This blog is created to support conversation generated from and about the learning process for MA Professional Practice (MAPP) in the Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries (ACI) at Middlesex University.

Monday 30 September 2019

Learning Domains and MAPP

We have talked about Connectivisum as a principle that this course responds to. Module One Handbook discusses this and it is worth going back to again and again when you are in other Modules (we see the handbooks as working documents you access across the whole course – not manuals for what to do in the moment.) 

Hopefully you have also read Knowing Knowledgeby George Siemans– the recommended reading at the start of the course.  
Here are two (over)views on connectivism:




One of the things we value is Learning Autonomy and Connectedness which we feel are key concepts learnt when we carry out the activity of being an artist. (So you already know about these in the arts setting). 

We also value Diversity, Openness (which can be present by their absence in the arts setting!)

We know of things but when do we identify what we know as learning. Each Module you have to ask yourself how to make ‘things happening’ into learning. At one level you have to decide for yourself what the value of learning is to you. We insist that learning is more than just being told exactly about it and doing exactly it. In learning there is something about truth, belief, being gullible, being wrong, and for me most importantly kindness. (Kindnessis a massive idea. For me not a neo-liberal act, but being willing to… be brave and respectful, learning while not contributing to the lack of opportunity for others to do the same). I will write a separate blog on truth and kindness later this term. 

In his book Seimens talks about Learning Domains
In this course, we create the situation for all four of the domains he discusses in this course. But it is the combination of the four that is the Learning Environment of MAPP. The dance, the music, the play, the yoga class are made of a combination of elements and so is the learning environment of MAPP. 

Transmission Learning- The learner is brought into a system through lectures and exposed to ‘facts’.  The Unihub and Module Handbooks do this.

Emergence Learning– involves greater emphasis on the learner’s cognition and reflection. What you do with the UniHub and Handbooks and Blogs, and Skypes and conversations with your Supervisor.

Acquisition Domain– learning is exploratory and inquiry-based. This has to be self-directed (because it is your practice not anyone else’s) but self-directed does not mean alone you need to remain connected through sharing ideas (on blogs, in Skype discussions etc…). You explore this domain through looking at what you have done in the past (and writing AOLs about it), looking at your current practice and how the course and ideas you encounter connect with it, through carrying out a project based inquiry. Sometimes you are considering all three at once (if you are in Module Three for instance).

Accretion Learning– is continuous, the learner forages for knowledge when and where it is needed – Real life and ongoing. This is shared through your blog – which is why your blog is so important to keep contributing to and why commenting on others people’s blogs is so helpful to them. 

Across all this ‘relevance’is crucial to look at critically.  This returns us to thinking about what truth, deception, distraction and fact mean to you/do to you. 

Lastly feedback (to each other on blogs and back and forth with your Supervisor) becomes a conversation - ongoing and not as set of instructions to get an 'A'. Go back to 'The Test'  in my blog on September 16th 2019 for John Green to explain that again...

Looking forward to your comments...

Saturday 28 September 2019

Wednesday Oct 2nd: Online Skype session with DAN4760 Module Three focus

Wednesday Oct 2nd2019
Online skype session with DAN4760 Module Three focus

Topic: Research terms – what are you doing?
8pm (time in London)

Please comment below if you are going attend, please also include your thoughts on the topic or current research /reflection you are doing. This is so people can prepare before the conversation by look at and researching each other’s ideas and reflections.

Thursday 26 September 2019

Attend a conference?...November 7th - 9th

We are really excited to be able to offer a few funded places for MAPP/BAPP students to be able to attend the Re:generations conference hosted by One Dance UK in partnership with Mdx in November. The funding covers three days of entry to the conference plus your accommodation. The conference is held at The Lowry, Salford, in the UK. 

Re:generations is a biennial academic and artistic conference which aims to share current practice and research in the field of dance of the African Diaspora (DAD); explore and stimulate further research, documentation and new approaches to education and training in the field; and encourage new perspectives on the future of African Peoples Dance (APD). The conference invites scholars, artists and dance practitioners from the Caribbean, Africa, the United States, Canada and the UK to share their research with other artists, practitioners, dance teachers, students and the general public.
The Re:generations Conference* is the UK’s ONLY international platform dedicated to connecting academic and artistic voices within African influenced dance styles; such as Hip Hop, Jazz, Afro Caribbean, traditional and contemporary African and Caribbean, Afro-Latin, and African American Dance.
This will be a great opportunity to be a part of a vibrant conference, network with other artist-scholar practitioners, and get inspired in your own professional development. The funding requires you to blog each day about the sessions, papers, workshops and performances you attend to share with the rest of the MAPP BAPP community.
To express your interest please comment here. We will then email you directly. We will announce which students have places on October 10th 2019. 
*Re:generations – dance and the digital space
7-9 November 2019
The Lowry, Salford
An international forum exploring how technology drives innovation in dance of the African Diaspora.
Hosted in partnership by One Dance UK, IRIE! dance theatre, Middlesex University, Dance Immersion and The Lowry, the theme for Re:generations 2019 is dance and the digital space. We will explore the ways digital technologies can be used for artistic innovation and creative practise, unite global communities through online platforms whilst increasing the visibility of diverse work to mainstream audiences.
Across the three days there will be panel discussions, lecture demonstrations, masterclasses, workshops, academic paper presentations, performances, networking events and more!
The conference will provide CPD for dance teachers, healthcare practitioners and other dance professionals, in addition to bespoke programming for producers, new media practitioners and executive artistic leaders. A key event will be the launch of the report for One Dance UK’s ‘Dance of the African Diaspora Mapping Research’; presenting the current state and needs of the DAD workforce with a scope for future growth and development.

