to be rather than to show

Hello everyone,

I hope we are all getting settled into our new modules. Hopefully, this is the first of many blog posts which I endeavour to create over the next few months.

As I scour literature connected to my interest in spatial imagery, I find myself opening hatches which shed light upon intention, attention, and consciousness in the environment of teaching and learning.

Perception? I don't know yet.

I have always strived to allow emotion and affect to exist within my teaching practice; to marry technical rigour with something which is also personal - sensory, temporal, and kinaesthetic. I want my dancing to be relevant, and I also want to teach relevance. I want my students to experience rather than to demonstrate.

To be rather than to show.

Question: how can we be tactile without touching?

Have a read: Todd, M.E. ([1953], 2018). The Hidden You. Eastford, CT: Martino Fine Books.

When is knowledge knowledge?

In the recent seminar, we mooted our interpretations of the word knowledge and we had an opportunity to identify when and how what we know becomes that 'thing'.

The idea of intention was mentioned; whether this is clear to the receiver, whether it is our role to be mindful or controling of this reception, and whether intention being explicit in the giving is fundamental to the knowledge itself as well as its meaning.

Wisdom was also introduced to the conversation. My interpretation of this has included ideas on whether we think our knowledge is exclusive until we choose to share it, whether we think our knowledge is better than that of others, and whether we can/should be selective in who or what we offer our knowledge to. Lastly, perhaps it is the wisdom of the receiver which filters what they need from the information offered.

The possibility that sharing of knowledge is a transaction seemed to be the bulletin within the conversation which more people either engaged with or found most provocative. Transaction was introduced in comparison to transmission, which made me wonder whether every interaction (even for the few seconds it takes to say it or do it) is transmission (knowledge will only ever be transmission), but it is the intention of the giver and perhaps the wisdom of the receiver which makes the transaction of knowledge either occur or not.

I am forever intrigued by the world of assumption. We don't know what we don't know yet. We forget when it was that we did learn something. We don't always anticipate what the other person needs or prefers. Perhaps, in this regard, we should acknowledge that knowledge will always be a term for the receiver to define.

Happy Saturday! x

The right way to write?

The two recent sessions with Peter Thomas from awl@mdx have been inspiring and reassuring. It has been useful to hear his ideas on organising ideas, finding themes and mapping relationships that exist between points made. Also, I've been reminded to think about the reader, to consider my choices and my purpose for writing, to find patterns in my writing which are helpful for the reader (without being to rigid!), and to be explicit in my opinions whenever possible.

I have been writing my first AoL and working to thread things together in a way which is relevant and worthwhile. It is difficult to balance reflection (which will always be self-entered) with an objective approach and writing style. Many of the theorists' ideas, stories, and reflective models I have explored appear rather anecdotal in themselves; many examples in literature seem narrative and conversational in the way they are described which makes formalising them into the reality of my essay, often, even more challenging.

The two texts below have made it onto my Reading List!

Levi, P. (1988). The Wrench. London: Abacus.

Scaife, J. (2010). Supervising the Reflective Practitioner. An Essential Guide to Theory and Practice. Hove: Routledge.

Ben x

Knowledge, Information, and Learning.

I wondered here whether 'knowledge' is only knowledge according to the person perceiving it? If you're passing on new information then surely that's new knowledge for that person? I believe my thoughts, to some extent, echoed those of Sheahan?

Christopher questioned how we hold on to what is relevant, Charlotte mooted whether knowledge is defined by the way it is passed on, and Leroy defined knowledge as something that's proven to be true. 

It's really easy to talk about your students; and it's less easy to turn the lens back on yourself. Do I come across as knowledgeable and do I have information worth giving? Who learns from me? That's up to them!!

Today's recommendation:

Reece, Ian. & Walker, Stephen. (2007, 6^th Edition Revised). Teaching, Training & Learning. A Practical Guide. Tyne and Wear: Business Education Publishers Limited.

Ben x

Where to start? With a roll-down?

It has been great to begin to connect with others on the course in the last fortnight. I am collating various ideas myself (trying to be as objective as possible) for my AoL's, but the first session for MAPP4510 this has ignited intrigue in the practice of others, too.

Natasha bravely dived in and talked about every 'situation' being different (and perhaps impossible to predict), Laurie noted a need to shift her practice in conservatoire training in order to demonstrate a more empathy for the vast (and justifiable) range of learning needs/agendas she encounters, Lorraine identified a battle with time given to the individual student and a lack of autonomy in her setting as a teacher, and Paul raised the notion that, as a freelancer, the concept of practice (versus 'discipline'?) is tricky to define.

Currently, I am trying to focus on teaching as 'facilitating'; the idea that I pass on information based on the professional experiences I have had and that a student can take either a lot or a little of this with them. We are living through a time in which wellbeing and ownership of learning are both valuable and, in fact, precious. I am trying to explore why I am teaching, not what I am teaching.

I'd like to suggest the following if you're looking for a book to buy:

Cooney, W. & Cross, C. & Trunk, B. (1993). From Plato To Piaget. Maryland: University Press of America.

Bye for now,

Ben.

Hello everyone,

I am Ben Warbis - I am a new student on the MAPP Dance Technique Pedagogy course.

First proper blog post coming soon!

Ben x