Task 3a-Current Networks

Professional Networking is an extremely important tool for everyone in their professional life. It's not just about who you are connected to online, but also in life. Your friends and family are part of your professional network and who they are connected with are as well. It's very important that in our professional lives we manage our professional network to make sure we maintain good relations. Having spent most of my life at a performing arts school, my friends are in the arts and so are therefore part of professional network. People they know and the information they gather is important to help my professional life and vice versa. 

I'd like to think that my networking involves keeping in contact with as many people as I can that have helped me in my profession. It's great being out on your own, doing things for yourself but it's nice to know that people are there to help you and support you. For example I try to keep in contact with my teachers from college, to let them know how I'm doing and what I'm up to. Also as part of my professional network I have various social media accounts. The ones that I would use for dance jobs are Facebook, Flickr and my blog. My other accounts are mostly for enjoyment purposes. If someone needed to contact me I would give them my email address. I have a separate one for professional use and I check it everyday and make sure I reply as quickly as I can. Because we are in the digital age, people expect things to be done instantaneously and so I try to reply quickly because you don't know how many other things that person might need to organise.  I think using social media accounts can be very beneficial for networking because you can 'become friends' or 'follow' whoever you want to or people you admire. But having social media accounts as part of your networking comes with responsibilities, such as; making sure it remains professional, keeping up to date with your most recent events and making sure it's easy for people to contact you without giving away too much personal information. 

 

Other people are more established in their professional networks because of where they are in their careers and the responsibility they have to maintain their contacts and their image for marketing purposes. For example Lisa Davies, my mentor, has a website that she has to sustain and it's a very important part of her professional network because it's not just advertisement for the public, but it also lets students know when term starts and significant dates in the year. The consequences of forgetting to update the website could lose you potential students and confuse current students. Lisa also has a Facebook page for members only that she keeps updated with relevant information. Anything else that she feels she needs to share, goes via email. Email is one of the quickest ways to get in touch with someone if you don't have their number. Obviously there are people who have a wider variety of social media accounts and keep information updated on all of them. For example, if someone was starting up a company it would be imperative for them to have as much advertisement out there as they could on social media. 

More on the social side of things, people may hold fundraising events, hand out leaflets and posters. This is equally as important if not more important than advertising via social media. If you have the chance to meet with someone face to face, you can make a real connection whereas social media can sometimes make it seem a bit fake. Obviously this sort of advertisement doesn't apply to my profession because I'm not trying to advertise or start up a company. I am still trying to advertise myself to the performing industry though like many others, so that's why it's important to maintain my image on social media.

I could definitely do more in terms of networking via social media because I use it more for entertainment purposes and before my last year at Tring I didn't even think that your social media accounts could be part of your professional network. Many of friends do much more for themselves on social media to advertise themselves and I know I should do more. But until I am certain with where my path will take me I think I will stick to what I can manage for now. When I have more of an idea of my where my profession will take me, I can build my professional network both socially and on the web. I will slowly begin to take steps to building a good professional network, one that I am happy with and will be beneficial for my career. 

Task 2d- Enquiry

I took some time to really think about this task because I think it is one of the more challenging assignments that we have been given and requires in depth thought. I looked through some of my blog posts so that I could decide what I wanted to include. These questions made me think about my professional practice in ways that I hadn't thought before. I don't have a fixed daily routine because I'm not in full time work but what I'm doing at the moment, I love and I feel motivated in my professional practice. I work part time at a restaurant, bar and hotel where I live. I'm also observing and participating in class at the Lisa Davies School of Dance. Lisa lets me watch classes and observe her teaching because I want to teach later in my life, it's something I feel passionate about. Lisa also lets me ask questions about her professional practice and any questions I might have about University when I need a professionals opinion. When I'm not doing that I like to find a quiet place to do my University work. I'm still very passionate about dance so I try to go to as many classes as I can fit in and still audition.

What in your daily practice gets you really enthusiastic to find out more about? Who do you admire who also works with what makes you enthusiastic? 

Observing Lisa's teaching skills and getting advice from a professional makes me enthusiastic to learn more. I feel like every time I go to her classes I learn something new and it gets me excited about teaching. It's definitely something that I want to do in the future and being able to acquire knowledge from someone who started up their own school makes me want to find out as much as I can. Her classes drive me to do better in my professional practice. I also love the uncertainty of my professional practice, I love that I don't where I will be in year. Where will my professional practice take me? It can take you to new places that you didn't know were possible. 

