Reflective writing essay
To reflect means reviewing our inner processes of thinking and feeling. John Dewey, a key originator of thinking about reflection sees it as a special form of problem solving, which requires qualities of open-mindedness, responsibility and self-awareness. Schön emphasises the concept of ‘reflection-in-action’, where the reflective practitioner evaluates intuitive understandings intrinsic to experience as a guide to action. This ‘on-the-spot’ processing is different from retrospective contemplation, which typifies most reflection on learning.
This essay will require your thinking togo through the following levels and have your essay arrive at the third, the critical level.
1. the technical or evaluative level – students typically start at the first level, mostly describing and evaluating their experiences, with little connection to theory
2. the practical or sense-making level – most progress to the second level, making sense of their experiences or learning in the light of theoretical understandings
3. the critical level – students tend to find the third level the most challenging, as it requires a capacity to critically examine the values, beliefs and assumptions underlying their actions.
The Essay Question:
Identify from your experience (if there is no prior experience reflect on your learning throughout the workbook exercise) at least 1 event/scenario where you have applied, or failed to apply, Project Management Theory. This can for example be during one of the 5 process groups (Initiating; Planning; Executing; Monitoring and controlling; or Closing) or focussed on one or more of the 10 knowledge areas (see the book, page 9). Reflect on this/these event(s) by:
1. giving a short description of the event/scenario,
2. evaluate the event/scenario using the literature , and
3. analyse the event/scenario to identify how you can modify future outcomes when you are managing a project.
To help you in this assessment there are ample resources and examples available for you on blackboard. I would suggest to start with the PowerPoint presentation ‘MNG91217 - How to Write a Reflective Essay.pptx’, followed by ‘MNG91217 - The 5 Rs_Framework.pdf’. If after reading these resources you are still unclear, consider reading ‘MNG91217 - Additional resources on Reflective Writing.docx’. This is a rather large document (20 pages), but provides some excellent guidelines and examples for you to consider.
Format for assessment 3
The format of the formal assignment will be:
• SCU Cover Sheet
• Title page
• Table of contents
• Introduction
• Main Body
o How you structure the body of the essay is up to you, but a useful guide might be three sub-sections:
1. Description of the event/scenario
2. Evaluation of the event/scenario
3. Analysis of the event/scenario
o Alternatively you can use the 5 R’s as your subsections:
Reporting
Responding
Relating
Reasoning
Reconstructing
• Conclusion
• Reference list (Harvard referencing style is required)
• Appendixes (if you feel you need them)
• Any forms, charts, tables and/or diagrams you feel are necessary to support your essay should be included under the relevant sections of the assignment, not in an appendix
o Tables should be formatted as text, and not as images, as they will count towards your word count. Tables formatted as an image will not be marked.