McCrary 1

Madison McCrary

Writing 2

Considering teaching reflective writing?

The methods as to how to properly reflect on one's writing piece require great skill and

practice. At times, it can be hard to implement these strategies correctly in a way that would

improve one's writing and often leaves a writer with the question, should one always reflect on

their writing piece?

A conversation I observed regarding the benefits of reflective writing between academic

authors was very informative, and even through the slight disagreements, the authors agreed on

the overall importance of reflective writing to improve one's writing skills. The conversation

took place across a public panel with the authors on a stage conversing through their opinions,

with the conversation guided by an audience question and answer. The conversation initially

started with each author giving a summary of their own opinion on the matter of reflective

writing. Author Mary Ryan conversed and explicitly laid out her approach to the matter by

specifying that in order to properly teach reflective writing in a classroom, the manner must be

systematically structured. Ryan describes her method as a developed social semiotic mode to

create a shared language that would be implemented in higher education.1 After Ryan had

presented her point of view, author Basil Khalifa Costas Derek Cahusac de Caux offered their

agreement to this structured method. Both Ryan and De Caux also acknowledged each other's

agreements through the importance of peer feedback to help with writing improvement.

1 Ryan, M. P. (2011). Improving reflective writing in higher education: a social semiotic

perspective. Teaching in Higher Education, 16(1), 99–111.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2010.507311
 McCrary 2

Although, De Caux alone conveyed the significance of having one apply the critiques of another

into your writing to truly improve.2 Ryan then expressed her disinterest in this specific aspect of

the reflective process. This interaction between authors was very pleasant to see, with both of

them having a truly clear and academic conversation.

Author Herli Salim decided to respond to Ryan and De Caux on what his perspective on

the matter was and expressed his similar approach of reflective writing being taught in a

classroom setting but described his research from the perspective of the student instead. Salim

supported the idea of how important it is to have reflective writing be taught by his findings of

students having a deeper understanding of the material when they reflect. Salim made it clear

that the level of reflective writing shall be adjusted to the current level of education in order to

see proper results.3 Salim was different from the other authors in the way of stressing the

importance of the student’s experience and point of view regarding reflective writing. Salim

utilized these findings to help support his argument. Heidi Andrade, another author on the panel,

responded to Salim on her views on the matter. Andrade announced her strong regard for the

utilization of self-assessment being part of the education system, especially in primary schooling.

Andrade further describes other studies that help support her stance such as in the case of finding

“a positive relationship between self-assessment and quality of writing.”4 From this, Andrade has

a more similar ideology to authors Ryan and De Caux regarding reflective writing being in

2 De Caux, B. C., Lam, C. Y., Lau, R. W., Hoang, C., & Pretorius, L. (2017). Reflection for
learning in doctoral training: writing groups, academic writing proficiency and reflective
practice. Reflective Practice, 18(4), 463–473. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2017.1307725

3 Sali̇ M, H. (2021, January 30). Reflective writing in the pandemic period: A university students’
reflection. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/jetol/issue/60134/834129

4 Andrade, H., & Valtcheva, A. V. (2009). Promoting Learning and Achievement Through Self-
Assessment. Theory Into Practice, 48(1), 12–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405840802577544
 McCrary 3

classrooms in a structured way but has emphasized the importance of providing evidential

studies to support the claims being made.

However, the panel had taken a slight turn when author David Denton responded to

Andrade on his ideals of reflective writing. Denton agreed on the overall idea of how reflective

writing can be extremely beneficial for students in improving their writing skills but largely

highlighted how there is a lack of reflection in the classroom today. To prove his point, Denton

utilized profound philosophers and thinkers, such as Socrates, to support the idea of reflection as

a beneficial way to improve reflection not only in the classroom but in life as well.5 The outline

of this conversation can be perceived as many authors being able to convey their ideas in a

scholarly and respectable manner with the majority of them in agreement with one another. Even

though they had their slight variations to the approach of reflexive writing, these authors all

found the benefits of reflective writing and its resourcefulness to improve.

