I can safely say that I have never used a journal as a form of reflection for my dancing or teaching profession. One tool I have used which I have previously mentioned is the use of planning. Although this does not directly link to reflection, once the first lesson has been planned, I will very often refer back to this when onward planning and inwardly reflect on that lesson in order to create the next. Similarly if I plan a whole term of lessons I will make notes and adjust these depending on the events of previous lessons.
When working alongside education in my teaching profession, it is vital that I provide an evaluation for each class to allow an insight into which skills have been learnt, what went well, areas for improvement and possible progressions into the new term. This form of reflection not only helps me to look back and evaluate the sessions which have passed but also allows other staff members to have an insight into my lessons.
John Dewey conveys the idea of 'experience' and considered that there can be different levels of experience. This idea makes me think of the saying: 'what you put in, you get out'. I can relate this to both performing and teaching. When training at college this was a very important aspect, particularly in the respect of training your body for particular movements. I unfortunately was not blessed with flexibility which is an integral part of being a dancer. And so I had to put in the work to ensure that my body was 'performance ready'. Now if I had not tried to hard then my experience in the performing world would have been much more limited. But the amount of training and persistence I injected into my training made me understand how hard it is in this business to be successful. The level of experience I had with my performing was dictated by the work I put in to get there.
With regards to teaching the level of experience I have endured seems to be a constant progression. The more experiences I have the more I learn. Certainly not a surprise but each experience I have is different and I
I agree with this thought from Dewey that "he felt that the interaction with the Arts led to a unique and valuable experience". (Dewey, 1934)(1). Although I feel like this is true for myself, I believe that this may not be true for every individual. Again, this comes down to the amount of effort you put in and in Dewey's case, the amount of interaction you experienced. My main focus of learning when I was at college was in terms of movement, performance and the industry. But there was so much more that came with that, such as social interaction, determination and the ability to present yourself in different situations. Although I have decided to not continue with the performing side of Dance, everything that I experienced through this industry has been extremely valuable in other career options I have explored.
Kolb's Learning Cycle
I understand there any different ways of learning and believe that personally I learn in multiples of ways depending on the situation. I considered Kolb's learning cycle, as featured below. (Kolb, 1984)(2).
This cycle is a useful tool to use when wanting to reflect on an experience, therefore the use of this was interesting when reflecting back on how I created my blog. I had never created a blog before and I tend to not use instructions and enjoy working things out for myself. So I would say that I began with active experimentation, I went back and forth several times making adjustments until I had a basic structure of what I wanted. I expanded on this using 'concrete knowledge' with my experiences in social media. Profiles are very common for the likes of the typical Web 2.0 tools, especially when I relate back to creating CVs for dance auditions, so I found this a familiar way to work. I used other peoples blog to check that what I was doing was along the right lines, although now looking back I suppose this would have been a good place to start by using 'reflective observation' which is why reflection can be so important. I do use You Tube frequently to check how to do something but I didn't use any visual aids on this occasion to help me with my blog but I suppose I thought about other alternatives of how I could present the information.
In terms of learning within my professional practice of teaching this would start from a different point within Kolb's cycle. Majority of the time I learn from doing something, from a concrete experience. I suppose it's the development in confidence as I teach that I feel I am gaining a positive experience from. When I began teaching in schools, it was part of my training to shadow others before continuing on my own. This was a significant part of my learning as it was a different way of teaching compared to my previous experiences in dance schools. I made sure I observed a variety of teachers and coaches to learn new teaching styles and methods which would help develop my own. So the use of reflective observation was certainly a key point within my learning of teaching. The use of abstract conceptualisation comes when I reflect back on a teaching session and consider what worked and what didn't. This is a really important for me to progress as a teacher and learn from the positives and negatives from every session I teach. I am currently using active experimentation in one of my dance classes to try and work out which movements my students are capable of doing. This is a learning style I use especially when creating a group dance to prepare for a performance. This helps me learn what level my students are at and identify each individuals capabilities are.
This learning cycle is a very useful tool to help me understand my development of learning. As I continue through this course I believe that I can refer back to this cycle and use it as a structure for my progression.
Multiple Intelligences
I suppose when the question of intelligence is asked to you, generally most people would respond with, "yes I am intelligent". Howard Gardner had the view that there are a multiple of intelligences and therefore you can be intelligent in a number of ways. I considered the diagram below which demonstrates Gardner's ideas of learning in terms of intelligence. (Gardner, 1983)(3).
