Task 3A - Current Networks

Networking is crucial within the performing industry. Never is the old saying ‘it’s not what you know but who you know’ more applicable. In my third year at college we had several classes about the importance of self-promotion and networking. The industry is extremely difficult to break into but sometimes all you need is for someone to help you to get your foot in the door.

According to dictionary.com, networking means, a supportive system of sharing information and services among individuals and groups having a common interest.  Networking, therefore, is talking to other professionals and sharing information, regarding upcoming auditions, castings or classes.

With the introduction of Web 2.0, social media and email, networking has never been easier or more accessible. One site that I subscribed to was ‘Casting Weekly.’ They emailed a list of auditions on a weekly basis – most of them open calls; this ensured that you were always ‘in the loop’. A few years ago, it used to be almost impossible to hear about auditions without the assistance of an agent but nowadays you can self-promote and land big roles without that aid.

Something I noticed in my time at theatre school and in the industry is that people are quite reluctant to share any information with you, whether that’s a new song, sheet music, acting tips, auditions, even contacts they already have. It is a cut throat industry and no one wants to help the competition. That is something, unfortunately, that I have just had to accept.

Networking was always a huge tool within the performing industry but recently I have noticed it has been creeping into other professions, such as teaching, sites such as TES. This site has resources, jobs, news which are all accessible to download and help you see what others have come up with for that particular lesson. A lot of the course we are currently studying involves networking as the blogs that we write are available for other students to read and benefit from.

Task 2D - Inquiry

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?

I have danced and acted since I was tiny, so being able to go to college and train was a dream come true! During my time at college, I covered a few classes at my previous dance school and fell in love with teaching. I thoroughly enjoy working with children, inspiring them to pursue their dreams and unlock any talents that they may possess. The joy on their faces when they nail a routine for the first time is so rewarding and I don’t believe that you can experience that feeling of satisfaction with other jobs.  I work in both an academic school and a dance school, which allows me to work with children with a wide variety of skills and monitor the progress they make. It also gives me the chance to inspire them and show them that you can be talented or intelligent in other ways.

I admire my old dance teacher, the way she choreographs, the visions she comes up with.

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

What makes me both angry and sad is that dance or the arts in general can be considered “second rate” subjects and not taken seriously. I studied Drama, Photography and Maths for A-level and people are always shocked when I tell them. I feel there is too much emphasis placed on subjects such as maths and science and they are always referred to as “academic”. The arts are usually considered ‘doss’ subjects because “all you do is dance around or play games”. In reality the physical demands that you have to put your body through to achieve ‘good technique’ or get into character can be extraordinary. Anne Hathaway virtually starved for 13 days and lost 25lbs before filming her role in Les Miserables. I have discussed this point of view with a lot of other professionals within the industry. They all feel the same way and have overcome this by suggesting they come to a dance class with them to show how physically demanding it is.

I read an article the other night stating “are pupils ‘held back’ by overemphasis on arts”. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/11221081/Nicky-Morgan-pupils-held-back-by-overemphasis-on-arts.html

I believe that if we took away the arts then the world would be a very boring place, no musicals, dance shows, TV presenters, actors, artists or musicians. There would be nowhere, in fact, for the supposed academics to unwind or enjoy some culture.  Children that aren’t academically minded would have no way of expressing themselves and hidden talents could remain unearthed.

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?

I love performing. There is no feeling in the world that compares to being on a stage. I love that performing makes people happy and can provide an escape from their everyday life and worries. I also adore teaching, I love making a difference in children’s lives, providing them with the tools to decide upon a career. I am a member of an amateur dramatic society where many participants are also teachers. We were discussing how important it is to bring the arts world into schools as children learn in such different ways. I admire that they are still doing something they love and incorporating that into their chosen careers and in turn benefiting the children’s learning.

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

What I find difficult to understand is how teachers cope with their emotions and how they deal with the frustration of a student not achieving their full potential. I enjoy watching programmes such as Educating Essex, Cardiff, East End. The teachers in those shows never give up and are constantly trying new techniques to try to motivate them and help them reach their potential. I am always trying to find new ways to inspire the children. The most important point is to always be as enthusiastic as possible as this is likely to transmit itself to the children. Having worked in both a dance school and a primary school, I feel that children are put under a tremendous amount of pressure to succeed both in the arts and academically. Parents can sometimes expect too much from their children, spreading them too thinly and preventing them from concentrating on one area and excelling at that. I also feel that the government, schools and parents can get too focused on exam results and league tables at far too young an age rather than allowing them to develop a love for learning.

