What is a Reflection Paper?
A Reflection Paper is a formal written presentation of a critical reflection about a specific issue. This is a common form of assessment in the BEd.
A Reflection Paper is not a diary or journal, although these may have been a way of processing your reflections before actually writing the paper. It is a type of essay, and as such requires:
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a formal introduction
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a well-structured body which presents your thoughts clearly and logically to the reader
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a formal conclusion.
You must begin each point with a new paragraph, and introduce the point with a topic sentence (see Paragraphs). You may use the first person in a Reflection Paper as it is a record of your own thoughts and experiences. However, a Reflection Paper also requires in-text references to the ideas of others, and a Reference List must be included at the end.
A Reflection Paper is designed to show your knowledge of a certain field, and, more importantly, your awareness of how you constructed that knowledge. Thus it is an interaction between ideas received from outside (books, lectures, school experiences, etc.) and your own internal understanding and interpretation of those ideas.
More than anything else, a Reflection Paper invites self-reflection. The capacity for self-reflection is a vital personal and professional quality of a good teacher. Self-reflection in this context involves a constant questioning of one’s own assumptions, and a capacity to analyse and synthesise information to create new perspectives and understanding. This is a constant process and leads to an on-going commitment to improve and refine one’s own teaching practice.
These Reflection Papers are teaching you a technique that you will use all your professional life.
