Beginning to see the light

So after a technological hiccup, I finally joined the group discussion at 5.30pm. The first topic up for discussion was course work related, and seemed to feature around AOLs-something I am still in the midst of. The difference between these and the final reflective essay was being discussed, and as a result I now think I get it. I did question as whether the reflective essay was about the learning content or the process of putting that learning into an essay. I now think its both .Personal reflection is now taking up my day, as I revisit my past teaching career in further education dance. and yes I didn't realise how much I know; the conversation from the October Skype now makes sense, what is instinctive and what is learnt ? Certainly until this process I was of the opinion that my instincts were on full alert, now I wonder as I examine how I learnt to teach.

We discussed Choreography verses technique, and how this is perceived by our students. Having recently spent the past half term preparing students for dance examinations, I certainly do put a lot of store by technique. But equally I enjoy choreography teaching as I always learn something new, students ways of moving and perceiving ideas into movement always amaze me. I realise I do foster creativity in my lessons, but feel duty bound to improve technique in codified genres such as ballet.

The discussion on learning skills resonated most with me this month. I spent most of the discussion listening very attentively, mainly because of poor sound quality, but also a little lack of confidence.

This made me consider something about listening skills-how much the person speaking determines your response as well as the manor of delivery? I have in dance class experimented with very quiet music, so students have to listen hard to the music. I saw a change in musicality and some classes in artistry as a result. I wonder if in the modern world, where we encourage everyone to participate and have their say , there isn't enough emphasis put on listen skills? I feel its one of the fundamentals of teaching and learning -what are you thoughts?

The learning environment was next considered, the physical environment, so important to dancers such as mirrors, flooring and light were briefly touched on by one speaker, saying how it had coloured her learning and she wondered about the contrast in learning for those without, for example mirrors. I learnt to dance without mirrors, and have taught in many places without mirrors. My opinion is that for certain students it makes a big difference, those with little or no proprioception, I find the use of mirrors essential. Here, this was a conversation I felt I could identify with, knew what I was hearing as it was within my experience and knowledge base. So this has helped me further in identifying my AOLs.

Language and communication as dance teachers and its affects was also briefly touched on. The mind shift between educational dance and vocational learning environments mention, but not explored. This did however lead onto technique verse style discussion. This has been an area which I have looked at with my students in a further education context, still an on going debate in my mind, and a possible research topic for me.

Lastly, thoughts around academia and alienation were aired by Adelosa as she summarised. Taking my reality and making it palatable to the MA is now the task I see I have to fulfil

First discussion thoughts

As a new member of the MAPP, I was totally unaware of what to expect from my first involvement with the month Skype discussion. It seemed almost a little odd, not being able to see who I was talking to, but on the positive side they could not see me either. But once the introductions were over, and I had made a quick reference note of who was who and where they were in the course, I was able to listen and consider what I was hearing. Helen outlined the purpose of the discussion and the idea of community. The first topic posed seemed to be trying to get some clarity on how one evaluates truth, or at least what we believe to be truth: and further more how that truth that (perhaps is felt internally) is expressed through words. Generally a consensus was not reached on this (or did I miss it?) but a guidance was given to explore the broader picture, and deeper context by using reflective practice. The assumption being that jobs, achievements and experience to date can be used  to highlight what you don't know, and linked back to the knowledge we/I have within the arts, of which we all (discussion members) have very different backgrounds on which to draw.


The discussion also dealt briefly with Journal/diary use for the course, and the blog itself, all of which seem to be very inter related and used to allow freedom to think and reflect, to pose more questions than answers.


Discussion then centred around a concept which was named Frameworks. It was pointed out that we all work in frameworks, whether they are formalised or not, they do relate to theories, that have been academically proclaimed, and as such we need to identify these, and work with them. Frameworks can be as simple as storytelling, poetry, use of dance steps within choreography or a complicated lesson plan, allowing for all abilities to thrive and achieve in the same framework, but at different levels. Academics have given categorisation to  frameworks, and identification of the attributes and thought processes which enlighten these. Helen quoted the framework of pragmatism and phenomenology as the courses frame works, saying there was no single truth, but how we understand our knowledge depends on what we have experiences and learnt. I then questioned what my frame work was, and only concluded that I understood small frame works such as, the lesson plan, the scheme of work, the assessment criteria, the choreographic process, all frames or processes for my teaching in education and my dance life. I am quite unsure about how and when the large framework comes into my teaching of dance and into life generally, or am I missing the point here?


The end of the session was rounded up with a few words from each participant about frameworks. Comments regarding the approaches, structures and benefit of frameworks, the use of multiple frameworks and also that of confusion about frameworks were made. For my own part, I felt that frameworks have always been present in my life to a strong degree, just I was unaware of that labelling. I did feel I have come away with more questions than answers, which three days of reflection have helped to lessen a little.


This is my first ever blog on any subject, and annoyingly I am very concerned with being correct. Does this answer questions? Does this pose other questions? Does this relate to dance in any way? Feel free to comment.