There are a lot of people who I admire that make me passionate about what I do. When I was at college, my teachers were always so positive and energetic, they would make me want to strive to do better. When you have that positive vibe in the room it brings everyone's energy up to the next level and brings some healthy competition to the class. Now that I have left college, I feel that if I had to pinpoint one person that drives me it would have to be Lisa. She always goes into the class with a positive attitude and that puts everyone in a good mood. She has the perfect balance between making students love her but still having the professionalism of a teacher. Outside of dance I would have to say that my friends and family motivate me. My mum and dad are very passionate people and they have always pushed me to do my best. They make me enthusiastic to do my work, whatever is may be, because I've seen how well they've done in their lives and I want to make them proud. I love knowing what my friends are up to and how well they're doing. Their success for their professional practice gets me excited and motivated.

What gets you angry or makes you sad? Who do you admire who shares your feelings or has found away to work around the sadness or anger? 

There aren't that many things that get me sad or angry because I try to surround myself with people who won't try to provoke those emotions and try to avoid situations that may cause me to get angry. Obviously no one is perfect and we all have moments where we would like to shout and get angry and sometimes it makes you feel much better after you've done it. I get sad if I feel that I'm behind on work or I'm not as organised as I'd like to be. When that happens, I like to make a list of things I need to get done and a time frame in which I need to get these things done. I feel much calmer when I have a list of things I need to do and there's a lot of satisfaction when I tick things of a list that I have completed. Working in customer service means that my patience is tested throughout the day but I like to kill people with kindness. I find that if a customer is being snappy and rude, then the best way to calm them down is to be overly polite. I try my best to fulfil all their needs and when I do, they more often than not become much more pleasant and will hopefully leave a big tip. 

I'm lucky that I have a lot of people in my life who know exactly how to calm me down if I ever need it. I feel that in life you are drawn to people who have a similar mindset to you, so they usually understand what you are going through. They either have gone through a similar situation themselves or they have some good advice about how you should move on to a better place.  

What do you love about what you do? Who do you admire who also seems to love this or is an example of what you love?

There are many things that I love about what I do, depending on what I'm doing at that time. When I'm working at the restaurant, I love that I can work with positive people who I enjoy working with. I get to meet new people everyday and build connections with people that I wouldn't have otherwise. I love being able to keep busy. I'm the type of person that doesn't like sitting around doing nothing because I get bored. I like keeping my mind busy and keeping myself occupied, which I can do with this job because there is always something to do. 

With my University work, I love learning new things everyday. I don't just learn things about my professional practice and expanding my knowledge, but I'm learning things about myself, especially with the journal writing. I love being able to see other people's blogs and being able to read so many different opinions and different ways of approaching a subject. One task can have so many different responses and it's fascinating for me to read other peoples' thought process and how it differs from mine and how their responses can spark ideas for me which I wouldn't have normally had. 

When I go to Lisa's classes, it's a great time for me just to observe. There aren't many times in a day where you can just sit and observe what is going on around you. I love being able to take in my surroundings and soak up all the knowledge being passed on to me. For me, it's my way of learning. I like being able to watch how others do things and then I can think of the best way for me to approach it. I love doing something I'm passionate about and being surrounded by people who are passionate too. 

What do you feel you don’t understand? Who do you admire who does seem to understand it or who has found a way of making not understanding it interesting or beautiful, or has asked the same questions as you? 

I don't understand people who have so much potential and just throw it away or decide not to use it. I've been lucky enough to go to a school and college doing what I love but I've seen so many people given the same opportunities and just throw it away. There are so many people that would love to be in their position but they haven't had the same opportunities, and I think it's quite selfish. I also don't understand when people think that it's their right to learn along side other talented people, and be taught by professionals when really it's a privilege. We should all feel privileged that we can be with people that share the same passion as us and be taught by people that are excited doing their jobs. Other people aren't so lucky and we should try to remember that, to keep ourselves humble.

I admire my family and they have always stressed the importance of being humble and so they understand when I get frustrated about people who just can't see how fortunate they are. They also understand that there isn't a solution for it. It is near impossible to tell people that they are lucky to be in the position they are, when they truly believe it is their right. It is sad but it's not something I like to stress over because it can make you feel unhappy if you think about it for long periods of time.

How do you decide the appropriate ethical response in a given situation? To what extent are disciplinary responses different to that you might expect more generally in society? For example, what level of physical contact would you deem appropriate (and not) from another professional that you would find unacceptable more generally? Why? 

What I have learnt from Lisa, is that the response given depends on the child and their age. Lisa teaches four year olds all the way up to adults, so she knows how to change her response depending on the situation. What I've learnt with the younger ones is that you have to be very enthusiastic. If you are excited about what you are doing, then they are excited to learn. Getting to the older ages, it's easier to handle to situation because you can treat them like adults but still letting it be a fun learning environment. It's back to what I was saying earlier, about Lisa having the right balance between having an exciting lesson but at the same time keeping the student teacher relationship.

