You are required to write a Reflective Essay about a topic studied on the module, drawing on your reflective journal.
Assignment instructions:
You are required to write a Reflective Essay addressing your learning experience of a specific Topic studied on the module. You may choose to write about ANY of the Topics we have studied so far (e.g. Empowerment, Anti-Oppressive Practice, Human Rights, Equity, Inclusion, etc). You may use a reflective model to structure your essay. We have studied different reflective models on the module (e.g. the Gibbs Reflective Model).
Your Reflective Essay should contain the following elements:
1. Report (description & Feelings) your learning about a Topic and explain why it is important to your professional practice. Give your initial response to learning about the Topic. Recount your learning about the Topic on which you have chosen to reflect. Explain it and its context. Your initial response to learning about the Topic can show where you stood before you started to analyse the situation. What were your initial feelings about it?
2. Relate learning about the Topic to your own skills, professional experience or discipline knowledge. Describe any similar or related experiences you’ve had and whether the conditions were the same or different. Make connections between this and your previous knowledge and experience of similar situations. Discuss how well you think things went in terms of what you learnt. What was good and bad about the learning experience?
3. Reason about (discuss/analyse) learning about the Topic to show an understanding of how things work in this discipline or professional field. You should highlight significant factors in your learning experience showing why they are important for a new understanding. Relate these back to the academic literature including theoretical or research-based literature as appropriate. Use evidence where appropriate. Discuss different perspectives involved e.g. ethical, social, legal, organisational, professional.
4. Reconstruct your understanding for future practice (Conclusion & Action Plan) Outline the changes in your understanding and/or behaviour as a result of your learning about the Topic and your reflection upon it. Explain the implications for this in your future professional practice. What actions will you take and why? Further guidance on reflective writing and using reflective models is provided in your Learning Materials & in Assessment Details on Weblearn. Note the dates of Reflective Writing workshops and assignment tutorials in your module handbook. Your Group tutor will provide support and guidance during these sessions.
