Suggested format for a reflective journal

Dr Elaine Regan, Postdoctoral Research Associate, King’s College London

This is one of many possibilities, but it will give you some idea of the types of questions that you can usefully ask yourself. Feel free to modify this format to suit your needs.Write a page (or two) for each session, completed by you in order of the sessions.Complete this information after each time you do some work on the course. This includes the formal sessions, the related reading and any other preparation, such as work in groups. Answer only the questions that apply - but think carefully about whether each question applies or not.

A Reflective journal/diary is not like an essay! In your notebook you reflect on the academic content of the INQUIRE course/workshop in relation to your professional practice. It can be written in an essay-type prose, with an introduction and conclusion, or it can be a mixture of continuous prose, notes, bullet points etc. The contents should (

  • relate the content of a workshop and related reading to your own teaching and personal development
  • support any statements you make with evidence and examples from your reading and from your practice
  • refer to insights gained into your practice
  • consider the intention to try out new ideas and methods
  • identify the need for further exploration of issues
  • identify longer-term development

What would an unsatisfactory entry be like?

  • A description only of content from a workshop and reading
  • Little reference to the workshop and related reading
  • Generalisations unsupported by evidence or examples of how an insight or opinion came about

A satisfactory diary entry would:

  • Review (what happened in the course or something you tried form the course in your teaching)
  • Reflect (make sense of what happened)
  • Digest (absorb the implications of the learning event and link it with experience, action plans or questions for you to explore further)

Keep the following page in the front of your notebook to stimulate your thoughts and writing (taken from

Your name
Session date
Session number
Session topic
What did I read for this session (apart from the notes)?
What was the most interesting thing I read for this session (mark it above with an asterisk) - why was that?
What were three main things I learned from this session?
What did I previously think was true, but now know to be wrong?
What did we not cover that I expected we should?
What was new or surprising to me?
What have I changed my mind about, as a result of this session?
One thing I learned in this session that I may be able to use in future is...
I am still unsure about...
Issues that interested me a lot, and that I would like to study in more detail
Ideas for action, based on this session...
What I most liked about this session was...
What I most disliked about this session was...
Miscellaneous interesting facts I learned in this session...