Reflective Writing (Essay Sample)

REFLECTIVE WRITING Name of Student Course Name of Professor University Date Reflective Writing Introduction Reflective writing is defined as the process of documenting insights from learning experiences through a process of description, interpretation and outlining defined outcomes (Williams et al., 2020). This documentation can be subjected to aspects of thoughts, opinions, new information or experiences by the individual (Sani et al., 2018). Reflective writing further involves a critical evaluation of personal insights into the issue and the reasons behind different actions taken (Anne, 2010). Ultimately, an individual has to consider their knowledge on the issue before presenting it based on their understanding to ensure they can add meaningful value by assessing the important connections created in the description, interpretation and outcomes. Attributes of Reflective Writing Reflective writing involves the analysis of an event or experience regarding issues surrounding what and why it happened. In this case, a simple description is not sufficient since a deeper understanding is required to explore the reasons behind it (Williams et al., 2020). Additionally, reflective writing can further adopt a strength, weakness, opportunity and threat (SWOT) criteria when outlining observations. Consequently, an individual can therefore provide constructive criticism thus adding beneficial information to the documented information. More so, reflective writing further provides individuals with the opportunity to develop and reinforce their writing capabilities (Shum et al., 2017). As a result, gaining the appropriate knowledge in reflective writing equips individuals with the requisite capability to explore and communicate thoughts and feelings in an academic setting. Theories in Reflective Writing The four-step model for reflection involving the aspects of description, analysis, theorizing, and acting (DATA), emphasizes the finding connections or meanings from theory as part of the process (Bolton & Delderfield, 2018). These are important because they can provide an indication of valuable areas to be considered first. Apart from that, the cyclical theory of learning from experience where the first step involves gaining concrete experience, followed by observation and experience, the formation of abstract concepts, the testing in new situations and ultimately the return to practice. Lastly, the Gibbs’s model envisions an individual to examine a single event, its consequences and possible development (Bolton & Delderfield, 2018). Issues such as description, feelings, knowledge and values issues are examined leading to the pursuit of alternative possibilities for action considered. These theories point to the procedural mode of applying reflective writing starting from the single point of descriptions. Further examination of a specific event to create the scope of the reflection is also reiterated in all the theories above. Comparison with other Types of Writing When compared to other forms of academic writing, reflective writing encompasses personal thought sand opinions. This means that the first-person engagement is a common aspect in reflective writing, which tries to provide thoughts, feelings and perspectives about an event or experience by an individual (University of Cumbria, 2016). Apart from that, other forms of academic writing are based on literature gathered from different sources. As a result, an individual is more concerned about analysing and summarising such literature to provide a solid argument based on them which requires the writing in third-person to show the views ...