Lawrence Lok, FA regional coach development officer (D&I), looks at the importance of using a reflective journal to improve his coaching.
What are the benefits of using a reflective journal?
Reflective practice has been discussed as a strategy that could help practitioners explore their decisions and experiences to increase their understanding and management of themselves and their practice (Anderson et al., 2004).
Mills (2008) notes reflective journals provide a path for students to become more engaged and active in their own learning. The reflection process has allowed me to develop myself as a practitioner and has been the foundation of my professional learning journey.
My personal experience of using a reflective journal was during my postgraduate degree in physical education and teaching. Within my journal, I used Gibbs’ (1988) reflection cycle, focusing on the teaching and coaching principles and the implementation of these to improve my delivery in schools and grassroots football.
Why do we reflect?
As practitioners, we’re constantly reflecting, although these thoughts are sometimes unconscious, not deepened and not used effectively. These considerations might happen during your drive home from a session, through informal/formal discussions with colleagues or when planning future sessions.
This thought process allows us to consider anticipated outcomes and to reveal if they’ve been met. Through self-evaluation and improved awareness, a coach can consciously and purposefully improve their coaching practice (Anderson, et al., 2004).
Why keep a reflective journal?
A reflective journal contains stories about yourself; it allows you to put down your feelings and emotions during that day/session. You can reflect on the coaching experience and see if your goals have been met (Gray, 2007).
It includes any important happenings from that session - positive or otherwise. It allows you to analyse your own practice and empowers you to look deeper into the context of the session/lesson.
Tips for reflective practice
1. Focus on one area of reflection
You may want to reflect on one of the England DNA coaching fundamentals. Alternatively, there are many aspects to coaching and teaching you can reflect on. Choose one of these and focus on it for several sessions: assessment of learning, ball rolling time, behaviour management, coaching interventions, dealing with parents, differentiation, feedback, inclusion, matchday management, observation, player challenges, progression, scenarios, session design, team challenges.
2. Write freely
Write what you have on your mind at the time of writing. Try to write an entry each time you coach. If you can’t write a full entry, write down a series of bullet-points.
3. Be honest in your own practice
This is very important; the journal is about you. Always think about how you can improve as a coach. Ask yourself: What went well? How could it have been even better? What would you keep? What would you change? Give yourself an action plan with realistic goals.
4. Allow time for changes to happen
Changes do not happen overnight. Allow your players to cope and adjust with the ideas and strategies you want to implement. Did your new ideas work? What can you do next time to improve? If it worked, does it need changing?
5. Keep it simple
Avoid writing a long narrative describing what happened; stick with the key points of what you’re reflecting on.
Do you already keep a reflective journal? If so, how effective do you think it is? If not, after reading this blog, would you be interested in trying it? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
