February 12th chats

Sundays chats.

A lot of both chats were about ‘truth’ and answers. We talked about how ‘learning’ has slowly slipped into ‘information gathering’. The student is given information and then at the test you re-tell the information. So as a student your job becomes gathering the correct information in order to re-tell the correct things to get the grade to pass the course – like a little treasure hunt. But what then?

This course is not about that. It is about critical thinking and reflection. So there are no answers just better and better questions. It is not to be annoying it is because we are coming from a humanities background – dance - where truth is perceived or felt. It is not fixed.  We literally can not tell you an answer because there isn’t one. There is every answer, and no answer.

So we were thinking about how one avoids repeatedly falling into the rut of looking for someone to tell us what to do, and most importantly not feeling lost when there doesn’t seem to be someone to tell you. Also about how the loudest ‘voice’ is not the voice of authority. It is, after all, not what is being said but how you are hearing it that gives things meaning.  

We talked about how reflective practices support education. Also about developing dialogues particularly the importance of developing conversations across the MAPP community not in order to come to a consensus of what you have to say to pass but to tap into the ideas and knowledge that is held across all the experiences colleagues on or running the course have between them.

We talked about the ethics of 1^st person ‘v’ 3^rd person writing. How 3^rd person implies a kind of Grand Narrative or truth that everyone shares. How 1^st person lays bare the idea that you are talking about perceptions and experiences. Then some people commented that in the past they have been criticised for being opinionated. But a writer can be opinionated whether they are writing in 1^st or 3^rd person. It is their opinion after all. The problem is not that you have an opinion it is only have a concept of one opinion and only writing from that one opinion in 1^st or 3^rd person. The antidote to being opinionated is being reflective we decided.  

Here are summaries people said made into a poem:

A little Breath

Self-study and finding your way.

Writing a blog post every other day.

Reflective practices: different approaches to be

A student, a teacher, a part of the dance community.

Don’t have to be told what to do.

Sharing experiences that are part of you.

New ideas, new perspectives on for the ‘truths’ in what you explore.

An approach to learning without anticipating what is behind each door.

Have a look at what other people in the conversations said.

http://brandonleesears.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/mapp-dtp-beginnings.html?m=1

http://helenkindred.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/a-little-bit-of-breath.html

https://barbarabesque.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/different-approaches.html

https://dixieogivar.blogspot.no/2017/02/hello-everybody-after-skype-meeting.html#comment-form

http://ruthellend.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/following-our-early-evening-skype.html

http://rebeccajones87.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/how-to-move-on-to-next-module-what.html#comment-form

https://parimalamapp.blogspot.com/2017/02/12022017-back-in-action-module-two.html

Please leave comments here and with each other 

Adesola