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GUIDANCE FOR SHOGO CANDIDATES THESIS SUBMISSION
AN INTRODUCTION TO REFLECTIVE WRITING
A Reflective Thesis – Why Choose this rather than a research Thesis?
- Knowing how you teach makes you a more effective teacher
- Allows you to illustrate how you actively participate in your own Martial Arts development
- Demonstrates clarity in your thinking as a Martial Artist
There are recognised levels of reflective writing:
- Level 1
- Level 2
- Descriptive account with some reflection
- Level 3
- Level 4
Level 1. Descriptive…tells a story
Level 2. Description with some basic reflection- some questioning – standing back – reflection does not go deep enough to enable the learning to begin..
Level 3 Reflective writing.. Not description- focus is on an attempt to reflect on the event and learn from it- more analysis of the situation..However no realisation that reflection is affected by your own frame of reference at the time or now- no sense of going beyond and checking out the possibility that your frame of reference might be affected by your prior experiences
Level 4 - Reflective writing 2 … Shows evidence of ‘standing back’.. Internal dialogue with one self.. Evidence of looking at the views of others and considering an alternative viewpoint..significance of the passage of time..personal frame of reference has influenced actions..reconstructing the event in retrospect..things to be learned from the situation..reflect on ones own process of reflection acting metacognitively recognising that one’s own process influenced the outcome….
A simple example :
- I took the dog for a walk this morning Level 1: Descriptive
- I took the dog for a walk this morning, which I don’t usually do. Level 2: Descriptive, some reflection
- I took the dog for a walk this morning, which I don’t usually do. It really woke me up! Level 3: Descriptive, reflection and awareness/learning.
- I took the dog for a walk this morning, which I don’t usually do. It really woke me up! I think I will do that every morning before work. Level 4: Descriptive, reflection, learning and future action.
Ref: Moon,J. (2004) A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning: Theory and Practice****. London: Routlege Falmer
Introduction
Reflection is a tool for self-analysis during the process of experiential knowledge. The following models, structures and frameworks can help you to facilitate the reflective process.
Before exploring these frameworks, distinctions are needed to be made about different types of reflection.
Reflection on action is looking back after the event whilst reflection in action is happening during the event.
- Gibbs Framework for Reflection
- Borton’s Framework Guiding Reflective Activities
- Chris Johns Model of Structured Refection
Which ever model – (if any )–you chose to help you, the process of reflective writing should lead to more than just a gain in your knowledge it should also challenge the concepts and theories by which you make sense of knowledge. When you reflect on a situation you do not simply see more, you see differently.
“Action is the final stage of reflection” (Atkins and Murphy 1994).
Stage 5: Conclusion (Synthesis)
This differs from the evaluation stage in that now you have explored the issue from different angles and have a lot of information to base your judgement. It is here that you are likely to develop insight into you own and other people’s behaviour in terms of how they contributed to the outcome of the event. Remember the purpose of reflection is to learn from an experience. Without detailed analysis and honest exploration that occurs during all the previous stages, it is unlikely that all aspects of the event will be taken into account and therefore valuable opportunities for learning can be missed. During this stage you should ask yourself what you could have done differently.
Stage 6: Action Plan
During this stage you should think yourself forward into encountering the event again and to plan what you would do – would you act differently or would you be likely to do the same? Here the cycle is tentatively completed and suggests that should the event occur again it will be the focus of another reflective cycle
Gibbs model incorporates all the core skills of reflection. Arguably it is focused on reflection on action, but with practice it could be used to focus on reflection in and before action.
Bortons` (1970) Framework Guiding Reflective Activities
What? So What? Now what?
This is the description and self awareness level and all questions start with the word what
This is the level of analysis and evaluation when we look deeper at what was behind the experience.
This is the level of synthesis. Here we build on the previous levels these questions to enable us to consider alternative courses of action and choose what we are going to do next. Examples What happened? What did I do? What did other do? What was I trying to achieve? What was good or bad about the experiences?
Examples So what is the importance of this? So what more do I need to know about this? So what have I learnt about this?
Examples Now what could I do? Now what do I need to do? Now what might I do? Now what might be the consequences of this action?
Bortons model incorporates all the core skills of reflection. Arguably it is focused on reflection on action, but with practice it could be used to focus on reflection in and before action.
Influencing factors o What internal factors influenced my decision – making? o What external factors influenced my decision – making? o What sources of knowledge did / should have influenced my decision – making?
Evaluation: Could I have dealt with the situation better? o What other choices did I have? o What would be the consequences of these choices?
Learning o How do I now feel about this experience? o How have I made sense of this experience in light of past experiences and future practice? o How has this experience changed my ways of knowing Empirics – scientific Ethics – moral knowledge Personal – self awareness Aesthetics – the art of what we do, our own experiences
References
Borton, T (1970) Reach, Teach and Touch. Mc Graw Hill, London.
Boud D, Keogh R & Walker D (1985): Promoting reflection in learning: A model. IN Reflection: Turing Experience into Learning (Eds: Boud D, Keogh R & Walker D). Kogan Page, London.
Boyd E & Fales A (1983): Reflective Learning: the key to learning from experience. Journal of Humanistic Psychology 23 (2) pp99-
Gibbs G (1988) Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Oxford Further Education Unit, Oxford.
Kim HS (1999): Critical Reflective inquiry for Knowledge Development of nursing practice. Journal of Advanced Nursing 29 (5) 1205-
Greenwood J (1993): Reflective practice a critique of the work of Argyris & Schon. Journal of Advanced Nursing 19 1183-
Schon DA (1983): The Reflective Practitioner. Basic Books, New York.