Lisa also talks about the importance of getting to know the students because people learn in different ways. Some students need a lot of positive encouragement and that will motivate them to do better, whilst other students need a firmer approach. Knowing how to approach the students is the key to being a good teacher. Obviously in Dance, it is very normal to see physical contact between the teacher and the student. It's the best way that you can understand what the teacher is asking you to do. Sometimes it is difficult for a teacher to explain verbally what they want you to achieve, so it is more beneficial for them to place you in that position so you can feel the correct way to do it. When I was at college, the teachers would have a chat at the beginning of a new school year explaining that they would be hands on but if anyone was uncomfortable with it, they could have a chat either after class or in private somewhere. I think this is really important because the teacher is explaining that the best way they can show you the correct way is being hands on, but if you uncomfortable with it then you have the option. This shows that the teacher knows the importance of your training and wants you to feel at ease in the environment that you are working in.

Why is it that we find physical contact appropriate in the arts but not anywhere else? The simple answer to that is I don’t know. We can all agree that when we are in a dance class, seeing physical contact is normal but if we saw that in a maths lesson, there would be a completely different response. Why is there a difference? I think just because within the dance world it’s just the norm and people are comfortable with having physical contact because it will help them feel where they need to be. I think its the same with the sporting world. Physical contact between a coach a student would be completely normal as well. It’s probably because it’s needed for those areas of work but for example in an English lesson, there wouldn’t be any need for physical contact. 

After answering all the questions, I was wondering what my line of enquiry could be. What was important to me was which question I felt most at ease answering and I felt I could write more about, whilst also challenging myself to new questions. I found that I've talked about the student teacher relationship quite a few times, so I'd like to explore that area more.

• How important is the student teacher relationship?
• Should teachers try to form a bond with their students, or keep it strictly professional?
• How do you get respect from students without them fearing you?
• Is a little bit of fear from the students keep a more disciplined environment?
• How do you decide the punishment for students?
• Should students be sent out if they are disrupting the lesson, even though they are paying for it?
• How can you keep the class entertaining but still being able to keep a professional environment?

I decided that next time I went to class that I would ask Lisa these questions and see how she feels about it. 

Task 2b- Journal writing

After David Boud's chapter on 'Using journal writing to enhance reflective practice' I've been actively thinking about reflection in my day to day life, especially reflection in anticipation of events. It's fascinating how many ways we can think of approaching an event before it happens. I now think on a day to day basis how I'm going to approach an event before it happens so I can anticipate the possible outcomes and how they might effect me. What could happen? How would I react if this happened? This has really changed how I approach everything in life now and I had know idea how many stages of reflection there are and how they can further your knowledge.

As I said before, I am trying to have a consistent method in my journal writing but I am finding that harder that I anticipated. If I try to write down my day, how I felt about it and then anything that surprised me, I get writers block. I tried doing some diagrams but they are really not for me. I think I can get my words out more easily when there isn't a structure to it, like a stream of consciousness. If I think too hard about it, then I feel like I completely forget what has happened during my day. When I write exactly what I'm thinking then it brings me to thoughts that I had earlier in the day and then I can remember what I was doing at that exact time and how I felt about it. 

I then got to thinking that if I carried on that way, then my journal would be a bit of a mess and I wouldn't be able to get anything good out of it because there wasn't any structure. I thought how could I put structure into my writing without getting writers block. I decided on concluding each day. That way I can write in a way that I feel comfortable and get all my thoughts down and then I would end each entry with a conclusion. How did that day make me feel? Did I learn anything new? Did anything surprise me? 

On the 10th November I wrote,

    Random thought, I'm reading through some University materials and I have found a quote that I really love, regarding why we write journals. 'To increase active involvement in learning and personal ownership in learning' (Jennifer Moon 1999a pp188-194). It's so true, by writing a journal you are taking matters into your own hands. You're taking accountability for your own learning.

I think this is a perfect example of something that surprised me that day. I wasn't expecting to come across a quote that I loved so much, so I just had to write it down. It's just a perfect quote to describe how I feel about journal writing and I look forward to writing in it more. 

References

Moon,]. Reflection in Learning and Professional Development. London: Kogan Page, 1999a. 
Moon,]. LearningJournals: A Handbook for Academics, Students and Professional Development. London: Kogan Page, I999b.

