Learning Journals

A Handbook for Reflective Practice and Professional Development

Jennifer A. Moon

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780429828881
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Medizin
• Subtopic: Krankenpflege

Fully updated with important new theory and practical material, this second edition of Learning Journals offers guidance on keeping and using journals and gives step-by-step advice on integrating journal writing on taught courses, in training and professional development and in supporting personal development planning (PDP) activities. Key topics covered include:

• the nature of learning journals and how we learn from them
• the broad range of uses of learning journals, including portfolios and personal and professional development
• the depth and quality of reflection in learning journals
• the assessment of learning journals and reflective writing
• the use of narrative and story-telling techniques in journals.

With useful exercises and activities that enhance learning journal work in a structured manner, Learning Journals is invaluable reading for teachers and students in higher education, for all professionals, particularly those working in the health services and business and training and for all those who want to learn more about keeping a fulfilling personal journal.

Chapter 1
Backgrounds

An introduction to learning journals

Introduction

We start by looking at the term ‘learning journal’ and the boundaries of the definition that are adopted for this book. We ask ‘why write a journal?’ and use some comments from those who write journals or who manage journal-writing in educational situations to illustrate a range of enlightening and creative aspects of the process. The next section roots the discussion in its past and present contexts. We sketch in the manner in which present ideas of learning journals have been developed and how journals become a topic in their own right in academic and educational literature. There is, too, a personal context for the writer’s chosen subject matter and for this book. It describes how the book came to be written and how it relates to a more than an academic interest in the human process of reflection. With some roots to the topic of learning journals in place, we can begin to widen the discussion in the last section, towards an anticipation of the rest of the book.

What is a learning journal?

A learning journal is essentially a vehicle for reflection. Probably all adults reflect, some more than others, and for those who do reflect, being reflective can represent a deeply seated orientation to their lives. For others, the process would seem to come about only when the conditions in their environment are conducive to reflecting, perhaps when there is an incentive to reflect, or some guidance or a particular accentuation of the conditions. A learning journal represents an accentuation of those right conditions – some guidance, some encouragement, helpful questions or exercises and the expectation that journal-writing can have a worthwhile consequence, whether during or at the end of the process, or as a result of both.

There are many different words that are used to describe what we are calling ‘learning journals’. They may be called ‘diaries’, but not the sort of diary or calendar that notes dates for events (that is, the kind that is carried in a handbag), though they might do this as well. They may be called ‘logs’ or ‘learning logs’, but they are not logs only in the sense of recording data at particular points in time or place. An example of the latter would be a ship’s log in which data is written at fixed points in a ship’s passage. A learning journal is very likely to include some factual recording about place or time but for the sense here, it means more than that. Sometimes a learning journal, as we have said, is the same as a personal development plan, a ‘progress file’ or a record of achievement (NCIHE, 1997; Cottrell, 2003). It may, likewise, coincide with many aspects of a portfolio in which a range of learner’s work or evidence of work is accompanied by a reflective commentary. There are other words that have been or may be used to describe broadly the same activity as the keeping of a learning journal. Old terms are ‘commonplace’ or ‘common-day’ book (Rainer, 1978) which could be descriptive or might have a more constructive purpose. ‘Think place’ or ‘think book’, ‘notebook’ and ‘workbook’ are other terms that arise in the literature. There are some other words such as ‘ponder’ that might be engaged here.

Precisely defining words – such as ‘journal’ – is unhelpful here because it is a situation in which the creative development of personal terms is an aspect of the very process of reflective learning. In this book, by ‘learning journal’, we refer to an accumulation of material that is mainly based on the writer’s processes of reflection. The accumulation is made over a period of time, not ‘in one go’. The notion of ‘learning’ implies that there is an overall intention by the writer (or those who have set the task) that learning should be enhanced. For this reason, the descriptive diary that never goes further than describing events is not part of the subject matter of this book. Within this generalized form that we describe here there are vast creative possibilities with many illustrations of these in this book.

So we are not talking about something with a fixed definition here. The definition has fuzzy edges. For example, the idea of writing a journal mostly implies an activity that is personal and relatively solitary, but one form of journal-writing involves two or more people who construct the same document. ‘Dialogue journals’ represent a written conversation between two or more people, each responding to the other’s entries, usually around an agreed topic, though, as in the nature of any conversation, the topic may shift and a new one may be introduced. Shifting on in meaning a little brings us to email conversations, and the various software mechanisms whereby a large number of people can read or contribute to a discussion, with the topics organized into strands (e.g. blogs and wikis).

