After reading Reader 2 - The Reflective Practitioner, several times; I found I was so overwhelmed with ideas, theories, explanations and new terminology, that I had no idea how to even start to relate the information to my own professional practice. The reader states that 'the course identifies 'Reflection' (reflective practices) as a key tool for understanding and learning from experiences'. Therefore I decided to focus on one specific experience of mine; my Solo Platform; this was a ten minute musical theatre piece I created and performed in my final term of college. It was based around and included material from 'Thoroughly Modern Millie'. By relating the information in the reader to this specific experience, it really helped me to identify how I always have and always am constantly reflecting; something I previously hadn't given much thought to. Therefore I will more informed as to how to alter and improve my future reflective practices.
It is often said that the more you put into something, the more you get out of it. This rang true in terms of my solo platform as I worked hard and engaged with every part of the experience; resulting in great feedback and a very good mark. John Dewey reiterates this explaining that the amount you learn from an experience depends on the level of consciousness and engagement you have with it; describing the learning process as 'continual reorganization, reconstruction and transformation of experience' (Dewey, 1916). In my solo platform: I attended private tutorials with a tutor, where I constantly reflected on parts that weren't working or flowing; I rehearsed my songs, monologues and routines continually trying out new ways to perform them; and I made peers watch parts of my platform and also watched theirs to exchange ideas and feedback. Through fully engaging in all these areas and more, I felt at the time I learnt the most possible from the experience. However, reflecting back on it now, I realise I could have utilized the journal writing we had to undertake more effectively. The BAPP course has deepened my knowledge of journal writing a great deal, and notating my critical thinking and reflections is something I will defiantly do to improve my future reflective practices.
At first I found relating my professional practice (solo platform) to Kolb's learning cycle quite difficult, and had no idea at what point I entered the cycle or began to 'learn something new'. The example on page7 of the reader; relating the cycle to creating your blog; really helped me to see where I was participating in all the parts of the cycle in my solo platform. Choreographing, singing, performing, etc... - 'Concrete experience'; watching videos of my self, my tutorials, watching other peoples ideas, writing my journal - 'Reflective Observation'; planning changes I wanted to make, concluding my plans in my journal, discussing with peers - 'Abstract Conceptualisation'; and trying out new tempos, choreography, scene changes, lighting, etc... - 'Active Experimentation'. By applying this, I found I entered the cycle most commonly at 'Active Experimentation'. I mainly practice Schon's concept of 'reflection-in-action' (Schon 1987); which Robert Kottcamp likens to 'on-line - 'reflection in the midst of an ongoing action' (Kottcamp, R.B 1990). And I completely agree that this is commonly fostered by artists (dancers, etc...) as we tend to work in a very 'hands-on' way.
Looking further into the idea that people have different ways to engage with understanding and learning; I was really interested in Howard Gardener's theory of multiple intelligences. Reading the list of different types of intelligences, I thought to myself, although I may favour a couple - I use all of them to learn! And according to Gardener and his later concept of 'mulitple lenses', it is true that we should not limit ourselves to be one type of learner; but instead use all the different types of intelligences we poses to engage in experiences. I further researched Gardener's ideas and found a link to questions and responses on this webpage: http://www.howardgardner.com/Student/student.html. 'How does intelligence relate to creativity?', was one of the questions posed, and I could really relate the response to my professional practice (solo platform). In his response Gardener states, 'individuals who enjoy taking risks, who are not afraid of failure, who are attracted by the unknown, who are uncomfortable with the status quo,are the ones who are likely to make creative discoveries', (Gardener 2004). I think that most of these aspects are encompassed by the majority of performers. Relating them directly to my platform, I wasn't particularly afraid of failure, I was more focused on trying out the ideas I had to see if they worked or not, and if they 'failed' I reflected on how to improve or change them. I was attracted by the unknown in terms of being really excited and inspired to create a piece, even though the outcome or the final product was unknown to me when I started. And I definitely 'enjoy taking risks' when I am performing or creating; which reiterated to me that I learn most when I am trying out new ideas or 'actively experimenting'. Gardener's theory will no doubt inform my future reflective practices, as I am more aware of the different ways of learning and engaging in experiences; hopefully giving me a greater depth of experience to reflect upon.
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