This document provides guidance on critical reflection and reflective writing. It outlines 10 commandments for reflective writing, including focusing on creative decisions informed by institutional knowledge and theoretical understanding, evaluating the process rather than just describing it, relating your work to real media examples, deconstructing your own decisions and preferences, choosing relevant examples to relate to broader themes, avoiding binary opposites, writing about your broader media culture experiences, adopting a meta discourse perspective, and properly quoting, paraphrasing and referencing. The overall message is that critical reflection is a highly valued skill that involves analysing your work and decisions from different perspectives.

1. Critical Perspectives Exam: Section A

2. Writing aboutProduction Exam: Section A

3. CRITICAL REFLECTION

4. CRITICAL REFLECTION To analyse, from a critical point of view, what you did.

7. Transferable to any process

9. 1 Focus on creative decisions informed by institutional knowledge The ten commandments of reflective writing

10. 1 Focus on creative decisions informed by institutional knowledge you did what you did because ofwhat you had learned about how the media produce, distribute and share texts The ten commandments of reflective writing

11. 2 Focus on creative decisions informed by theoretical understanding The ten commandments of reflective writing

12. 2 Focus on creative decisions informed by theoretical understanding describe what you did in relation to cultural media theories The ten commandments of reflective writing

13. 2 Focus on creative decisions informed by theoretical understanding describe what you did in relation to cultural media theories – you did it because you understood how to shape your text to create meaning The ten commandments of reflective writing

14. 3 Evaluate the process – don't just describe it why some things work well and others not so well The ten commandments of reflective writing

15. 3 Evaluate the process – don't just describe it The ten commandments of reflective writing

16. 3 Evaluate the process – don't just describe it why some things work well and others not so well The ten commandments of reflective writing

17. 3 Evaluate the process – don't just describe it why some things work well and others not so well – you will need to have done some audience research to really answer this question The ten commandments of reflective writing

18. 4 Relate your media to 'real media' at the micro level The ten commandments of reflective writing

19. 4 Relate your media to 'real media' at the micro level give specific examples of your use of to techniques and strategies to create intertextual references to media that has influenced you The ten commandments of reflective writing

20. 5 Deconstruct yourself The ten commandments of reflective writing

21. 5 Deconstruct yourself try to analyse the reasons why you do things The ten commandments of reflective writing

22. 5 Deconstruct yourself try to analyse the reasons why you do things – don't assume that your tastes, decisions, preferences and behaviour are just the way things are The ten commandments of reflective writing

23. 6 Choose relevant micro examples to relate to macro themes The ten commandments of reflective writing

24. 6 Choose relevant micro examples to relate to macro themes you can't write about everything so have some examples ready to adapt to the specific question The ten commandments of reflective writing

25. 7 Avoid binary opposites The ten commandments of reflective writing

26. 7 Avoid binary opposites your text will probably not either wholly follow or challenge existing conventions but will do a bit of both The ten commandments of reflective writing

27. 8 Write about your broader media culture The ten commandments of reflective writing

28. 8 Write about your broader media culture don't limit your writing to your exam texts The ten commandments of reflective writing

29. 8 Write about your broader media culture don't limit your writing to your exam texts – try to extend your response to include other creative work or media-related activities you have been involved in The ten commandments of reflective writing

30. 9 Adopt a meta discourse The ten commandments of reflective writing

31. 9 Adopt a meta discourse step outside of just describing activities as a media student to reflect on how things would be different if you were a professional media producer The ten commandments of reflective writing

32. 10 Quote, paraphrase, reference The ten commandments of reflective writing

33. 10 Quote, paraphrase, reference remain with the mode of address of academic writing – do not lapse into colloquial or informal language The ten commandments of reflective writing

35. Meta Discourse Also know as metanarrative. Looking beyond the immediate and considering the social, cultural and economical relationships surrounding media production