Another example of activity that may or may not fit our notion of ‘learning journal’ is the autobiography. In the past few years the literature on story and narrative in education and professional development has increased greatly (e.g. McDrury and Alterio, 2003). As an example, many teacher education programmes utilize autobiography as a means of exploring students’ pre-course conceptions of teaching, teachers, school and other concepts that may distort their new role as teachers. Sometimes this form of work would not be sufficiently continuous in time to fit our definition, or it may be an exercise within a learning journal.

An aspect of the definition on which we have not yet expanded is the form of expression of the reflection. It is easiest to think of journal work as written and often it is handwritten. A pen and notebook may not now be vastly more convenient to carry than a palm-top computer, but they are still cheaper, and for many people there is something more expressive about a favourite pen than a keyboard. Electronic journals have advantages, and one, in particular, is where parts of the journal can be communicated to others by email – such as in the case of a dialogue journal or the discussion lists that we have mentioned above.

Verbal reflection can be recorded on tape. Audio-diaries have become relatively common on radio. Here they might take the form of the individual making regular recordings during a journey – or during the experiencing of an event. As this is written, an audio-diary broadcasted in the summer of 2005 on the BBC comes to mind (BBC Radio 4, 8 August 2005). It was made by a relatively unknown Scottish band, the members of which were suddenly drawn into ‘top of the charts’ status in Serbia. They reflected on their journey to Serbia across Europe in an old van, the brief experience of stardom and the trundle back into everyday life.

We do not assume, either, that journals are always verbal. Words can be mixed with drawing or drawing may predominate. Learning journals are close or coincide with the idea of the artist’s notebook. In architecture or art, the noting and exploration of graphic form over a period of time might be the subject of a journal and parallel ideas might be applied in music and it may even occur in dance and acting. These different forms of recording in a learning journal need to be borne in mind when reading this book but, for convenience, most of the text will refer to the written form of recording.

The subject matter of journals – what it is that people are writing and thinking about in their journals – will be covered in many areas of this book. For convenience we divide the main approach to the subject matter of journals into three areas – personal development, journals in formal non-vocational education and in the context of professional education and development. There are large areas of overlap of likely subject matter in these areas. For example, few would separate personal development entirely from professional development (Harvey and Knight, 1996). Equally, professional or vocational issues may well emerge in a personal journal but are also sometimes of relevance to a student’s development within his or her discipline.

Beyond the three big categories here, however, there are some surprises in the literature. While it is clear to see that there is no limit to the day-to-day subject matter of a personal development journal, there also seems to be little limit to the subject matter about which journals may be written in the field of formal education. This book will discuss the use of journals in over 30 disciplines in formal education. These disciplines range far from the humanities and arts, where the home of journal-writing might seem to be, to the sciences and applied sciences of engineering and computer studies. It is useful that basic subject matter inspires the development of different structures for reflection and writing and these different structures can then be adapted and applied elsewhere. Many of the exercises that are described in the last two chapters of this book have been adapted from specific applications in other contexts.

Another major variable in journals is their structure. A simple personal learning journal may be no more than a recording of the features of the day with reflective commentary and consideration of the issues raised. However, an extreme example of a structured journal is also one most often focused on personal development. Progoff’s ‘Intensive Journal’ (see p. 132) consists of 19 sections, many of which have associated methods recommended for their entries (Progoff, 1975). Between these extremes, there is wide variation, which is often defined by the subject matter or the purposes of the journal. For example, in formal education, journal entries may often relate to coursework – the content of lectures and reading work or entries may be required to follow a sequence of questions that are designed to structure reflection. Often, however, students who are guided in some of their entries are encouraged also to write freely in another section. As we noted, we have personal development planning that links the academic experiences of a student with her broader experiences of being a student and with her developing aspirations for career.

The question of audience for the writing of a journal raises some interesting issues. It has three aspects that may be linked. First, for whom is the journal being written, in the sense of who is it who has decided that it will be written? (Is there any choice not to write it?) Second, who will see it – will it be assessed and seen by another in that context or will it be seen by a tutor who will ask only helpful questions to guide reflection to unconsidered issues? Will it be seen by peers? Individuals may choose to share aspects of their journal with another for mutual benefit or for their own benefit. There are benefits from sharing journal-writing, but it can be risky, too, and the knowledge that one is sharing can distort the process of writing. The third aspect, of audience, may remain in a conscious or unconscious state with the writer. Writers of personal journals may become aware that they are writing for a particular audience – perhaps their children, or others who may see the journals after the writer has died. Thoughts about this aspect of audience may arise in considerations of the confidentiality of journals. Is someone quietly prying on a personal journal or not? If someone pries, does it matter? Is it all right that someone else learns more about one’s views and reflections – more than would be revealed in a conversation? The coercion, the power and the nature of the audience can be major influences on journal writers and their journals.

