Reflective essays are highly characteristic of British higher education. It involves both in-depth thinking, rational observation and testing the writer’s self-assessment skills. The soul of this type of essay, i.e. deep reflection. The following present reflective essay template statements:
1. General analysis
2. PS: This is the key topic of the essay and the focus of the debate from a critical point of view.
3. Self-reflection
4. PS: Complete presentation of personal perception of the event, supported by detailed descriptions.
5. Integration of theory and practice
6. PS: In-depth analyses of how theoretical insights can be interpreted in real-life situations, or at the intersection of empirical examples and theory.
7. Combination of experience and theory
8. PS: Evidence (e.g., case studies, experiments, etc.) should be cited in this section to support or disprove the theory and to give depth to the reflector.
9. Conclusion
10. PS: The ‘Conclusion’ section serves as a chapter in the reflective collection that provides a focused summary of the argument.
11. Existing Initiative Planning
12. PS: Once the reflection has been completed, the Future Action Programme should contain a carefully developed strategy for personal improvement.
The following are examples of templates:
1. Introduction (brief description of the topic, objectives and research approach)
2. PS: Often referred to as the introduction.
3. Literature Review (presenting relevant previous research findings)
Literature review, is an important part of an in-depth research paper.
