Time for reflection.....

Where has the time gone????

After 18 months this journey is slowly coming to an end. I still can't believe it, feels like yesterday I was looking at Universities considering my options in the middle of the first lockdown.

As I start to complete my work on the critical review and the professional artefact I start to doubt everything I have done. I guess that is natural as we approach the submission date, but the fear that I did it all wrong is with me the entire time....

However as I began reflecting on this entire process, I realised no matter if I did it 'right' or 'wrong', I learned an awful lot.

Just a few of those lessons were:

• all my past experiences affect my current practice
• anyone can learn new things no matter their age or ability
• mind is one of the most powerful tools a person can have
• I want to keep questioning, developing and challenging myself professionally
• 'academic' is no longer a scary word for me! :) 

As I struggle on completing my work, re-reading and finalising, I hope I can become more confident with what I have done.

After all, 2 years ago I never thought I could even attempt a Maters Degree, never mind actually completing one. 

Maybe there will come a point when we can all stop panicking and just take a moment to be proud of our achievement.....

Deep breath....and  10 days till submission! 

Good luck everyone!

:) :) :) 

ANALYSIS

Here it is, the moment I've been dreading since the beginning of this Module. 

The last couple of weeks I've been familiarising myself with my collected data and looking for patterns and meaning. 

Not really knowing if what I'm doing was right I turned to my supervisor and simply had a chat about what I understand my data to be. It helped to be assured that using the word "maybe" is perfectly normal. There is no one way so questioning each arising theme was definitely beneficial.

I started to just write and see where that takes me. After our recent session I also went back to my analysis with a fresh outlook. Instead of presuming, I let the patterns speak for themselves. Now my room and laptop is a mess of papers, highlights and 7 open word documents looking at my references to articles and interview notes while trying to word it all. Even as I write out my analysis new discoveries are happening. It's a lot of work and very time consuming but doable 💪

I read a few articles and found an interesting lecture on YouTube about thematic analysis which helped me a lot. For anyone using the same method copy the link below to take a look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zFcC10vOVY

Best of luck with writing out our critical reviews everyone!

Where we're at...

 Tonight we had our first Module 3 session. 

Even though I didn't get a chance to share I have gained a lot from listening. I'm also very impressed with everyone's research ideas! I found the versatility fascinating.

I found it very helpful to hear that it's ok to not get attached to our initial title and accept that we will all have a little bias when it comes to our research. I feel like unlike others I have a certain idea of where this research might go....I also acknowledge that it might NOT at all go the way I plan it, which is both scary and interestingly exiting.

So here is a little about where I'm at:

I'm conducting a qualitative action research. I'm just about to start my data collection process this week. I will carry out semi-structured interviews and use thematic analysis once I gather my data. As well as the interviews I'm using my own reflections/experiences and extensive literature to draw from. 

I'm a little behind schedule but trying to stay calm. As Mike said we just have to go for it. I've been trying to think like that from the beginning of this Module. Time won't stop for us and we have to just do the best we can with what we have. I have realised that there's no way I will get to the bottom of what I want to find as 12 weeks is simply not enough. Like Helen mentioned we're just scratching the surface.

My main question to everyone is how do you think you'll time manage? Some people spoke of interviewing lots of people and gathering data for a few weeks. I feel like the analysis part is what scares me the most and will probably be most time consuming....

If anyone has found some good resources on thematic analysis I'd love it if you could comment and share. I'm a bit lost when it comes to the whole thing. Although I'm still a while away from analysing I feel like I need to start studying this approach more deeply. 

Good luck to us all. May the days and hours stretch so we'll all manage to carry out our studies in timely manner ;)  

  

Module 3, here we go!

12 weeks is all we have left till the end of this journey! So hard to believe!

Having missed the induction sessions last week because of work, it hasn't hit me until today after my first supervision meeting that I'm starting this new term right now. This is it. The last straight....

I still don't see how I can do it all in such short time while working my 3 jobs and organising classes but it's a bit reassuring that I felt this way at the beginning of each Module yet somehow always finished all my work on time. Why should it be any different this time around? ;) 

This is definitely the biggest undertaking with so much yet to learn to make it come together. I'm definitely nervous and overwhelmed but also exited. Now it feels real. I'm about to explore and potentially discover something new about a subject that's very close to my heart and my practice!

