Module 1: Task 2C - Reflective Theory

I now see the true relevance between the Recognition of Learning module and how it is helping me progress through module one and the entire BAPP Arts course. When looking at Reader 2, I can see that the same names are appearing! These include Gibbs, Kolb and Honey and Mumford, all practitioners who focus on the process of learning and development.

To remind myself of how these various processes have come into play, I have looked back over what I had written before and now I want to expand on these ideas, looking at similar practitioners to expand my thoughts about learning even more.

Blog Recap

The Recognition of Learning Module: Activity Number One

 Tuesday 20th September

Gibbs' reflection cycle (1998) 

Gibbs' reflection and analysis model is incredibly useful when it comes to structuring a reflection and enables you to not only reflect on what has happened and what you have learned throughout the process, but it also allows you to assess how you may potentially improve for next time if you were to complete the entire process again. I want to look at Gibbs' (1998) Reflective Cycle and use this method in order to create my own reflection of my professional practice as a teacher and director and have a closer look at my process throughout Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.

How have things developed since then?

I would say that since this blog, I have developed as a teacher in so many ways and now I focus so much more on the Conclusion and the Action Plan, because I have suddenly found that with teaching, nothing ALWAYS goes to plan!! Because of this, I don't just spend the time planning ahead, but I also spend time reviewing, particular at the end of the day when I come home and ask myself questions such as, 'did that really go as well as I had hoped?' and 'what else do I need to do or make different?' This is quite surprising for me, because I have always been 'in the moment' and focusing on what is going well. Now I find myself not just doing simply that, but also subconciously asking myself, 'how can I be better? What do I need to change?'

Blog Recap

The Recognition of Learning Module: Activity Number Two

Monday 26th September 2016

Honey and Mumford's Learning Styles

There are four types of Learning styles that we can look at in Honey and Mumford's Learning Style descriptions. These are:

Activists

Reflectors

Theorists

Pragmatists




Honey, P and Mumford, A, 2006, The Learning Styles Questionnaire 80 item version, Maidenhead: Peter Honey Publications Ltd


There's a lot of activist skills I have developed since training at drama school. For example, my Improvisation classes enabled me to get out of my head and live 'in the moment' which is something that has really helped me in my profession since.

Example

When tutoring, there have been many times when I have been given numerous tasks to complete before running workshops and my Creative Wrting classes and as a result I have to learn how to successfully take in information a great deal quicker and run with the current thought and situation. I have found this particularly helpful in terms of working with children, one of the main reasons being that they have a very short attention span so throwing them into a set task straight away has been incredibly useful.

Honey, P and Mumford, A, 2006, The Learning Styles Questionnaire 80 item version, Maidenhead: Peter Honey Publications Ltd

I did alot of this when I had to direct the children and take notes of what needed to be improved. My note taking and constant looking at script annotation meant that I was able to evaluate choreography and blocking and to keep making decisions. This included any changes that had to be made and by writing everything down, Kayleigh and I could go away and truly reflect on what needed to be improved throughout Joseph.

Example

The most obvious example would be when I used the time to make notes in the last few weeks of rehearsals in order to note down anything that was particularly in need of some improving. I would then take the opportunity to share my notes with the cast and highlight any issues that I felt should be addressed. This was a more thoughtful way of doing things and remembered from my own experience how much noting improvements helped me as a performer, because it allowed me to think about what I was doing and therefore grow.

Honey, P and Mumford, A, 2006, The Learning Styles Questionnaire 80 item version, Maidenhead: Peter Honey Publications Ltd

I would say that the theorist way of thinking is the way of thinking I relate to the most out of all four learning styles. This is because as a person I love structure and an set objective to work towards which I also incorporate into my acting lessons. I always have an objective and always make sure I write and annotate my scripts, when I worked as an actress and when I've worked as a director on the group's youth productions. I like to use logical and structured thought processes throughout and also like to have in my head exactly what the overall picture and finished model will potentially look like.

Example

A good example of when I put this into practice would be when I developed blocking for the Joseph Production and wrote and annotated my script. I made sure every single line had something interesting happening and the annotations show my need for structure and perfectionism!

