Reflection Log Instructions

Reflection Logs

Reflect on your personal response to what you have been experiencing, learning, doing, feeling, and thinking.  You are free to write about anything that you wish.  Include questions, concerns, worries, etc. from both class and the field.  Some important areas of professional development in social work practice are listed below for you to consider including in your journal.

• What personal growth (e.g., self-awareness, insights, struggles, etc.) issues emerged recently and how did you cope with them?  How do they impact your professional development?
• What stimulated your interest from the readings, discussions in this seminar or other classes and/or supervision?  What theoretical concepts became clearer or more confusing?  What research questions have arisen from your practice?
• What clinical/macro questions arose during the past week or two?  What actions or strategies were considered to address the clinical/macro questions and situations?  If an action or strategy was selected, why?
• What significant reactions to clients or colleagues have you had in the past week?  How did this influence your practice?  How are you attempting to address your reactions?
• What programmatic questions arose during the past week or two?  What actions or strategies were considered to address these program questions and situations?  If an action or strategy was selected, do you know why?  If so, what influenced the decision?
• Discuss your observations or experiences of the impact of (staff and administrative) interpersonal, organizational, policy/legislative/regulatory, and/or political factors on client services.
• Discuss your observations of ethical considerations pertaining to clients/case situations, program issues, colleagues, practice settings, the social work profession, and/or as professionals.  (See NASW Code of Ethics for details of these areas.)  Describe possible solutions to these ethical issues.
• Discuss cultural issues and awareness pertaining to clinical, program, personal/professional, or site dynamics.  Cultural issues may include, though are not limited to, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, age-related, disability-related, gender, economic/social class, or educational/professional affiliation issues.
• What are you learning about the supervisory process and about supervision dynamics?

Other ideas of things to include would be: learning goals on which you have or have not made progress; how you did/did not recognize the application of a theory or research in a field (or personal) experience; your struggles with trying to apply something from a class in the field, etc.  In addition, comment on your reactions to the seminar presentations.