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Reflecting on formal learning, feedback and professional practice

One of the challenges of ‘formal’ education (School; college; University) is that it sets out certain conventional ways of doing things. You know, a classroom is like ‘this’; a lecture is like ‘that’. And those conventional ways of doing things, the ‘conventions’ of education, bear little resemblance to the actual ways in which we conduct our professional, working lives. The conventions of education perhaps are built upon the preferences and conveniences of the educator more than the needs of learners?

One of the conventions of schooling at all levels is that the teacher is dominant in the relationship. It’s a ‘master’ and ‘apprentice’ model that I think permeates all educational thinking from the ancient to the current.

As learners, indeed as professionals engaged in learning, I propose that we need to think differently about the act of learning. I think we can think of learning as something that is not ‘transmitted’ by the master to the apprentice, but something constructed by learners themselves (if interested, you might do some follow up reading on Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky ideas of social constructivism and education). If this makes sense, then the teacher’s role is to enhance the opportunities to make meaningful and worthwhile knowledge constructions. Additionally, it might mean that anyone, not just the teacher, can contribute to the process of learning of another individual.

This is why we have created, and want to engage in a learning community, and to see your Blogs as more than complying with assignments, but far more than that. They are one way of connecting with professional practitioners within the programme and very importantly, with professional practitioners beyond the programme. The Blogs, and other technologies come to represent the way we are all developing our professional networks, and how these networks can contribute to our learning.

So when we come to think about feedback, you might get a better understanding of why your teachers are giving such prominence to the ideas and comments of others, over our own. We want you to find and appreciate the way forward by seeing good practice around you, rather than seeing what the teacher thinks as the dominant ‘voice’. It is our conviction as teachers that the professional conversations you strike up and develop (on the programme and beyond) are what matter, not what you teacher thinks. I believe our role is to guide and enhance those conversations, and to place value on the extent and depth you make of these links and conversations.

These conversations happen in real life and online. The online version for us is partly a practical thing – we all cannot be in the same place at the same time. But also it opens us to the world and the ideas and work of others who share our interests. Online also allows us to present ourselves, and represent our qualities and thinking. It also can represent the use we can make of real conversations, observations and reflections in real-life. This is something of equal important to me and those of you, who, like me, are established professionals, as well of those who are just in the process of establishing yourselves. Others will look you up, and your Blogs will speak volumes about you as a serious, intelligent and active professional person.

So our Blogs are not just about the programme, but present us, and represent our qualities as professionals. Keep Blogging, and see your Blogs as something that will continue and be part of a richer, more dynamic presence that you are creating for yourself.

You might like to look at: the Seven Habits of Highly Connected People

Feedback on 'Links to work from people I admire'

There have been a great number of really good ‘Links to work from people I admire’. Here are some examples and my reasons for bringing them to your attention. Please note these are examples rather than a list of the best in my view. Do go and look at the other Blogs and form your own views:

Tasha's Blog has a lot of good content, but I particularly liked the section on ‘The Jerwood Centre for the Prevention and Treatment of Dance Injuries. In this section Tasha identifies why she admires the work of the Centre and identifies individuals involved and gives the sense that she knows the work of the Centre well.

Sophie Gilbert’s Blog on Bob Fosse is very effective. Sophie gives an extensive a detailed explanation of why she admires Bob Fosse, with links to various other resources and sources. I had trouble with one broken link: ‘Presentation of the Festival and News’ however the overall effect was very informative, and gave me insight into the work of Fosse and West Side Story. The strength of this Blog is the variety of sources and Sophie’s strong commentary.

Murat’s Blog on Chickenshed ‘Chickenshed from Murat Shevket’ is a great Blog. It’s short and communicates Murat’s passion and commitment to Chickenshed. This is a feature of the Chickshed ‘crew’ that I have come to recognise but Murat captures this very nicely. We all could emulate this to our credit.