Honey, P and Mumford, A, 2006, The Learning Styles Questionnaire 80 item version, Maidenhead: Peter Honey Publications Ltd

I definitely like to be able to see the relevance of my work in context, espeically when my ideas are put into practice by the children in the rehearsal room. In a rehearsal room it is improtant to explore and put an idea into practice and there were many times where we did that.

Example

Proven techiniques were apparent in Joseph when I used a proven concept already from my pantomime of Beauty and the Beast at drama school. I decided that instead of creating a massive 'story book', we would instead create a massive bible in which the characters were able to pop out and make a grand entrance. The audience as a result would be taken through the biblical story of Joseph that the audience would enjoy and would, as a result, enable the show to open with a bang.

What have I discovered about myself through my learning styles? Which one do I most comply with?

I have learnt that in general I can be a mixture of all of these learning styles at some point in the learning process, however I would say that I am mostly a theorist. But what I have discovered, however, when reflecting on these learning styles is that my actor training has forced me to look at things in various different ways, forcing me to become more of an activist at certain points due to the nature of the situation. Generally, I would say I'm more of a thinker, putting me into more of the reflecting, theoretical category due to my love of structure, my logical note taking and my aim to see the overall image and how to reach that desired image. I've really enjoyed this activity, because it's made me realise that not only do people learn in different ways, but they can also have elements of each of the four types of learning. Depending on the situation, there may be times where we have to be Activists, but there may also be times where we have to be more of a Reflector and this has consequently made me think about the children I teach and that they can work and learn in various different ways, making variety of teaching methods incredibly important. 

How have things developed since then?

Not much has changed in terms of what kind of learner I am, because I think this is all part of our natural make up. However, this is extremely important and relevant now that I am teaching full-time! By having knowledge of the four different type of learners, I am able to assess how best a child will flourish and cooperate with me when they are learning. Just by having an open mind and by delving into the different types of learners I can attempt to make things better for the children that I teach, surely?

Are there any similar theories I've recently discovered that link? 

Howard Gardner

I recently read another student's blog on practitioner Howard Gardner and I instantly became fascinated by this diagram that she shared. This is expanding on the four types of learners and delving deeper into these types of learners. This diagram investigates the theory that we aren't just put into four categories, but that we are also placed under sub-categories as well. There are some things about this diagram that instantly struck me and showed me in picture form things that I had felt for a long time that probably also explains why we choose the professions that we do. For instance, I have always been interested in people and how they operate and because of this I am often very quick to judge someone when first meeting them. I find myself asking subconciously 'what do they want?' I once spoke to my drama school friend, Zara, about how people view things differently. She is a very trusting person because she is naturally so open and often looks for the good in people. However, despite also being a relatively open person myself, (we creatives have to be open after all,) I tend to instantly look for the faults in people! Therefore I would say I am very interpersonal and learn things through interacting with people and assessing their behaviours...hence why I am a trained actress and teacher!

Developing Kolb's Four Point Cycle

Honey and Mumford also take Kolb's ideas, creating four points to match his four stages (below.)

learn.solent.ac.uk

Honey and Mumford developed the four 'stages' into simple bullet points (Honey and Mumford, 1992.) These include:

• Having an experience
• Reviewing the experience
• Concluding from the experience
• Planning the next steps

From the pervious task (Task 2B below) I have discovered that I relate well to bullet points and find it useful how they broke the diagram of Kolb into simple steps that are easy to follow when reflecting.

Jennifer A Moon

In Applying Theory to Policy and practice: Issues for critical reflection, Page 89, Steven R Smith, he uses the quote from Jennifer A Moon which states that reflective practice is "a set of abilities and skills, to indicate the taking of a critical stance, an orientation to problem solving or state of mind." 1999, page 63, RoutledgeFalmer.

I could say that this book is research project in itself and research is generally about discovery and not knowing the ansers before on starts."

