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Sometimes the process of figuring out who you are as a writer requires reflection, or determining what you were thinking and how your thinking changed over time, relative to key experiences.
Mature learners, like experienced writers, set goals and then achieve them by charting a course of action and making adjustments along the way when they encounter obstacles. They also build on strengths and seek reinforcement when weaknesses surface.
They’re not afraid to make mistakes (own them, even), and they know that struggle can be a rewarding part of the process. By equal measure, mature learners and writers celebrate their strengths and use them strategically.
In adopting a reflective position, you can emulate these practices by pinpointing both areas that work well and areas that require further help—all without losing sight of your goals.
Educator Peter Pappas modified Bloom’s taxonomy, a popular learning framework, to focus on reflection. This “taxonomy of reflection,” starting from the bottom with "remembering" and building to the top with "creating," provides a structure for thinking about an educational experience:
| A Taxonomy of Reflection |
|---|
| Creating: What should I do next? |
| Evaluating: How well did I do? |
| Analyzing: Do I see any patterns in what I did? |
| Applying: Where could I use this again? |
| Understanding: What was important about it? |
| Remembering: What did I do? |
Educator Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano then modified Pappas’ taxonomy into a pyramid and expanded upon his reflection questions:
Using Pappas’ and Tolisano’s models can help you reflect on your learning, growth, and development as a reader, writer, and thinker in this course.
Source: This content has been adapted from Lumen Learning's "Reflection" and "Reflective Learning" tutorials.