Task 1c- Audio visual

It has taken me a while to complete this task because I wanted to get more experience on the course before I made a video about it. I also wasn't keen on uploading a video of myself talking to a camera, so I've done more of a slideshow video and uploaded it to Youtube. I've put it on a private setting, so I'm not sure who will be able to watch it. The link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf-YS1lu24U&feature=youtu.be

If we get a task like this again, maybe an update about how we are feeling about the course, I feel like I could probably film myself talking but for now I don't feel comfortable doing that.

Enjoy!

Task 2a and 2c - Reflection and Journal writing

I've combined task 2a and task 2c together because I felt that I needed to read Reader 2 before I could make sense of reflection and how I would go about my journal writing.When I was younger, I was the type of person that wanted to write a journal but I would always forget or never had time to do it. I would get all the right gear, coloured pencils, sharpeners, erasers but I would write one page and then forget. So thankfully I had lots of empty journals to choose from for this task. I really enjoy writing but I find it hard to write about myself, how I feel about situations and how I can learn from them, so I think this task will be a challenge for me but I'm looking forward to it. At the moment there are only a few entries but I try to write them in the same format so that there's some consistency and then it's easier to find reflection points. I write about my day, any events that were unusual and how I felt about them. I write about anything that I learnt about in that day, whether it's about myself or the world. I try to conclude with how I felt about the day altogether.

I think it will be very interesting to go back in a month, or two and see how I felt and the beginning of the course and what has changed since then.

Reader 2

Reflection- Experience, observation of fact(s), or event(s), practice in doing something. (Oxford English Dictionary)

What tools do we need to turn experience into learning? We all know the importance of learning new things because we realise that we can't make the same mistakes over and over and expect something to change, without consciously learning how to not make that mistake. How do we learn how to not repeat mistakes? It's being able to find your learning style. Personally, I learn new things by watching other people, observing how they do things differently to me, reflective observation. Other learning styles are shown by David Kolb's learning cycle.

Kolb writes that once you know your learning style you can take part in new experiences and become more knowledgable. If you are not sure of your own learning style there are a number of questionnaires online which you can complete, I took a look at one from www.educationplanner.org which asks 20 questions to establish the persons learning style and then gives some advice about what will help you learn in a more efficient way.

Howard Gardener, who is an American developmental psychologist, challenges Kolb because he believes that we shouldn't pigeon hole ourselves into one learning style as we could then limit our experiences and our learning. Gardener expands on the learning cycle and thinks we can be intelligent in multiple ways, which encourages us to look at our experiences from different perspectives. I liked how John Dewey, another American Philosopher and pyschologist, writes about the importance of engaging with the experience and how we need to be conscious that we are having an experience and that's how we can expand our knowledge. I believe that the learning cycle is helpful if you aren't sure which type of learner you are but once you realise, you can expand your learning techniques and the quality of your learning experiences will improve, which is what I gathered from Gardener's point of view.

As a dancer I engaged with Robert Kottcamp's theory of reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action. Reflection-in-action is being able to make a decision whilst you're in the middle of the situation and reflection-on-action is looking back on a situation and seeing how you can change it for the next time you do it. I definitely think that reflection-in-action is a crucial ability that dancers need to have. It's not essential if something is going wrong in class because you have time at the sides to practice or after class to think about how you can make it right. But when you're on stage and something is going wrong you need to be able to think about how you're going to change it in that moment. This links to Miranda Tufnell and Chris Crickmay's extract on muscle memory, either it can benefit us or it can make us 'lose connection with what is around us'. If you're in a situation where you're struggling on stage, muscle memory can help hugely because your body has done these steps so many times you almost go into autopilot. On the other hand, when you're so used to doing something repeatedly the same way, it's so much harder to make your body do it differently. It also limits your experiences because you don't need to think about what you're doing, you can forget your surroundings and miss out on things because you're on autopilot. As a dancer I feel that reflection-in-action is much harder because you don't have time to properly and logically think out what you're doing. Reflection-on-action gives you time to put yourself back into the situation and see how you could have done things differently and try new things.

David Boud

After reading through Reader 2, I read David Boud's chapter on 'Using Journal writing to enhance reflective practice' and I found it very interesting. Before I read anything on reflection I thought it more as something we do subconsciously. I don't usually consciously reflect on events that have occurred throughout the day, unless something unusual has happened that's not in my daily routine.

Boud writes about how people have different reasons for writing a journal. My reason is so that I can look back in a couple of years and know exactly what was going on in my life in that moment and how I felt about it. In this chapter Boud is concentrating on using a journal as 'a vehicle for learning'. When I think of reflection, it's looking back onto events and seeing how they could have been different and then learning from them. Which is why I was surprised that Boud writes about three types of reflection; reflection in anticipation of events, reflection in the midst of action and reflection after events.

