I am feeling so overwhelmed with all the reflective theory, not because I don't understand it, but because there seems to be so many different ways of looking at it and approaching it that I simply don't know where to begin! There are so many ideas, methods and concepts under the term Reflective Practice!
I was fascinated by the idea of Tacit Knowledge. This is a term I had never come across before, which is ironic because as a dancer and dance teacher I have now come to learn that most of my knowledge is tacit! This an example of something I have been experiencing for years without having realised. Now that I have realised that knowing how to stay on balance when turning, or knowing how to adjust may stance in order for a certain lift to work, is tacit knowledge, I now have knowledge of "tacit knowledge".
In a similar way, another eye opener was the realisation that I already reflect...a lot! As a dancer and dance teacher, I use In-Action reflection all the time to correct movements as I do them, and to alter the way I am explaining something as I am explaining it if my student doesn't seem to be grasping it. The challenge will be to get well practised in On-Action reflection!
Another idea within the reader that really caught my attention was Gardners "Multiple Intelligences" idea. When I read this, I instantly loved it. Upon reflection of why I loved it, I realised it was because it was putting into words something I have always believed, but never been able to put into words. The fact that to be a great dancer you have to be incredibly intelligent, not the way the average person would think (verbal-linguistically/logical-mathematically), but Spatially and Bodily-Kinaesthetically. These are forms of intelligence that all good dancers have in abundance, but if you were to ask an average person "what is intelligence?" they would immediately describe verbal-linguistic/logical-mathematical intelligence.
The very definition of intelligence is:
"the ability to learn facts and skills and apply them, especially when this ability is highly developed". Whichever "form" the intelligence takes does not stop it from being intelligence.
I have thought a lot about the Kolb Cycle, and where I feel I enter the cycle when learning. The answer is, of course, everywhere! Depending on the situation I will sub-consciously enter the cycle at any of the stages. The more I thought about examples of where I entered the cycle, the more I realised that it's hard to pinpoint exactly where for each learning experience. That's the beauty of it; it's a cycle!
For example, before teaching a class I will plan it, so it could be said I was entering the cycle at Active Experimentation. However, I am basing that class plan on things that have been successful in the past, i.e the conclusions I had drawn from previous classes, so it could be said I am entering the cycle at Abstract Conceptualisation. On the other hand, it could also be said that those conclusions were made after reviewing and reflecting on the experience I had in the class, and therefore I've entered on Reflective Observation.
...I COULD GO ON!!
I have started my reflective journal and seem to be sticking with the "Description, Analysis, Evaluation" format (Alicia Beck). I intend to experiment with the other styles and to try and keep an open mind in order to find the one that facilitates my learning best.
4 comments:
Hi Liam I was really interested to read all of your thoughts on reflection. I too was shocked about hearing the term "tacit knowledge" just because it was something I must have about many things but I'd never really thought about how I know things or expressing things that I know that I can't express with words.
I hope your journal writing is going well, I've found that a combination of a few of the different writing styles helps. They all seem to have merged into one as I've been writing so I have a style personal to me. I would recommend trying a style that you would think wouldn't be the best for you as I did this with a poem and although the poem didn't express all my thoughts and feelings it made me think about them which then I could write about as an evaluation after writing my poem. I was surprised at how well writing a poem worked when I was sure it wouldn't help me to reflect so I think it's good to give the alternative ideas a try.
Emily
Hi Liam, you make an interesting example for tacit knowledge. You are talking about the body 'knowing', in a sense. This is something that is an argument 'out there' and part of a mind / body paradigm; that is can the body 'know' in terms of a mind / body. I do not see a mind / body split I see us as embodied (being mind-full-bodies). Some of what you are finding as so much to think about in the reflection section maybe because as a dancer you have a particular orientation to what knowledge is and where it can manifest. This is interesting. You can look at this section of the course as looking at your cordinations to learning, knowing, communication, etc... in order to see where you 'find' (or locate yourself). It is from having an idea about your location that you can then go on to ask questions about your practice that you will do in the next modules. See my blogs on poem writing (that Emily mentions) and blogs saying its about 'YOU' - Positioning of Self (October 16th 2010)
http://adesolaa.blogspot.com/search/label/YOU
On another note: Phil said you know a way to see when people post comments on your blog and / or respond to comments you have posted on others blogs. I have something that lets me know when people post comments on my blog but it doesn't sound the same. It asks me to approve them. Do you know more? Can you let me know - please comment on my blog if you do.
Thanks
Adesola
Hi Liam,
I found this really interesting to read as I too felt overwhelmed with the depth of information in Reader 2. Again, it wasn't that I didn't understand the information being given, just the sheer amound and diversity within it.
I agree with yourself and Emily on the 'Tacit Knowledge'. I think most of my knowledge is tacit, haha, well that's what I tell myself....'I know what I mean I just can't put it into words!'.
I am about start the journal writing tonight, I'm going to use each method given in the module handbook and then decide which worked for me and why, hopefully I'll find one that really helps me to reflect on all the experiences within the course and my professional life.
Really great to read, and almost reassuring that others are feeling the same :)
Take care, love jo xx
HI Liam,
I loved your post about all of the reflective break throughs you had whilst reading the reader. It's true, we actually 'reflect' all the time, just in a different more physical way (In-Action) reflection. And, I think your views about the learning cycle are also really interesting. I felt the same, that all aspects of the cycle are used constantly during my learning, but in my Reflection 2b post I felt the need to break down each specific category. I like how you've kept the four categories in a 'cycle' by linking all the four ways of learning together. It makes much more sense to be honest, I should have been brave and followed my instinct.
Well Done!
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