Tips

Put your name on the files you send: have a look at my previous blogs about this including http://www.adesolaa.blogspot.com/2013/02/how-you-are-experienced.html.

Put your name and student number on your work.

Use page numbers

Bibliographies are part of the whole document. They are directly related to the citations and quotes you are using.

Quotes should go on a separate line and be followed by the citation and page number.

You are building inquiry not evidence of something you already think. This might be helpful  http://adesolaa.blogspot.com/2012/11/i-know-everyone-is-busy-so-i-have-marks.html

In every Module what you are handing-in is explaining something not proving something.

You prove you have done the work by the quality and sensitivity of the critical thinking  within what you are handing in - not by telling us you 'done it'!

Think about the words you are using. They are not magically different from normal language - a proposal or reflection is just what it says.

Hope that helps
Adesola

Module Two - Q&A

Cassie and I had a quick talk: Might be useful for other Module Two's

This afternoon Adesola and I had a skype session as I had a few questions about all the extra forms that module 2 needed to fill out. Below are my questions and in my own words a recollection of what Adesola’s answers were. 

1. The proposed title for the awards specialism form, what title would you pick? and After we have selected that title, does the rationale have to be written about your proposed inquiry?

Adesola’s answer-

The proposed title on the award specialism form that you choose will depend on the course that you did prior to this course. For example-if you went to a school that covered all forms of performing arts then you would pick the title- ‘

BA (Hons) Professional Practice in Arts (Performing Arts)’. 

For the rationale on the award specialism form you would use this title as a starting point to explain an overall explanation for why you are choosing the inquiry you have decided on. Think of this section as connecting the dots, it’s a small timeline of when you entered into the performing arts industry, to what you have done after, to this university course and how all these events have made you decide to do this particular inquiry. Adesola reminded me that ‘the university doesn’t know our story; this is the chance to give them a preview’.

1. On the ethical release form it asks for the ‘Target award Qualification? What would this be?

Adesola’s answer- 

Adesola said you would put the same title that you selected for the awards specialism form. 

Also please take note that the tense used within this form is misleading. It is written as if you have already completed some of the tasks, however please disregard this and assume that it is written in the future tense as these tasks will be completed at a later date.

So "have the participants...?" should be read "Do you plan for the participants....?"etc...

1. In the critical reflection must we use references? 

Adesola’s answer-

Yes, it is a very good idea to use references in your critical reflection because this piece of work is supposed to reflect on your learning throughout this module. Adesola said ‘We weren’t raised by wolves  in a wood so everything that we have learnt has come from  or been influenced by something or someone’. You need to use references to show that you have analysed your thinking and found a way to connect your thoughts to the bigger world outside your head.

On-line sessions Module 2 & 3 April 15th

OMG, time is flying by
Friday 15th April we have on-line sessions
Module 2 at noon (time in London) - we'll talk about the overall plan and ethics form.
Module 3 at 8pm (time in London) - we'll talk about the artifact for sure!!!

Please comment below if you are attending.

Looking forward to hearing how its going.

Adesola

Tuesday PM chat: The shift and the jigsaw

PM Tuesday chat

On Tuesday April 5th  we had our First Tuesday PM chat. We talked about something we called the ‘shift’. This is the movement between what you start something thinking and where it takes you by the end. It is the shift in each Module that we are asking you to identify for yourself and write about to hand-in.

In Module One you started the course and did a number of tasks to get situated and by doing them and thinking about the reader information there should be a shift in your thinking. It is this shift that we then ask you to reflect on and write about as your reflective essay. If you just do all the tasks and can not talk about what changed for you there is no point. We are not training you to follow tasks like a small cuddly animal!! We are suggesting things that might stimulate your thinking and asking you to articulate what your thinking is and how it developed.

In Module Two the shift is more clear you start the module with no plan and end with a plan… but again although the plan its self is important explaining why you made the choices you made – why you are doing it that way and not another way is the important part. The answer to why you are doing it the way you are doing it is all to do with your own understanding of what you want to do. You can inquire any number of ways but the way you come at it affects what what happens and what you find. That is the point…

In Module Three: this is almost exactly the same as Module One but instead of us giving you tasks you have given yourself tasks (i.e. the plan you created in Module Two). You start the module with some ideas (your questions) you do the activity of data collection and reading the literature and reflecting (inquiry tasks) and at the end you think about all this and notice what has shifted for you. What has been the shift in your thinking now when you think about the original question. This is not about some massive world discovery. It is just that now when you think about this topic other things manifest – that is what you write-up / that is your analysis why those new things appear now when you think about the topic. It might be the question it self has changed for you. Maybe the words of the question have changed. Danielle talked about how her original question was about Dancer retirement but now she feels it is not about retirement it is about transition. That’s a big shift in her thinking about what a dancer’s career is…