Reflection in anticipation of events- Things to consider

• How can we prepare for future events?
• What do you bring to the event that is about to take place?
• What are your expectations of the event and the possible outcomes?
• Other people are planning what the event will entail, does that coincide with your thoughts?
• Think about other situations that are maybe similar to this, what did you learn from them?
• How set are you on what will happen during this event? Does this blind you the other possibilities?

The last bullet point is the one that really interests me. Sometimes we get so used to doing the same things over and over that we are completely unaware that there are so many other ways to approach it that could benefit us hugely. We also forget that when we enter a situation that involves other people, they've also thought about how they want it to pan out. You need to consider all possibilities before you enter the event. For example when a choreographer goes into the studio he might have an idea of what he wants to do and how he wants it executed. He then sees one of his dancers move their body in a way that makes him completely change his idea. Now he has to change what he had in mind for the day, but the outcome might be much greater than he originally planned. If you've been in a similar situation or an event you can draw from, use your knowledge to help you with future events. We can't predict the future but you can help decide by planning your involvement. Also I was interested in the what ifs. When we imagine what the event will be like, we can also think of imaginary obstacles we might face. What if this doesn't happen or what if someone disagrees with what I say. These things may never happen but you would be prepared if they did? 

Reflection in the midst of action (whilst the event is happening)

• Noticing- realising what is going on around us and being able to adapt to the situation.

• Intervening- having the power to change what is going on around you, if you feel the need to.

When we picture an event, we plan it out how we want it to but when it doesn't happen that way we need a plan B. What happens if you haven't thought of a plan B? You need to rethink whilst you're involved in the event, reflection in the midst of action. This is probably the hardest of the three reflections because it involves quick thinking and you are faced with obstacles that you may not be able to deal with in the heat of the moment. If you can't think what to do in that exact moment, collect all the information that might allow you to change the situation later. 

Reflection after events

• Return to the experience
• Attending to feelings
• Re-evaluation of experience

Boud emphasises that this is not just a process of thinking but 'involves feeling, emotions and real decision making'. It may be the most important part of reflection because the event has taken place and you can now reflect on everything that happened, collect all the information and see what you can get out of the experience and what you have learnt. Boud writes that the importance of returning to the experience is sometimes overlooked. If we forget to fully put ourselves back into the situation then we can make snap judgements and 'the possibility for future learning can be shut out forever'. This is where our journals can be the most helpful to us, because we can write the situation out step by step with a new frame of mind and maybe see things that we hadn't noticed before. Being able to attach feelings to the situation develops our learning. Boud highlights that negative feelings towards the situation should be shut out because it may cloud our judgement. When we reevaluate our experience, we need to make sure we can differentiate between old knowledge and new. Although we cannot change the experience we can make sure that we have learned something new for the future. I feel that it is important to reflect by yourself. You might be put into a situation where other peoples reflection can distract from your own and may block personal reflections that could have led to a learning point. On the other hand, other peoples' reflections may spark an idea in your head that you wouldn't have had on your own. But it's whatever you feel comfortable with. Some people feel like they can be totally themselves whilst writing in their journal and feel comfortable showing anyone. While others may be more restricted in their writing, they may find it hard to write down their true feelings and definitely wouldn't want anyone to see it. But the most important thing is that you feel like your journal is helping you. You should be able to feel that you are learning from experiences and growing as a person. 

Boud concludes 'Journal writing is a multifaceted activity...It can be used in many ways to promote reflection'. I would say so far that I have found the journal writing very interesting and I am learning new things about myself even though there are only a couple of entries. He then goes on to say 'The conditions under which journal writing takes place has a powerful influence on what is produced'. What I got from this is that you have to consider what surrounds you and how you feel before you write. Are you stressed? Have you got a limited amount of time to write this entry? Are you being honest? All these things you have to take in account because they may have an effect on what you learn from your experience. For example, if I was in a bad mood what I write in my journal is more likely to be conditioned by my mood. If I wait a couple of hours to calm down and really reflect on the situation, it'll be a more honest representation of what happened and I'm more likely to get a positive learning experience from it. I particularly loved one of the quotes near the beginning taken from Jennifer Moon in her discussions about using journals in learning through reflection, 'To increase active involvement in learning and personal ownership in learning'. (Jennifer Moon, 1999a, pp 188-194) I wrote it down in my journal because it couldn't be more true. By writing down your thoughts and emotions you are taking it into your own hands to learn about yourself.

I look forward to writing lots in my journal and learning new things about myself.