4.7: Frameworks for Reflective Writing

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Learning Objectives

Recognize possible structures for reflective writing
Recognize component skills of reflective writing

Researchers have developed several different frameworks or models for how reflective writing can be structured. John Driscoll^[1] used Terry Borton’s^[2] three stem questions to devise The Borton Framework pictured below.

Borton Framework: What, describe an action or event; So what? Explain why that action or event was important; Now what? Explain how you will use that information to inform future practice.

The DEAL model^[3] structures reflective writing through a three-stage approach of description, examination, and articulation of learning.

D: Describe the experience, E: Examine the experience through the lens of academic concepts or strategies, AL: Articulate learning by explaining what you learned, how you learned it, and why it's important.

The DIEP model (Boud, Keogh & Walker, 1985) incorporates aspects of both the Borton and DEAL frameworks with its emphasis on significance and future action.

Describe what happened, what did you do; Interpret: what does the experience mean to you as a learner; Evaluate: how valuable was the experience?; Plan: what will you do with your learning?

Each of the models speaks to the reflective writer’s tasks: briefly describing an event or experience; analyzing the significance and value of the experience in terms of larger theory or practice; and forecasting how the learning might be useful in other situations.

Driscoll J (1994) Reflective practice for practise - a framework of structured reflection for clinical areas. Senior Nurse 14 (1):47–50 ↵
Ash, S.L, Clayton, P.H., & Moses, M.G. (2009). Learning through critical reflection: A tutorial for service-learning students (instructor version). Raleigh, NC. ↵
Boud, D.; Keogh, R.; Walker, D. (Eds) (1985) Reflection: turning experience into learning. London: Kogan Page ↵

Frameworks for Reflective Writing. Authored by: Karen Forgette. Provided by: University of Mississippi. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike