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When the Ink Runs Dry: Implications for Theory and Practice When Educators Stop Keeping Reflective Journals

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Abstract

In this article we report on a study that explored educators’ past and current use of reflective journals and if and how these practices influence their pedagogical use of such journals with their own students. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 8 educators who had kept reflective journals in the past but were no longer doing so; however, they require their own students to keep journals. Several interesting themes emerged including the temporal relevance of using reflective journals in professional practice, the significance of alternative methods of reflection, implications of the “teaching as you’ve been taught” phenomenon, and the importance of lower levels of reflection in development as a professional.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, University of Tasmania, Locked Bag 66, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    Janet E. Dyment

  2. Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada

    Timothy S. O’Connell

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  1. Janet E. Dyment
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  2. Timothy S. O’Connell
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Correspondence to Janet E. Dyment.

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Dyment, J.E., O’Connell, T.S. When the Ink Runs Dry: Implications for Theory and Practice When Educators Stop Keeping Reflective Journals. Innov High Educ 39, 417–429 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-014-9291-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-014-9291-6

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