ABSTRACT
I am exaggerating the difference between journals and academic essays to make the point that just as the academic essay can go too far in one direction and become arid, the personal reflective journal can, if allowed, become indulgent and over-personal. Though believing strongly in the presence of the voices (not the single ‘voice’ of post-Romantic educational discourse) of the individual learner in academic writing, I believe also in the presentation and discussion of ideas. The entertaining of ideas and concepts requires clarity, and such clarity is aided by criticality on the one hand and comparison with existing ideas (sources, existing works, literature in the field – all aspects of scholarship) on the other.
