Participating in academic discourse involves being confronted with new information and new ways of conceptualizing old information. On many occasions, this will also mean confronting your own beliefs, biases, values, and practices, which will inevitably require that you engage in critical reflection. Some of the benefits of critical reflection include personal growth, professional insight development, ethical decisions and actions, improved service delivery, and improved collegial relationships (Bogo & Wayne, 2023; Smith, 2009); therefore, critical reflection is a fundamental practice in your doctoral journey. Critical reflection is a process of analytical evaluation of our experiences with the aim of developing deeper insight and understanding of an issue. It requires honest evaluations of our own assumptions and the implications of our ways of thinking while considering alternative perspectives.

Critical reflection differs from critical thinking in that it is a holistic, ongoing process of systematic reflection on and in practice; that is, it requires reflection on an issue conceptually, theoretically, or ideologically, and also in practice, as one evaluates the contextual factors influencing the issue, their approach to the issue, and the consequences of such approach (Smith, 2009). What does critical reflection look like in practice? One way to approach critical reflection is to keep a written (paper or cloud-based) or oral journal to document your academic, professional, and personal growth throughout the program. Keep in mind that the purpose of a critical reflection journal is not to be overly self-critical but to reflect on your own thinking and insight development in a balanced way.