Task 2b: Reflective Writing Task

Although this may seem out of sync with the rest of my blogs, after reading through what was required of us for this task, I thought it best to come back to it after a period of time to allow for the actual journal writing. 

This exercise has been designed for me to be able to recognise, try out and apply some varied ways and styles of journal writing based on frameworks put forward by Nola, Reid and Moon etc. In terms of my journal entries, I have tried to only focus on my work as a professional, be that performing or teaching. On days when I have not been at work, I have logged my thoughts throughout the day that have tended to have settled on the subject in hand, as opposed to writing an entire journal entry of day-to-day activities completely unrelated to my line of work. In trying out these methods, I have come to understand which help me reflect on my experiences the most.

The first method I tried and put to use was ‘Description.’ In this entry, I had to record what had happened to me during the day in question and what the main events were, concentrating on when/where etc. This is most likely the technique I would have naturally adopted had I not read further into the varying options for types of journal logging. It made the task simple and time effective for me, recording the who’s what’s and why’s for example and therefore I will probably continue to log my experiences this way. However, a lot of this course focuses on the importance and relevance of reflection and simply recording down the facts of the day didn't make me look inward and contemplate how events affected me or what I had learned. Which brings me onto method number two, ‘Initial Reflection.’ During this diary entry, I tried hardest to think about the events of my day in the context of how they made me feel and what I was thinking at the time/my mood. This particular entry therefore is likely to be much more effective in helping me reflect as it enabled me to think about how the events of the day were affecting me personally and how the emotions/thoughts could be applied to a different situation.

The ‘List’ idea of journal writing was one that I found a tedious and somewhat monotonous entry. To me, merely listing things I had seen, felt and done was on one hand time effective, but I know that when I come to refer back to my journal entries as points of reference during this course, I will struggle to remember specifics based on mere bullet points. Not only that but I believe I would also find it difficult to remember my thoughts at the time, making it an ineffective method for me personally and one that I will not be using in the future. ‘Evaluation’ is a technique paramount to being able to journal write effectively in my opinion. Without thinking about what had gone particularly well/worked and considering what it was I had learnt, then my journal entries will be as empty as the list technique that I did not get on with. As an individual, I will continue to improve as a performer and grow as a teacher if I can refer back to my journal and remember what I had learnt from the experience or things that should be avoided in the future, a key to good reflective practice.

The idea of creating ‘Graphs, Charts and Diagrams’ in order to write down my thoughts and key events was another system that I felt I did not get on well with. Despite knowing it is in my best interests to keep a reflective journal throughout this course and continuing to do so afterwards, it is a habit that you slowly have to wean yourself into and one that requires dedication. At the minute, I am impressed enough with myself as it is at being able to log my journal, complete my University tasks, perform 10 shows a week and teach over the weekends! Having to record my day in the form of a chart is going to be more time-consuming and in order to see the effects of a method such as this one, I would need to do this daily in order to be able to compare one with the other. To me, this seems a mathematical solution to a problem that is best solved in a literary fashion. I t is easy enough to record the attendance of my students across the terms in the form of a bar chart, but to record my thoughts on a particular lesson in this way in terms of fun/stress levels? Impractical!

A different process of writing in my journal was to think about the ‘What Ifs?’ This saw me having to think about what could have happened following a particular event that had happened during any given day. This was useful during one particular entry whereby an issue arose surrounding a child’s welfare during one of my classes. Although it was not particularly desirable having to think about the worst case scenario and what might have happened to the individual, it was a worthwhile technique in making me realise that I had handled the situation correctly to prevent any further problems. It is likely therefore that I will adopt this technique at the very end of a journal entry in order to get me thinking and reflecting on what could have happened in certain situations.

 This final system that I adopted during my trial journal writing was to write form ‘Another View.’ This could have involved writing about the day from the perspective of another person and imaging the ways in which they would have seen events. How would they have described the day? What may their thoughts have been? By doing this, I believe that after reflection, a journal entry from this viewpoint will most definitely help me to improve and grow as a teacher. If a disagreement occurs between myself and another student or even between students, it will aid me to look at the events from the perspective of someone else, to walk in their shoes. I am of the belief that it is of the utmost importance that teachers possess this ability, to think about a lesson from the students perspective in order that they be fully engaged and remain so throughout the lesson.

Having tried out the wide variety of journal writing styles over a period time, I have come to realise the importance of such a variety and trying to encompass a number of them. I believe that not everyone reading this will agree with me having undergone it themselves, but that is due to the wide diversity in learning styles that there may be. I need to look at and realise what works for me personally in terms of being able to use my journal to its full advantage in reflective practice, as do my fellow course mates. I was surprised at the depth of thought that came about in certain entries as a result of using styles I had not previously come across. Overall, the descriptive method worked well for the most parts, logging the main events in detail such as the who/what/where/why and when – but it is the evaluation process I went through using processes such as the ‘What Ifs’ and ‘Another View’ that I shall certainly be adopting in order to get the maximum use out of my journal in future months and the fully grasp the concept of Reflective Practice.