This blog is created to support conversation generated from and about the learning process for MA Professional Practice (MAPP) in the Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries (ACI) at Middlesex University.

Sunday 18 December 2016

As we move further into December!!

Happy Holidays

Rest: My computer needs a healing !!  so it will be out of action for a couple of days.

Feedback: if you are waiting for me to respond to an email - write to me again, because I don't realize you are waiting. I feel like I have double checked everyone and have answered everyone. So I may have missed the email.

Talk: if you have quick question or want to have a quick de-freak-out feel free to skype me.

Adesola

Wednesday 14 December 2016

Quick up-date

The University has let us know UniHub will be down for a couple of days. Students who are due to submit on 6 January (that's us) will be unable to access UniHub on Mon 19 and Tues 20 December 2016.

:)

Sunday 4 December 2016

Talking with friends...

We had two great chats today – am and pm

AM:
In the morning chat we talked about the process of learning. We were thinking about the process of ‘doing’ the modules and how things had changed in Professional Practice as a result of reflection on the modules and Self. The tracking of this ‘change’ or ‘noticing’ is what all the Reflective essays in each of the Modules is asking for you to talk about. In Module One it is the first time you are writing a Review of Learning and it can feel like it is all mixed up in the Areas of Learning. But the Review of Learning is a review of what has happen this term (now). Looking at how the learned-You has manifested to you. How you have notice yourself in terms of the idea of learning.  In the other module we also ask for some reflection of learning this carries this idea on through the whole course. At the end of each module you reflect on the learned-You particularly in terms of your practice. We also talked about how reading other people’s ideas, such as some of the texts in the Reading list can be inspiring. As you read a book the author articulates things you have been thinking or feeling –it is like finding a friend in the text. Nighat said she found Moon’s book very useful when thinking about reflection.  We also talked about how our practice of dance touches so many aspects of life – both dance and the act of education have political, cultural, religious, academic elements. Our practices touch all these things and they organise how we carve our practice into being.

For further thinking about the AM conversations have a look at these posts.
Maite http://maitemappdtp.blogspot.com  will talk more about the process of personal change.
Barbara https://barbarabesque.blogspot.com   will post on culture, religion and politics particularly in terms of dance practice.
Nighat http://sacredsufi.blogspot.com  will post on coming into the AOLs
Parimala https://parimalamapp.blogspot.com  will talk about learning while writing and learning through writing.
Rachel https://racheleoliver.blogspot.com  will post on learning styles and how they change in response to situations.

PM:
In the afternoon chat we talked about a range of things that seemed to settle on ideas about labelling: labelling ourselves, what learning is or should look like etc… Within this we discussed the personal, political, professional and how all these aspects of ourselves affect our art practices.
Within the conversation some Module 3’s talked about their findings – which seemed to also resonate with the idea of the imagined, expected, and mediated Selves that we inhabit within our daily practices. We talked about ways to communicate ideas differents way of writing, making etc… This linked to the Module 3 hand-in. There are three forms of handing in the same thing in Module 3. The thing is the inquiry – telling us about the inquiry. The three forms are
An academic artefact – a written essay
A Professional artefact - ?? (everyone’s profession is different so you know the form it should take better than the university (a dance, a workshop, an installation etc…)
A verbal artefact – presentation (given this year on January 17th 201).
By having more than one way to explain the same thing (the inquiry) we are acknowledging there are some things that you can explain in movement that you cannot explain in words, and some in words you cannot explain in writing etc… We are working in somatic practices and explaining the experience of the inquiry will take a felt, three-dimensional approach.

Other things we talked about are discussed in the following post:
Sam http://samanthakettle.blogspot.com   will post on the personal, professional and building community
Tamzin http://tamzinhoward.blogspot.com  will talk about how different we all are (we were talking from USA, Canada, Barbados, UK, and Qatar) yet all sharing the similar experience of dance and teaching dance.
Lisa http://lisanorris76.blogspot.co.uk  will post on labels and  not fitting into boxes
Davis http://kensdancer.blogspot.com   will post on de-compartmentalising
Alanna http://sustainablerisktaking.blogspot.com  will talk about the positive side of boxes
Tara  http://dancetara.blogspot.com  will post on the links between modules
Alice http://elysiandance.blogspot.com/2016/12/direction-and-inspiration.html  will post on direction and inspiration from talking to each other

Helen is going to post about process and change, yet how YOU are still at the heart of your own learning journey, your practice, your experiences –  you at the heart of what you are doing.

In both conversations, we talked about the importance of the blogs and commenting as a way to keep in touch over the coming weeks. It is nice to have a network of friends around the world, people thinking about the thinks you are thinking about and bothering to comment on your ideas. Building our community of learners is often just about listening to each other and sharing your own thoughts back.

