What is a Reflective Journal?

WHAT IS A REFLECTIVE JOURNAL?
A reflective journal is a way of thinking in a critical and analytical way about your work in progress. It shows how different aspects of your work interconnect.
The journal can record:
• where your inspiration comes from
• how you make use of your ideas to develop your work
• your awareness of the cultural context (setting) in which you work

This context includes: other artists’ work and their ideas; the ideas of critics and theorists; social, political, aesthetic and ideological contexts.
The journal could include:
• research notes
• personal comments on your own work
• notes/images from gallery visits
• quotes
• extracts from lectures, tutorials, books, journals
• photos/sketches

Critical and analytical writing
Critical writing involves many of the same processes as when reading. So what is Critical reading?
To read critically is to make judgements about how a text is written and argued. This is a highly reflective skill requiring you to ‘stand back’ from the text you are reading. You might have to read a text through once to get a basic grasp of content before you launch into an intensive critical reading.
These are the keys:
• don’t read only for information (surface approach)
• do read for clues about views and opinions (deep approach)
This means:
• comparing the same issue from different points of view
• identifying an argument (analysis of ideas/opinions) in the text
• identifying conclusions and spotting how different people arrive at different conclusions
• deciding what you think, based on the evidence available

Then, in your own writing:
• look at the subject from different viewpoints
• show a clear line of reasoning
• present evidence to support your reasoning
• be clear what your conclusions are

Reflective Writing
What is reflective writing?
Reflective writing is evidence of looking back at an event, idea, object, experience, process, etc
It involves:
• analysing and commenting on the object, process, etc from different points of view using contemporary ideas and theories
• exploring and explaining the importance or relevance of the object, process, etc
• considering things that went wrong as well as successes
• saying what the object, process, etc means to you
• saying how your learning will influence the way you work

Why is it Important?
• Reflective practice allows you to stand back and assess your work in a more detached light.
• Examining both your positive and negative experiences can help you
understand why you tend to approach things in certain ways and avoid others.
• Solving problems can become easier if you regularly reflect upon your practice.
• Reflective writing allows your tutors to see how you have developed your practice and ideas.
• Reflection is an essential skill for your future working life.

Topics for Reflection
• the process of research
• the process of a design you've been working on
• how you developed a new skill
• your work experience
• what you've learnt from a particular essay, theorist, lecture, designer, artist or from other students
• your influences
• your motivations
• how you work in a group / on your own
• how you feel / behave in crits
• things other people have said about your work

Here are some ways to help you read critically:
• read beginning and end of text to get an overview
• colour code different viewpoints
• underline key words, phrases, or sentences
• write comments in the margins (use stickers if it’s not your book)
• bracket important sections of the text
• show links with lines or arrows
• number related points in sequence

How to structure reflective writing
Description (don’t make this too long)
What is it? What happened? Why am I talking about it?
Interpretation
What is important, relevant, interesting, useful?
How is it similar to or different from others?
How can it be explored, explained using contemporary theories?

• What happened? This is a description of events, experiences, or a process you have been through
• What did I find inspiring in doing this project?
• What "critical incidents" should I focus on? (Critical incidents are experiences that stand out as having had a big impact on your approach / thinking)
• How do I feel about what happened?
• What was good about this experience?
• What did I learn from this experience? What new techniques, skills, abilities have I acquired?
• What was bad about it?
• What would I like to change and why?
• How can I explain this situation?
• What action could I have realistically taken to change the situation?
• What else could I do / have done?
• If I attempted something different, did the revised approach work?
• If so, is there a general principle here I could use again?
• If not, what could I try next, and why?

Outcome
• What have I learned from this?
• How will it influence my future work?