When the Ink Runs Dry: Implications for Theory and Practice When Educators Stop Keeping Reflective Journals
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When the Ink Runs Dry: Implications for Theory and Practice When Educators Stop Keeping Reflective Journals Janet E. Dyment & Timothy S. O’Connell
# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
Abstract In this article we report on a study that explored educators’ past and current use of reflective journals and if and how these practices influence their pedagogical use of such journals with their own students. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 8 educators who had kept reflective journals in the past but were no longer doing so; however, they require their own students to keep journals. Several interesting themes emerged including the temporal relevance of using reflective journals in professional practice, the significance of alternative methods of reflection, implications of the “teaching as you’ve been taught” phenomenon, and the importance of lower levels of reflection in development as a professional. Keywords journals . reflection . educators . teaching
Background and Purpose of the Study Many educators in higher education encourage their students to develop reflective skills in order to assist with the refinement of their practice. Dewey (1910/1997) defined reflection as, “… active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in
Janet E. Dyment is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Tasmania (Australia). She received her Ph.D. in Educational Studies from Lakehead University in Canada. Her research interests include journal writing, outdoor education, sustainability education, and pre-service teacher training. Timothy S. O’Connell is Professor and Chair of the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at Brock University (Canada). He received his Ph.D. in Recreation and Leisure Studies from New York University. His research interests include the pedagogy of reflective journal writing, psychological sense of community in outdoor recreation, and impacts of participation in outdoor orientation programmes. J. E. Dyment (*) Faculty of Education, University of Tasmania, Locked Bag 66, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia e-mail: [email protected] T. S. O’Connell Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada e-mail: [email protected]
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the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusion to which it tends” (p. 9). Popularized through Schön’s (1983) The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action, educators have used a number of methods to encourage reflection including eportfolios, discussion boards, blogging, and tutorials. Another method, reflective journaling, has a long history of use in higher education. Reflective journals are used across a range of disciplines including nursing (Epp, 2008), physiotherapy (Wessel & Larin, 2006), teacher education (Hatton & Smith, 1995), music education (Baker, 2007), physical education (Tsangaridou & O'Sullivan, 1994), design (Gulwadi, 2009), information and technology education (Gleaves, Walker, & Grey,
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