After an eclectic career that has involved extended stays in vastly different countries, Julian Edwards is familiar with the need to find a way to integrate his experiences into his sense of who he is. He is also familiar with how easy it is for students to feel bamboozled or at the mercy of something they don’t understand, and the detrimental impact that can have on the curiosity so vital for truly widening – and deepening – participation. Julian’s goal, in what he calls this ‘kitchen sink’ book, was to help students get through a complex and complicated assignment by helping them to understand their writing and reduce the culture shock inherent in confronting new forms of writing. Reflection itself contributes to that process, in creating a means for recognising that perception and reality are often dissonant but time usually solves all ills. Looking back on an event or an experience is the best way to learn from it, after all! 

And what of his advice to the struggling writer? Get some distance from your writing and don’t be afraid to edit, not just for the finishing polish but to really figure out what it is you want to say. As for where you start, work with what you’ve got. Perhaps a student has brought a question, or a colleague has a problem. Maybe there’s something you’d like to see changed. Maybe you feel inspired. Whatever it is, cultivate a regular habit of putting something onto the page and you’ll be on your way!

Demings, W.E. (2000) Out of the crisis. Massachusetts: The MIT Press

Davies, WH. Leisure. Available at: https://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=100 

Elbow, P. (1998) Writing without teachers. 2nd Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kolb’s reflective cycle. Available from https://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html 

And the book we talked about

Edwards, J. (2023). Write reflectively. Los Angeles: SAGE.