REFLECTIVE JOURNAL AS AN
INSRTUMENT FOR
PROFESSIONAL
LEARNING
Professional learning is a complex process consisting
of cognitive, behavioral, relational and emotional
aspects, in which experience is given a prominent
role . Basic characteristic of professionals is their
ability to reflect on their experience and learn from it
Reflective journal provides a platform for
reflecting on experiences pursuing personal as
well as professional development of learners. Its is
a space where they can record and reflect upon
their experiences which can be used to track the
progress theyve made, and to notice the gaps in
their knowledge and skills. It act as an invaluable
means
of
expression,
enlightenment.
communication
and
Reflection
Reflection may be take the form of self
observation to gain insight about the reasons
for ones own thinking and ones own actions
and their consequences- Bergsgaard and Ellis
Reflection is defined as the action of
critically exploring what you are doing,
why you decided to do it, and what its
effects have been. Mertler
Reflection helps students to develop higher
order thinking skills and decision making
capabilities by prompting them to :
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Relate new knowledge to their prior
understanding
Think in both abstract and concrete terms
Apply specific strategy to novel tasks
Understand their on thinking and learning
strategies
Activate efficient decision managing capacity
in their learning episodes
Exhibit professionalism in their practices
Organizational climate of
reflective practices
Open mindedness of communication
Whole
heartedness when engaging in
critical dialogue
Honesty
in analyzing our own behavior
and exploring thoughts
Reflective journals
Reflective Journal writing has been
recognized by educators as an effective
strategy and a formal tool to promote
reflective thinking and learning. Writing
about what we do and what we think and
what we have learnt disciplines us to
became more thoughtful, reflective and
analytic.
While writing in a journal we not only
record what happened or what was
observed,
but
also
develop
new
understanding, and insights and thereby
new hypothesis and new perspectives of the
phenomena.
Reflective journals enable us to create a record
of reflective thought and meaning we are making
while engaging in learning process. If the
journaling is done conscientiously, the reflection
in each learning journal will be unique as each
learner has his own response to any one
experience. Regularly writing up our learning in a
journal has the potential to provide us with a
systematic approach to our development as a
critical, reflective and constructive learner.
The analysis of the existing literature
on reflective journals summarizes
common themes about their use as
learning tools like:
a.
Act as a facilitator of learners moral,
personal, psychological, emotional and
cognitive development.
b.
Journals are the transition from theory to
practice or praxis in learning
c.
Used to facilitate critical reflections
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
Reflective writing helps to remember
something later, its is a record to look back on.
(Holly, 1989)
The act of putting pen to paper engages our
brain
Writing a journal allows us to look at
ourselves, our feelings and our actions in a
different way
Journal writing allows us to clear minds.
Making journaling part of our routine means
that we do actually take time out to reflect on
what might be happening in our practice and
in our lives generally ( Rainer, 2004)
The pedagogical potential of this
technique includes
It reflects the personal reflective background of the
learner in the context of the experience
It
develops student responsibility for learning
It
provides active engagement in reflective process
It
is student centered approach
It
helps to shape the learning organizations as learners
see fit
It
act as learners personal curriculum in a written form
Types of journal to suit
you
There are three type of format that have
been used for journal writing
Contd..
Structured Journals
Structured Journals follows a specific or structured format. It
imposes certain form of constraints in the manner in which it
is written. This aids to obtain reflections in a uniform format
or range of format which makes the comparison objective
and scientific. Students, for their part are able to follow a
template, which serves to provide guidance to students on
approaching and developing journals.( John, 1994)
Unstructured Journals
Unstructured Journals allows the learners to produce
their own format and design the writing accordingly.
This unstructured nature of journals make it difficult to
compare with other formats used by learners resulting
in subjective ascertaining of reflection and learning
Dialogue Journal
Dialogue Journal is used methodologically to train student
expression
and
reflection,
and
was
explored
by
Garmon(1998) and Peyton (1993). Peytons model resembled
a mentor/ mentee relationship requiring a consistent one-toone interface and a dialogue as vehicle for communication.
Station et al. (1998) defined dialogue journals as a method to
encourage the exchange and development of ideas between
two or more writers.
In formal reflective wiring where the learners
reflection work is being exposed and
assessed, its is important to use a framework
for the development of it. There are many
models for reflection.
Gibbs model of reflective cycle( Gibb, 1988) is
one among t hem. An outline of this model gives
an idea of the depth that effective reflection
requires.
Gibbs reflective cycle
Description
What happened? Dont make judgments yet
or try to draw conclusions; simply describe.
Feelings
What were your reactions and feelings?
Again dont move on to analyzing these yet.
Evaluation
What was good or bad about the
experience? Make value judgments.
Analysis
What sense can you make of the situation? Bring
in ideas from outside the experience to help you.
What was really going on?
Were different peoples experiences similar or
different in important ways?
Conclusions
What can be concluded, in a general sense, from
these experiences and the analysis you have
undertaken?
What can be concluded about your own specific,
unique, personal situation or way of working?
Action Plans
What are you going to do differently in this type of
situation next time?
What steps are you going to take o n the basis of
what you have learnt?
SCOPE OF REFLECTIVE JOURNALS
It respects the right of individuals to exercise self
direction and thereby, enhances their ability to exercise
control over their own learning and their own actions.
Reflective
writing is a way of learning and helps to
evaluate their own learning performance as a learner by
engaging in reflective journaling learners are taking an
active role in learning and recognizing our personal
responsibility for life long learning.
Journal writing is a helpful device in providing educators
with a window to make critical judgment of their students
learning.
Contd
Reflective learning journals facilitate critical reflection;
it assists learners in conceptualizing
and re-
conceptualizing abstractions through re configurating, reframing and relating it to practice
Thinking about our learning and writing things down
help to clarify our thoughts and emotions
Use of learning journal facilitate metacogninitive
abilities which
leads to
self inquiry, self managing
learning process and self esteem (Holly (1989), Norton,
Ownes, and Clark (2004)).
