10am Skype 'Coffee Shop' chat with Adesola and Megan

This Skype chat with Megan and Adesola was so useful and talking to Megan and listening to her discuss the stage of Module Two she was at after completing Module One already was incredibly insightful. Just hearing Megan talk about what she had found was really interesting and got me thinking about learning and transitioning.

 

Transitioning

 

How? What? Where? When? Why?
 

"What would I have liked to know, now that I know about it?"
 

From Acting to Teaching
 

I wasn't concious of this transitioning, but I soon realised it was about what made me happy. Transitions might be forced and others might not be but it's about that transition and development of knowledge.

A great example of me using my skills as an actor to enhance my teaching is my knowledge of the benefits of an ensemble and how my teaching approach is different from that of other teachers. I like to view my group of students as 'an ensemble' which benefits the whole group. This enables everyone to be equal, however I've noticed that when I have to discipline the children, I switch back into more of an authority figure. This I've found makes the children behave much more, because they love the fun of the ensemble and therefore try and behave to get the ensemble back!
 

Adesola's Points
 

What is the 'best?'
 

There's more than one definition of 'best.' People in school view the best as being able to correlate what the teacher has taught them and get good scores, but it can also be about being happy. It's about knowing yourself. Knowing your capabilities and strengths and weaknesses.
 

Which begs the question, "what is success?"
 

I've had this discussion with my friend Zara, who I went to drama school with said to me shortly after drama school, "it's being happy."
 

She was the person who introduced me to Explore Learning and the love of teaching children and has realised the importance of 'knowing yourself' and following your passions. She had soon realised that being successful isn't always materialistic.
 

So many actors and audiences view an actor's success by Oscars and awards and being in massive feature films, but just because you haven't appeared in Star Wars, does that make you any less of a successful and good actor? Really, that is no reflection on your acting ability, because you may not have been in the right place and the right time and had the same experiences and opportunities that those actors have had. You don't have that actor's nose, eyes, colour hair etc etc. As the saying goes, "if your face fits..."

Changes

 

Adesola pointed out that when reflecting on my new found love of teaching, that even though this is poignant, things STILL might change. For now teaching makes me happy, but who is to say that it will be my set career? Adesola said that it might go from teaching to then realise 'no...performing is what I should be doing!'
 

Discussion of Modules
 

Module one is reflecting on how your own experience have informed your own learning but Megan was at module two it's about reading into literature and other people and their views on how they've learned.
 

Summed up in one word the modules are:
 

Module 1 - Analysing

Module 2 - Forwarding

Module 3 - Developing
 

This whole course is about making an enquiry.
 

Actor Ralph Fiennes said in The Actor's Studio:
 

"It's about the journey, not the destination."
 

This phrase has rung so true to me.
 

A great way of summing up 'the journey' is shown in this video of 'The Mirror.'
 



 

 

I saw this video on Facebook the other day and it's been running through my head ever since. How we can see that glimpse of ourselves and what we used to be, but how we have changed so much that there is no going back. As Adesola said, "what would I have liked to know about this, now that I know?"