can write a critical reflection, you need to know the structure or format of your
reflection. Reflective essay do not have a certain structure because cannot be written according
to a standard essay scheme. This is due to the fact that the thesis statements and the
conclusions of reflective essays are often blurry. 

Here is a probable scheme of a reflective essay:

 The aim of the opening paragraph is to get the reader involved in the author’s story
including interesting details, personal experiences. The style must be very vivid and
therefore to appeal to the reader as if it was a conversation on the meaning of life or
love. As we have discussed above this is the part where you establish your topic.

 The middle part reveals a good variety of the author’s ideas on the topic. This the part
where you develop your reflection. This part may consist several paragraphs.

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 The last part includes concluding sentences that summarize the main ideas and
experiences of the essay. The author reflects and writes his general perception of the
given topic.

STRUCTURE / FORMAT

PARAGRAPH 1

Establish topic

PARAGRAPH 2 onwards

FINAL PARAGRAPH

Conclude and Summarize

Task

Using the format shown above, write a reflection on a lecture that you just had. Then exchange
it with a friend. Try to raise as many analytical questions on the reflection done by your friend.
Then rewrite and improve your reflection by answering some of the questions raised.

Bibliography

Learning through reflection. (2011). Retrieved from

http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/development/reflection.html

McIntyre, D. J. and O’Hair, M. J. (1998). The reflective roles of the classroom teacher.
London: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Monash University. (2011). Reflective learning process. Retrieved from

http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/medicine/reflective/3.xml

Moon, J. (1999). Reflection in learning and professional development: Theory and practice.
Retrieved from http://www2.unca.edu/et/br022102.html

Parsons, R. D. and Brown, K. S. (2002). Teacher as a reflective practitioner and action

researcher. Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

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Reflective essay writing rubric. How to write a reflective essay - outline, structure, format, ideas,
topics. (2005). Retrieved from
http://www.customessays.org/essay_types/Reflective_Essay.html

What does your reader expect in a reflection paper? (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.une.edu.au/tlc/alo/critical3.htm

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