Monday Sept 30th Skype discussion with Module One focus

Monday Sept 30th Skype discussion with Module One focus

Monday September 30th is a Skype Discussion 
8pm (time in London)
(Module One focus)
Please comment below if you are going attend, please also include your thoughts on the topic or current research /reflection you are doing. This is so people can prepare before the conversation by look at and researching each others ideas and reflections.

Sunday 22 September 2019

Sunday discussion group Sunday 29th Sept.

Sunday September 29th is a Skype Discussion 
8pm (time in London)
(Knowing and Learning)
Please comment below if you are going attend, please also include your thoughts on the topic or current research /reflection you are doing. This is so people can prepare before the conversation by look at and researching each others ideas and reflections.

Friday 20 September 2019

Feedback - not alone

Throughout the course we see you as 'In conversation...' with us, with each other and with the handbooks. So how does feedback fit in with this?

How do we stand with feedback - 
Firstly, feedback is not about telling you how to get an 'A' it is about helping you develop your ideas and work from the place it is when you receive the feedback. So it is not about correcting the work in terms of telling what to do but it is about developing your work. This means that where ever your work is we will always support you in developing it further. Of course as Supervisors we will let you know if you are working at a level that will not pass. We will not be letting you march of the edge of a cliff!! but the Supervisors role is about working with you to go further so feedback will not likely ever be 'Yes, this is right.'!!

Secondly, so feedback is a conversation and on-going process which is why have a 'Feedback response sheet'.  This is so that we can document the conversation in brief. It is also so that you can direct your own feedback.
The feedback response sheet is sent with any drafts you send for feedback - you should use the sheet to ask questions that direct feedback such as
'I have used quotes to give examples of XXX but I wonder if too much of the essay is in the voice of others because of it.'
or practical questions
'I was not sure how to quote an interviewee I have used "" instead of '' for quotes from interviewee and put them I the bibliography but their interviews are not published so should they be in the bibliography?'

The Feedback response form should also be used after a Skype Supervisor tutorial (one-to-one) summarise the discussion and inform a blog about the tutorial.

The Feedback Response Form is therefore a document of learning, discussion and conversation for you to refer to as you study.  It supports the idea you are not alone in your study (you are in conversation) but not being alone does not mean you are just waiting to be told what to do.

A note: emailing your tutor should not be your first response to not understanding something!! First go back to the Handbook that is what they are for to explain the course, ideas and direct, then read some blogs of people who have done the Module you are on. Then have some time to think.


Wednesday 18 September 2019

One More...

We will do a make-up skype on Friday 20th at 5pm. This is for those who missed the Welcome skypes or want to hear it again.

Please comment below if you are attending and make sure you have sent a skype request to us. 

Monday 16 September 2019

John Green - The Test - capacity to make connections.

Welcome to the start of MAPP  - Week 1 of this term
Please read and watch and comment below so we can start a conversation...

This is a section of a video lecture. It is quite light hearted but what John Green's point is that learning - that is worthwhile is a part of living (and living with integrality). Education is about application not being told what to do...It is about the capacity to make connections and critically imagine, divergent thinking...



Then think about what your learning is - what does it mean to have learnt about life through being an artist or being in the Arts. What value do you put on creative skills to imagine, wonder, working-out the capacity to make connections . These are skills we ask you to use as core to what learning means - Art's Critical value.

In this video Cindy Foley references Sir Ken Robinson's lecture* (video).
Cindy identifies key habits that artists employ, that are also key to our course.
Comfort with Ambiguity
Idea Generation
Transdisciplinary Research



*https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity/up-next?language=en

Sunday 15 September 2019

After Welcome Skypes

People have made some great reflective posts after the Skypes - please visit each other's blogs and leave comment.

Here is Simons:

https://simon-mapp.blogspot.com/2019/09/induction-reflection.html#comment-form

Please visit each others blogs - addresses are on UniHub.