As I begin my second year as a PhD student, I am entering this phase with a renewed sense of purpose, buoyed by the establishment of a new supervisory team and the formulation of innovative plans. These positive developments mark a significant turnaround after a challenging first year characterized by difficulties, conflicts, and deep existential questioning. In light of these struggles, my supervisors recommended revisiting the fundamentals of my project, encouraging a back-to-basics approach coupled with necessary revisions. To support my progress in this new chapter, I have committed to maintaining a reflective journal to document my PhD journey.

Reflective journaling is widely acknowledged as an effective learning strategy that fosters deeper engagement through writing (Farrah, 2012). This practice enables students to dissect their learning processes, evaluate less tangible aspects of their development, and analyze personal growth (Or, 2018). Writing reflective journals not only bridges the gap between theory and practice (Dyment & O’Connell, 2011) but also enhances metacognition—a vital higher-order thinking skill (Bashan et al., 2017)—and fosters mastery, enriching the overall learning experience (Bisman, 2011; Chang & Lin, 2014). Additionally, reflective journaling provides tools to address student challenges (Bulman et al., 2012; Ruiz-López et al., 2015), improve personal, professional, and clinical learning (Mahlanze & Sibiya, 2017), and enhance professional practice (Mantzoukas & Jasper, 2004; Abednia et al., 2013). It also aids problem-solving (Manning et al., 2009) and boosts motivation (Farrah, 2012).

From an instructional standpoint, reflective journals are a powerful means of assessing students’ learning (Gursansky et al., 2010). Despite the additional workload for both students and educators, research shows that journaling significantly enhances reflective abilities and strengthens the teacher-student relationship, fostering a more effective learning environment (Bashan et al., 2017; Zulfikar & Mujiburrahman, 2018). Reed et al. (2020) emphasize how co-production between doctoral students and supervisors can elevate the role of reflective practice in sustainability research, underscoring the value of integrating reflection into interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary education.

As a mature student, I have developed a reflective habit that has substantially enriched my learning, growth, and self-awareness. Aligning my reflective practice with personally or professionally meaningful values, goals, and objectives enables me to make purposeful progress. This alignment helps me move closer to the life I envision. Scheduling regular reflections enhances my ability to track overall progress, identify opportunities and challenges, and shape future plans and actions.

To document my reflective practice, I have chosen to create a blog as my reflective journal. A blog, short for “weblog,” combines personal experiences with evidence and analysis in a publicly accessible format. Unlike traditional reflective journals, blogs are shared with an audience, updated frequently, and allow for creative expression using elements like short paragraphs, bullet points, bold text, italics, headings, images, videos, and hyperlinks. This format not only enables me to log my PhD progress but also allows me to present my arguments to a broader audience, integrating both evidence and personal insights.

I plan to use Driscoll’s (1994) reflective model, which offers a simple yet effective framework by posing three key questions: “What?”, “So what?”, and “Now what?” The “What?” question focuses on describing the situation and identifying relevant facts and feelings. The “So what?” question explores the meaning of the situation, examining the knowledge and theories that can provide insight. Finally, the “Now what?” question helps create an actionable plan based on the reflections. This model, derived from Borton’s (1970) original framework, is particularly useful for documenting project milestones, major learnings, personal growth, critical moments, and decisions informed by literature and experience.

In conclusion, incorporating reflective journaling into my PhD journey will be a cornerstone of my academic and personal development. It will offer clarity, enhance my learning experience, and support my growth on multiple levels. This practice will equip me to navigate the complexities of my research with greater awareness and purpose, contributing to a more meaningful and fulfilling PhD journey.