This all led me to think about the question – How much should teachers be influenced by what parents say?

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?

Discipline is something I have had to work on throughout my teaching career. When teaching dancing or drama, you want to have control of the class but still want it to be fun and not feel like school. You want the children to enjoy the class and be keen to return week after week. At school, however, it is much more structured and we have clear rules and boundaries.

Having a relationship with your colleagues and the parents is also extremely important as it means if an uncomfortable situation arises it can be dealt with quickly and efficiently.

The rules surrounding working with children are very clear and specific and you need vigorous checks. Different situations will require different courses of action. When babysitting or with your family members then it is slightly more relaxed as you know them on a personal level but when teaching, you must adhere to all the schools rules and regulations and maintain a professional relationship.  

Task 2C - Reflective Theory

Until reading Reader 2, ‘Reflective Practice’ was a term I was unfamiliar with and I did not appreciate that, sometimes without even knowing it, I had already incorporated into my day to day routine. After further research, I recognised that it is a key component in my profession and serves as a huge learning tool. Now I am consciously aware of this tool and understand it better, I believe I can begin to analyse my thought process and learning technique to use it even more effectively.

Reflection is defined by dictionary.com as, ‘a careful or long consideration or thought.’ It is also defined as day to day activities we engage in that gives us information we can draw and gain experience from. It can be used as a tool that helps us to see where things are missing and enables us to find them. Reflective Practice is basically all about learning from your experiences.

Dewey (1933) was an educationist and philosopher. He emphasised the importance of integrating reflective thinking into your own practice. I work in education so the use of reflective practice is extremely useful! After each activity, I can assess whether it was successful or whether changes need to be made. I teach a dance club within the school so need to reflect on what they have learnt. I always look to try out different techniques or styles and note down whether they worked or not.

Dewey was interested in experience, experiential learning and believed there were many different levels of experience. He states that, ‘we do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.’ He also said, ‘If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.’ I completely agree with this statement having had teachers in the past who just delivered the same lecture every year (obviously without any reflection!).  It is so important, especially in education, to review each activity and if it doesn’t achieve the desired results then you need to reflect and change the way in which you approach it.

Kurt Lewin, a Polish born seminal theorist, was also interested in social change with an interest in experiential learning. Lewin separated ‘experience’ into sections – Spiral of steps.  Each box represents the next step to take – ‘circle of planning, action and fact-finding about the result of action.’

Lewin had many theories that can be applied to different practices. Another which I consider to be extremely important in education, one I may adopt into my career, is his, ‘Change Theory.’

This would benefit me in my professional practice as it would enable me to realise what isn’t working, discard any old behaviours or processes, introduce new methods, processes and behaviours. And finally, establish them, see the progress and achieve the desired results.

Change is a scary thought and one that many people shy away from, possibly are even frightened of. However, in this day and age, change is inevitable and happens on a daily basis. I believe that change helps us to grow as professionals, it allows us to prepare and transition smoothly. I’m not suggesting changing everything – the old saying ‘if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it’ jumps to mind – but take a close look and understand what needs changing and start the process. Lewin once said, ‘Motivation for change must be generated before change can occur. One must be helped to re-examine many cherished assumptions about one’s relations to others.’  

David Kolb is an American educational theorist who focused on experiential learning. Throughout his career, he developed many theories or cycles perhaps the most notable of which was the ‘Learning cycle’.  It is most commonly used for reflection within many professions including mine, teaching, it helps us to see how we learn and creates a tool for approaching experience.

‘Concrete Experience’ is doing or having an experience, ‘Reflective Observation’ is reviewing/reflecting on the experience, ‘Abstract Conceptualisation’ is concluding/learning from the experience and ‘Active Experimentation’ is planning/trying out what you have learnt. We all do a lot of these steps but where you start learning and find meaning will be where you enter the cycle at different points and that can link to your learning style.

Multiple intelligences was first introduced by Howard Gardner (1983). He said that people are intelligent in a number of ways and had different ways to engage with understanding and learning. Multiple intelligences is becoming more recognised in today’s society and breaks the traditional model of what intelligence is. 

