Overview 
      Overview 
      • reflective writing + context of UK HE
      • quantitative analysis of formulaic language of 
        reflective writing in the BAWE corpus : the 
        discourse of small phrases.
      • RW in comparison to essays
      • RW: reflective practice and attendant 
        discourses.
                
      Reflective writing 
      Reflective writing 
     •  Writing to support a process of personal growth and 
        learning
     •  Writing characterised by self reflection and evaluation 
           Schon (1987) The reflective 
           practitioner
           Dewey (1933)
           Kolb (1984) – Learning cycles
                  
      Elements of reflective practice 
      Elements of reflective practice 
         • Cognitive skills -  critical thinking, analysis, 
           communication
         • Professional competence – specific skills
         • Personal attributes – beliefs, feelings and thoughts
                                               Hargreaves  (2004).
         • Competencies – generic skills, Soft skills, professional/ 
           discipline based competencies 
         • Feelings – beliefs, thoughts, feelings 
         • Process – reflect on experience, realising achievements 
           and lacks, resolution and plan to improve,  
                  
      The rise of reflective writing
      The rise of reflective writing
     •  Well established in professionally based / oriented 
        disciplines (Health, Education, Business) 
     •  Increasingly important as an assessed genre in UK 
        universities across a range of disciplines 
     •  Professional bodies: evidencing competencies (e.g. Nursing) 
     •  QAA – PDP – Sts to ‘reflect upon their own learning, performance, 
        achievement’  ‘career related skills and capabilities can be recorded 
        and (…) assessed.’  QAA HE 2009   Links to subject benchmarking. 
     •  Enterprise in HE – transferable skills – link to PDP (Edwards 2005) 
     •  Pedagogic shifts:
          learner centred focus  -  Higher Education Academy 
                  
      Reflective writing in the BAWE project
      Reflective writing in the BAWE project
      Some examples
      •  Personal appraisal, career prospects (Hospitality Management)
      •  Learning task reflective commentaries: on Literature review 
         (Health Studies, Anthropology), Database search (Chemistry) 
         Library Exercise  (Anthropology) 
      •  Self-reflection tasks following Problem questions (Computer 
         Science)
      •  Final sections of a multi-part tasks (Manufacturing, Medicine)
      •  Reflective diaries reflecting on patient care (Occupational 
         Therapy), overseas visits (Engineering) 
      •  annexes critiquing the authors’ own approaches (Business)
      •  self-evaluations (Business)
      •  feedback sections (Computer Science)