Melissa’s Blog on Alvin Ailey's and Revelations is another wonderfully respectful and passionate Blog. Melissa demonstrates knowledge of the development of the Ailey School and the context of the development of Black Dance in the U.S.A. Incidentally do go and look at the revelations link. Also, and for you Melissa, go to ADAD who support the development of Black Dance in the UK. ADAD is run by Jeanette Bain who is a graduate from Middlesex University MA Choreography if this is a helpful link.

Laura Bentley's Blog on Matthew Bourne is very effective in that Laura provides a detailed and analytical explanation of why she admires Bourne and his work. It’s very important to make a distinction between admiring someone or something, and knowing why. I thought the Section on Lance Armstrong was very inspiring, but the Bourne text was stronger for me because it unpacked Laura’s analytical skills. You will see some Blogs (but for that matter essays and other writing) that is passionate and interesting, but part of what we are also doing is developing our powers of understanding and knowledge creation.

Danielle Stacey’s Blog on Pete Purdy is really worth reading. Danielle manages to talk us through a critical phase in her creative and technical development – having been taught by Pete Purdy and then his untimely death. What I find good about this Blog is Danielle’s ‘centeredness’. She clearly feels the loss but appreciated the value gained from being taught by Pete Purdy. The professional is often also the emotional, but what Danielle does is show how you can maintain a professionally strong perspective even through emotionally difficult situations.


Well that's a few Blogs that caught my eye ... but to finish this part of my feedback, I also wanted to say something about Blogs I don’t admire so much and these fall into two categories:

1. Links with no explanatory text leaves me wondering what the Blogger is thinking;

2. Text with no links make me wonder if the Blogger has really looked and researched the people they admire – given how easy it is to link to external sources, is looks a bit weak and lacking richness.

What do you think?

CV – What stands out?

Conventions: I found a range of different approaches to the CV task. Given that we asked what you have done ‘professionally’ and what ‘professional training’ do you have, I though some CVs stood out as more effective than others. Firstly, some CVs gave prominence to professional work by simply listing these first, e.g. Donna Wilkinson listed her professional online CVs first, (e.g. SPOTLIGHT; MODEL MAYHEM). What does this say about Donna? Well she has professional web based CVs, that she is serious about her career, that she fits the ‘normal’ way of presenting yourself, say via Spotlight. So this is a ‘conventional’ way of presenting yourself. Is this a ‘Convention’ that is expected? Does Donna appear to understand this?

Personal Statements: Some of you have used this devise. Its value is it is an opportunity to talk about what matters to you, which a CV alone cannot do. One example is Gabrielle Campbell’s ‘Personal Statement’. Here Gabrielle talks about her aspirations but also talks about her personal circumstance. Does a Personal Statement fit into a professional profile? Does it add, or detract from the presentation of a real person? I think as a personal statement Gabrielle strikes a well-balanced line between being to familiar (colloquial, off-hand) and being too inspirational (ooh I’m lucky, oh really unlucky). Her statements are nicely centred, feel authentic, and represent a mature person who has dreams, but who is centred in her own real life.

‘The personal is professional’: Peter has also written about this on his Blog ‘The personal is professional’. Well-established professionals you hear speak or on TV often seem to merge their professional and personal ways of being. They take their lives seriously, and their work seriously. This is why I like Gabrielle’s Personal Statement; it seems to be a ‘whole representation’ of her professional and personal life.

Previous Students' thoughts on Reflection

Here are a series of comments from previous BAPP students. I have not sought to make a selection of these or to order them into categories. You are simply getting all the comments that I have previously noted. I think some are really quite insightful and I hope this helps to build on the work we undertook in the first campus session:

• After our initial discussion on reflection I came to the conclusion that reflection can be used in the past, present and future. The main benefit of reflection came from using our past experiences and reflecting on how we felt and acted at the time to assess how we might have done things differently and how that would affect us now. Also from the same line of thought, using reflection in our day-to-day lives to impact on our decisions for now and for the future.
  
  
• Analyse yourself in a constructive way.
  
