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Including references in your reflective writingIf you are asked to include references in reflection, you can use research (recent studies are best),policy documents (from relevant bodies) or theory (from academic sources) to support yourreflections. You might use references: to show why something is done in a certain way (e.g. by referring to a policy guideline) to explain what brought about certain feelings or reactions (e.g. by quoting a theory) to explain what went well or what went badly (e.g. a policy guideline, a piece of research or atheory could be used to explain why a certain action had a positive or a negative outcome) to discuss what could have been done differently (e.g. policy, research or theory could be used tosupport your reflection that doing things differently could have had a better outcome) to justify why you plan to do something (e.g. a research paper might be used to show the value ofdeveloping a specific skill or of acquiring relevant knowledge)

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Including references in your reflective writingIf you are asked to include references in reflection, you can use research (recent studies are best),policy documents (from relevant bodies) or theory (from academic sources) to support yourreflections. You might use references: to show why something is done in a certain way (e.g. by referring to a policy guideline) to explain what brought about certain feelings or reactions (e.g. by quoting a theory) to explain what went well or what went badly (e.g. a policy guideline, a piece of research or atheory could be used to explain why a certain action had a positive or a negative outcome) to discuss what could have been done differently (e.g. policy, research or theory could be used tosupport your reflection that doing things differently could have had a better outcome) to justify why you plan to do something (e.g. a research paper might be used to show the value ofdeveloping a specific skill or of acquiring relevant knowledge)

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In this section, you need to explain what you are reflecting on to your reader. Perhaps include background information, such as what it is you’re reflecting on and tell the reader who was involved. It’s important to remember to keep the information provided relevant and to-the-point. Don’t waffle on about details that aren’t required – if you do this, you’re just using up valuable words that you’ll get minimal marks for.

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Discuss your feelings and thoughts about the experience. Consider questions such as:How did you feel at the time? What did you think at the time? What did you think about the incident afterwards? You can discuss your emotions honestly, but make sure to remember at all times that this is an academic piece of writing, so avoid ‘chatty’ text

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For your evaluation, discuss how well you think things went. Perhaps think about: How did you react to the situation, and how did other people react? What was good and what was bad about the experience? If you are writing about a difficult incident, did you feel that the situation was resolved afterwards? Why/why not? This section is a good place to include the theory and the work of other authors – remember it is important to include references in reflective writing.

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Action plans sum up anything you need to know and do to improve for next time.Perhaps you feel that you need to learn about something or attend some training. Could you ask your tutor or placement supervisor for some advice? What can you do which means you will be better equipped to cope with a similar event?

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In your analysis, consider what might have helped or hindered the event. You also have the opportunity here to compare your experience with the literature you have read. This section is very important, particularly for higher level writing. Many students receive poor marks for reflective assignments for not bringing the theory and experience together.

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In your conclusion, it is important to acknowledge: whether you could have done anything else; what you have learned from the experience; consider whether you could you have responded in a different way. If you are talking about a positive experience…discuss whether you would do the same again to ensure a positive outcome.Also consider if there is anything you could change to improve things even further. If the incident was negative…tell your reader how you could have avoided it happening and also how you could make sure it doesn’t happen again.

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Gibbs' reflective cycle can be really useful in making you think through all the phases of an experience or activity. In our example, we missed out Gibbs’ ‘Evaluation’ phase, and have gone back and added in some thoughts about what our Health Visitor got right – clearly her first session with the family was not all bad. As a practitioner it is easy to be too conscious of the things that didn’t go well. Don’t be too hard on yourself! The Evaluation phase makes you think about the positive as well as areas for improvement.