From a dance background I would immediately associate myself with 'musical intelligence'. But again I would relate my intelligence to these specific sectors differently depending on my experience at the time. In a dance class my musical intelligence would come into play and I would use this experience to pass on my knowledge to others.
Another obvious sector to me is 'bodily-kinaesthetic'. I have very much learnt how to move and train my body in a particular way in order to achieve a correct position or movement.
From the vast range of employment I have had and the situations of being placed on a dance contract with a group of people I have never met before it has been important to use 'interpersonal' skills to create new friendships. I have learnt to understand how people work differently, react differently and how to apply myself to those in different situations.
I am sure that other forms of intelligence will make an appearance as I take my journey through this course. And I hope these will aid me in my learning process.
Reflection In/On Action
When working alongside education in my teaching profession, it is vital that I provide an evaluation for each class to allow an insight into which skills have been learnt, what went well, areas for improvement and possible progressions into the new term. This form of reflection not only helps me to look back and evaluate the sessions which have passed but also allows other staff members to have an insight into my lessons.
John Dewey conveys the idea of 'experience' and considered that there can be different levels of experience. This idea makes me think of the saying: 'what you put in, you get out'. I can relate this to both performing and teaching. When training at college this was a very important aspect, particularly in the respect of training your body for particular movements. I unfortunately was not blessed with flexibility which is an integral part of being a dancer. And so I had to put in the work to ensure that my body was 'performance ready'. Now if I had not tried to hard then my experience in the performing world would have been much more limited. But the amount of training and persistence I injected into my training made me understand how hard it is in this business to be successful. The level of experience I had with my performing was dictated by the work I put in to get there.
With regards to teaching the level of experience I have endured seems to be a constant progression. The more experiences I have the more I learn. Certainly not a surprise but each experience I have is different and I
I agree with this thought from Dewey that "he felt that the interaction with the Arts led to a unique and valuable experience". (Dewey, 1934)(1). Although I feel like this is true for myself, I believe that this may not be true for every individual. Again, this comes down to the amount of effort you put in and in Dewey's case, the amount of interaction you experienced. My main focus of learning when I was at college was in terms of movement, performance and the industry. But there was so much more that came with that, such as social interaction, determination and the ability to present yourself in different situations. Although I have decided to not continue with the performing side of Dance, everything that I experienced through this industry has been extremely valuable in other career options I have explored.
Kolb's Learning Cycle
I understand there any different ways of learning and believe that personally I learn in multiples of ways depending on the situation. I considered Kolb's learning cycle, as featured below. (Kolb, 1984)(2).
This cycle is a useful tool to use when wanting to reflect on an experience, therefore the use of this was interesting when reflecting back on how I created my blog. I had never created a blog before and I tend to not use instructions and enjoy working things out for myself. So I would say that I began with active experimentation, I went back and forth several times making adjustments until I had a basic structure of what I wanted. I expanded on this using 'concrete knowledge' with my experiences in social media. Profiles are very common for the likes of the typical Web 2.0 tools, especially when I relate back to creating CVs for dance auditions, so I found this a familiar way to work. I used other peoples blog to check that what I was doing was along the right lines, although now looking back I suppose this would have been a good place to start by using 'reflective observation' which is why reflection can be so important. I do use You Tube frequently to check how to do something but I didn't use any visual aids on this occasion to help me with my blog but I suppose I thought about other alternatives of how I could present the information.
In terms of learning within my professional practice of teaching this would start from a different point within Kolb's cycle. Majority of the time I learn from doing something, from a concrete experience. I suppose it's the development in confidence as I teach that I feel I am gaining a positive experience from. When I began teaching in schools, it was part of my training to shadow others before continuing on my own. This was a significant part of my learning as it was a different way of teaching compared to my previous experiences in dance schools. I made sure I observed a variety of teachers and coaches to learn new teaching styles and methods which would help develop my own. So the use of reflective observation was certainly a key point within my learning of teaching. The use of abstract conceptualisation comes when I reflect back on a teaching session and consider what worked and what didn't. This is a really important for me to progress as a teacher and learn from the positives and negatives from every session I teach. I am currently using active experimentation in one of my dance classes to try and work out which movements my students are capable of doing. This is a learning style I use especially when creating a group dance to prepare for a performance. This helps me learn what level my students are at and identify each individuals capabilities are.
This learning cycle is a very useful tool to help me understand my development of learning. As I continue through this course I believe that I can refer back to this cycle and use it as a structure for my progression.
Multiple Intelligences
I suppose when the question of intelligence is asked to you, generally most people would respond with, "yes I am intelligent". Howard Gardner had the view that there are a multiple of intelligences and therefore you can be intelligent in a number of ways. I considered the diagram below which demonstrates Gardner's ideas of learning in terms of intelligence. (Gardner, 1983)(3).