  
• AWARENESS of what happened and what could happen based on past experiences and your KNOWLEDGE gained from these experiences.
  
  
• Comparing the past to the present day and linking it to the future.
• Connect with emotions.
  
  
• Constructive criticism
  
  
• Emotional reflection
  
  
• Feel proud or disappointed of things you have done.
  
  
• Found the thoughts on reflection interesting yesterday, just having time to think about what I am doing and why was valuable (without sounding too new age)!! I realised I haven't thought in depth about my motivation for ages; what I want to achieve, where I want to be in the future and why I value the parts of my work which I value?
  
  
• Future, Learning, mirror, Past, Present, Reflecting, thoughts
  
  
• Generate new insights into what you are doing now or what you plan to do.
  
  
• Get some perspective on your life at the moment and what is important to you.
  
  
• Gives me other people's viewpoints, which crates new ideas of how to work and learn.
  
  
• How is it affecting you now?
  
  
• I believe that reflection is a thought process that enables us to self evaluate past and present experiences. To reflection both positive and negative aspects of life gives us further insight in to the future. When we think seriously and carefully, we are able to gain perspective, rectify and justify. Reflection is highly desirable as it aids us in our journey through life.
  
  
• I have considered what reflection could be, I feel that it is consideration of events that have been or are currently affecting me and realising that they ARE affecting me and how it is affecting me. It is a very dynamic process with very definite results ie. My awareness of the events.
  
  
• I really liked the notion of using a mirror image as a figurative example of the practice of reflection. The mirror image is different to the actual reality, so with reflection things may not be, as they first seemed.
  
  
• I think reflection can be categorised into many things... i.e. knowing that you have discovered a problem and having the intensions of rectifying them and learning from the mistakes... you cold also use this to progress in the profession you are undertaking.
  
  
• I think that reflection can be also be a kind of evaluation, we look back at events and wonder what would have happened if we had acted differently or if we made a mistake. With the benefit of hindsight we can also see the good and bad points that came from this and use that to influence further decisions.
  
  
• Identify your own skills and weaknesses.
  
  
• It is looking objectively from a distance at your past experiences and what I could have done differently etc, which all helps with the present and future.
  
  
• It reminds you of why I make sacrifices, reminds me what I want to do and why.
  
  
• Learning from the past: Positive and Negative experiences
  
  
• Learning from what has happened.
  
  
• Looking at the development of you and your experiences. E.g. your confidence from year one to now.
  
  
• Looking at the knock on affect the situation created and the impact it has on today.
  
  
• Looking at the positive and negative of these experiences and what you learnt and what made you grow professionally e.g. working on the cruise gave me a great insight to the professional world and also the American industry for performers.
  
  
• Looking back on experiences, both good and bad to learn for the future or present.
  
  
• Looking back on what has happened and what is happening at present. Reflection is what influences what is to happen in the future. Whether it is how you dress, how you act or what you say. These are all result of personal opinions that derive from reflection. In other words, reflection is an action (whether conscious or unconscious) a person does to create opinions, thought and even further actions.
  
  
• Often, a reason for reflection can be because I need to make a decision so I will evaluate the success of past decisions in order to help me with my current one.
  
  
• Ones thoughts
  
  
• Ongoing reflection of what’s happening in the present or even the future.
  
  
• Picking out the positives and negatives from experiences, and what you personally did wrong or right.
  
  
• Reflecting on past, present, and even future moments or possible experiences, helps you step back from the world and into your inner thoughts, where you can learn from your actions or possible reactions to situations by looking at the experience and questioning how maybe it could be or have been more positive..
  
  
• Reflecting on present experiences also: " What's happening now?", "Why am I doing what I'm currently doing?", "What am I learning from it?" , and "How's this going to help me in the future?"
  
  
• Reflection as a mirror image, what are other peoples PERSPECTIVES? Or your different perspectives.
  
  
• Reflection is a contemplation on one-self....
  
