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Reflection Toolkit

Language of academic reflections

Guidance on the language of academic reflections.

Private reflections only have to make sense to you and therefore the language and structure can take any form you like. In contrast, academic reflections have certain characteristics; knowing these will help you write good academic reflections. While this page is specifically focused on academic reflective writing, a lot of the advice is true for private reflections as well.

General language points

  • Use ‘I’ and other personal pronouns (reflections are centred around you)
  • Use subject-specific language and terminology (use the same language as you would in an essay, just centred around your own experiences)
  • Use succinct and formal language

Language points for specific aspects of reflective writing

A summary of key points to remember at different stages of reflection:

  • When describing
  • When writing about thoughts and feelings
  • When analysing/interpreting/evaluating
  • When concluding and planning

Language points when describing

  • Use clear and precise language. For example, use ‘working on a group project on […] with three other students’ rather than ‘working on a group project with some other students’
  • Be as objective as possible. For example ‘The younger children were hanging out at the corner’ rather than ‘the younger children were barricading the corner’ – It may have felt that way but was that actually their intent? If it felt that way, the feelings should be expressed explicitly.
  • Be concise.
  • Almost always use the past tense.
  • Use temporal indicators and transitional language. For example: yesterday, last week, then, subsequently, lastly, etc.

Helpful phrases are ‘I saw…’, ‘I noticed…’, ‘I/they said…’, ‘I had…’, ‘I/they did…’, ‘I heard…’

Language points when writing about thoughts and feelings

  • Use thinking and sensing verbs. For example, ‘I believe…’, ‘I think…’, ‘My opinion is…’, ‘I feel…’, ‘I understand…’, ‘I was happy/angry/…’ etc.
  • Be cautious not to use ‘feel’ to hide judgement or opinion. For instance ‘I felt they were wrong’, or ‘my feeling was that it was a good choice’.  Both of these sentences use feelings as a way to pass judgement. The latter of the examples can be rewritten as ‘I felt confident while making the choice, because…’
  • Be aware of tense. Sometimes you are remembering feelings you had at the time of the event, which should be written in past tense.  Sometimes you are talking about current and persistent feelings. Use present tense for feelings you have at the time of writing.
  • Feelings should be processed. For academic reflection you should not write in the heat of the moment. The feelings should be presented to aid the understanding of the situation and help you to make connections – this is not a place to rant.

Language points when analysing/interpreting/evaluating

  • Use comparative/contrasting language. For instance, ‘similarly’, ‘unlike’, ‘just as’, ‘in contrast to’.
  • Use causal language to show connects and conclusion. For instance, ‘as a result of’, ‘due to’, ‘therefore’, ‘because’.

Below is a downloadable flow diagram of useful language for creating the analysing, interpreting, and evaluating part of your academic reflections . It is important to note that just because you use the diagrams, you will not automatically produce good reflections and get a good mark. The diagrams can serve as inspiration and support.

reflective writing useful phrases

Language points when concluding and planning

  • Sum up/highlight the most crucial learning outcomes.
  • Use future-tense verbs to indicate future actions or practice. For instance: ‘intend to’, ‘will’, ‘may’, ‘should’, etc.

Below is a downloadable flow diagram of useful language for creating the conclusion and planning aspect of your academic reflections . It is important to note that just because you use the diagrams, you will not automatically produce good reflections and get a good mark. The diagrams can serve as inspiration and support.

References:

Ryan, M., 2011. Improving reflective writing in higher education: a social semiotic perspective. Teaching in Higher Education, 16(1), 99-111.

University of Portsmouth, Department for Curriculum and Quality Enhancement (date unavailable). Reflective Writing: a basic introduction [online].  Portsmouth: University of Portsmouth.

Queen Margaret University, Effective Learning Service (date unavailable).  Reflection. [online].  Edinburgh: Queen Margaret University.

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Reflective practice toolkit, introduction.

  • What is reflective practice?
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reflective writing useful phrases

Many people worry that they will be unable to write reflectively but chances are that you do it more than you think!  It's a common task during both work and study from appraisal and planning documents to recording observations at the end of a module. The following pages will guide you through some simple techniques for reflective writing as well as how to avoid some of the most common pitfalls.

What is reflective writing?

Writing reflectively involves critically analysing an experience, recording how it has impacted you and what you plan to do with your new knowledge. It can help you to reflect on a deeper level as the act of getting something down on paper often helps people to think an experience through.

The key to reflective writing is to be analytical rather than descriptive. Always ask why rather than just describing what happened during an experience. 

Remember...

Reflective writing is...

  • Written in the first person
  • Free flowing
  • A tool to challenge assumptions
  • A time investment

Reflective writing isn't...

  • Written in the third person
  • Descriptive
  • What you think you should write
  • A tool to ignore assumptions
  • A waste of time

Adapted from The Reflective Practice Guide: an Interdisciplinary Approach / Barbara Bassot.

You can learn more about reflective writing in this handy video from Hull University:

Created by SkillsTeamHullUni

  • Hull reflective writing video transcript (Word)
  • Hull reflective writing video transcript (PDF)

Where might you use reflective writing?

You can use reflective writing in many aspects of your work, study and even everyday life. The activities below all contain some aspect of reflective writing and are common to many people:

1. Job applications

Both preparing for and writing job applications contain elements of reflective writing. You need to think about the experience that makes you suitable for a role and this means reflection on the skills you have developed and how they might relate to the specification. When writing your application you need to expand on what you have done and explain what you have learnt and why this matters - key elements of reflective writing.

2. Appraisals

In a similar way, undertaking an appraisal is a good time to reflect back on a certain period of time in post. You might be asked to record what went well and why as well as identifying areas for improvement.

3. Written feedback

If you have made a purchase recently you are likely to have received a request for feedback. When you leave a review of a product or service online then you need to think about the pros and cons. You may also have gone into detail about why the product was so good or the service was so bad so other people know how to judge it in the future.