Task 2B - Reflective Writing

The handbook suggests many ways to record the events of your day; I thought I would attempt them all, to discover the ones that best suited my writing style.

Description

This style of writing came most naturally to me. It enables you to clearly see your day, the events, time and what occurred. I could describe each detail thoroughly and remember how I felt at the time. This is the style I enjoyed using most and will continue to practice it as I believe it gave me a true representation of my day. It also gave me more of a chance to reflect on my behaviours.

Initial reflection

I find reflective writing difficult so I struggled using this method of writing. I felt that I spent more time thinking, what does that mean? Am I doing this right? as opposed to just writing about what my day entailed. However, when I discussed this method with the tutor, I realised I practiced this technique every day at work when evaluating a lesson. It is definitely a useful tool in my professional practice but I didn’t enjoy using daily, I think this would be more beneficial over a longer timescale e.g. a week.

Lists

I am a HUGE fan of lists; I make packing lists, to do lists, shopping lists. I am quite an organised person so I find that a list helps me prioritise and ensure that tasks are completed. However, when it came to writing about my day in list form, I did not find it sufficiently focused enough as it kept merging into mind maps/spider diagrams. It was challenging to write one word to describe what happened or how I felt and consequently I don’t think that this particular technique worked for me.

Evaluation

I didn’t really understand the purpose of evaluating your journal. Before putting pen to paper I feel I had already conducted an evaluation so this technique added no value.  However, for some people evaluating their journal would give them a clear understanding of how they felt during the day and helped them to focus their ideas.

Graphs, Charts and diagrams

Having a love for maths and numbers, I thought that I would really enjoy putting the data into a graph or a chart but it was completely the opposite, I didn’t enjoy it in the least. I felt it didn’t give me a clear reflection on my feelings during the day, the events that happened and what the reasons could have been for this. It gave me an overview but didn’t allow for any explanation of why I was feeling that way.  I thought that it was more time consuming and less effective for me than writing it down.

What if?

Now this a tricky one, I personally feel I am a huge ‘What If’ person and continually ask myself, ‘what if I had done this, said this, would it have turned out differently?’ This then conflicts with my, ‘everything happens for a reason’ mind set. The handbook says to think about what you would LOVE /HATE to happen and says to use your imagination. This led me to consider how powerful your imagination can be and how it can take you anywhere you want to go sometimes consciously but sometimes subconsciously.

By adopting this form of writing, I stopped thinking about using the ‘What If’ for the past and instead focused on what could happen if I applied it to the future. What if, next time I did that task I used this instead of that, would the results be any different? There is little point in dwelling on the past which you cannot change and focus on improving your future. I really enjoyed writing in this style because it came naturally as I already use ‘What If’ in my daily life.

Stream of Consciousness

This was something that was mentioned in a Skype call with Paula. I mentioned I found it hard to express my ideas, thoughts and feelings on paper. I think, maybe, I worry about other people’s opinions or spend too much time on wording. She suggested that I try using ‘Stream of Consciousness’. This is a popular technique to break down that barrier against writing; you have to write for a continuous five minutes without allowing your pen to leave the paper.

This I LOVED!! I highly recommend this technique to anyone that struggles to get ideas onto paper. It is a great way to get everything out and then pick out the key points of that day. I also feel this would be something I will take on board when writing an essay to find an idea or if I get sad or angry, a kind of way to de stress.

Images

I love looking through Instagram and Pinterest, I could do it all day. I am constantly finding pictures to describe my mood or a situation I find myself in. I am quite a visual person and forever doodling so I thought I would include some images or quotes that may have resonated with me that day. I feel like this really helped me when I looked over my journal as it reiterated how I was feeling at that moment.

    

Helpful Hint

I have never kept a diary or a journal before, not even as a child, so the idea of coming home to write about my day was a daunting experience. The only occasion where I have ever recorded the day’s events was when I went travelling around America and wrote an email to my parents informing them of my daily activities and even that only lasted one week.

After reading a post on Sophie Donald’s blog in which she talked about how a series of questions can help you to write about important events in the day. This gave me a structure to work within and helped me reflect more effectively upon what I have achieved and learnt.

Hope she doesn’t mind if I post a link to it here -http://sophiedonald.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/questions-to-ask-yourself-when-writing.html