I consider myself quite a reflective soul by nature. However until looking into the process of reflection in more detail via this reader I wasn't aware how much I reflect or the different ways in which I go about it and furthermore how this then shapes my learning.
By looking at what others have said about reflection I have been made aware of techniques and tools I do use and learnt the significance of others that I don't.
So I've had to ask myself, how do I reflect on events? I thought about times I'd find myself going over conversations or replaying scenarios in my head, generally when I'm relaxed,at night, in the bath or on the bus. I later came to understand this is called reflection on action. Which I was surprised to discover is seen as academic approach to reflection. Schon defines this response 'taking the time out to go away, conceptualise and look back'.Artists tend to lean more towards reflection in action basically responding to something as it happens in the moment. I do this all the time and hadn't even considered this as a type of reflection but just the way I work. I always thought the definition of reflection was to look back on something, so was pleased to see techniques I use in my practice regonised as tools.
Robert Kottcamp refers to these states as offline and online. When offline (in the bath etc) you are able to give your full attention to analysis without needing immediate action. He sees online as being harder to achieve as you are present in the moment but still have to have the awareness of a spectator to analyse your action and intervene immediately. Almost like two streams of thought,internal and external. This is very significant to the work of an actor. When building a character for example one of the most important tasks is to create an internal and external world in order to portray a fully rounded individual.
Kottcamp being an academic, is maybe his reasoning behind seeing online as being more difficult to achieve. When I reflect now on the way I work as an actress and teacher being online is just part of whom I am, I couldn't do my job successfully if I wasn't able to adapt to situations naturally. I see value in both methods for professional development and I'm not sure one can exist without the other. I may spend all day rehearsing a scene, and each time I perform that scene it will be different because I'm listening and reacting to the other actors in the moment. That doesn't mean to say I wont, later that night be thinking about the scene again, what worked, what didn't, what I want to try tomorrow.
Dewey discusses "different levels of experience" and suggests the education process is "continual reorganisation, reconstruction and transformation of experience"
I think the quote is valid in the respect we all come to a situation with varied levels of experience. However no individual has all the answers and we all continuously develop. Our experience levels maybe be different but it's experience none the less and as long as we are aware that the learning never stops I think it doesn't matter what level your on as long as your hungry for more. I often have thought I learnt something through experience but what I think that actually means is from making mistakes. So maybe our education system should be seen as establishment that we feel able to make mistakes with the safety of professionals around us who will guide us in the right direction. I no personally drama school was an environment and I was encouraged to make mistakes and take risks. School maybe not so much, but I don't understand why it can't be. If they weren't so concerned with money and league tables and focused that energy into challenging young minds and encouraging them to ask the right questions rather than 'this is black this is white' we may all get more from the experience. Dewey goes on to say 'full experience and full engagement with our lives leads to a better society' - 'reflective thought describes an awareness of an experience'. Awareness is surely always a good thing and I agree that awareness of the world we live in will lead to positive choices in the way we live our lifes.
Lewin took this idea further, with his interest in social change and experiential learning and divided an experience into spiral steps.
These mentioned practitioners then informed frame work of Kolbs cycle of learning. I found the idea of a cycle is extremely significant in a process of learning, its a continual journey. Another interesting suggestion is that we all have the capabilities to use any element of the cycle but what makes us individuals is the point we enter. It's this that reflects our learning style.
At what point of the cycle do I enter? I was instantly drawn to concrete and active. Although I found it very hard to differentiate between the two as surely whilst doing something your are trying things out? As I went around I found I related to them all and am aware I use each phase depending on my given circumstance. When approaching a difficult problem, say something mathematical (finances) I will take my time to calculate. With my blog, trial and error came first, I just had a go (active) but I could only do this because of my knowledge of Facebook and other social media (concrete) and only knew vaguely what I was expected to produce by looking at others work (reflective) once it was of a certain standard and I wanted to improve what I had done I began reading up on forums etc (abstract).
Similar to an extract in reader 2 I have always welcomed the label kinesthetic learner as it makes me feel better about my academic abilities. I find it easier to 'do' rather than to 'think', but I'm unsure if that's because I can't or I won't. I'm not unintelligent and I no if I really focus I am capable of producing good quality work, however it's difficult for me to keep that focus. I'm really easily distracted and struggle with spelling and making sense of things on paper. But I do have other qualities that might lend themselves to a more logical person, I'm very organised for example, I like to make lists and manage situations practically. When returning from traveling I considered interning as an agent as I felt maybe my knowledge and interest of the industry out weighed my talent and desire to be so involved in it. However after learning more about the role I decided that I'd find it to difficult to put others forward for work having not have fully let go of the desire to perform myself. I also thoroughly,enjoy directing students which is a bit more hands on and lead me down the teaching route. I've realised that I do crave structure, and whilst at drama school this is present, when your sent out into the world alone it's common to feel lost.I love performing, but I'm not sure I can just flit in and out of it anymore, I'm abit all or nothing and I really find it difficult to juggle both work for money and keeping an enthuiasium for performing alive.
Howard Gardeners work on intelligences broke the cycle down into even more detail for me. I was aware of links between the cycle and your learning style. I no from my work in schools one of the first things teachers do when students begin yr7 is find out if your a visual, audio or kinesthetic learner.I liked the idea of the intelligences and feel like this made me question my own style once again. I was very much draw to the interpersonal and intrapersonal descriptions, but can you be both? I can't differentiate at the moment, but I shall certainly revisit it later in the course.
I was really interested in Moons idea of the articulation of reflective practice. How can something have understanding and meaning if we cannot make it accessible to others? Artist don't have to use words to recall but often muscle memory lends itself to demonstration. I struggled with this whilst working on my ROL module as I couldn't verbalise feelings that I referred to as 'instinctual', and actually quite often as an artist if you are required to go against your instincts in practice and make conscious effort to describe it can hinder you and force you to second guess your choices. I understand its important to communicate for professional practice. During my training I would relie on other senses or forms of notation to explain my practice or to aid me in creation of character and emotion.Drawings, music, pictures and clothing are an example of some useful tools.
Whilst reading Bouds chapter on journals I was very interested in the idea that a journal can be used To reflect in anticipation of, I also wasn't aware that I do this all the time maybe I hadn't labeled it as reflection because as I mentioned before I always assumed reflection was looking back on, but I see now preparing ourselves for what's to come is something in grained in us as humans and manifesters itself into the way we approach situations. It allows us to review our intentions and outcomes, how strongly we hold our intents. It is important though to allow a certain amount of flexibility in our thoughts or will they blind us from exploring other possibilities. What do I want to bring to a situation? And be mindful of what may distract us from desired outcomes or intentions. For example this course, this task even, this module. The what if element of task B now makes complete sense to me from this perspective!
Attending to feeling also struck a core with me and I now no I need to address this with regards to things I been negative about at work and during this course and change my mind set as negativity can hinder progression and/or distort perceptions. I was inspired by the notion that through sharing our thoughts and ideas (like we are in the blogs) we can change perspectives, challenge old patterns and re-evaluate our own believes.
Important themes that came up with all the practitioners is our desire and ability as humans to understand and be understood. I will be certainly looking further into techniques of reflection and enjoy having the awareness of what I'm doing and how I'm doing it. I will also make more of an effort to work and make time for my journal as it is a fantastic way of monitoring developments.
“Life is a journey, not a destination.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
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