From a dance background I would immediately associate myself with 'musical intelligence'. But again I would relate my intelligence to these specific sectors differently depending on my experience at the time. In a dance class my musical intelligence would come into play and I would use this experience to pass on my knowledge to others.
Another obvious sector to me is 'bodily-kinaesthetic'. I have very much learnt how to move and train my body in a particular way in order to achieve a correct position or movement.
From the vast range of employment I have had and the situations of being placed on a dance contract with a group of people I have never met before it has been important to use 'interpersonal' skills to create new friendships. I have learnt to understand how people work differently, react differently and how to apply myself to those in different situations.
I am sure that other forms of intelligence will make an appearance as I take my journey through this course. And I hope these will aid me in my learning process.
Reflection In/On Action
Now that I am starting to be more aware of the ways in which I reflect on my professional practice, I am able to think about how this is helping me learn. I looked into Donald Schon's idea of reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action. (Schon,1987) (4). Both of these ways of learning have been apparent in my practise of teaching and performing.
Performing...
Reflection-in-action would be a less common form of learning I have used but was useful when performing. In cases where I may have performed on stage with already planned choreography, if something went wrong and was out of your control, then the idea of using improvisation may be the solution. For instance, if the choreography required a partner and that particular partner was not able to make it on stage at that time, then it may be necessary to improvise (make up) new steps as an alternative. Therefore, you would be reflecting on the moment as it happens and responding to it in the way you think best. If I relate this back to a time when I may have attended an audition, then I would consider what I learnt from reflecting-in-action. Occasionally in auditions you are required to improvise to their choice of music and in this case I would very often begin with familiar moves but upon reflection of my movements as they happen, I may vary this. From this I learn which moves are effective and which movements are creating the best impression and showing me off as a performer.
Reflection-on-action would be appropriate to use when analysing a performance. In the past this would be in form of video where we would film performances to then watch back and reflect on how the performance went. We would individually note down any corrections we need to address and then re-work a rehearsal to apply these before then doing the next performance. This was an extremely useful tool and really helped me to view what changes I needed to make in order to improve the next performance.
Teaching...
Reflection-in-action is limited when teaching. Especially as for the majority of my practise I tend to use planning to prepare for my sessions. On occasions, and more so with rehearsals for shows, I may have previously choreographed a section of a dance to teach but upon trying this out I may have realised that the choreography is not achievable. In this case I simplify the steps with use of improvisation to create new movements. When doing this I am learning which level of movement is appropriate to the students and therefore creating a basis for the next lesson.
Planning for lessons is very much dictated by the previous lessons. I am constantly making changes and adjustments to my plans and this is the effect of reflection-on-action. I immediately learn a better way to conduct a new session by looking at what did and didn't work previously.
Performing...
Reflection-in-action would be a less common form of learning I have used but was useful when performing. In cases where I may have performed on stage with already planned choreography, if something went wrong and was out of your control, then the idea of using improvisation may be the solution. For instance, if the choreography required a partner and that particular partner was not able to make it on stage at that time, then it may be necessary to improvise (make up) new steps as an alternative. Therefore, you would be reflecting on the moment as it happens and responding to it in the way you think best. If I relate this back to a time when I may have attended an audition, then I would consider what I learnt from reflecting-in-action. Occasionally in auditions you are required to improvise to their choice of music and in this case I would very often begin with familiar moves but upon reflection of my movements as they happen, I may vary this. From this I learn which moves are effective and which movements are creating the best impression and showing me off as a performer.
Reflection-on-action would be appropriate to use when analysing a performance. In the past this would be in form of video where we would film performances to then watch back and reflect on how the performance went. We would individually note down any corrections we need to address and then re-work a rehearsal to apply these before then doing the next performance. This was an extremely useful tool and really helped me to view what changes I needed to make in order to improve the next performance.
Teaching...
Reflection-in-action is limited when teaching. Especially as for the majority of my practise I tend to use planning to prepare for my sessions. On occasions, and more so with rehearsals for shows, I may have previously choreographed a section of a dance to teach but upon trying this out I may have realised that the choreography is not achievable. In this case I simplify the steps with use of improvisation to create new movements. When doing this I am learning which level of movement is appropriate to the students and therefore creating a basis for the next lesson.
Planning for lessons is very much dictated by the previous lessons. I am constantly making changes and adjustments to my plans and this is the effect of reflection-on-action. I immediately learn a better way to conduct a new session by looking at what did and didn't work previously.