4. Blogging

Blogs are a place to offer your own opinion and can be a really good place to do some reflective writing. Blogger often take a view on something and use their site as a way to share it with the world. They will often talk about the reasons why they like/dislike something - classic reflective writing.

5. During the research process

When researchers are working on a project they will often think about they way they are working and how it could be improved as well as considering different approaches to achieve their research goal. They will often record this in some way such as in a lab book and this questioning approach is a form of reflective writing.

6. In academic writing

Many students will be asked to include some form of reflection in an academic assignment, for example when relating a topic to their real life circumstances. They are also often asked to think about their opinion on or reactions to texts and other research and write about this in their own work.

Think about ... When you reflect

Think about all of the activities you do on a daily basis. Do any of these contain elements of reflective writing? Make a list of all the times you have written something reflective over the last month - it will be longer than you think!

Reflective terminology

A common mistake people make when writing reflectively is to focus too much on describing their experience. Think about some of the phrases below and try to use them when writing reflectively to help you avoid this problem:

  • The most important thing was...
  • At the time I felt...
  • This was likely due to...
  • After thinking about it...
  • I learned that...
  • I need to know more about...
  • Later I realised...
  • This was because...
  • This was like...
  • I wonder what would happen if...
  • I'm still unsure about...
  • My next steps are...

Always try and write in the first person when writing reflectively. This will help you to focus on your thoughts/feelings/experiences rather than just a description of the experience.

Using reflective writing in your academic work

Man writing in a notebook at a desk with laptop

Many courses will also expect you to reflect on your own learning as you progress through a particular programme. You may be asked to keep some type of reflective journal or diary. Depending on the needs of your course this may or may not be assessed but if you are using one it's important to write reflectively. This can help you to look back and see how your thinking has evolved over time - something useful for job applications in the future. Students at all levels may also be asked to reflect on the work of others, either as part of a group project or through peer review of their work. This requires a slightly different approach to reflection as you are not focused on your own work but again this is a useful skill to develop for the workplace.

You can see some useful examples of reflective writing in academia from Monash University ,  UNSW (the University of New South Wales) and Sage . Several of these examples also include feedback from tutors which you can use to inform your own work.

Laptop/computer/broswer/research by StockSnap via Pixabay licenced under CC0.

Now that you have a better idea of what reflective writing is and how it can be used it's time to practice some techniques.

This page has given you an understanding of what reflective writing is and where it can be used in both work and study. Now that you have a better idea of how reflective writing works the next two pages will guide you through some activities you can use to get started.

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Reflective writing is...

Reflective writing is more personal than other kinds of academic writing. You could draw on your initial feelings and reactions, weaknesses and strengths, and errors and successes. It is also often acceptable to  refer to yourself in the first person, e.g. "I felt..." or "I observed..."

Similar to your other assignments, your reflection should be clearly structured into paragraphs with accurate sentences and using the correct referencing style.

Analytical and Critical 

Whilst you are drawing on personal observations, feelings or experiences, the assignment should not merely be descriptive.  You will need to use evidence and examples to support your reflections and you will need to undertake analysis and evaluation.

Concerning theory as well as practice

It is common to  draw on (and make reference to) academic theories/arguments  to make sense of what happened, to consider how approaches may differ or to consider recommendations for future actions.

Academic essays vs Reflective writing

Reflective thinking and writing video.

This video will help you to explore reflective thinking and writing more deeply and will provide you with tips and strategies to write more thoughtful reflections. You will also have the opportunity to practise reflecting in two reflective activities.

Link to video on Reflective Writing  

  • Reflective thinking and Writing PowerPoint slides
  • Feedback form Please give us feedback on our videos!

Connecting reflection with theory

Usually you will be expected in your reflective assignment to  draw links between theory and practice . 

What does it mean?

When analysing the event, consider the theories or academic evidence you have come across in your modules

Why do we link theory and practice?

  • we need to question and analyse the events, so the relevant theory in our fields are a good starting point for that;
  • we want to improve our practice. How about using suggestions and tools coming from the theories? After all, that's why you are studying for your degree!
  • we want to improve - or discard - theories that do not work in practice.

How do we link theory and practice?

Think of the following questions: 

  • Can you see any connections between what you experienced and the theories, concepts or models learnt?
  • Are your observations consistent with what those theories, concepts, or models suggest?
  • How does your experience in practice help you to understand the theories, concepts or models?
  • Does your experience support or in fact negate those theories?
  • If your experience is quite different, use this for critical analysis and try to identify why it is different to the theories and what this therefore means in a practical setting.

Describe - Interpret - Outcome

You can try this structure to effectively incorporate theory into your reflection: 

Describe: what happened?

Interpret: analyse why this happened, also using theory 

Outcome: what is the conclusion that can be drawn from this event? What will you do in the future if a similar event occurs? 

reflective writing useful phrases

Go to the  Critical Thinking and Writing Libguide  for advice on how to be an active reader and effectively incorporate supporting evidence into your assignments. 

The language of reflection

Within reflective assignments, you will often need to evaluate activities/events. Here are some useful phrases that may prompt your reflection:

Reflective writing, also, tends to use  –

Modal verbs  such as ‘could have’, ‘might have’, ‘would have’

Conditional phrases  (if…)

Language of caution  – possibility (e.g. it is possible/perhaps); probability (e.g. it is likely/probable), frequency (e.g. often/rare/usual)

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Reflective writing

Advice on how to write reflectively.

Reflective writing gives you an opportunity to think deeply about something you've learned or an experience you've had.

Watch the video below for a quick introduction to reflective writing. The video includes an example of reflecting on practice, but the approach is equally useful when reflecting on theory.

Video tutorial

Reflecting on practice.

Reflective writing may ask you to consider the link between theory (what you study, discuss and read about at university) and practice (what you do, the application of the theory in the workplace). Reflection on practical contexts enables you to explore the relationship between theory and practice in an authentic and concrete way.

