Reflective Writing for Professional Practice

• Reflection

• Structuring a reflective journal entry

Centre for Teaching and Learning, Library Level 3

slc-alb@massey.ac.nz 09 441 8143

• Elements of reflective writing

• Evaluating a reflective journal entry

See these slides at: http://tinyurl.com/MBSreflection

• What is reflection?

• What do you need to write in your reflective journal for this paper?

• Have you done reflective writing before?

Discuss for five minutes

• How does reflective writing differ from other forms of academic writing?

• What’s the difference between ‘good’ and ‘bad reflective writing?

We’ll return to these questions at the end!

Differences

other academic writing reflective writing

harmonious

strong

static

classical

vulnerable

post-modern

A classic definition: “the active, persistent, and

careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends” (Dewey, 1933, p. 6). (In other words, critical thinking about your experience)

What is reflection?

For the purposes of this course, the 10 entries in your reflective journal should:

… focus on a personal experience …

… which took place in a professional context

… and relates to a specific Management topic

each be about 500 words long and …

Evaluation Task 1

You’ll see an example of a reflective journal entry written by a student.

Identify two or more strengths as a piece of academicwriting?

Identify two or more weaknesses as a piece of reflectivewriting?

This week, our team had to decide how we are going to plan our project. Decision making is the process of making choices between alternative courses of action (Author, 2006). One of the important issues in decision making is the choice of whether to make the decision individually or by a group.

Group decision making has clear potential advantages. Firstly it makes it possible for managers to have more information, knowledge, and expertise to solve problems. More members provide more alternatives in action. Secondly the decision is made by team members; they tend to accept it with good understanding. During the discussion, team members can express their opinion and concerns, final decision may make both parties happy. Thirdly, group decision making increases passion for members to achieve final goal. Every single member thinks that he is one of decision makers (Author, 2004)

Reflective journal entry – part 1

On the other hand, group decision making also has its potential disadvantages. One of those is social pressure during the decision making process. Some members follow others and do not express their opinions. They may feel that they are forced to agree with their more experienced or powerful colleagues. Another disadvantage is that group decision-making can be time-consuming. One more disadvantages is “groupthink” which means the tendency for highly cohesive groups to lose their critical evaluative capabilities (Author, 2004).

There are a number of methods to manage group decision-making. The first one is lack of response. Team members brainstorm all ideas without discussion. One is selected; others are discarded without critical evaluation. The second one is authority rule. Managers make the decision for a team without others’ involvement. The third one is minority rule. Few people are dominating to make a quick agreement. The fourth one is majority rule. A decision is made by formal voting, and the majority wins. Consensus is the fifth. The decision favoured by most members is supported by others. The sixth one is unanimity, which means all members agree with the decision (Author, 2004).

Reflective journal entry – part 2

Among these, unanimity and consensus are the most ideal methods but are difficult to attain in practice, so other methods have to be used in some situations, though they have shortcomings. For example, in majority rule, the minority may feel their ideas are not valued and team work may be affected in the future (Author, 2004).

In conclusion, decisions can be made by an individual or a group. We wanted to introduce group decision making in our organisation. But before doing that, we had to know and balance the potential advantages and disadvantages, and choose carefully from the team decision making strategies.

Reflective journal entry – part 3

Evaluation feedback

Academic writing strengths

• Clear and correct writing with effective paragraphs

• Correct use of two academic sources

Reflective writing weaknesses

• Simplistic description of theory

• No evidence of reflection

Overall evaluation: Writing a high school essay about a Management topic connected in some way to your experience is NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

Key elements of reflective

writing

Description of an experience

Analysis of the experience

Critical response to the experience

For your reflective journal entries, you could write 1 paragraph of each kind of reflection

Reflection part 1:

Description of experience

A complete description of experience is a story, consisting of four stages:

situationFor example: where and when did this take place? Who was involved? What were their roles? What was going on at the time? How does this link to previous entries?

eventFor example: a problem; a threat; a misunderstanding; a challenge; an opportunity.

responseFor example: an attempt to solve the problem, to neutralise the threat, to clear up the misunderstanding, to exploit the opportunity.

outcomeFor example: a new strategy; satisfaction; resentment.

