Journaling and the Making of Meaning Flashcards

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers the core concepts of reflective journaling and experiential learning as discussed in the seminar notes.

Reflection

The mechanism that converts an experience into learning and links one experience to the next so lessons carry forward instead of staying stuck in the moment.

Meaning-making

The function of reflection used to formulate the relationships and continuities among the elements of an experience, between that experience and other experiences, and between that experience and the knowledge that one carries.

Surface learning

A level of learning characterized by remembering, which reflective journaling helps move a learner beyond.

Deep learning

A level of learning involving evaluating and changing that shifts ownership of the learning to the learner.

Intentional learning

Learning that is oriented to a purpose, rather than being incidental.

Space

One of the two conditions for effective reflection, defined as a judgement-free, unhurried environment where the mind can wander.

Company

A condition for reflection that deepens the process through interaction with others and community.

The Journaling Cycle

A practice involving six steps: write in the moment, capture details, reread later, see growth, connect the dots, and share.

Rumination

A failure of reflection where the individual circles the same feelings without ever moving, often caused by leaving reflection unstructured.

Ritual

A failure of reflection, described by Boud and Walker ($1998$), where the practice hardens into rule-following or going through the motions.