From reflection on the above, I can agree with Robert Kottcamp who put forward that reflection-on-action 'is more difficult to achieve because the actor must simultaneously attend to performing the action and observe and analyse his or her action, as if from an external perspective'.(Kottcamp 1983)(5). To be able to multitask in such a fast-paced environment is a skill in itself. But in saying that, those within the performing world are used to this idea of doing more than one thing at once.
Reflection
Reflection
Now that I am aware of the idea of reflection, I am starting to grasp an understanding of how this has unconsciously been used in my previous practises. This is similar to the idea that Graham Mcfee described. "One must understand what is being defined in order that one judge for oneself the accuracy." (Mcfee, 1992: 18). (6) In this way now that I am actively reflecting on my professional practice, I now have the knowledge to accurately understand what the use of reflection is.
What I have found interesting is how useful journal writing can be. Although I have not fully experienced such effects that David Boud discusses such as 'enhancing your own learning', this is something which I am now aware of and so will be able to reflect on how this may be the case.
Boud looks into reflection as to how it "has been described as a process of turning experience into learning, that is, a way of exploring experience in order to learn new things from it." (Boud, 2001) (7). 'Exploring' is the key word for me here. The use of my journal is enabling me to actively explore my experiences once they have happened. Without this my reflection would not be so apparent, and so now, this process allows me to hopefully learn from my experiences.
In order for me to now develop my learning, I believe it is necessary to realise my previous perceptions on what already exists within my capacity of knowledge. "All learning builds on existing perceptions and frameworks of understanding; therefore, links must be made between what is new and what already exists if learners are to make sense of what is happening to them." (Boud, 2001) (8). I agree with what Boud describes here, in that if I can identify what I already know, I can reflect on what I am learning now.
Boud believes that that 'it is useful' to focus on reflection by considering three different times at when this could occur. He balances the idea of reflection only happening after an event. "...consider three occasions of reflection: in anticipation of events, during the, and afterward". (Boud, 2001) (9) The stage of during and after an event mirrors what Schon depicted as 'reflection-in-action' and 'reflection-on-action'. I have previously shared my thoughts on the latter but how would you 'reflect in anticipation of events'? From looking at Boud's ideas on this, I can relate to the way in which I use lesson plans to structure a session or a block of sessions for a specific class. Recently I took my Level 1 Gymnastics Coaching Assessment , where it was necessary to devise a session plan for possible movements I may be asked to demonstrate the teaching of.
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| Example of how I may devise a session plan.
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After thought...
After considering a range of ways to reflect and ways in which reflection can be used, I think this has given me an insight as to how this effective tool can broaden my learning throughout the course. There may be instances where I feel reflection is not necessary by it will certainly make me think about every experience I encounter on my new journey!
REFERENCES:
1. Dewey,J (1934)'Experience, reflection and learning' WBS3730 BAPP ARTS, Middlesex University 2014: Reader 2
2. Kolb,D (1984)'Kolb's Learning Cycle' WBS3730 BAPP ARTS, Middlesex University 2014: Reader 2
3. Gardner,H (1983) 'The Power of Context', Available from: http://sessionville.com/articles/on-the-intelligence-of-musicians (accessed 18th November 2014)
5. Kottcamp,R (1983) 'Reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action', WBS3730 BAPP ARTS, Middlesex University 2014, Reader 2
6. Mcfee,G (1992) 'What is reflection and why?' WBS3730 BAPP ARTS, Middlesex University 2014, Reader 2
7. Boud,D (2001) 'Using Journal Writing to Enhance Reflective Practice', Learning and Reflection, WBS3730 BAPP ARTS, Middlesex University 2014, Reader 2
8. Boud,D (2001) 'Using Journal Writing to Enhance Reflective Practice', Models of Reflection, WBS3730 BAPP ARTS, Middlesex University 2014, Reader 2
9. Boud,D (2001) 'Using Journal Writing to Enhance Reflective Practice', Occasions of Reflection, WBS3730 BAPP ARTS, Middlesex University 2014, Reader 2
Thanks Lisa - like the link to the class plan - planning relates well to the learning theories - for management as well as learning - because they structure things to learn from experience. Out of all the theories - which one has now given you the most food for thought in the module?
ReplyDeleteThank you! The suggestion of three occasions for reflection discussed by Boud has given me a clear thought pattern to use in my reflection of my current practise. I enjoy the separate moments in which you can individually analyse and then look back on, to develop learning. I have already applied this within my journal and have found that it has made it easier to focus on the events which are fundamental to my progression within this course.
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