The 'back to school felling'! I feel that no matter your age, the back to school slog can always become more of an obstacle then you ever thought.
The blogging has been my nemesis for some time, the compatibility with 'it' and myself has yet to happen. The performance aspect of this course I guess is the publishing of the material I am working on, as opposed to the work I am producing to the note books (is this part the rehearsals?) .The longer things are left for further thought, the bigger the build up of anxiety and pressure associates to the challenge...this is where I am ashamed to say I am...once again. Thanks to Paula and our recent phonecall I have had the chance to narrow down my thoughts and ideas in to a more managable bite size format.
Attempting to identify the path and direction my inquiry is to head down has opened an enormous vat full of interesting questions that are in my head. Some are leading questions that lie within my day to day practice, some are what will further shape me personal development path, some are what could be explored within my inquiry to develop my understanding of professional practice. Now, how to identify which category they belong in?
I know that in my current practice I am undergoing a transition from performing to teaching. Within this area I am constantly coming across questions and possibilities that I need to understand...are these the questions I want to use for the inquiry or is there a way of leaving these for the inevitable daily exploration?
The two paths; uni inquiry and the career perormance/teaching transition, run parallel to one another with a great deal of overlap (which seems obvious as this is where my life is at the moment, both professional and educationally). I think what I am trying to say is that there will be some questions that with time will come to a natural conclusion or that I will answer for my self, supporting the study for BAPP. Yet there are some of which I wish to take solely as an investigation, that possibly require some in depth further understanding...where the outcome is unknown to me. Exciting and nerve racking at the same time.
The way I think I will tackle this is to look at the performing/teacher part of 'me' as an observation of 'someone'...what is this person actively doing? how is she doing this? what is it she is doing? is she doing this due to her choices or as a result of circumstance?
The separation between the doing and the thinking should help to give clarity from the external, objective approach to me!!
I will set a separate blog for the questions that I have up to today and hope that with further discussions with Paula and others in the course and within my SIG (once fully established) I can successfully accept and refuse the ones that are appropriate for attention with in the inquiry.
I would be interested in hearing if anyone else has come across a problem like me. Is your inquiry really closely linked to your daily work...or have you chosen a completely different path (however still related to your field) to investigate? Is working on an idea for the inquiry, that is being 'lived' in the moment a good or bad choice...with respects to dividing the bias of what we want to hear and achieve? Are you able to separate the questions you wish to persue to the ones that you know you will face, without them being tainted?
Looking at this, maybe I am thinking too much about instead of trial and error?
QUESTIONS PROVOKED BY QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY QUESTIONS THAT LEAD TO FURTHER QUESTIONS!!!!!
like the way you have put this Hayley. It's a bit difficult to grasp, but the idea that we ask questions not for answers but for ideas and open knowledge is a new concept.
ReplyDeleteI am looking inside my inquiry to see how others that work close to me do things. Who are you planning on looking at?
Ahmet
Yes, Yes Yes!!! To the last sentence, in particular!
ReplyDeleteIt is so good to see you Blogging again Hayley! Welcome back! I look forward to following your journey and learning more about your transition from performer to teacher.
I understand your predicament - Uni inquiry and / or professional career transition inquiry?
My experience has been to challenge myself to an inquiry that is focused on the current but more so on the future, as opposed to something that is absolutely current and in the "now" which I am experiencing each day.
On reflection, for the purposes of this course and gaining a degree, I wish I had been able to focus on an aspect of my current practice; something that I am able to reflect on, experience and move forwards without having to look too far afield.
Due to the time constraints of this course, particularly in module three and what we get marked on (the process), I would highly recommend focusing on an aspect of your professional practice that is relevant NOW. You can worry about your future once you have graduated / alongside your studies.
I hope this helps!
I look forward to reading more about your journey during module two...
Best Wishes,
Jo
Hayley
ReplyDeleteHave you decided on any main questions yes to guide the rest of the module? They don't have to be written in stone! but use them to organise your topic area so that you have identified some main ideas you want to learn about - through the literature - and some aspect of your professional practice that you wold like to focus on. Stay in touch!
Bw
I really appreciated your feedback Jo regarding our choice for our inquiry (keeping it relevant to now and work about the future later). It really helped me focus in for my upcoming inquiry. :)
ReplyDeleteJP
Hi John-Paul,
ReplyDeleteGood to see you on here too! I hope everything's going well for you in Module Two - the "discovery" module. I;m glad my comment helped. I think it's really important to be able to keep focused on something not only present, relevant, but also that puts "fire in your belly" and something that you are hungry to find out more about. I look forward to reading your Blog over the next few weeks.
Best Wishes,
Jo