"Yesterday’s class brought Vygotsky’s concepts of scaffolding and the ‘significant other’ into sharp focus for me. Without instruction, ‘Emily’ was able to scaffold ‘Emma’s’ solving of the Keystone Puzzle without directing her or supplying her with the answer – she acted as the ‘significant other’. It really highlighted for me the fact that I do not always have to directly be involved in students’ learning, and that students have learning and knowledge they bring to the classroom context."

What this example does well:

  • Links theory to practice.
  • Clearly states where learning occurred.

De-identify actual people you have observed or dealt with on placement or work experience using pseudonyms (other names, job titles, initials or even numbers so that real identities are protected). E.g.:

  • "It was great to observe ‘Lee’ try to..."
  • "Our team leader’s response was positive…"
  • "I observed G’s reaction to this..."
  • "Student Four felt that this was…"

"The lectures and tutes this semester have broadened my views of what sustainability is and the different scales by which we can view it . I learned that sustainability is not only something that differs at an individual level in terms of how we approach it ourselves, but also how it differs in scale. We might look at what we do individually to act sustainably, such as in what and how we recycle, but when we think about how a city or state does this, we need to consider pollution, rubbish collection and a range of other systems that point to sustainability on a much larger scale."

  • Clearly states where learning occurred
  • Elaborates on key issues
  • Gives examples.

"On the ward rounds yesterday, I felt Mr G’s mobility had noticeably improved from last week. This may be due to the altered physio program we have implemented and it allowed me to experience a real feeling of satisfaction that I had made a real difference."

Action verbs are usually expressing feelings and thoughts in reflective writing, e.g. felt, thought, considered, experienced, wondered, remembered, discovered, learned.

Reflecting on theory

Some reflection tasks are purely theoretical, where you are asked to consider texts you have read, or ideas you may have discussed in tutorials, and reflect on them.

"Comparing the approaches of Mayr and Ulich (2009) and Laevers (2005) to what 'wellbeing' means for the early childhood setting was very illustrative in that I discovered they seek to do similar things but within different frameworks. Analysing the two constructs highlighted that the detail in Mayr and Ulich’s framework provided a much richer framework in defining and measuring wellbeing than Laevers’ does."

  • References correctly.
  • Considers what the theory has shown.

Using the DIEP model

When writing reflectively for the first time, it’s not uncommon to produce a summary or description of the event or experience without deeply reflecting on it.

Reflective writing needs to go beyond simply summarising what happened. Your reader needs to gain an insight into what the experience meant to you, how you feel about it, how it connects to other things you’ve experienced or studied and what you plan to do in response.

To be sure you don’t leave out any of these critical elements of reflection, consider writing using the describe, interpret, evaluate, plan (DIEP) model to help.

DIEP approach adapted from: RMIT Study and Learning Centre. (2010). Reflective writing: DIEP .

You can and should refer to yourself in your reflection using personal pronouns, e.g. I, we...

Begin by describing the situation. What did you see, hear, do, read or see? Be as brief and objective as possible.

Starting phrases:

  • The most interesting insight from my lecture this week is ...
  • A significant issue I had not realised until now is ...
  • I now realise (understand ...) that ...

Interpret what happened. What new insights have you gained? How does this experience connect with other things you’ve learned or experienced before? How did the experience make you feel?

  • This experience idea is relevant to me because…
  • This reminded me of the idea that…
  • A possible implication could be…

Make a judgement. How useful was this experience for you? What is your opinion? Why do you think this might be?

  • Having realised the importance of ..., I can now understand…
  • This experience will change the way I view ...
  • Being able to see… in this way is extremely valuable for me because…

Comment on how this experience might inform your future thoughts or actions. How could you apply what you’ve learned from the experience in the future? How might the experience relate to your degree or future professional life?

  • This is beneficial to me as my future career requires…  
  • In order to further develop this skill…I will…
  • Next time…I will…by…

[TS] The most surprising insight I have gained so far is how important recording and distributing succinct and accurate information is to the success of the project. [D] In the first week of my internship, I was asked to record some meeting minutes and distribute them to the project team and the client. [I] I initially felt offended as the task appeared trivial to me; it was something we rarely did during team meetings at university. [E] However, after speaking with my industry supervisor, I began to understand how important it is to keep a clear record of the meaningful points raised during meetings. [I] Making accurate notes of the key outcomes was harder than I expected as the rest of my team was relying on my minutes to know what they needed to do. [D]After reviewing my minutes, my supervisor agreed that they were sufficiently clear and accurate. [I] I’ve realised that poorly recorded minutes could have resulted in missed deadlines, miscommunication and costly implications for our contract. [P] To improve my ability to take notes I plan on reviewing the minutes made by my colleagues for other meetings and to investigate note taking techniques such as mind mapping (Trevelyan, 2014). Mind mapping uses links and annotations to record relationships between words and indicate significance. [I] This will help me to continue to develop my skills in this area and develop my ability to “prepare high quality engineering documents” as part of attaining the Stage 1 competency of written communication (Engineers Australia, 2018).

Trevelyan, J. P. (2014).  The making of an expert engineer: How to have a wonderful career creating a better world and spending lots of money belonging to other people . Leiden, The Netherlands: CRC Press/Balkema.

Ask yourself:

  • Have I based my reflection on a specific incident, activity, idea or example?
  • Have I sufficiently critically analysed the situation?
  • Have I integrated theory in a meaningful way? Can I elaborate further to demonstrate the relevance of the idea and my understanding of it?
  • Are my plans specific enough? Can I be more concrete?

When editing your draft, try colour coding each element of DIEP to be sure you have a balance of elements.

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Reflective Practice & Reflective Writing

  • What is Reflective Practice
  • Barriers to Reflecting
  • Models of Reflection
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Getting Started with Reflective Writing

Unsure how to get started with reflective writing.

