Reflective writing on the foundation course is one way to measure a students learning. In part one and occasionally part 2 of the course we write questions that guide the students to effectively plot aims of the session, challenges they faced while making the work and possible future ideas and methods of working they might explore in the future. After reading the article “the reflection game: enacting the penitent self” I’m left considering how much I’m performing for this blog and the effectiveness of reflective writing for the foundation students. 

Reflective writing for myself and many of the foundations students is a displeasurable task. I convince myself that writing is essential in formulating ideas coherently and this maybe true for those who are talented at writing. When leaving education I did not continue to write reflection nor do I use it in my current illustration practice. But I do think and I talk to someone I trust. 

After reading the article, I think that reflective writing is a tick box exercise. But I cannot judge if that is accurate for the students. What, if anything do they “get” from the activity? Reflective writing appears to be completed for the sake of a criteria that uses flaccid language to assess learning competence. What can I change with my approach to the necessity of reflective writing? Skim over reflection during tutorials, get the students to explain what they think they learned?