Page 1, Jennifer A Moon, A Handbook of Reflective and Experimental Learning: Theory and Practice, 2004 edition, RoutledgerFalmer

Page 12, A Handbook of Reflective and Experimental Learning: Theory and Practice, 2004 edition, RoutledgerFalmer

  Reading this made me understand so much about the difference between teaching and learning and that they are two separate things. Today I had children do a mathematical crossword in which they solved the sum then wrote the number as a word in the crossword. Some struggled with this so I showed them how to do it. They then had a go themselves as I took them through it step by step letting them do it themselves. One child said, ‘oh, I get it.’ This shows that explaining is not everything, sometimes you have to do. I had the same with column addition today and got the children to physically cover up each column of tens, hundreds and units so they could take each number at a time and follow the same process every time. This really helped. Independent learning is therefore key.

Schön's model (Explanation provided by Solent Online Learning)

http://learn.solent.ac.uk/mod/book/view.php?id=2732&chapterid=1113

Schön (1991) presented the concept of 'reflection in action' and 'reflection on action':

Reflection in action	Reflection on action
Experiencing Thinking on your feet Thinking about what to do next Acting straight away	Thinking about something that has happened Thinking what you would do differently next time Taking your time

Schön's theory is that there are two types of reflection, one during and one after an activity or event.

Example of using Schön's model

Reflection in action

• You are in a lecture and keep being distracted by thinking about what to have for lunch!
• You want to get the most from the lecture so need to find a way to help you focus.
• You decide to start making some notes of the key points.

Reflection on action

• You notice that sometimes after a lecture you can’t remember what was covered.
• You find out about the lecture topic in advance and write down some questions you want answered.
• You make notes during the lecture to help you focus.
• You arrange to go for a coffee after the lecture and talk with your peers about what was presented, to help you understand and form your own opinions.
• You file your lecture notes and any handouts.

You can put these models into practice through your reflective writing.

I often use a Reflection in Action when I am teaching and was always undertaking this theory whilst at drama school. Performing means simply 'being in the moment' which means subconciously assessing how an audience may be perceiving your performance. I now do the same with teaching when I try a particular method and it doesn't work - I note it down and quickly attempt something else. This is where my improvisation skills come into play and are really made of good use.

Module 1: Task 2B - Journal Writing Experience

I decided to try various ways of writing or rewriting my journal, in order to find brand new ways of reflecting on my learning and development. I therefore decided to take four different ways and experiment with each in order to see how I could track my process and find other ways of articulating my thoughts on the creative and teaching process. Trying different methods of reflection is something I hadn't considered until I had undertaken the Recognition of Learning module (as seen from my previous blogs) and since then I have become alot more open to trying different forms of reflection.

 

List

 

 

This is the way of reflecting that I preferred out of every form of reflection I tried and I think this is because I like to see things in a very structured format in my head. I like to take things step by step and by making a bullet pointed list, I could as a result expand on those clear and concise points and picture every step in my head. I normally like to write in bullet point form, mainly because you can really get down exactly what you truly want to say. To note things down, rather than dwell on them too much. I really like to be specific.

 

 

 Evaluation

 

  This way of writing is the standard way of reflection and one of my favourite ways to write, because it's free flowing and gets every single thought down on paper. I not only get to list everything that's happened, but I also get to really reflecting on every aspect. To me this is the next stage up from lists and bullet points, expanding your thoughts and making sense of them much more. This is more about adding the detail. I find that this particular way of writing tends to really flow and is much more conversational. To me, you can hear my voice when reading it, as it is a stream of the subconcious.

 

 Diagram

 

 

 

This was a useful method in terms of noting down the structure of the day, however I really didn't feel that this method was of much help to me. In my opinion this is the perfect way to map out structure BEFORE, but I'm not sure it always works for reflecting AFTER. I didn't feel that I could elaborate on my thoughts despite mapping out exactly what happened. For me, I need more substance and detail so that I truly understand exactly what I felt and when. I think that if I undertook this exercise again, I would be more inclined to draw arrows off of those initial events to show the thought expansion and make my reflection more detailed overall.