Why write a learning journal?

There are many formal purposes (Moon, 1999b) for writing a journal (Chapter 5).

In this section we seek to provide a ‘feel’ for the reasons why people choose to engage in this activity. We tackle this task by considering the comments that journal writers and those who have managed a journal-writing process have made. These quotations are chosen because they seem, in their different ways, to articulate some of the essence of ‘why write a journal’.

The personal journal has been used for hundreds of years to articulate the human drama of living and to explore new knowledge.

(Wolf, 1989)

Now I had a boyfriend and, without realizing why, I wrote that diary to and for him . . . One evening without fully understanding what I was doing, I suddenly scribbled across the page in a large hand: ‘LET MY PAGE BE A WOMAN FOR THE FIRST TIME!’ and then, ‘There is nothing but blank before me. I don’t know where to begin’. In that moment, on that page, I finally met myself as the audience of my own diary. In retrospect I consider it the single most important moment in my life.

(Rainer, 1978: 31)

The aim of the journal is partially to individualize the undergraduate psychology course. It is described to students as a means of connecting the knowledge, concepts and ideas which they acquire from the course to their past and present experiences, thoughts, work, self-reflections; books or articles read; and other courses.

(Hettich, 1976)

Keeping a Diary
I try to observe my own experience
And discover that the more I look the more I see
But I do not know how to learn from what I see.

(Joanna Field, 1952: 7)

[Journal-writing] . . . allows one to recognize, in writing, the natural thought processes.

(a student’s comment in Wetherell and Mullins, 1996)

To some extent, we sense some meaning in each event as we live it. Much of the time, our response is so routine that the event adds little or nothing to our sense of our lives. Some events, though, carry a feeling of special meaning. Keeping a journal is another way in which we may grasp a fuller meaning in these events and in the situations in which we undergo them.

(Cell, 1984: 221)

The act of writing is a great stimulus to creativity. When we are grappling with a problem, it is a common occurrence that in writing down our conscious thoughts on the question, useful associations and new ideas begin to emerge. Writing the immediate thoughts makes more ‘room’ for new avenues of thinking, new possibilities.

(Miller, 1979)

How . . . [do] I learn . .. I wasn’t really sure . .. Then, one summer, I discovered journals.

(Voss, 1988)

Education, as Frière noted rightly, can be used to free people or to domesticate them; when students write reflectively, I think they are being liberated.

(Sanford, 1988)

It is in the solitude of blank pages that adults can reflect on their life experiences, contemplate future directions, and come to trust more deeply in their own answers.

(Christensen, 1981)

Keeping a journal is a humbling process. You rely on your senses; your impressions and you purposely record your experiences as vividly, as playfully, and as creatively as you can. It is a learning process in which you are the learner and the one who teaches.

(Holly, 1991: 4)

The data, though not conclusive, seem to show that journals helped students clarify their thoughts and enhance their ability to develop ideas.

(Dimino, 1988 – of nursing students)

The purposes of the journal-writing assignments are to encourage exploration and risk-taking by the students as well as to teach content.

(Hahnemann, 1986)

I’ve learned that the private fingering of ordinary experience can fill up notebooks as interestingly as musings on great events . .. My own diaries have outgrown the green strongbox I used to keep them in, and I’ve outgrown believing that I’m such a shocking character that they need to be locked up. They’re a permanent part of life now.

(Mallon, 1984)

I need to fill in the background . . . it centres on my diary. I have always written a diary – well – since I was around thirteen when I was given five-year diary for Christmas. That diary had a key and I used to hide the key inside a packet just inside the cover so I could slip it out. The diary saw me through the beginnings of my interests in boys and I was always worried that the diary would be read by my mother or by my young brother. I have gone on writing a diary. I suppose it has become part of me . .. something I just do. I usually write just before bedtime. My diary was first seriously challenged at uni. when my first boyfriend started to stay the night. Sitting side by side in a single bed I could hardly say ‘Sorry Martin, I want to write my diary. Just turn your head for a moment . . . would you.’

(Jaye, 2005 – from a short story)

The journal makes you more conscious of things – more aware. You think ‘that would be useful to put in the journal’ and then hold onto it. It ‘highlights’ things. It helps you to search for themes. It is useful to go back over your practice. You may not understand at first. You might annotate these things to think about [‘unpack’] later. There may also be ‘pop-up’ issues – or issues in the news. The journal makes you notice things that might ‘slip by’. I realise that I found the journal easier than other people. It is very different to academic work – a different way of working.

(From a student in Moon, 2004b)

In the concluding comments to his book, Hartley says: ‘Finally . .. I would like to recommend some specific actions t...