Or have questions about any of the resources in this guide..

Please Contact:

Róisín Guilfoyle

Julie DeFoubert

Further Resources

  • The Reflection Toolkit  provides a useful guide for those engaged in reflection, or facilitating reflection in others.
  • A Short Guide to Reflective Writing  outlines what reflective practice is, why we reflect and how to do it.
  • A website for all types of academic writing, including reflective writing.  Includes some examples of reflective writing.
  • The Structure of Refle ctive Writing is an activity based website designed to familiarise you with the reflective process and get your started.
  • Academic Phrasebank is a useful resources for academic writing. Providing phrases and general academic vocabulary.  For example, how to discuss results,introduce quotes and transitional words and sentences.
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  • Last Updated: Sep 7, 2023 4:13 PM
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reflective writing useful phrases

Reflective Writing

“Reflection is a mode of inquiry: a deliberate way of systematically recalling writing experiences to reframe the current writing situation. It allows writers to recognize what they are doing in that particular moment (cognition), as well as to consider why they made the rhetorical choices they did (metacognition). The combination of cognition and metacognition, accessed through reflection, helps writers begin assessing themselves as writers, recognizing and building on their prior knowledge about writing.” —Kara Taczak, “Reflection is Critical for Writers’ Development” (78) Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies

Reflective writing assignments are common across the university. You may be asked to reflect on your learning, your writing, your personal experiences in relation to a theory or text, or your personal experiences in an internship or other type of experience in relation to course readings. These are assignments, as Kara Taczak notes, that offer opportunities to solidify knowledge about our experiences and how they might relate to others’ experiences and existing research. Moreso, reflection can lead to more informed understandings of our own experiences and course content in ways that may make that knowledge more useful in future classes and practice. However, often  reflective writing  is not taught as an explicit writing skill and can be problematically treated as a less rigorous form of writing. Below are some broad writing tips that can help not only your reflective writing to be stronger, but also the reflective inquiry to be more meaningful.

Collect relevant evidence before you start writing.

Yes–we recommend using  evidence  in reflective writing! When connecting personal experiences to the readings, that means selecting quotes from the readings and then coming up with specific moments in your life that relate to those quotes. When reflecting on learning or growth, that might mean locating evidence (quotes) from your previous papers that showcase growth.

Be specific.

It’s really easy to see reflective writing as more informal or casual, and thus, as requiring less attention to details; however, strong reflective writing is very precise and specific. Some examples of statements that are too vague and meaningless include, “I learned a lot about writing this semester.” Or, “I feel like my experiences are exactly as Author B says in this quote.” Neither of these statements tells us much–they are a bit devoid of content. Instead, try to name exactly what you learned about writing or exactly how your experiences are related to the quote. For example, you might reflect, “At the beginning of the semester, unsure of how to summarize a text well, I was just describing the main the idea of the text. However, after learning about Harris’ concept of capturing a writer’s “project,” I believe I have become better at really explaining a text as a whole. Specifically, in my last essay, I was able to provide a fully developed explanation of Author A’s argument and purpose for the essay as well as their materials and methods (that is, how they made the argument). For example, in this quote from my last essay,...”

Focus on a small moment from your experiences.

It’s hard to not want to recap our entire childhood or the full summer before something happened for context when sharing a personal story. However, it’s usually more effective to select a very specific moment in time and try to accurately describe what happened, who was involved, and how it made you feel and react. When writing about a moment, try to place readers there with you–help readers to understand what happened, who was involved, where it happened, why it happened, and what the results were. If this is a more creative assignment, you might even include some sensory descriptions to make the moment more of an experience for readers.

Fully explain the quote or focus of each point.

In reflective writing, you are usually asked to share your experiences in relation to something–a perspective in a text, learning about writing, the first-year experience, a summer internship, etc. When introducing this focal point, make sure you fully explain it. That is, explain what you think the quote means and provide a little summary for context. Or, if you’re reflecting on writing skills learned, before you jump to your learning and growth, stop to explain how you understand the writing skill itself–”what is analysis?,” for example. Usually, you want to fully explain the focus, explain your personal experiences with it, and then return to the significance of your experiences.

Use “I” when appropriate.

Often, in high schools, students are taught to abandon the first-person subject altogether in order to avoid over-use. However, reflective writing requires some use of “I.” You can’t talk about your experiences without using “I”! That being said, we’ve saved this advice for the bottom of the list because, as we hope the above tips suggest, there are a lot of important things that likely need explaining in addition to your personal experiences. That means you want to use “I” when appropriate, balancing your use of “I” with your explanation of the theory, quote, or situation you were in, for example.

Reflection conclusions can look forward to the future.

In the conclusion, you may want to ask and answer questions like:

  • What is the significance of my experiences with X?
  • What did I learn from reflecting on my experiences with Y?
  • How might this reflective work inform future decisions?
  • What specific tools or strategies did this activity use that might be employed in the future? When and why?

Write the reflection introduction last.

We always recommend writing introductions after you’ve drafted your entire essay–this allows you to actually introduce the specific essay you’ve already written (it’s easier to do and more likely to be strong). Reflective introductions have a little bit more flexibility. You do want to introduce the focus of your essay right away–and you might do that by naming it, by sharing a related anecdote, by naming a previously held idea/belief that has changed through learning happening during this course, or by explaining a reading or class discussion that make you curious about the focus you selected.

A Link to a PDF Handout of this Writing Guide

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Practice-based and reflective learning

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Key features

Using academic evidence, selecting the content, getting the language right, useful links for reflective learning.