 

 

 Another View

 

 

 

This way of reflecting was the way that made me think that most, because through someone else's eyes I was able to assess how they truly felt about the experience. I decided to use this method for reflecting on the Drama Workshop, because I really wanted to see into the mind of someone who would find performing and integrating into a group quite difficult and therefore fugure out what worked so that I could keep tailoring my teaching to people of all abilities. I noticed that this particular girl was finding things quite overwhelming, but I wanted to try to see things from her perspective, because I saw that there was a big success for her from the lesson I taught. When i first met her, it was in a classroom and she was unable to control her emotions and her body. However, after taking part in my workshop, she was calm, smiling, happy and interacting with people in a peaceful way. It was like a therapy for her. Being a teacher means seeing things from a child's perspective and trying to understand them and their needs and by doing this exercise i was truly able to empathise. I orignally found this way of relfecting a little bizarre, but i've now realised that it's the perfect way for a trained actor to reflect...because my expertise is trying to understand how other people feel and think! Therefore, this was incredibly useful and is a method that truly surprised me.

Module 1 - Task 2A: Reflective Journal

I have really enjoyed the process of writing down my thoughts and feelings on my professional work and this task couldn't have come at a better time. This is because at the same time as starting module one, I am also starting a new permanent position as a Higher Level Teaching Assistant within a Primary School and have been writing a journal on my experiences since starting at the school. This will be so, so helpful to keep a record of, as I plan to become a teacher and can use this to truly look back on my development and see how I use my skills in professional Acting to progress and grow.

In my journal, I am not only writing down the ways in which my skills are helping me each day, but I am also acknowledging the Art of Teaching itself. Since starting at the school I have found things incredibly challenging, because there are many children at this school with various complicated backgrounds. There are children who behave aggressively or have little interest in education and I can't help but feel that it is my duty and inner gut instinct to turn this school round for the positive and believe wholeheartedly that I can use my skills as a performer in order to do this. This is why it is so important to keep track of every improvement I make and every challenge I face and most importantly...

LEARN from it.

“The teacher must be an actor, an artist, passionately in love with his work.”
― Anton Chekhov

Module 1 - Task 1D: 2D Images

Today we live in a society that focuses so much on 'image.' We are surrounded by adverts, TV programmes and mobile phones, all of which are visual means of communication and all of which are continuously expanding and developing. I can't get over how much people are engaged with teachnology and the other day when I was on the train I sat and thought, 'every single person in this carriage is on a phone or a laptop.' The truth is, we CARE about the technological world, because we CARE what the world thinks of us and we understand the power that it holds - you can truly reach ANYONE you wish. You can potentially influence someone's thoughts. It's that simple.

 

How does this benefit Professional Practice?

 

 Over the years I've noticed just how much digital technology can benefit Professional Practice. The saying 'an image can speak a thousand words' is so incredibly true. It's also a way of creating a desired impression to an audience, whatever that may be, which gives you the control over the image that you want to send out to people. The headshot on my Actor CV played a massive role in my 'castability', determining what jobs I would get and allowed me to show myself in the best possible light.

 

The Instagram Experiment

 

 

Here on instagram you can see that I started off with no followers at all. I simply uploaded pictures of my acting work and experiences in order to attempt to reach people through the medium of image. I noticed that by using the # sign, I could target a particular audience specifically. For example, when uploading the ensemble picture from my stadium arts performance with the National Youth Theatre, I added #nationalyouththeatre which therefore meant that anyone who was interested in the National Youth Theatre would see this picture.

I received 5 likes from this as a result!

 

 

Recently I have uploaded one more picture and interestly have gained (despite it being very small...) 1 follower!!

 

 

What this shows me is that it's good to be selective about the images you send out to other people. It makes me ask the question, 'why did they like this particular picture and why have they started to follow me? Why did that picture alone spark some interest?'

This shows the power that one image can have.

 

19th Century Perfomance of Trelawny of the Wells

Waiting in the dressing room ready to perform

Photograph taken by Veroniki Kyriakopoulou

 

This also proves that people love to follow a journey and to engage with someone's story and it is up to us as professionals to show use the highlights to our own advantage, because this truly shows our personal and professional progression.

 

My actor journey can be viewed at: www.instagram.com/emmafitchett

Module 1 - Task 1C: Audio Visual

Starting out on BAPP Arts

Here is a video of myself discussing why I decided to take this course. I want to take this opportunity to gain the degree qualification but also see how my acting knowledge could enhance children's learning and my ability to engage them within lessons. I really liked this audio visual process because it allowed my to really reflect and to be completely honest about where I was, where I'm now at and of course, where I want to go.

