Initial thoughts on Reader 2...

This is an old post that I have only just need able to publish due my poor internet connection!

I have read through Reader 2 and have lots of thoughts buzzing around my head about Reflective Practice, and more specifically, learning from experience…

I think that learning from experience is such a valuable tool. The things that we experience first-hand in our own lives are things that cannot be taught in the classroom. People can spend hours explaining things and trying to make you understand but I think that when you experience it for yourself, that it when you truly get a grasp on something. For myself at least – experiencing something is the best way for me to learn. I agree with Dewey that experience is key and about the necessity to be fully engaged, to fully experience things, in order to get the full benefits. I really need to push myself out of my comfort zone and do things that don’t come naturally in order to make sure that I don’t just stay in one place but that I grow as a professional. It is easy to just continue with our day-to-day lives, with our job and our practice. But taking that moment to look back at what has happened and ask ourselves ‘what can I take from this?’, is what I think will make that difference between continuing on in my profession at a comfortable level and just ‘getting-by’, or really pushing myself, questioning and challenging things in order to progress and grow.

These days BTEC’s, internships and other on-the-job learning styles are so popular, and I can definitely see why! It seems to skip that middle step and gets you straight out there - enabling you to get stuck into experiencing for yourself the very thing that you are trying to learn. I am not disregarding the need for classrooms and books and all of the benefits that are gained from learning in that way too. But the opportunity to get to do things for yourself, learn as you make mistakes, grow as you figure out for yourself how to fix these mistakes and then maybe go onto teach and show others how to avoid these mistakes -  well that is something that not only helps you gain knowledge but I think it also helps you to learn important life lessons and develop personality traits that would advance any career. This can link back to our resumes and CV’s. One of the main things that an employer seems to look for is experience, and now I have a much better understanding as to why. Experience = Knowledge!

But how do we know that we are experiencing something useful, something that is going to help us to learn and develop? I think right now for me that is a case of trial and error. But I definitely think that keeping a journal is going to be a really useful way of recording my experiences and seeing what was a beneficial experience, what was an experience that I had already had, and which experiences are different and can teach me different things, but are also linked in a way too. I have started my reflective journal and even from just a couple of entries I can already see that it is so useful in gathering and organizing my thoughts. I think there is always that worry of doing something wrong, writing something unnecessary or unrelated. But for me, getting my thoughts down on paper is a great way for me to organize them. It is helpful in seeing when I have experienced something in my profession or even my personal life that has taught me something new, or when it was something that I already knew- I maybe just didn’t realize it yet. I definitely think that taking that moment at the end of the day to just write about what has happened or what I have experienced is so helpful in collecting my experiences and thoughts and seeing what I have learnt and what I have still yet to learn. Getting these thoughts down on paper and seeing them in black and white is really helpful for me. They seem to make more sense when they are written down. Maybe this suggests what kind of a learner I am? Anyway, for some of us I think that realising that you don’t know something can be scary. Personally I don’t like to feel overwhelmed or taken-aback by something that I don’t know. But I have started to realize that this is a huge key to learning and growing. It is not a bad thing to not know something. It is actually a huge help because it highlights the areas that I need to give extra time & attention to in order to improve on my weaknesses and fill the gaps in my knowledge.

I plan to continue with my journal and see if this sparks more thoughts and opinions on my Reflective Practice.

Meg

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

Getting used to blogging...

I really need to get better at posting on my blog. I have so many things jotted down in notebooks and journals but I need to commit more time to getting comfortable with publishing these thoughts on here. 

A blog is something that I had never really considered having, I have friends that post blogs all of the time but the thought of a part of myself being out their on the big wide web seemed a bit daunting at first. I am much more used to the idea now and after spending time looking at Reader 1 from our first module I have realised that it can be a very useful tool in ways that I would have never even contemplated. 

The thought that a blog is an online network where you can post your own ideas, read other peoples thoughts, comment, learn and grow is so intriguing to me. I realise that I need to commit more time to really submerging myself in the blogging world so that I get the most out of it. I need to take more time to read through all of the interesting posts on other students blogs and see if this triggers any thoughts or ideas of my own. 

As I currently live on a cruise ship, an internet connection is a bit of a luxury that costs obscene amounts! Finding wifi in various ports is always an option but its hard to focus when your in a busy cafe or restaurant and reading through blogs always seems to get lost in the hustle and bustle of everything. 

However, the first thing that I always do is check my emails which is why I found the link on Adesola’s blog so exciting! Its a way to subscribe to receive an email every time that she posts something on there. This is such a useful tool and I just wanted to recommend it to you all. If alike me your not yet in the habit of checking the blogs as often as you should, receiving an email is an easy reminder to get you on the blogger site and reading through posts.

I just wanted to share that little bit of information as I have found it really helpful so far. And also to recommend that if your having doubts or concerns about having a blog to spend time looking at Reader 1 about Web 2.0, as this answered most of my questions.

Hopefully over time I will get more and more comfortable with posting blogs and it will become second nature, just like we all naturally scroll through our Facebook feed or Instagram posts. I feel excited to be pushing myself out of my comfort zone and trying new things!

Let me know if any of you are still getting used to the blogging world too and what you think! 

Meg