We talked about how people within an industry have a kind of knowledge that people outside can not have. “nobody outside the industry quite understands how passionate artists are”. Martha Graham said a dancer dies twice (referring to not being able to dance, then not breathing!). But we never think of Martha Graham as ever not a dancer. We talked about what a professional career is. For people in Module One thinking about your Professional career for the first time in this course might make you ask what it is. We said it might not be what you are doing to make money (your not a professional waitress just because you wait tables), it is what you are working towards, training for and thinking about … We talked about how sometimes a doctor in another country has to work as something else but she is still trained as a doctor her profession is still doctor. We thought it was important to respect what people are professionally as well as what they are doing at the time you meet them. So in Module One you are thinking about your own professional direction and ideas and training.

All of this led us to say the answer is in you and your experience – the answer is the shift in your thinking/doing. Lauren is writing about this further http://laurenhoskins92.blogspot.co.uk/

You are not trying to discover a new undiscovered thing you are thinking about how things have shifted for you, and you are unique so your thoughts are interesting and relevant to others. Danielle will post more on this http://danniausten.blogspot.co.uk

Look to yourself and your experience and make it relevant to your practice. Jessica will post on this  http://jessicaplant.blogspot.co.uk

Remember the shift – is a cycle of things making sense – then making no sense – then making sense again, then no-sense, then sense…. There has to be periods of no-sense because if you are truly adding to your understanding before you learn something new you have to become aware you don’t know it. Suddenly being aware of something missing affects everything else you know and changes that too – so things seem confused. But then as you become aware of what you didn’t know as space is made for it – like realising a jigsaw piece is missing and having to rearrange the pieces to make a space for it. But once you have done that the picture is clearer.

Be brave – do not just accept things because they are offered to you, question think critically, find the connections to the bigger picture.

What do you think?

Adesola

First Tuesday AM chat - Ethics is a way of considering things...

In this mornings chat we caught up on where people were in their work. But in talking about this we noticed the importance of being able to describe what you are doing in terms of what you are actually doing not in terms of the module framework. In other words saying

“I am just starting reader six” does not mean anything outside of this specific course.

“I have been reading about ethics and thinking about how many of the auditions I have been to involve situations that I now think have ethical implications”  makes sense outside the course. This whole course is about your practice not about the course so make sure everything you are doing makes sense in the ‘real’ world of your work place.

Then we looked at ethics – we say ethical issues because issues mean discussion (topics, concerns, questions). Ethics is not about choosing sides it is about thinking about the multiple ways a situation can be experienced. So in fact the ethical issues (topics) that come up as you think about planning in Module Two or analysing in Module Three are ways in to better understanding what you are doing. This is because ethics is a way to question. Looking at ethical issues is a way to think critically. In this course we want you to develop critical thinking skills. This is to:

“Not accept something just because it is being offered”

“Not to accept something just because it is accessible to you”

Ask how it is in-relationship with other things.

The reflective essay/ critical reflection at the end of Module One is all about this. Do not just write a summary of everything you think we have offered you (told you about) in Module One. Critically look at the information and ask how it fits with your experience and your Practice.  Do not just accept it find what meaning is in it for YOU.

In Module Two thinking about ethics underpins the choices you make as you design your research project. Why are you planning to do what you are planning to do. The whole of Module Two is about understanding how what you are planning to do will effect your relationships. Your relationship with your own Professional Practice, your relationship with the existing knowledge (Literature), your relationship with the people around you. The plan is about how you will explore these relationships (NOT about finding a perfect question through anticipating the answer you want to find). Bethany will post more on this:

http://hucklebethany.blogspot.com

Lastly we talked about how ethics is a way to analyse the data you collect. It is so tempting to want to just tell us about the data collected but the important step in the inquiry process of Module Three is the analysis (not to accept what is offered through the data as complete – to understand what is offered is made real or meaningful through interpretation.) Go back to your question – has doing the data collection changed what the question means to you. How and why? Using the lens of ethics helps you explore the data you collect and gets you away from wanting to just tell us about what you collected. Move towards telling us about what it could mean to different people – to you, to the people who have written the literature you have read, to the people you spoke to. Lara will post more on this

 http://larafbapp.blogspot.de

As always it was great to talk to each other and learn from talking to each other.

First Tuesday skype chat

We have our group chats Tuesday April 5th. We have:

AM at 10am (time in London)
or
PM at 6pm (time in London)

Please comment below to indicate which group chat you will attend.

Looking forward to hearing what you have been thinking about.

Adesola