  • Reflective writing video tutorial (University of Hull) A clear explanation of things to think about when you are writing reflectively.
  • Study Advice Helping students to achieve study success with guides, video tutorials, seminars and one-to-one advice sessions.
  • Academic Phrasebank Use this site for examples of linking phrases and ways to refer to sources.
  • Academic writing LibGuide Expert guidance on punctuation, grammar, writing style and proof-reading.
  • Essay writing LibGuide Expert guidance on writing essays for university.
  • Report writing LibGuide Expert guidance on planning, structuring and writing reports at university.
  • Dissertations and major projects LibGuide Expert guidance on planning, researching and writing dissertations and major projects.

reflective writing useful phrases

Follow the guidelines for your course. There is likely to be a word limit: you cannot write about everything, so select what will illustrate your discussion best. Remember that most of the marks awarded for your work are likely to be for the reflective insights and not for the description of events, so keep your descriptions brief and to the point.

  • Reflective writing (Study Guide) You can also print off an abridged PDF version of this guide. This is designed to be printed double-sided on A4, then folded to make an A5 guide.

Reflective writing is a way of processing your practice-based experience to produce learning. It has two key features:

1) It integrates theory and practice. Identify important aspects of your reflections and write these using the appropriate theories and academic context to explain and interpret your reflections. Use your experiences to evaluate the theories - can the theories be adapted or modified to be more helpful for your situation?

2) It identifies the learning outcomes of your experience. So you might include a plan for next time identifying what you would do differently, your new understandings or values and unexpected things you have learnt about yourself.

You are aiming to draw out the links between theory and practice. So you will need to keep comparing the two and exploring the relationship between them.

Analyze the event and think about it with reference to a particular theory or academic evidence:

  • Are your observations consistent with the theory, models or published academic evidence?
  • How can the theories help you to interpret your experience?
  • Also consider how your experience in practice helps you to understand the theories. Does it seem to bear out what the theories have predicted?
  • Or is it quite different? If so, can you identify why it's different? (Perhaps you were operating in different circumstances from the original research, for instance.)

Collecting evidence

There are two sources of evidence which need to be used in reflective writing assignments:

1) Your reflections form essential evidence of your experiences. Keep notes on your reflections and the developments that have occurred during the process.

2) Academic evidence from published case studies and theories to show how your ideas and practices have developed in the context of the relevant academic literature.

1)  Write a log of the event. Describe what happened as briefly and objectively as possible. You might be asked to include the log as an appendix to your assignment but it is mostly for your own benefit so that you can recall what occurred accurately.

2)  Reflect . You should reflect upon the experience before you start to write, although additional insights are likely to emerge throughout the writing process. Discuss with a friend or colleague and develop your insight. Keep notes on your thinking.

3)  Select . Identify relevant examples which illustrate the reflective process; choose a few of the most challenging or puzzling incidents and explore why they are interesting and what you have learnt from them.

Start with the points you want to make, then select examples to back up your points, from your two sources of evidence:

reflective writing useful phrases

ii) theories, published case studies, or academic articles.

Use the reflective learning cycle to structure your writing:

  • plan again etc.

This will make sure you cover the whole process and explain not just what happened, but why it happened and what improvements can be made based on your new understanding.

As a large proportion of your reflective account is based on your own experience, it is normally appropriate to use the first person ('I'). However, most assignments containing reflective writing will also include academic writing. You are therefore likely to need to write both in the first person ("I felt…") and in the third person ("Smith (2009) proposes that …"). Identify which parts of your experience you are being asked to reflect on and use this as a guide to when to use the first person. Always check your guidelines if you are not sure. If guidelines are not available then, in your introduction, explain when and why you are going to use "I" in your writing.

You will produce a balance by weaving together sections of 'I thought… 'I felt,…' and the relevant academic theories in the same section or paragraph. This is more effective than having a section which deals with the theory and a separate section dealing with your experiences.

Try to avoid emotive or subjective terms. Even though you are drawing on your experiences (and they may well have been emotional), you are trying to communicate these to your reader in an academic style. This means using descriptions that everyone would understand in the same way. So rather than writing, "The client was very unhappy at the start of the session", it might be better to write, "The client was visibly distressed", or "The client reported that he was very unhappy". This shows that you are aware that the client's understanding of 'unhappiness' may be quite different from yours or your reader's.  

When writing about your reflections use the past tense as you are referring to a particular moment (I felt…). When referring to theory use the present tense as the ideas are still current (Smith proposes that...).

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Introduction to Reflection

There are many ways to produce reflection in writing. Try using these examples to kick-start your reflective writing.

Open each drop-down to see a different reflective writing example and exercise. 

The Six Minute Write (Bolton, 2014)

If you are being asked to write reflectively you may feel that you do not know where to begin. Bolton’s Six Minute Writing exercise is a useful way to help get you started.

Peter has just started a course to train to be a counsellor and his tutor is asking every student to reflect on their learning and the development of their interpersonal skills. Peter is unsure where to start as reflective writing is a new thing for him, so he decides to try the Six Minute Write.

“Well, I’ve never written anything like this before! When I wrote at school I was always told to be really careful – make sure your spelling and grammar are correct, don’t use abbreviations, make it sound formal. This feels quite liberating! But, is it any good? The tutor says ‘Just write what’s in your head’ so here goes.

Today we did our first role play exercises and how scary was that? I always knew that the course would involve this and I do enjoy talking with people, but trying out listening skills and asking open questions is all really difficult. I felt so nervous and forgot what to do. The people I was working with seemed so much better than me – I know I’ve got so much to learn it’s frightening. Will I ever be able to do this? I really don’t know, but I do know I’m going to try.”

Use Bolton’s (2014, p. 136) Six Minute Write exercise to begin any writing exercise, whether academic or reflective, personal or formal.

Here are Bolton’s pointers:

  • Write for six minutes without stopping.
  • Write whatever comes to mind and let your writing flow freely.
  • Keep writing and do not pause to think too much about what you are writing.
  • Do not pause to analyse what you have written, otherwise you will be tempted to write what you think you should write rather than what you want to write.
  • Keep writing even if it does not make much sense to you.
  • Do not worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar or jargon.
  • Allow yourself to write anything.
  • This is your writing and whatever you write is correct because it is yours. Remember, no-one else needs to read what you have written.
  • Stop after six minutes and look at how much you have been able to write.

