We had two great chats today – am and pm
AM:
In the morning chat we talked about the
process of learning. We were thinking about the process of ‘doing’ the modules
and how things had changed in Professional Practice as a result of reflection
on the modules and Self. The tracking of this ‘change’ or ‘noticing’ is what
all the Reflective essays in each of the Modules is asking for you to talk
about. In Module One it is the first time you are writing a Review of Learning
and it can feel like it is all mixed up in the Areas of Learning. But the
Review of Learning is a review of what has happen this term (now). Looking at
how the learned-You has manifested to you. How you have notice yourself in terms
of the idea of learning. In the other
module we also ask for some reflection of learning this carries this idea on
through the whole course. At the end of each module you reflect on the learned-You
particularly in terms of your practice. We also talked about how reading other people’s
ideas, such as some of the texts in the Reading list can be inspiring. As you
read a book the author articulates things you have been thinking or feeling –it
is like finding a friend in the text. Nighat said she found Moon’s book very
useful when thinking about reflection.
We also talked about how our practice of dance touches so many aspects
of life – both dance and the act of education have political, cultural,
religious, academic elements. Our practices touch all these things and they
organise how we carve our practice into being.
For further thinking about the AM
conversations have a look at these posts.
PM:
In the afternoon chat we talked about a range of things that seemed to settle
on ideas about labelling: labelling ourselves, what learning is or should look
like etc… Within this we discussed the personal, political, professional and
how all these aspects of ourselves affect our art practices.
Within the conversation some Module 3’s
talked about their findings – which seemed to also resonate with the idea of the
imagined, expected, and mediated Selves that we inhabit within our daily
practices. We talked about ways to communicate ideas differents way of writing,
making etc… This linked to the Module 3 hand-in. There are three forms of
handing in the same thing in Module 3. The thing is the inquiry – telling us
about the inquiry. The three forms are
An academic artefact – a written essay
A Professional artefact - ?? (everyone’s
profession is different so you know the form it should take better than the
university (a dance, a workshop, an installation etc…)
A verbal artefact – presentation (given this
year on January 17th 201).
By having more than one way to explain the
same thing (the inquiry) we are acknowledging there are some things that you
can explain in movement that you cannot explain in words, and some in words you
cannot explain in writing etc… We are working in somatic practices and explaining
the experience of the inquiry will take a felt, three-dimensional approach.
Other things we talked about are discussed in
the following post:
Tamzin http://tamzinhoward.blogspot.com will talk about how different we all are (we
were talking from USA, Canada, Barbados, UK, and Qatar) yet all sharing the similar
experience of dance and teaching dance.
Helen is going to post about process and
change, yet how YOU are still at the heart of your own learning journey, your
practice, your experiences – you at the
heart of what you are doing.
In both conversations, we talked about the
importance of the blogs and commenting as a way to keep in touch over the
coming weeks. It is nice to have a network of friends around the world, people
thinking about the thinks you are thinking about and bothering to comment on
your ideas. Building our community of learners is often just about listening to
each other and sharing your own thoughts back.
Up-coming dates to remember
Hand-in is January 6th
Get together to hear Module 3 presentations
January 17th
Next First Sunday group chat is on the Second Sunday of February
11th 2017 !!!
What do you feel?
Please comment.
Adesola
Happy Holidays