 

This is incredibly useful and vital in order to learn and develop and I very much hope I can look into undertaking more audio visual tasks so that I can talk much more freely and spontaneously about the learning process.

 

Module 1 - Task 1B: Professional Communication Technologies

As part of the course we've started looking at the different types of web and how they can impact our networking and professionals opportunities. According to Google search engine, Web 1.0 and 2.0 is:

 

 

Web 1.0
 

"Web 1.0 refers to the first stage in the World Wide Web, which was entirely made up of Web pages connected by hyperlinks. Although the exact definition of Web 1.0 is a source of debate, it is generally believed to refer to the Web when it was a set of static websites that were not yet providing interactive content."

 

 

Web 2.0

"The second stage of development of the Internet, characterized especially by the change from static web pages to dynamic or user-generated content and the growth of social media."

 

We had an online chat about the world wide web and discuss how it affected us as professionals, asking questions like, 'has the web enhanced your career?', 'what social networking sites do you use for self promotion and which ones do you use for just friends and family?'

 

Nowadays I have Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Linked in and even Whatsapp which Paula said was a very new form of technology.

 

What does Web 2.0 enable us to do?

"Web 2.0 enables and facilitates the active participation of each user. Web 2.0 applications and services allow publishing and storing of textual information, by individuals (blogs) and collectively(wikis), of audio recordings (podcasts),

of video material (vidcasts), of pictures, etc."

Xiaohong Tan, (2008), Why web 2.0 is good for learning and for research: principles and prototypes, pg 706.

 

What did we do at the theatre school?
 

Since then, Sam and I have kept contact and I asked if he would a do a favour for the theatre school in helping us promote ourselves. He did this for us and not only did it help us, but it also helped his business, because he could have another example of work to show on his company's website. I was able to write a review on Sam's service on www.motionhut.co.uk.
 

 

Promotional Video
 

Stills from the promotional video showing Kayleigh, Student, myself with Kayleigh and James

What else has been done?

When recapping on the social media used...

 

Facebook

Facebook has been a fantastic social networking tool we've been able to use whilst we work on getting the website up and running. We've been able to upload rehearsal pictures, videos and generally keep our viewers informed of what is happening. Whilst we continue to launch the website, Facebook has enabled parents to contact us with enquities about the school and to find out more information which has been incredibly useful. So many people have Facebook now and had been a great tool to use.

 

 

New Leaflets

I again used colours of the previous leaflet to create of blue, pink and black to match the header and logo. I also used a mixture of black and white and colourful photographs in order to create a variety of colours and contrasts so that it captivated the eye.

Distribution will be to:

• RJ's, the shop who makes and provides the Kayleigh Carina uniform so that they can place in school bags before the school term starts.
• Sheppey Leisure Centre so that people who are local and visit the Leisure Centre can pick one up.

We decided to edit pictures taken of the performance so that they were bright and vibrant and showed how professional looking and polished our performance was. I adjusted the contrast to make the photographs stand out and shows our blocking, choreography and performances at their very best.
 

Web Pages

This is a more detailed way of providing information with class times and costs. We want to fit the promotional video onto the home page so we show ourselves in the best light and so the viewers are drawn into the school as soon as possible. We have an up and running link but want to start creating pages that give information about uniform, classes and prices and include staff biographies.

         www.kayleighcarinaperformingarts.co.uk


 

       Instagram

Creating an Instagram account has been so useful in contacting the outside world by showing them amazing pictures of our shows and rehearsals to keep our followers informed of everything that we are up to. This is also great for the students themselves as many of the older ones access Instagram from their phones and can keep up to date with all of the pictures from their shows and rehearsals.

      The Instagram account is accessible @kayleighcarinaperformingarts.


 

Cover Photos

I also created a cover photo for the Joseph Facebook album so that each album could have the Kayleigh Carina logo and be an advertisement in itself. This means we can keep consistency and continuity after every show, uploading photos of every performance whilst spreading that header and logo.

 

     

Twitter

I took the opportunity to create a Kayleigh Carina account of Twitter, as know from previous experience as an actress that Twitter is the place to spread the word and develop followers, both locally and world wide. The account can be accessed @KCperformarts and had been a great way of uploading pictures and snippets of our promotional video to gain interest. Our first follower was Phil, the radio host from SheppeyFM who interviewed me! 