If we pay attention to how we think, we’ll soon notice that we are often in conversation with ourselves.

We have a kind of internal dialogue as we go about our day, making decisions (“The red top or the blue one?”) observing the world (“Beautiful day. But chilly. Where did I put my gloves?”) and maintaining self-awareness (“Oh goodness, she’s heading this way. You’re nervous? Interesting. Calm down. Be polite.”).

Reflective writing can take the shape of dialogue and be structured as a conversation with different aspects of yourself. We all have multiple identities (child, parent, student, employee, friend etc.) and each aspect of ourselves can take a different perspective on a situation.

Dialogic reflection harnesses these multiple perspectives to explore and inquire about ourselves in a certain situation, often when the purpose or outcome is unknown.

So now they’re encouraging us to try different types of reflective writing. I like the idea of this dialogical writing thing – feels like having a conversation with myself, so I think I’ll have a go. Not sure how it will pan out but I’m going to imagine talking with my organised self (OS) and my critical self (CS) and see how it goes.

OS – so doing really well at the moment, feeling pretty much on track with things and definitely on top.

CS – so how long do you think that will last? I know what you’re like! You always do this – think things are ok, sit back, relax and then get behind.

OS – do I? Umm… suppose you might be right…

CS – what do you mean, might be right?

OS – ok, you are right!

CS – and we know where this ends up, don’t we? Panic mode!

OS – and I need to avoid that. So, let’s think about what I can do. Look at the coming week and month and start planning!

Focus on an issue or concern that you have relating to your studies or practice. Imagine you are having a conversation with a friend about the issue because you want to get their perspective. Write a dialogue with “them” that explores your concerns. Raise any questions you’d like answered.

If need be, write another dialogue on the same issue with another “friend” to explore another perspective.

Once you’ve finished, re-read your conversation. Did your “friend” offer any new perspectives on the issue that hadn’t occurred to you before you began writing? Are any of these worth reflecting on further?

Driscoll (2007) What?, So what?, Now what?

Driscoll’s (2007) ‘What?’ model is a straightforward reflective cycle of 3 parts. Evolved from Borton’s (1970) Developmental Framework, it has 3 stages that ask us to consider What?, So what?, and Now what?

Step 1 – What? – involves writing a description of an event or an experience.

Step 2 – So what? – here we reflect on the event or experience and start to analyse selected aspects of it, considering why they were important and how they impacted the whole.

Step 3 – Now what? – a range of proposed action points are devised following the experience, focusing on what has been learned.

Dan is training to be a nurse in elderly care and wants to reflect on the experiences he is gaining on his placement. Dan decides to use the questions in Driscoll’s model to help him to begin to analyse what he is learning.

Step 1 – What?

Today I was observing an experienced community nurse change a dressing on a man’s leg that is badly infected. The man was nervous and became very distressed – he has had dressings replaced regularly and knows that the process is very painful. I felt awful about causing him more pain. The community nurse seemed very calm and spoke to him in a reassuring way. She asked him if he would like some pain relief and he said yes. She sat with him for ten minutes to make sure that the pain relief was working and spoke with him about his grandson’s visit that he was looking forward to at the weekend. This definitely seemed to put him at ease.

Step 2 – So what?

She made it all look so easy. How would I cope if I had to do this? As a nurse I am meant to relieve pain not cause it. She focused on the patient while I focused on myself.

Step 3 – Now what?

I learned a lot from the community nurse. She was very caring but firm. She knew the man’s dressing needed to be changed but did everything in a very calm and kind way. She distracted him and helped him to relax. These are all strategies that I can try in the future if I have to do this. Nursing isn’t only about my clinical skills; my interpersonal skills are vital, as is compassion and understanding for my patients.

Driscoll has formulated some useful questions to help us to use the model effectively, including:

Step 1 – What? – how did I react and what did others do who were involved?

Step 2 – So what? – do I feel troubled in any way, and if so, how?

Step 3 – Now what? – how can I change my approach if I face a similar situation again and what are my main learning points? What different options are there for me?

Write some notes about an experience you have had recently where you feel you have learned a lot. Can you use the stages of Driscoll’s cycle to develop this into a short reflection?

Note: Driscoll’s model is useful when you are new to professional practice and it seems like there is so much to learn. In particular, the question ‘Do I feel troubled in any way?’ is useful as our feelings can act as a prompt to deeper thinking. However, after a while you may find that you want to explore at a more complex level and move on to other approaches. It’s important to allow space for your reflective skills to develop in the same way as your professional skills.

Some small scale reflective questions :

  • What were 3 things that went well today/this week? How do you know?
  • What was a situation today/this week where I could have done better? How?
  • What was your biggest challenge today/this week? How did you overcome it?
  • What was the predominant feeling you had today/this week? Why?
  • What made you happy/sad/frustrated/angry/etc today/this week? Can you find some way of having more or less of the identified aspects?

Some larger scale reflective questions :

  • Am I optimising my time, energy and performance according to my values, goals and objectives?
  • Am I making the most of opportunities available to me? Am I working effectively within any fixed restrictions? Where there are barriers, am I identifying them and tackling or circumventing them where possible?
  • Do my values, goals and objectives still align with each other? Is this reflected in how I am spending my time?
  • Are my goals still the right ones to deliver on my values? Should/Can I refine or revise the strategies I am using for fulfilling my values and goals?

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Reflective practice - tips and resources

Introduction.

  • Everyday reflection
  • Models of reflection
  • Barriers to reflection
  • Free writing
  • Reflective writing exercise
  • Further reading

Many people worry that they will be unable to write reflectively but chances are that you do it more than you think!  It's a common task during both work and study from appraisal and planning documents to recording observations at the end of a module. The following pages will guide you through some simple techniques for reflective writing as well as how to avoid some of the most common pitfalls.