These authors that have gathered represent a discourse community regarding reflective

writing. As described in Melzer's “Understanding Discourse Communities,” Writing Spaces,

Melzer lists the characteristics of what truly distinguishes a discourse community. One of the

listed qualities was “a broadly agreed upon set of common public goals.”6 These specific authors

have clearly defined their opinions on reflective writing. By picking a part of the conversation,

they all have in mind a common goal of conveying the great importance of having reflective

writing being prominent in the education system. The authors have varying ways of

implementing this but have all concurred on the idea of the positive outcomes of reflective

5 Denton, D. W. (2011). Reflection and Learning: Characteristics, obstacles, and implications.

Educational Philosophy and Theory, 43(8), 838–852. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-
5812.2009.00600.x

6 Driscoll, D., & Vetter, M. (2020). Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing Volume 3. Parlor Press
LLC.
 McCrary 4

writing. In addition, Melzer explains that a discourse community uses “communication

mechanisms to provide information and feedback”.7 This idea has been translated to this specific

community due to the authors referencing similar material in each of their works. An example of

this is with authors Mary Ryan and Basil Khalifa Costas Derek Cahusac de Caux both citing the

same article in their posted work. The article being used would be Dewy, J in his How we think:

A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process. The findings in the

study were found useful by Ryan and de Caux in their process of exerting their opinions on

reflective writing. As a consequence, these authors represent a discourse community by having

interconnected communication as well as having the shared goal of advocating for reflective

writing.

As I leave the panel I analyze the conversation between the authors. I acknowledge how

they are extremely informative and have given me a broader perspective on the subject. Before

examining this conversation, I have always believed in reflection as an important part of the

learning process, although only after listening in on these authors, I have realized what truly

makes reflective writing a positive. A large part of the discussion was about the structure of

teaching reflective writing. Specifically, how it is important to create a shared language to

properly teach the skill, but it is imperative to keep in mind the current grade level when teaching

in order to ensure a deeper understanding. These ideas are important takeaways to keep in mind

when considering how to teach reflective writing considering how the skill can be relatively

hard. Overall, it is crucial to keep the students engaged with true understanding, through the

means of reflection. Another aspect I appreciated from the conversation was the establishment of

creating the notion of how reflective writing is a reliable and proven way to improve writing.

7 Driscoll, D., & Vetter, M. (2020). Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing Volume 3. Parlor Press
LLC.
 McCrary 5

Oftentimes it can be hard to believe every bit of advice on how to properly improve, but having

studies being discussed and their success rates, specifically helps the argument as a whole. In

addition to this, the conversation about reflective writing has made me curious about the direct

history of its teachings. Exactly how long it's been an idea and how it was previously taught is

very intriguing to find the answers to. A deep dive into the area may give a greater explanation

of how reflective writing is being taught and could give some insight as to how to teach it even

more effectively.
 McCrary 6

Bibliography

Ryan, M. P. (2011). Improving reflective writing in higher education: a social semiotic

perspective. Teaching in Higher Education, 16(1), 99–111.

https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2010.507311

De Caux, B. C., Lam, C. Y., Lau, R. W., Hoang, C., & Pretorius, L. (2017). Reflection for

learning in doctoral training: writing groups, academic writing proficiency and reflective

practice. Reflective Practice, 18(4), 463–473. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2017.1307725

Sali̇ M, H. (2021, January 30). Reflective writing in the pandemic period: A university

students’ reflection. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/jetol/issue/60134/834129

Andrade, H., & Valtcheva, A. V. (2009). Promoting Learning and Achievement Through

Self-Assessment. Theory Into Practice, 48(1), 12–19.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00405840802577544

Denton, D. W. (2011). Reflection and Learning: Characteristics, obstacles, and implications.

Educational Philosophy and Theory, 43(8), 838–852. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-

5812.2009.00600.x

Driscoll, D., & Vetter, M. (2020). Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing Volume 3. Parlor

Press LLC.