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WRITING A REFLECTIVE ESSAY
A reflective piece of writing comes in many forms (e.g., portfolio, journal entry, log, blog post). As such, a formal or standard format does not exist. That said, this document provides you with a template guide that may be of use for certain reflective writing assignments
Introduction
Common elements in a reflective writing introduction include:
- Identify the focus of your reflection (e.g., your experience, a specific situation or story, an overview of a collection of experiences)
- Identify theories or course material that will help you to explore your experience more deeply
- Share the main lessons you learned from your experience
- Introduce the main themes that you will address in the body of the paper
- Offer suggestions as to what you have learned from the experience and how you may move
Body
The body of a reflective piece of writing can be quite varied. That said, you should relate the body to the points and themes you identified in your introduction.
Each theme may account for one or more paragraphs in your body. For each theme, you should:
- Identify the theme
- Share a personal experience (or several) that support the theme
- Connect your experience clearly to course material, research, or other experiences in order to support the theme.
Conclusion
As you end your reflective writing, you may:
- Review the importance of your experiences within the context of learning
- Restate how you will move forward from this specific experience
- Suggest additional opportunities for future growth or engagement
