Monday 9th October - Online Skype Session

On Monday I attended an online Skype session for Module 1. I was at the later session of 5:00pm.

I almost didn’t make it, with the time difference and it being a sea day I thought I wouldn’t get connected! I was about 10 minutes late but I am so glad that I was able to attend as it was such a beneficial session!

Firstly it was so comforting to see that people were still figuring the course out for themselves too. I haven’t studied anything so academic in about 4 years and with this course having so much freedom for us to learn in our own way I was worried that I wasn’t necessarily doing it ‘right’. I realised that there is no right or wrong way, as long as we really make the most of all of the resources available to us & commit time to our studies. This thought led to a discussion of the idea of push & pull within learning. Most of us are used to being sat in a classroom and having information pushed at us. But this course has so much freedom for us to use all of the tools and information available to us and pull out as much (or as little) as we want. I find this a more mature way of learning and is a really good way of developing self-discipline.

We heard from everyone in the group and we all spoke about where we are at so far in the module. Most of us are looking at Web 2.0 at the moment. 

We spoke a lot about reflection and interestingly, the difference between reflection & criticism. I have found personally that when I reflect on myself or how I have done something I am usually critiquing myself and focusing on what I could have done better. As performers I feel that we are our biggest critics and so naturally we see the negative things first. Adesola asked me to think about teachers or directors that I have had in the past and whether this may have had an impact on why I am so harsh on myself in this way. I found that so interesting and it made me think back to many different teachers and situations. I also started thinking about ballet and how it is such a disciplined practice, maybe this has caused me to be so critical. 

It is easy for reflection to slide into criticism and this is something that I am really going to work on. If you’re struggling with this too there are a few things that we spoke about in the session that really helped me and the way I think about reflection…

• Firstly to critique ourselves in a more constructive way. Rather than focusing on negatives, think about how we fit and what we did right, not just what we would change.
• Looking at ourselves from a different perspective. Not just as another person but maybe as an object or an article of clothing. This will help us to step away from the situation & look in at ourselves, causing us to go further in and to reflect more deeply.
• To spend time questioning ourselves, looking at WHY we are making the choices we are making. Not just noticing what we are doing in our practice but asking why we are doing them.
• Not just looking at what we’re doing but looking at what we’re learning too and how this is helping (or hindering) our growth and development.
• Looking at our essence and what we bring to our practice, instead of focusing on how to improve.
• We also spoke about feedback. Not just giving it but receiving it too and how this can help with reflecting on our practice. 

We did speak about the importance of our blog too. How it is a great way to note everything and store evidence of our studies, creating an overview of how we’re growing and what we’re learning. Not only is it a good way to keep a track of our thoughts but its useful in sharing ideas and learning from each other which will help us to get the most from this course.

Over the next week I plan to complete all of the tasks in the first section and also spend time thinking about my practice and defining what it is.

If you’re struggling with reflection too and how to reflect constructively without focusing on negatives, and have found other ways to help please comment and let me know as this is something that I am finding very interesting & really trying to work on. 

Meg