Reflective practice: writing and professional development.

A few years ago, Gillie Bolton came to my department to run one of her legendary reflective writing workshops. She issued jotters and pencils and exhorted us to write for exactly six minutes about anything that came into our heads. We sat at tables, on the floor and even in the corridor and wrote till our wrists ached. I started with a shopping list and then tried to plan the week's hectic schedule. I also wrote, “Nice to sort things out in my head; should do this more often”. When the six minutes were up, we reconvened, grinning conspiratorially as if we'd all been sharing a naughty secret. How did it feel? Fun, creative, indulgent, safe, worthwhile. Now, back to the jotters and this time, write for 20 minutes, this time with a view to sharing within the group. One of our group had recalled a childhood incident at a traditional Indian wedding, when she had dared to climb trees and jump in the mud in her beautiful white silk outfit. Years later, the thrill of breaking out of a traditional stereotype and the pain of being publicly admonished both remained with her. So did the feeling that the former was generally worth the latter. As she read her story, we all laughed and ‘lived through’ the childhood adventure and then listened, fascinated, as she drew parallels with subsequent tribulations to do with gender, ethnicity, and personal and professional development. In the short time allocated for the presentation and feedback, we had come to know, understand and respect our colleague a little better. Gillie has been running similar workshops with both professional and patient groups for many years. Professionals, I learnt from the book, write about roles and relationships, about frustrated expectations and missed opportunities, about difficult colleagues, about their tiredness and lack of fulfilment, about suffering and death and (surprisingly often, it seemed to me) about the childhood experiences that have made them the people they are. This book is partly a guide to the pedagogical foundations of group learning and reflective writing (soundly presented and faultlessly referenced—Gillie is married to a professor of higher education) and partly a patchwork quilt of stories about the different groups that she has worked with. It is liberally peppered with fragments of authentic writing from doctors, nurses, care workers and administrative staff, variously expressed as simple prose, poetry, science fiction and even fairy tales. This excellent book is one to leave in the living room to pick up and dip into when you return, hungry for emotional refreshment, from a day at the office or clinic. And when you feel ready, use it as a guide for setting up a group of your own.