In physical therapy, as in other health professions, there have been calls for the development of skills in reflection, usually with reference to the work of Schön. An aim is to prevent professionals from practicing in an automatic fashion and to help them develop an understanding of themselves and their practice. One means suggested for promoting reflective practice is the personal journal, either for studen ts or professionals. This paper provides an overview of journal writing in education and the health professions. The educational rationale of journal writing is examined, and concerns relating to the use of expressive journals are raised. It concludes that journals offer educators a means of encouraging reflective practice in their students but should be used with an awareness of potential problems as well as benefits. Journals may also benefit educators themselves, as well as researchers and others wishing to increase their consciousness of professional practice.
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Jan Perkins (1996) studied this question.