  
• Reflection is a continuous journey of yourself. Your views and ideas carry on evolving from your experiences, positive or negative...we learn.
  
  
• Reflection is a thought process that enables us to self evaluates past and present experiences. To reflect on both positive and negative aspects of life gives us further insight in to the future. When we think seriously and carefully, we are able to gain perspective, rectify and justify. Reflection is highly desirable as it aids us in our journey through life.
  
  
• Reflection is looking back at experiences, seeing both the emotions felt and actions taken. Then being able to use the positive and negative aspects of that situation to develop for the future, for example how you might react to a certain situation in the future. When you reflect you can look back at that situation with a different perspective. To conclude it's a part of the cycle of living and learning.
  
  
• Reflection is looking back at what you have done, what was positive and what was negative, how you dealt with it, how you could have dealt with it, the issues it raised, the effects and where it has brought you to now, how you can use the experience now and what you have learnt for future reference. Reflecting is a chance for you to look at what you have done/are doing from an objective point of view in order to learn from it.
  
  
• Reflection to me is the experiences I went through during my training or professional work and what I learnt and how that I can put that into practice today and in the future.
  
  
• Reflection was also mentioned in our discussion within professionalism, how you as a professional are reflected by your behaviour, presentation, knowledge and activities as a person.
  
  
• Reflection, to me, is looking back on a moment or experience and viewing it objectively. It's taking yourself out of that situation and getting an overall and balanced take on it, not influenced by emotional involvement or social views.
  
  
• Remember the reason for doing what you do, and what you past goals have been and whether you have achieved them yet or they have changed.
  
  
• Someone said in class yesterday that it is like looking in a mirror and seeing things from a different perspective, I think this can often be true, especially with the benefit of hindsight or another person's input.
  
  
• The idea of observing patterns in past behaviour and analysing my feelings about those and the positives and negatives which they reveal in respect of personal practice and career/work development.
  
  
• The journey of yourself: looking at how you were from the beginning to now and how it carries on continuously. How your goals and thoughts changed.
  
  
• The reflection of a mirror: Different view points (standing back & taking a neutral, and non-biased view on your life)
  
  
• Thinking about what you could have done differently.
  
  
• To reflect on something is to look back on a time or experience and think about it in depth, analysis it and learn from it. Thinking about the positive and negative points, how it may have helped you, and what you would change if you were to do it again. I think sometimes we reflect naturally without even consciously thinking about it, in everyday thoughts about situations. What we need to learn to do this consciously and understand why we do it. You could also argue that it is a continuous process, we are constantly reflecting on things in our lives in order for us to grow and gain experience. By being reflective, it also helps us to see different viewpoints and see things from a different perspective.
  
  
• View yourself from a different perspective or viewpoint to learn how you actions might have affected or been viewed by others.
  
  
• Was your past experience good or bad?
  
  
• What physically happened to you in the past.
  
  
• Whilst reflection can be linked with emotion I think that it often comes from a more objective viewpoint. We are removed from the emotional heat of the moment [which is such a large contributing factor] and are able to draw more logical conclusions, which will hugely shape our overall opinion of the event.
  
  
• You can use your reflections to consider your options.

Welcome to students in Germany

We are being joined by Nathalia and Liubov who are designers living and working in Germany. Hi to you both. I am looking forward to you enriching the network of staff and students and bringing your visual skills as well. Many of the students on BAPP are specialist in dance, musical theatre acting and education but some also have a media or design backgrounds so I hope you find interesting and useful connections within the group, and to their own networks.

Unacceptable Blog content or Comments

What do we do when we receive inappropriate comments, or see inappropriate Blogs?
If anyone on the course posts anything unacceptable, they will be dealt with firmly. If an outsider as it were comments to your Blog inappropriately, you can delete the comment. However, we do have to accept that in order to communicate with a wider professional network, we increase this risk. It will be about balancing the advantages of establishing a broader professional network with the risks that come with opening access to others. Of course, we also have the services of the Blog provider, and I know for instance, Blogger will block users who post unacceptable comments. Your Blogs of course are under your control. So it may be about setting your standards and blocking or deleting any comments that fall below that standard.