What is reflective writing?

Writing reflectively involves critically analysing an experience, recording how it has impacted you and what you plan to do with your new knowledge. It can help you to reflect on a deeper level as the act of getting something down on paper often helps people to think an experience through.

The key to reflective writing is to be analytical rather than descriptive. Always ask why rather than just describing what happened during an experience. 

Remember...

You can learn more about reflective writing in this handy video from Hull University:

Created by SkillsTeamHullUni

Where might you use reflective writing?

You can use reflective writing in many aspects of your work, study and even everyday life. The activities below all contain some aspect of reflective writing and are common to many people:

Think about ... When you reflect

Think about all of the activities you do on a daily basis. Do any of these contain elements of reflective writing? Make a list of all the times you have written something reflective over the last month - it will be longer than you think!

Reflective terminology

A common mistake people make when writing reflectively is to focus too much on describing their experience. Think about some of the phrases below and try to use them when writing reflectively to help you avoid this problem:

Always try and write in the first person when writing reflectively. This will help you to focus on your thoughts/feelings/experiences rather than just a description of the experience.

Using reflective writing in your academic work

Many courses will also expect you to reflect on your own learning as you progress through a particular programme. You may be asked to keep some type of reflective journal or diary. Depending on the needs of your course this may or may not be assessed but if you are using one it's important to write reflectively. This can help you to look back and see how your thinking has evolved over time - something useful for job applications in the future. Students at all levels may also be asked to reflect on the work of others, either as part of a group project or through peer review of their work. This requires a slightly different approach to reflection as you are not focused on your own work but again this is a useful skill to develop for the workplace.

You can see some useful examples of reflective writing in academia from California State University Channel Islands , Monash University ,  UNSW and Sage . Several of these examples also include feedback from tutors which you can use to inform your own work.

Laptop/computer/broswer/research by StockSnap via Pixabay licenced under CC0.

Now that you have a better idea of what reflective writing is and how it can be used it's time to practice some techniques.

This page has given you an understanding of what reflective writing is and where it can be used in both work and study. Now that you have a better idea of how reflective writing works the next two pages will guide you through some activities you can use to get started.

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3 Reflective writing

In the previous sections we introduced a model and framework to help you structure your reflective thinking and reflective learning. Developing your reflective writing skills will help to ensure that your reflection leads to effective learning.

Reflective writing will help you to clarify, develop and demonstrate (to yourself as well as others) the connections between your prior knowledge and experience (theory and practice), your new learning, the rationale for your learning and future practice, and identify what you have yet to learn. Reflecting on your successes is a basis for successful practice, while reflecting on mistakes or problems can help you avoid repeating them or help to find an appropriate solution. This forms the basis of personal and professional development planning (continuing professional development or CPD). Do bear in mind that reflective writing is explorative in nature; it includes description (What? When? Who?), and analysis (How? Why? What if?), and can also result in more questions than answers. Figures 2 and 3 provide words and phrases that you may find useful in your reflective writing.

A visual representation of interpretation and analysis in reflective writing

This figure shows a visual representation of interpretation and analysis in reflective writing.

A visual representation of outcome and synthesis

This figure shows a visual representation of outcome and synthesis.

Previous

Helpful phrases for reflective writing

Helpful phrases for reflective writing The following are a few suggestions for words and phrases that might be useful in reflective writing. Using any of these words and phrases will help you to describe or analyse an event or experience for your assignment. The phrases are set out according to a three-part structure for a reflective writing piece: Description, Interpretation & Outcome. This is just a suggested structured approach to reflective writing. Always check your assignment marking guide for your lecturer’s requirements. 1. Description (the short bit): What happened? What is being examined? When describing the specific event or experience, there is a range of possible words and phrases you can use. But remember that when describing an idea, for example a theory or model, it is usually best to use the present tense e.g. ‘Social interdependence theory recognises…’ (not ‘recognised’). Events or experiences are nearly always described using the past tense. 2. Interpretation (probably the most important bit): What is most important / interesting / useful / relevant about the object, event or idea? How can it be explained e.g. with theory? How is it similar to and different from others?

___________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Writing Skills November, 2015 3. Outcome: What have I learned from this? What does this mean for my future responses?

______________________________________________________________ This means that… This makes me feel… ____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________ As a next step, I need to… Text extracted from: University of Portsmouth (2015). Reflective writing: A basic introduction. Retrieved from http://www.port.ac.uk/media /contacts-and-departments/student-support-services/ask/downloads/ Reflective-writing—a-basic-intro.pdf Writing Skills November, 2015

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  1. 50 Best Reflective Essay Examples (+Topic Samples) ᐅ TemplateLab

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  2. 50 Best Reflective Essay Examples (+Topic Samples) ᐅ TemplateLab

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  3. 50 Best Reflective Essay Examples (+Topic Samples) ᐅ TemplateLab

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  4. How To Write A Reflective Essay About Yourself / 8 Tips For Writing A

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VIDEO

  1. Reflective writing tip

  2. LWLTC

  3. Reflective Writing

  4. Discuss the Value of Reflection as a Tool for Best Education Practices (ECDX5112/LU1/Theme 2/LO2)

  5. Reflective Writing

  6. Write English essay on Self Reflection

COMMENTS

  1. PDF Reflective Writing: Phrases

    Reflective Writing: Phrases Like any genre of writing, reflective writing has a particular form and flavour. Following are some suggestions for phrases that may be useful, set out in a three-part structure: Description, Interpretation & Outcome.

  2. Language of academic reflections

    Helpful phrases are 'I saw…', 'I noticed…', 'I/they said…', 'I had…', 'I/they did…', 'I heard…' Language points when writing about thoughts and feelings Use thinking and sensing verbs. For example, 'I believe…', 'I think…', 'My opinion is…', 'I feel…', 'I understand…', 'I was happy/angry/…' etc.