Example description of

experience

My focus this week is on the communication aspect of teamleadership. I can’t often meet my team face-to-face, as mostare part-time, hourly paid staff and work at different centresand times. This means I rely on group emails as my primarychannel of communication. On Monday, I emailed the group toremind them to use our branding on training materials. I’d foundsome handouts in the photocopier with the logo of a competitorone trainer had worked for. This trainer (who I hadn’t named inmy email) sent an angry response complaining that she had notime to produce new materials. She used ‘reply all’, so the wholeteam became involved. Several phone calls were required to sortout the confusion and calm everyone down. It was a classic‘storm in a teacup’.

What stages can you identify?

My focus this week is on the communication aspect ofteam leadership. I can’t often meet my team face-to-face, as most are part-time, hourly paid staff and workat different centres and times. This means I rely ongroup emails as my primary channel of communication.On Monday, I emailed the group to remind them to useour branding on training materials. I’d found somehandouts in the photocopier with the logo of acompetitor one trainer had worked for. This trainer(who I hadn’t named in my email) sent an angryresponse complaining that she had no time to producenew materials. She used ‘reply all’, so the whole teambecame involved. Several phone calls were required tosort out the confusion and calm everyone down. It wasa classic ‘storm in a teacup’.

situation

event

response

outcome

Reflection part 2:

Analysis of experience

possible causesFor example: Why did this happen? What were its immediate and underlying causes?

effectsFor example: Who or what aspect(s) of the organisation were affected? How were they affected? Were the effects short or long-term?

questionsFor example: What did this event make you realise / think / ask yourself / wonder? Which aspect or concept of management do your questions relate to?

Example analysis of

experience

Clearly, email was an inappropriate channel of communication;any message that can be perceived as disciplinary is bestdelivered face-to-face (Simon, 2015). It reinforced animpression of distance between the staff and me (as arepresentative of institutional bureaucracy). It is anotherreminder for me that in order to build a more collaborativeculture, “every discussion and interaction has an element of re-establishing trust” (Kaats & Opheij, 2014, p. 2.2.2). At a deeperlevel, it also made me wonder: If staff feel the branding isirrelevant, do they also feel their work is no different from anyother institution? How can I help these part-time, casual staffdevelop a sense of common purpose, which is recognised as ahallmark of effective teams (Katzenbach & Smith, 1993; ParkerFollett, 1987)?

What aspects of analysis can you identify?

Clearly, email was an inappropriate channel ofcommunication; any message that can be perceived asdisciplinary is best delivered face-to-face (Simon,2015). It reinforced an impression of distance betweenthe staff and me (as a representative of institutionalbureaucracy). It is another reminder for me that inorder to build a more collaborative culture, “everydiscussion and interaction has an element of re-establishing trust” (Kaats & Opheij, 2014, p. 2.2.2). Ata deeper level, it also made me wonder: If staff feelthe branding is irrelevant, do they also feel their workis no different from any other institution? How can Ihelp these part-time, casual staff develop a sense ofcommon purpose, which is recognised as a hallmark ofeffective teams (Katzenbach & Smith, 1993; ParkerFollett, 1987)?

immediate cause and effect

related Management concept

questions about underlying causes

related Management concept

Reflection part 3:

Critical response to experience

link to the bigger pictureFor example: What are your overall learning needs and goals for this placement? What particular Management approach are you exploring? How does this analysis relate to them?

objectives and strategyFor example: What objectives will you set in order to answer your questions or improve the situation? What strategy will you follow in order to achieve them? What Management ideas or approaches do these objectives and strategy relate to?

actionsFor example: What will you or others do in order to implement this strategy? When, where and how will these actions take place?

This relates to my overall challenge of developing leadership within aloosely-coupled organisation (Author, 2001). I need to develop amore ‘respectful leadership’: tolerating error, respecting boundariesand encouraging potential (Author, 2010). I’m applying this in a ‘fine-tuning’ approach (Author, 1993) towards the photocopying issue;instead of the ‘stick’ of disciplinary warnings, I’m offering trainers the‘carrot’ of having all their copying done for them. And to develop ateam-based culture, I’m proposing for pairs of trainers to shareprofessional development projects and to present their ‘best practice’at monthly meetings.

What aspects of a critical response to experience can you identify?