BAPP Inductions 2009

At Inductions we have covered how to set yourself up on Blogger. We will be using Blogs to stay in touch, to post ideas and coursework, and for students and Advisers to comment on our posts. If you are unsure how to proceed you can contact your Programme Adviser (they will be in touch with you by Monday 28^th to introduce themselves to you).

You should email Peter Bryant (one of the BAPP Programme Advisers) to let him know the URL address for your Blog (once you have created your Blog on Blogger, copy the URL address - it starts with http:// - and send it to Peter so he can let all the class know your Blog address so they can connect to it).

Educational Blogging

Stephen Downes article on educational blogging is very relevant to the development of professional practice because it argues that formal learning (e.g. at University) is richer if it operates in the same way in which we all learn at work or in professional practice. Here is the link to the article:

Educause review: Educational Blogging

Shift Happens

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljbI-363A2Q

This piece presents us with stark facts and predictions about the world, technology and education. It strikes me that we are leaving the period in human development where we all learn specific skills for specific jobs. This 'modern' notion of society is where we all work to become specialists and to benefit ourselves in terms of the quality of work we undertake, and rewards that accrue.

In a 'post-modern' setting, we cannot rely on the stabilities of the past or imagine that the work we trained for will remain constant in our lifetime. So what do we need to learn to be? Adaptable? Flexible? Opportunistic? Entrepreneurial? What skills will we need? Better observation skills? Evaluation skills? Ability to synthesis ideas to formulate new thoughts? Or is it ‘attribute’ based? So we ‘become’ more adaptable, flexible, reflective by virtue of engaging these challenges and adapting ourselves, our behaviours and skills? And importantly, what do University teachers need to do to help students move from the former, stable model of employment, to this new, seemingly insecure model?

'The I' - 2007

Haunting piece by Sean Feldman
and Monika Wydrowska

http://www.rmwdance.co.uk/video/video_theI.html

Work Based Learning: Journeys to the Core of Higher Education

Here's the link to a recent publication frrom Middlesex University's Institue for Work based Learning:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Work-Based-Learning-Journeys-Education/dp/1904750192

Amazon provide the 'Click to look inside' function.

'Established' and 'Establishing' Practioners

I have been thinking for quite a while about the needs of professional practitioners across a range of fields. How do newly trained or educated practitioners transform over time into experienced insightful and flexible professionals?

...and what role do Universities have in this, especially when we can accompany newly establishing practitioners through work based learning programmes?

Defining Professional Practice

I wanted to develop a possible definition of professional practice to support my students. This is my initial thoughts:

Professional Practice might be understood to mean any work that demands a high level of specialist knowledge, that is sustained and developed over time, and which is guided by trans-disciplinary principles and conventions.

Professional practice has grown in importance for both individuals and work organisations in recent years and has several important features. Firstly, individuals value the status they believe that ‘professionalised’ work implies as it mimics some, if not most of the conventions established in the chartered professions. Secondly, the professionalization of occupations has provided a useful anchor in the development of standards of professional behaviour that has raised the expectations of society from workers. Thirdly, in a ‘super-complex’ world, the notion of professional practice has offered the individual worker the means to explore, understand and establish their own set of professional principles and conventions in types of work not previously considered worthy of such status. This has enriched work and made it special for the worker with the resulting benefits to both the worker and recipients of the work.

Getting Started with University-level Work Based Learning

Getting Started with University-level Work Based Learning

This little book is a guide to work based learning (WBL) run by UK Universities. It provides the answers to many of the questions new students will have and guidance on how to make positive use of the opportunity offered by WBL programmes. The book has been produced by a collaboration of three UK Universities.

Available on Amazon (with look inside function):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Getting-Started-University-level-Based-Learning/dp/1904750702/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244578659&sr=8-1