I’ve been reading the ‘Reflective Practices’ course reader. The first thing to grab my attention has been ‘what is reflection and why?’ It has got me to thinking about the whole meaning behind reflection. I mean, we all reflect on some way or another, but why do we do it? Reflection is a valuable tool that we use, so that we can learn from our experiences and progress from them. The journals we are keeping are an invaluable reflection tool, as they can be used to reflect on this course and our jobs, as well as general day to day things, helping us to grow and expand our knowledge during the course, and beyond.
Exploring the different ways you can use the journal, such as through lyrics, collage, pictures, etc, supports the point raised by Polanyi, ‘the importance of articulation of reflective practice and the importance to have a variety of ways to support reflection.’ I am going to make a continued effort to expand on my journal writing skills, and include as many varied mediums in my journal as I can.
Personally, I have always been motivated by watching others, learning from them, and then having a go myself. It is this that sparks my interests, and drives me up a path of self discovery. I have come to realise, through looking through the reader, that there are so many different ways of ‘turning experience into learning’. This highlighted the point to me that there are many and various ways of doing this. Until this point, I had never considered this, but by writing the journal, and by reflecting on experiences during the second task, I am already expanding and adapting my own methods of reflection, without really realising it.
Looking at Kolb’s learning cycle, I could establish that I in fact use many of the methods of learning, mentioned in it. I was, therefore, struggling to see exactly where I fitted into the cycle, as my position varies and changes from task to task. Having initially stated that I ‘have always been motivated my watching others, learning from them, and then having a go myself’, one would think that I would enter the cycle at ‘Concrete Experience’. However, my journal suggests that I could also enter at ‘Reflective Observation’. Through the reflection via my journal, and looking at how I have grown already, I have come to realise that I work much better and more confidently, if I have seen other people’s work as a source of inspiration, and so this entry point suits me better than the previous suggestion.
Once I understood each stage of the cycle, I found it easy to ‘tag’ people I know, so to speak, and place them at different points of the learning cycle. Establishing this is an invaluable teaching tool, for me. I am able to tailor lessons to suit my less able students, once I know how they learn most effectively, and therefore get the best possible results from them.
This method has helped me no end, since I started working there, as I feel I can really help the students with the work, and that they can start to enjoy the subject of Dance a lot more, since they are finding it easier to do. A combination of learning methods could compliment each other well, in a professional environment. For example I, who prefers to use reflective observation, could learn a routine second hand from a dancer who has learnt the routine via concrete observation.
Since I began the course, I’ve started to see the benefits of utilising other learning techniques. Once I’m back properly on my feet and dancing again, I think it would benefit me to experiment when I go to class and try a different approach to learning routines. I might even find a way that suits me more than reflective observation. Using this aspect of the course will maximise my chances of success in the future, in situations such as auditions, or working in a professional environment, where quick and efficient choreography retention is a necessity.
I’ve also been looking into the ideas of reflection in action, and reflection on action, suggested by Donald Shon. I’ve always been a believer in reflection in action, as it can save a performance, under pressure. For example, if you have a mind black on stage, spontaneous improvisation can get you through the black spot, and this is an example of reflection in action.
I was browsing on the web, and I came across a personality calculator, based on Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences theory. My results were as follows:
Intelligence type | your totals | ||
Linguistic | 37 | ||
Logical-Mathematical | 39 | ||
Musical | 39 | ||
Bodily-Kinesthetic | 32 | ||
Spatial-Visual | 31 | ||
Interpersonal | 34 | ||
Intrapersonal | 25 |
Looking at the results, I can relate to the figures there. At school, I always enjoyed every lesson, and when it came to A-Levels, I chose to take a combination of arty subjects with science, because I enjoy them both so much. I always said, if I didn’t dance, or sing, I’d like to become a scientist, and these results support that, as the musical and logical-mathematical results are both the same. It just goes to show that my brain works in a variety of ways. I think it is naïve to say that you ever learn in just one way, because we all learn using a combination of the different intelligence types. I think my results demonstrate this very well, by how close each of the totals are for each category.
I learn in different ways, depending on the circumstance. For example, if I’m in a dance class, it seems logical that I draw on spatial-visual and bodily-kinesthetic intelligences, whereas in a Musical Theatre situation, I add Musical and Linguistic to that list. It is hugely important, in my opinion, not to be channeled or blinkered in saying that you only learn in one way, or use one intelligence type, because it can hinder progress; whereas, if you are more open minded to trying a different approach in certain circumstances, you may find yourself progressing at a faster pace.
The course reader and various articles I have read have given me a real insight into the vast amount of ways one can reflect. It’s made me realise just how important the journal will be to help me reflect on the course, discover which methods of reflection best suit me, and to help me gain as much as I can out of every experience. I’m understanding my own learning journeys a lot more that I used to, the processes I personally go through to arrive at an end result, and I’m starting to experiment with these journeys, to push and expand my boundaries more. It’s a fantastic tool, and already I am looking back on recent work and learning from both positive and negative aspects of it, and I’m able to improve myself efficiently this way.
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