Reflective writing is an important component of reflective learning but should the written work be graded, assessed or even considered as part of formative assessment?

Richert (1990), Morrison (1996), Moon (2005) and Parsons and Stephenson (2005) have all used reflective journals or diaries, as a pedagogical tool to encourage learning, but individuals use the written word in a variety of different social, cultural and political contexts including personal or formal letters, e-mails, personal diaries, formal essays or examinations, with each context involving a different style of writing, therefore written reflection has several implications. First, individuals are taught from a very early age to write for a purpose and gradually learn to write in order to attain an appropriate response. The required response may be personal from a letter or academic gaining a high grade in an assignment, the individual will constrain the written document to conform to the given situation or context: writing for a purpose. Second, the introduction of writing for the purpose of learning from a personal experience may contradict the individual s experience of writing purely for an academic reward. \ud \ud I, like Burke (2008), feel there are academic boundaries relating to writing that inhibit rather than promote learning and feel the student teachers may feel an academic expectation and a lack of familiarity with journal writing that constrains, or impacts on, reflective writing