Journaling

Journaling is the practice of recording events, ideas and thoughts over a period of time, often with a particular purpose or project in mind. There are various forms of journaling using specific techniques for different purposes. For example, a travel journal might be structured around experiences in particular locations and include details of external physical surroundings combined with an interior monologue of thoughts, feeling and perceptions. A political journal, however, is usually written with publication in mind and seeks to promote personal viewpoints and explain one’s actions. This entry maps out some of the key features of, and overlaps and differences between, various forms of journaling and points to emerging presentational formats. The entry emphasizes the role of journaling as a form of reflective practice in various contexts, arguing that its significance and value for action research lie in its potential to enable heightened reflexivity, through both the writing and the reading process, whether as the original author or as an interested, inquiring reader.

Journaling is closely linked to professional development practices in many fields of work: Teachers, doctors, nurses and social workers are encouraged to participate in reflective practice as a means of personal or staff development. Students are encouraged to maintain learning journals, the content of which might form a discussion with teachers or supervisors, forming part of a portfolio or dissertation to demonstrate development of knowledge acquisition, attitudinal change and academic engagement.

Most journals, and the techniques employed within them, are aimed at engendering some form of self-development, and in this way they vary from logs and diaries. Although the terms are often used synonymously, they have different purposes and formats.

Logs tend to be precise recordings of facts pertaining to daily operations on a regular basis. In some professions, such as aircraft piloting, the armed forces and shipping, they are a compulsory requirement, used to report on activities over a period of time. Accuracy is a paramount feature of the log as it not only provides a historical account but may also be used as evidence in disputes. Logs are also used to chart other forms of progress—for example, a student’s reading log or a research log, documenting findings at any given point.

Diaries have a more personal and intimate purpose and tone, tending to be less structured in form and internalized in their writing. Diaries often provide vital historical and social information: Sei Shonagon’s The Pillow Book documents life as a courtesan in eleventh-century Japan, The Diary of Samuel Pepys offers eyewitness accounts of the Great Plague and Great Fire of London in the seventeenth century while Anne Frank’s Diary has become one of the most influential documents of the Nazi occupation in the Netherlands and the effects of the Holocaust.