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.](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/courses-images/wp-content/uploads/sites/2097/2018/07/01162626/borton.png)
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.](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/courses-images/wp-content/uploads/sites/2097/2018/07/01162832/deal.png)
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?](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/courses-images/wp-content/uploads/sites/2097/2018/07/01163022/diep.png)
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 ↵