Professional Reflection

Having just read through the "Lens 2: Reflection, ethics and reflexivity" section of the handbook; I must admit my mind is spinning a bit!

Whilst the information is easy enough to decipher and understand, I have found it difficult to grasp and conceptualise. I have always considered myself a visual learner, but upon reflection I can't help but wonder if this is not a product of how I have been raised and "nurtured". What I mean by this is that since a young age, I have been taught to study academic material through creating colourful mind-maps or spider diagrams. I have studied for examinations by reading the information given to me and by rewriting it in my own way and creating a fun diagram to remember it by - which is actually how I have been working through this Module 1 handbook!

But upon reflection and 'unpacking' as to how I learn, I can't help but wonder that surely coming from a musical theatre based back-round that I could, in fact, be a more kinaesthetic form of learner? Putting specific actions with lines of script to remember it, repeating choreography until it becomes muscle memory and using singing practitioner Jo Estill's idea of the 'sensation' of the voice when singing.

I will also acknowledge that I seem to use Kolb's "Reflective Observation" as my entry onto the Learning Cycle. I prefer to watch someone demonstrate or other people performing a task before I endeavor to carry it out myself. This I see through all aspects of my life. This blog for example; before creating my first post, I went through and 'studied' other BAPP blogs and how they were structured before I started. Another example would be a dance or exercise class; I will always wait for the instructor to perform whatever sequence they want first before doing it myself. I do this to study their 'form' and to know exactly every detail of what they want done so that I may get it right as quickly as possible.

I realise this being the first time I have read through this section of the handbook means that it is a lot to process so I look forward to re-reading the post back toward the end of the module to see how my perception of things may or may not have shifted. I am looking forward to unpacking the ethical side of my practice and reflecting upon this too as I have not yet been able to unpack that side of the module.

I hope my blog posts are helping anyone starting the BAPP course, who are perhaps similar to me and "reflective observationalists" and need some guidance on where to begin!