Reflective Writing in SLT

Examples of Reflective Writing in SLT

Review of Questions about Reflective Writing

What is Effective Reflective Writing?

Analysis of examples of Reflective Writing

EXAMPLES OF REFLECTIVE WRITING IN SLT

Reflection on learning activities

This is a group assignment. You will be asked to complete self- and peer-assessments. You will be asked to rate how each of you contributed to: • Determining content for presentation • Developing PowerPoint for presentation • Project management

Reflection on feedback / assessment

How did your organisation and the quality of your written work influence the marking and comments you received?

Were any comments made about the use of any terms or words? Why were these comments made? If not, name and discuss any terms/words related to speech sound disorders that need clarification?

Reflection on Clinical Practice

Each page to contain a self-reflection of competency development per range of practice area over Years 1 & 2

• What are the most significant changes?• Why are changes in competency development

occurring?• Describe the evidence for this change?• Describe the change you have observed in terms of

links to theory and placement support / learning materials

• Describe your action for the future to further develop your competency skills

REVIEW OF QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

Reflective writing is something that SLT shares with a range of professional training and development programmes, including Social Work, Education, Nursing, Management etc. Why is that?

• integrates professional principles and practice

• helps professionals deal with complexity

• enhances on-the-job learning

Reflective writing ability relates to several of the CBOS Professional Competencies for SLT ….

… either directly:3.1 Reflects on performance;3.2 Structures own learning/professional development;3.3 Demonstrates an appropriate attitude to learning;3.4 Able to change performance.

… or indirectly:1.1 Uses effective thinking skills to ensure quality speech pathology practice;4.4 Possesses a professional attitude/orientation;7.4 Develops personal growth and professional identity as a speech pathologist.

Research (and personal experience) tends to show that reflective writing ability tends to lag behind other kinds of writing - students who can write reports with their eyes closed quite often perform remarkably poorly on reflective writing tasks. Why is that?

• it requires critical thinking

• it involves focusing on areas of vulnerability

• it calls into question ‘comfortable’ beliefs and practices

What do you think are the common weaknesses in reflective writing that you need to avoid?

• describing (telling the story) of experiences – without analysis

• wallowing in (or avoiding) self-criticism

• making claims about learning etc which are not supported by evidence

• clumsily applying ‘rules’ (e.g. impersonality) from other kinds of writing

WHAT IS EFFECTIVE REFLECTIVE WRITING?

• Reports concisely and clearly a professional and / or learning experience

• Discusses reasons for and effects of actions (by you and/or others)

• Identifies and tries to explain challenges, problems and mistakes

• Explores what you have learnt (about the specific issue / professional knowledge and skills in general / about yourself)

• Considers questions arising from the experience – including those which highlight gaps or contradictions in your current understanding and/or the principles / theory you are relying on

DEEPER

REFLECTIVE WRITING EXAMPLE 1

• How well did your organisation and the quality of your written work influence the marking and comments you received?

I received 4 out of 5 marks for presentation, with an ‘excellent’ comment on my reference list and only one negative comment (on my formatting of tables and figures). I interpret this as evidence that I am progressing well in the formal aspects of SLT writing, though I need to extend my knowledge of APA conventions for the presentation of data. However, the overall B+ grade and comments that my analysis lacked ‘depth’ and ‘flow’ mean that I need to focus more on the rhetorical, rather than the mechanical aspects, of my writing. From a practical perspective, I attribute the weaknesses in my final draft to rushing the ‘writing-up’ stage and restricting my revisions to surface aspects of the text, rather than focusing more critically on the quality of my argument. In retrospect, I also realise that not discussing or receive feedback on my draft may account for the lack of depth and flow – at a deeper level these are both manifestations of my lack of a clear sense of engagement with the reader as I write and revise my text.

• Reports concisely and clearly a professional and / or learning experience

I received 4 out of 5 marks for presentation, with an ‘excellent’ comment on my reference list and only one negative comment (on my formatting of tables and figures).

….. However, the overall B+ grade and comments that my analysis lacked ‘depth’ and ‘flow’ ……

• Discusses reasons for and effects of actions (by you and/or others)

I interpret this as evidence that ….

……. mean that I need to

I attribute these ….. to

…… which may account for ……

• Identifies and tries to explain challenges, problems and mistakes

• Explores what you have learnt (about the specific issue / professional knowledge and skills in general / about yourself)

• Considers questions arising from the experience – including those which highlight gaps or contradictions in your current understanding and/or the principles / theory you are relying on

I’m progressing well in ……, though I need to extend my knowledge of …..

I need to develop ‘deeper’ …….

In retrospect, I also realise that …

…. at a deeper level these are both manifestations of ….

REFLECTIVE WRITING EXAMPLE 2

• What are the most significant changes?• Why are changes in competency development occurring?• Describe the evidence for this change?• Describe the change you have observed in terms of links to

theory and placement support / learning materials• Describe your action for the future to further develop your

competency skills

TASK

To what extent does the following example (from a Teaching Placement Portfolio):

address the task?represent effective reflective writing?

REFLECTIVE WRITING EXAMPLE 2

The most significant changes in my reading development competency were in management of extensive reading (3.1), devising tasks for learner autonomy (3.5) and integrating classroom reading into communicative lessons (3.7). These changes were facilitated by the more supportive environment and greater access to resources in my second placement. The supervising teacher spent time helping me to plan my instructions and materials and also made very useful comments to me while I was observing her practice (J1). The improved ratings in these categories provide quantitative evidence of my progress – in particular, 3.5 was ‘below standard’ in two earlier assessments, whereas in this placement, both lessons were rated ‘above standard’ on this category (R1/R2). The supervisor’s reference to the ‘highly communicative’ quality of my lessons provides further qualitative evidence for my development (S2/3). The role which the supportive environment and mentoring have played in my learning during this placement have made me realise that learning concepts such as Vygotsky’s (1978) Zone of Proximal Development and Bruner’s (1978) Scaffolding, which I had previously only thought of in relation to children’s learning are equally applicable to my own professional growth. The experience also reinforced for me the value of the Maori concept of ‘Ako’ (Ministry of Education, 2008), in which teaching and learning are framed as one, holistic process of personal and social growth. In future, therefore, I intend to be more proactive in engaging with mentors and in identifying empowering links between my own teaching and learning.

SUMMARY

• Treat reflective writing in the same way as other professional competencies which you need to develop through practice, guidance, example, feedback and experiment.

• Aim for a balance of factual, evidence-based description and analytical writing

• Aim to make connections between specific events, issues, contexts and the ‘bigger picture’ of SLT theory and practice

• Bear in mind, that more than anything else, reflective writing is supposed to be about LEARNING – and to be a learning process

• So, the best way to check if you are doing it right is to ask yourself, while you are doing it: Am I learning?

• Just as in clinical writing, aim for clarity and conciseness