I think I can safely say that I have found the whole process
of writing a Reflective journal a lot more difficult than I first assumed it
would be. I thought that having written a diary through the most part of my
life it would be quite easy but for some reason as I said previously I felt
inhibited and not sure what to write about and if what I was writing about was
the right thing to be writing about.
I think the thought
of the reflective journal being used for learning purposes made me question if
what I was writing about was relevant or suitable.
First of all I really confused myself with the words
“professional practice” I did that thing where I said them to myself so many
times that they no longer made sense to me. I felt that I understood what the
reader was saying but didn’t know how to put it on paper myself. I gave it a
few goes but convinced myself that I was doing it wrong, confusing myself in
the process.
So I asked a few people what they thought and did a bit of
research myself. I used “Google” to
search “examples of journal writing experience” and found that these websites
really helped:
http://www.clinpsy.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=955 - Information for aspiring clinical
psychologists. (Strange as it sounds but it really helped.)
www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/pdf/reflective.pdf - Reflective writing, University of New South
Wales, Australia.
Both of these sites used many of the ideas from the reader
but reading the ideas in different ways helped me to understand a little bit
more. I was also reassured by Alicia Beck, Corinda and Adesola that I was
starting to go in the right direction which made me a little more confident, and I'll be sure to comment on other peoples blogs if they are questioning themselves about anything as the feedback really helped me.
I think I have initially been holding myself back, almost
afraid of what it is that I’m writing about. But for my last entry I just let myself
write. I wrote about everything that came to me. I found that I had a few
niggling work related issues that I hadn’t really discussed with myself
properly but that writing them down meant I had to deal with them.
I found that I naturally wanted to ask myself questions and
answer them. I realised why I felt a certain way about a particular incident
and wrote myself a solution or a suggestion of something that I could do to
rectify the situation.
When I had finished writing everything felt a lot
clearer. I realised that I could ask as
many people possible about advice on writing a journal, but really the only way
I would learn is to just get on and do it myself. I have been writing a
reflective journal for a couple of weeks but I just wasn’t letting my personal
self in to the writing side of things and I think I’m going to have to do that
to benefit from it.
Finally I think I have broken the ice!
Hi Emily,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your thoughts on reflective thinking and journal writing and I agree it does sound easier than it is. I have also been writing thoughts about my teaching and pressures of my job, I find it quite therapeutic to reflect as life always seems on the go all the time. Do you write your thoughts at the end if day or straight after the event?
I also read your professional profile and I also trained at the northern ballet school!!
Take care
Michelle :)
I like how you investigated the topic and found out your own way through the maze - good links - and a result that came from critical thinking and sticking with the topic - well done.
ReplyDeleteHi Emily,
ReplyDeleteI found reading your post very helpful. I have not started the task yet but I have just read about it in part 2, and like yourself I was thinking what do you write about? But after reading your post and Michelle's comment I feel a lot more at ease. Michelle said she finds it therapeutic and I can really see this being the case with me. I find I keep things inside or speak to people who may not understand, and so putting it onto paper I think will help - as you said Emily it will make you deal with it.
Sina
I realised that writing a journal for me was off loading everything I have in my head. There was so much going on that I didn't know where or how to start writting.I had a conversation with Paula Nottingham today and she mentioned my thoughts were in a 'spinning top' and the only way to sort these thougths out are to write them down. She assured me that the'spinning top' will calm down as we start to note certain patterns in our thoughts. You may like or dislike a feeling about having to do something new, take note of this as it's something you've learnt. But definatley keep writing and take a look at some of the other learners on different modules. Don't be afraid to speak to our advisers, it's what they are there for. They are giving good advice. My 'spinning top' seems to have started to slow down...
ReplyDeleteI am reading this having just gone back over the last week and written all of the "experiences" down that I can remember. All of them are about teaching and an audition I went to. I didn't find it particularly difficult and it helped me draw out ideas from the Reader, but what I am wondering now is whether it is a little impersonal. Am I taking the fact that it is 'Professional Practice' too seriously. I can't help but think that my Professional Profile was a little impersonal too (though I am going to do create different ones for different purposes). And why is it that we focus so much more on the things that have gone wrong or were difficult than the things that went well?!
ReplyDeleteHi Emily, I really enjoyed reading the links you found. They have been helpful in making me less afraid of writing the journal! I've saved the pdf file as I think it could become useful for Task 2c. Thank you!
ReplyDelete