Academic Leadership

Academic Leadership: Fundamental Building Blocks

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Reflective Learning Journals

A reflective learning journal is a helpful tool for identifying useful topics for peer coaching

sessions. Reflective learning journals and coaching sessions are linked effectively and

productively when the starting points for coaching sessions come from critical learning

events that the coachee documents in a learning journal.

A reflective learning journal is an ongoing record of personal critical learning events.

These learning events may be something you have read, understood or misunderstood,

or an example of a concept covered in the unit that you have applied at work.

The use of a learning journal is designed to achieve three objectives:

1. To encourage you to critically review your leadership practice in the context of your
   work environment.


2. To heighten your understanding of your leadership through interactive learning and
   coaching.


3. To provide you with an opportunity to develop your lifelong learning skills.

Guidelines for developing reflective journal writing

1. Describe the learning event (a learning event can be a learning experience, an
   issue, or a situation at work). Describe prior knowledge, feelings or attitudes with
   new knowledge, feelings or attitudes. What happened?


2. Analyze/re-evaluate the learning event in relation to prior knowledge, feelings or
   attitudes. What is your reaction to the learning event? Why did it happen?


3. Verify/confirm the learning event in relation to prior knowledge, feelings or
   attitudes. What is the value of the learning event that has occurred? Are the new
   knowledge, feelings or attitudes about the learning event correct?


4. Relate 1, 2, and 3 to gain a new understanding of the learning event. What is your
   new understanding of the learning event?


5. How will the new learning event affect your future behaviour? How will you
   approach the same or similar event in the future?


6. What goals do you need to set for yourself? How can your coach help you?
   To help with your journaling and make it more interesting, meaningful and fun, try writing
   your entries in different styles. Tap into your multiple intelligences. For example, in
   addition to just writing in entries, draw a picture, make a collage, write your entry as a
   story.
   The entries that you put into your learning journal are the first steps in a three-step
   approach to journal writing (Riley-Doucet & Wilson, 1997). They are illustrated in detail
   next.