Up-coming dates to remember
Hand-in is January 6th
Get together to hear Module 3 presentations January 17th
Next First  Sunday group chat is on the Second Sunday of February 11th 2017 !!!

What do you feel?
Please comment.
Adesola





Monday 28 November 2016

First Sunday chat December 4th

December 4th is time for our first Sunday chat again.
We will have one at:
11am (time in London)
and
5pm (time in London)
Please indicate which chat you will join in the comments below. As with the last chats please put a little about what you have been thinking about, or want to talk about or share in the comments so we can be thinking about things before the chats begins.

Looking forward to talking
Adesola

Thursday 27 October 2016

First Sunday Group chat - November 6th

November 6th is the first Sunday group chat.  Helen will be initiating it (in other words look out for a call from her skype address on that Sunday). We have a morning and afternoon one:
11am (time in London)
or
5pm (time in London)

Please comment below to let us know which one you will join. Remember to also write a tiny bit about what you want to talk about, what you are thinking or what question you are exploring etc... so that we all have sometime to think about each others conversation starter before the call. looking forward to hearing from you

Adesola

Sunday 23 October 2016

A network of information & knowledge

I have been talking to a number of people about AOLs and inquiry projects. A number of people are looking at dance and its relationship with cultures: Dance across cultures, the culture of different dance types, going to a new culture or place and continuing to dance. Please write some blog posts about literature you are looking at so you all can exchange ideas and references.

Also a couple of module Ones are looking at the responsibility of being a Judge of dance - Barbara and Parimala have talked about this to me.

There are people who are looking at literature about starting small businesses or small arts businesses.

Please post ideas and comment on each others blogs. The whole MAPP community has a wealth of years and depth of experience across it. Lets get conversation going.

If you are doing something that seems daunting then share your thoughts with other MAPPs.
As Chanel might say Collaboration is the new Black!!

Please comment here too.
Adesola

Tuesday 18 October 2016

Triangulate (and places to see what other people have thought.)

 Thinking about writing:
Areas of Learning, about inquiry plan, or reflecting on your data collection and inquiry = triangulate


Triangulate: as your write mix together (steps of analysis)
  • Your experience & stories about learning the topic  – your experience and what you learnt about the topic.
  • Theory on learning – so you can talk about your learning to develop your thoughts and practice in this area. (Module One theory will underpin this) – actually how you learnt it, looking back now and knowing the learning theory of Module One
  • The theory (publications about the topic: contextualises your experience and thoughts. (other people - people who have been published- experiences and stories) – what other people have learnt about the topic and how what you have learnt sits within this.


Finding the theory – you can look in Middlesex library.
Also Journals:
  • Journal of Dance Education –
  • Dance Research Journal –
  • Dance Education in Practice (JODE) -
  • Research in Dance Education –
  • Choreographic Practices
Keep up the good work. 

Friday 14 October 2016

Doing AOL titles and next steps...

AOLs
So module ones – you have been asked to come up with some AOL titles. Here is what’s up next. You would have a list of AOL’s that you send your Advisor. Its ok this list is just a starting place. They are not it. We want to develop things but we need a place to start. Your Advisor doesn’t know the ins and outs of your life so we need somewhere to start. Once you have your list and have a time to chat with your advisor we will talk through the AOL’s if they are perfect and don’t need any development then we have a problem – because being perfect doesn’t leave much room for meaningful pedegogy. What we expect is that by talking to someone else (your Advisor) about your list they will ask you questions that will make you rethink the list a little. Your advisor will also recommend some theory to read in relation to your AOL’s/ this theory might make you re-think a little too.

It is a process: that’s the learning. The learning process of writing the AOL’s also informs the general attention to learning in Module one that you will reflect on in your reflective essay at the end of Module one. However you have to let yourself have the process. You are not going to do perfect from the start but you have to do you from the start. We can’t tell you how to do you but once you have something however small that means something to you we can help. We are not going to watch you mess-up but we have to have something to start with.

So how do you get there: have a look at your cv to remind you what you’ve done. Make job descripotion to help yourself remember what you do. Look across it and make notes where the same type of activity or learning happens. These notes will/could help you identify things you do, you don’t even think about. That’s all the annotated cv is. If you have an impressive cv the university is not going to look at it and give you credit – its not an honouree MA!! If it’s an unimpressive cv the university doesn’t care either. The course is not about what you’ve done but how you’ve understood and learnt from what you’ve done.

So make a list of AOL’s grab a coffee and skype your Advisor for a talk through of the list.

People who have survived Module One AOLs please comment below too.