This relates to my overall challenge of developingleadership within a loosely-coupled organisation(Author, 2001). I need to develop a more ‘respectfulleadership’: tolerating error, respecting boundariesand encouraging potential (Author, 2010). I’mapplying this in a ‘fine-tuning’ approach (Author,1993) towards the photocopying issue; instead of the‘stick’ of disciplinary warnings, I’m offering trainersthe ‘carrot’ of having all their copying done for them.And to develop a team-based culture, I’m proposingfor pairs of trainers to share professionaldevelopment projects and to present their ‘bestpractice’ at monthly meetings.

bigger picture

strategy

action

goal

action

Reflective writing checklist

Describes a personal experience in a professional context

Provides relevant information about the situation

Summarises a specific problem or challenge

Describes one or two responses and the outcome

Descriptive

Suggests immediate and underlying causes of the problem or challenge

Explores effects of the problem or challenge from an organisational and/or management perspective

Raises questions of relevance to ongoing development as a manager

Analytical

Critical

Makes meaningful reference to management theories or concepts

Provides evidence of learning through experience and reading

Applies this learning to management decision-making

Evaluation task 2: description

A member of our senior management team has been causing conflict lately with what has been described as her “assertive behaviour”. On one hand this leader is bolshie and dominating, though on the other hand she is perceived as confident and in control. As defined by the Oxford Dictionary, assertive means: Having or showing a confident and forceful personality.

This is particularly interesting to me for several reasons. As a woman and an aspiring leader my desire is to be able to authentically lead with strength and conviction. I expect that this will require assertive action at times. So, I need to determine whether as a woman it is necessary to be assertive. If so, what does being assertive look like? And how will I know if I am assertive?

• How effective is this as a description of experience?• How could it be improved?

• It’s an interesting and personally relevant situation• She could have included examples of the manager’s

behaviour, responses and outcome

Evaluation task 2: analysis

One of the challenges women face is Role Congruity Theory (RCT); where one is evaluated according to the alignment of their characteristics according to social norms (Eagly, & Karau, 2002). Social norms would describe women as being caring and mild, and men as being powerful and strong. RCT forecasts prejudices against women who display “masculine” characteristics - such as assertiveness. In contrast however (and this is promising progress!), women also display prejudice towards other women who fail to display assertive communication whilst in leadership roles (Bongiorno, Bain, & David, 2014). Further, assertive women are as likeable and influential as assertive men! Heed caution; when women show tentative behavior whilst in leadership roles, their likeability and influence are reduced (Bongiorno et al., 2014). Why the change in perception from RCT to the appreciation of assertiveness of women? Perceptions and expectations of women are changing (Bongiorno et al., 2014).

• How effective is this as an analysis of experience?• How could it be improved?

• Theory used to explain perceptions of female managers• Lack of detail in the description means there’s no experiential

focus for this discussion – it could also be more concise.

Evaluation task 2: Critical response

Having given myself some reflection time and thinking space on the issue of assertiveness in women leaders, I have identified that it is critical for me to adapt assertive behaviour moving forward. For me, this means being (or at the very least conveying!) confidence. This also means understanding and practicing how to be assertive without being unprofessional or disrespectful. In practice I acknowledge that my confidence will grow with experience, but I also think that I need to practice more resilience and learn to think more objectively. Regarding self-awareness I will make a conscious effort to look at things objectively, rather than take things personally, let myself emotionally react and make decisions based on emotions. This issue is something that is important to me, and having gained these insights this is something I wish to develop further. I have made an action to pursue options for leadership courses, professional women’s groups, as well as explore Amazon for some reading material to deepen my understanding.

• How effective is this as an critical response to experience?• How could it be improved?

• Plans are convincingly developed from the analysis• Could be more concise and actions could be more precise

• What is reflection?

• What do you need to write in your reflective journal for this paper?

What can you say about these questions now?

• How does reflective writing differ from other forms of academic writing?

• What’s the difference between ‘good’ and ‘bad reflective writing?

Selecting an interesting and relevant experience

Your reflective journal is evidence that you can use critical thinking to learn from your experience by:

Describing the experience concisely, without irrelevant detail

Analysing the possible causes and effects of actions (or inaction)

Identifying significant issues and questions arising from the experience

Relating these issues and questions to personal learning

Making meaningful references to ideas from the literature

Providing evidence of learning in the form of credible plans

Conclusion

See these slides at: http://tinyurl.com/MBSreflection