 

What other forms of media have been used at the theatre school?
 

I previously wrote a blog about the different social medias we used at the school in order to enchance the school's reputation.
 
I discussed with the Paula and the group on Skype, however, that it was interesting at the theatre school that we are still using the 'old school' methods in using leaflets as it's simply in the audience's hands. Paula mentioned that there is still to this day something special about putting something in the hand of someone else and giving them the experience of feeling something as well as seeing something.

Recapping these, a great deal has been done in order to spread the word about the school and I discussed in particular the fact that I managed to bring in help from a connection that I've had and known since junior school! Sam had studied film production and I had studied at drama school and one day I had a message from Sam asking if I would like to come and audition for his final university film project. I auditioned and got the part and just by having Sam on my Facebook I was able to gain an acting job. It was truly that simple. Just by staying connected.

 

 

Are there any other forms of promotion used?

Kayleigh and I put up a display board at the Leisure Centre outside the hall that is worked and rehearsed in and since we have done this we have had more new views and is fantastic because it is so permanent and is viewed by all of the gym members. This is something I mentioned during our Skype conversation and discussed how good it is to have along side the technological forms of advertising, also because not everyone has Facebook or uses technology. For example, some of the students don't have parents, they have older guardians including their nans and grandads who look after them and therefore, this is another way of covering another target audience and attracting all ages to the school. I know that another person on this course, Lucy, also on the day of the Skype had help put a poster up in a local Tescos with her mum to advertise something too, proving that the older forms of advertising still have some importance.  

Kayleigh filmed the first live video during theatre school and despite only having one view at that time, the video was replayed later on so that our Facebook followers were able to see the video of me teaching the children and rehearsing the script I had written for the Christmas show.

How has web 2.0 benefited and impacted me?

"One cannot be an observer only; one is also always a participant in some community and as such engaged at an ethical level."

Feenberg, A & Bakardjieva, M. (2004) Community in the digital age: Philosophy and Practice, pg 4.

On the day we had the skype, that evening I had been added as a friend by the writer and director of a recent BBC drama, so was obviously very easy to find. I personally don't mind directors and actors connecting with me as there can be many great things about networking. This is particularly useful on Linkedin as it is very much an online CV of all of your experiences.

I've learnt that you can reach so many people through a wide range of media, but that each individual set of media can be tailored to and used for different things. My Facebook is usually for friends and family, whereas I often use Twitter and have used the Kayleigh Carina twitter to show the professional achievements and in order to network with other businesses, particularly schools within the Sheerness area.

The Disadvantages of Social Media

Tim O'reilly

We also discussed Tim O'reilly and how he spoke of how as humans it isn't the technology itself that is the problem, but it is in fact the way that we humans use the technology, whether that be in a postive or negative way. We live in a world that is so connected to technology and yet I myself think that sometimes, we are in actual fact going backwards. Gone are the days where people sat and chatted. Nowadays I see many people glued to their phones over dinner because they have to be in the know. This was a very good observation that Paula made. As humans, we HAVE to KNOW.

In Feenberg and Barkadjieva's Virtual Community: No killer implication, it stresses the importance of development with technology.

 "continue to approach these media as first drafts, not finished products, and hence open to revision and redesign on the basis of the results of research."
Feenberg, A & Barkadjieva, M. (2004), Virtual Community: No killer implication, vol 6, no.1, page 41

I have never thought about the internet as being a 'first draft' before, whereby humans should remember that the world wide web itself isn't perfect and that you should understand that it is developing all the time itself. This is why it can also be beneficial to rely on the 'old-fashioned' methods as discussed earlier, by using mediums such as leaflets, because the web itself still isn't perfect.


How do I let social media impact my professional and social life?

Facebook used to be for a social interaction with family and friends, however, since working at the theatre school, a good few parents have added me as friends on Facebook because we have formed a strong bond and now that I'm an editor on the Kayleigh Carina page, I can do a good amount of business dealings, pariicularly with promotional aspects. I now use Twitter to network for  the school occassionally and often put things up and share things about the school on my very own personal Facebook including events and shows that people can come and see.