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