  3. Reflective writing

    Introduction Many people worry that they will be unable to write reflectively but chances are that you do it more than you think! It's a common task during both work and study from appraisal and planning documents to recording observations at the end of a module.

  4. PDF REFLECTIVE WRITING

    Freewriting This is essential to the reflective writing process, and it can help to develop a deeper more critical type of understanding. In academia, you have to do a lot of structured and edited academic writing, however, when you freewrite you get to forget about all the rules and just write.

  5. PDF REFLECTIVE WRITING

    Types of reflective writing. 1. REFLECTION: when you ask questions about something you would like to better understand, e.g. a problem to solve or an issue to consider. 2. REFLECTIVE PRACTICE: when you reflect on the relationship between practice in your area of study and the theories you are being introduced to. 3.

  6. Reflective Writing

    Formal Similar to your other assignments, your reflection should be clearly structured into paragraphs with accurate sentences and using the correct referencing style. Analytical and Critical Whilst you are drawing on personal observations, feelings or experiences, the assignment should not merely be descriptive.

  7. PDF Reflective Practice Writing Guide

    The following are just a few suggestions for words and phrases that might be useful for prompting reflective writing (adapted from Hampton, 2010). Hampton, M. (2010). Reflective writing: a basic introduction.

  8. Language for reflective writing

    Language for writing academic reflections. An academic reflection is different to a personal reflection as it's likely it will be read by someone else and presented for grading as a part of a module assignment. As academic reflections have to make sense to other people, they need to follow a structure and use language that a reader can follow ...

  9. Reflective writing

    Reflective writing gives you an opportunity to think deeply about something you've learned or an experience you've had. Watch the video below for a quick introduction to reflective writing. The video includes an example of reflecting on practice, but the approach is equally useful when reflecting on theory.

  10. Useful Resources

    Includes some examples of reflective writing. The Structure of Refle ctive Writing is an activity based website designed to familiarise you with the reflective process and get your started. Academic Phrasebank is a useful resources for academic writing. Providing phrases and general academic vocabulary.

  11. PDF Reflective prompts

    Some reflective phrases These are just some starter phrases that might help. General Analysis • The most significant issue arising from this experience was ... • Alternatively this might be due to ... • I feel this situation arose because ... Reflection on self • At the time I felt that ... • Initially I did not question ...

  12. Reflective Writing

    Reflective Writing. "Reflection is a mode of inquiry: a deliberate way of systematically recalling writing experiences to reframe the current writing situation. It allows writers to recognize what they are doing in that particular moment (cognition), as well as to consider why they made the rhetorical choices they did (metacognition).

  13. Reflective writing

    Two good tips: Be selective: Identify challenging or successful parts of the encounter. Reflect deeply on a few significant aspects and learning points. Discuss your reflections with others to deepen your insight, improve your ability to express your ideas and help to explore a range of perspectives. Collecting evidence

  14. PDF Reflective writing: a basic introduction

    Description and problematisation of the event. Cause and effect of the critical event. Do not write too much description at this stage. Explain and critique what happened, what are you trying to resolve here, what you have learnt and how you would move forwards. An example of reflective writing.

  15. Reflective writing: Examples & exercises

    In Conversation: Exercise Writing Using a Reflective Model: Example Writing Using a Reflective Model: Exercise Questions to kick-start reflection Introduction to Reflection

  16. How to Write a Reflective Essay

    1 Choose a tone. Before you begin to write your reflective essay, choose a tone. Because a reflective essay is more personal than an academic essay, you don't need to use a strict, formal tone. You can also use personal pronouns like I and me in your essay because this essay is about your personal experiences.

  17. PDF STUDY Survival Guide

    Survival Guide REFLECTIVE WRITING What is reflective writing? Reflective writing is different from most oth-er types of academic writing because it en-courages you to explore your personal re-sponses to a given topic or situation. Im-portantly, you need to go beyond simply de-scribing course content.

  18. Reflective writing

    Blogging Blogs are a place to offer your own opinion and can be a really good place to do some reflective writing. Blogger often take a view on something and use their site as a way to share it with the world. They will often talk about the reasons why they like/dislike something - classic reflective writing. During the research process

  19. Using Reflective Writing to Deepen Student Learning

    Reflective writing can even be used beyond one's course to integrate and deepen learning across the curriculum when integrated with eportfolios. Regardless of its form or length, reflective writing is most effective when it is integrated into the design of a course, when it supports key learning aims, and when it is intentionally sequenced ...

  20. Descriptive, Analytical, Critical/Evaluative, Reflective Writing Compared

    Descriptive, Analytical, Critical/Evaluative, Reflective Writing Compared . Assignment instructions outline how to address an assignment topic and may indicate the writing style expected. ... Useful words and phrases for each writing style These phrases and words may be helpful to get you started in the appropriate writing style. Also, refer to ...

  21. 10 Academic language

    10 Academic language - useful phrases. The Academic Phrasebank [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. ()] is a valuable online resource developed by John Morley at the University of Manchester to support academic and scientific writing. Phrases and the headings under which they are listed can be used to help you to think about the content and organisation of your own writing.

  22. Succeeding in postgraduate study: Session 7: 3

    3 Reflective writing. ... Figures 2 and 3 provide words and phrases that you may find useful in your reflective writing. Figure 2 Reflective writing: interpretation and analysis (Syed, Scoular and Reaney, 2012) Show description|Hide description. This figure shows a visual representation of interpretation and analysis in reflective writing.

  23. Helpful phrases for reflective writing

    The following are a few suggestions for words and phrases that might be useful in reflective writing. Using any of these words and phrases will help you to describe or analyse an event or experience for your assignment. The phrases are set out according to a three-part structure for a reflective writing piece: Description, Interpretation & Outcome.