Journals and Reflective Practice
Reviewed and Updated: January 2008
This page has been kept for reference.
It will no longer be updated by ICVET.
Professional adult educators involve themselves in an ongoing process that looks at how effective their learning is, and more importantly, why it is effective and what can be improved. This process is identified as ‘being reflective’. Reflective practitioners maintain a reflective journal to record learning events and changes. Some use books, some use tapes, others use computers. Your journal is your record of how your training skills have expanded and improved and why this has happened.
But journals writing and reflective practice is not just for the teachers. They also combine to become a powerful tool for learners. No matter the course, the level or degree of formality in the learning, reflective journals have proven themselves to be useful tools for many students.
Moon (1999) and Carroll (1994) discuss theories and research that support a number of assumptions about learning from journals:
MOON, J A 1999, Learning Journals: A Handbook for Academics,
Students, and Professional Development. London: Kogan Page.
CARROLL, M 1994, Journal Writing as a Learning and
Research Tool in the Adult Classroom. TESOL
Journal 4, No 1.
- Articulating connections between new and existing knowledge improves learning.
- Writing about learning is a way of demonstrating what has been learned.
- Journal writing accentuates favorable learning conditions—it demands time and space for reflection, encourages independent thought and ownership, enables expression of feelings, and provides a place to work with ill-structured problems.
- Reflection encourages deep rather than surface learning.
Websites
Audience Dialogue – learning journals
This page is mainly about learning journals for online courses. Students from other learning contexts will be able to use these ideas and should find this an easy introduction to the use of journals.
Donald Schön: learning, reflection and change
Donald Schön made a remarkable contribution to our understanding of the theory and practice of learning. His innovative thinking around notions such as 'the learning society', 'double-loop learning' and 'reflection-in-action' has become part of the language of education. This page explores his work and some of the key themes that emerged.
Double entry journals and learning logs
How can we challenge our students to exercise their minds? One answer is the double-entry journal and learning log. Educators can use double-entry journals and learning logs to drive students' thinking processes. Journals and learning logs are also excellent vehicles for assessing student progress because they provide insight into what students are learning and reveal the development of their thoughts.
Instructional strategies online – journals
Here you’ll find a range of strategies for using journals in educational settings.
Journal Writing
This site explains the use of journals for a wide range of purposes, including learning.
Journal Writing as an Adult Learning Tool
Sandra Kerka describes a journal as a crucible for processing the raw material of experience in order to integrate it with existing knowledge and create new meaning. She lists the following as being among the many purposes for journal writing: to break habitual ways of thinking; enhance the development of reflective judgment and metacognition; increase awareness of tacit knowledge; facilitate self-exploration and personal growth; and work out solutions to problems.
Journal Writing: Thought and Language Work Together
Dr Elizabeth Haslman begins this short resource by pointing out that writing research over the last two decades has found that journal writing helps process new information and develop concepts. While formal, academic writing is clear, organized, assertive and objective prose, informal journal writing is just the opposite.
University of South Australia – Learning Connection – Writing a Journal
Specifically for students, this guide begins by saying… 'A journal is a record of your thoughts about your learning within a course or professional setting. It is written regularly over a specified period of time. In journals you describe events, experiences and issues associated with your study or professional placement and also analyse and reflect on them. Your journal will show that you have been thinking about the process of your learning and the development of your understanding'.
Publications
ATHERTON, JS 2004, Teaching and Learning: Reflection and Reflective Practice, Online UK.
This page is a good start point for your investigations into reflective practice. It links to others so you can continue your reading.
MOON, JA 1999, Learning Journals, Kogan Page, London.
Jenny Moon has a particular interest in continuing education, in a project that considered the developments of the structure of higher education in the UK and in recent years in the area of pedagogy with a focus on how humans learn. The topics that she covers are learning, teaching and assessment processes, reflective learning and the use of learning journals to support learning and professional development.
SCHON D 1983, The Reflective Practitioner, Basic Books, New York.
Although now quite dated, Schön’s book is still considered the seminal text on reflective practice for educators.
See also