We all reflect on things and events around us in our day to day
lives, but perhaps not all of our reflections are as deep and analytical to
bring us a lasting lesson. ‘It is not sufficient to have an experience
in order to learn. Without reflecting on this experience, it may quickly be
forgotten, or its learning potential lost.’ (Gibbs, 1988,p9).https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/as/libraryservices/library/asc/documents/public/Short-Guide-Reflective-Writing.pdf.
That is why in this blog I want to talk about reflective writing and its role in our
personal and professional growth if used consciously.
Reflection is a mental process. It is contemplation or a long consideration. Thoughts or opinions that come to you while you are reflecting are called reflections. Unlike a reflection in a mirror, it is an interpretation of what is going on between learning and thinking https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/for-students-and-parents/what-is-reflective-writing.html. The theory says that for reflections to be critical and help you to move towards progress they must make connections between 1. what happened, 2. what you learned, 3. how you will apply learning in the future https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGyjF9Ngd8Y. I personally see reflection as a process of stepping back from the event that takes place and looking at it from a different perspective. I would say it is a more impersonal perspective and because of not being emotionally involved in certain situations it gives you the ability to look at it more rationally. Can you imagine a situation in your life when you did not make the best decisions because of being too emotionally attached to it? I certainly can and after looking back I can see that I could have made so many better choices if I only waited a moment until I am able to make rational decisions. In fact, I can think of plenty of situations when I could have made so much better choices. Luckily, now I know how the reflection works.
Something I really like about the reflection is that it helps us to discover our weak and strong sides. Knowing these sides is a strong tool if you are ready to make further steps to improve. On top of that when reflecting we often uncover our assumptions. Possibly the ones we never know exist. So now, when understanding our assumptions, we can understand better why we act in one or other way in different situations. In other words it means that reflection gives to us one essential ingredient to experience personal growth which is self-awareness. Have you heard the stories about people who want to change the world but never themselves? So, if you are reflecting, you are someone who is changing yourself firstly and well done for that.
Of course, our reflections might differ from other people’s reflections, but do not worry about that, as we all see things differently, we will have different lessons learned from each situation. It is important to keep in mind that we often learn the most when things go wrong, so do not give up and keep reflecting. Personal growth certainly is one interesting journey, so take your time and enjoy it!
Kristinekk 
I really like reflective writing as it is making me think about what I’ve done right, what I’ve done wrong and how I can improve. Knowing what you can do differently and how you can do better is very important, it makes you more mature and more aware of your acts and their consequences.
Great post!
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Great blog, it would benefit hugely from proper hyperlinking. This cleans away the long links into just a few words. There are a lot of good theories on reflection, I’m using Atkins and Murphy’s 1993 model myself.
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Hi! I liked how you explained your point of view for reflecting. So far I’ve been practicing almost every day because I’m doing my assignments and I really like the idea of expressing yourself though writing. I think that everyone meet difficulties but it’s normal because it’s something new and with practice everyone will manage.
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Excellent work Kristine, I do enjoy reading your blog, what stand out the most for me is that you recognise people opinion and how we see things differently, one thing I have learned is that if something does not make sense to you it can make sense to someone else, also making rational decision is very important, keep up the good work.
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Great blog . Really enjoy reading it .
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I felt a bit confused about reflecting writing when Lysney first explained it us, I thought it was something really difficult and complex that I would only use in my assessments. But as you said, I think we all reflect on things on our daily basis with out knowing it. It’s about thinking how we’ve act, what we could have done differently, what we felt and how we could improve it in a future. I loved how you explained the theory, using diferent theorists and examples. This made the understanding much easier. Great job Kristine!
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They say “use it or lose it” (knowledge).
Reflective writing also helps to hear your own thoughts and even argue against them.
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