I'll try and focus on that positive note rather than on the ton of reading, sorting and learning I have to do in order to get there.

Hope everyone had a great break and you're all feeling good about this new term!

After all that's exactly what we all planned for in Module 2, now it's just a matter of carrying it out.

Let's do this!💪

Literature and research proposal

 As I try to wrap my head around all that's required for my research proposal I can finally make use of all the information I have been taking in over the last couple of months. 

The books and articles as well as quotes from Ted Talks are all coming in handy as I begin writing my literature review. I can say I'm using the information to back up my opinions rather than looking for sources that agree with my research. I've read a lot about carrying out research and my area of interest. I know there is so much more to explore but I feel confident and exited about what I have done so far. I have learned so much more than I thought I will and what seemed impossible a few months ago is slowly coming together. 

After reading a few blogs written about the discussion group on literature (which I missed because of work) I realised I have not looked into the opposing views to my own. That got me looking around and exploring what 'the other side' has to say about the subject I'm studying. I actually found it very valid and interesting. This is one of the reasons why I know I chose the right subject- because I find all areas of it extremely interesting. Even though I'm still stressed and nervous about handing everything in on time, I'm also exited about the prospect of carrying out my research.

How has everyone been doing with their readings? 

What was your reactions to opposing views and opinions?

Are we feeling exited or nervous? Or a bit of both? ;)

Module 2 discussion

 On the 11/03 we finally had a discussion group for Module 2. I was looking forward to it as the last few weeks felt a bit like guess work and I wanted some reassurance that I'm on the right track. 

We spoke about many different aspects and struggles of this Module and discussed our approaches. It seems all of us are a bit confused figuring it all out but it's ok. 

I wanted to share with you what I've been doing and where I'm at. In the discussion we mentioned theories and frameworks as well as the philosophical approaches. I remember looking at those and feeling a bit overwhelmed in the beginning. I didn't spent too much time dwelling on those as I hoped they will become clearer as I get into the Module. Instead I started by reading two of our core texts: "Doing your research project" by Judith Bell and "Researching Dance: Evolving Modes of Inquiry" by Sondra Horton Fraleigh and Penelope Hanstein". I found them both very helpful. 

Once I figured out my area of inquiry I started to read around it and found many articles and books and spent most of my time reading. I think maybe a little too much....My reading list got longer and broader yet I still haven't figured out my title and aims of the inquiry. So I think now it's time to pause and look back at the basic questions to be asked and slowly get to what I want to achieve with my inquiry and why. 

I hope I can follow Helen's advice and start to enjoy this process rather than constantly stress. The MORE form looks long and scary but I don't think I will look at it until I know the title and aim of my inquiry as I wouldn't be able to answer many questions on it before I establish those. 

For now it's back to the handbook and the first couple of chapters in the books mentioned above. I hope to find my way before tackling the ethical considerations and the MORE form.

At the end of the day anything worth doing takes time, perseverance, hard work and few failures along the way. 

I hope we all manage to find a bit of joy in those daily struggles that will hopefully add up to another successful Module filled with learning :)

The importance of teaching grit, determination and perseverance in dance

 As I began reading and thinking of inquiry ideas I experienced so much confusion and doubt as to what area of dance pedagogy I want to look into  over the coming months. 

I spent a week reading and exploring one area than changing my mind and coming back to square one. I was forcing myself to read not really "feeling it".

From one idea to another via many articles, books and videos I found an area that is not only interesting but somehow close to my heart. An area of dance that I found not to be talked about enough in Higher Level Dance Education when I was training and still not mentioned frequently enough to students wanting to pursue a career in dance. 

PERSEVERANCE

In my journey as a dancer it was not my technical abilities or talent that got me to where I am today but my passion, grit and determination. 

Now as I stand before young people aspiring to become professionals in our filed of work I wonder can I teach them more than technique and style? Can I teach them grit? Can I ignite their passion and determination? Can I motivate them to work harder? If so, how?

These are just some of the questions in my mind at the moment and I'm definitely a lot more exited to begin looking into them and exploring this area in relation to dance education.

In my research I came across this very interesting Ted Talk which began my questioning.

I hope you enjoy it.

Could you possibly express your opinion on my questions above in the comments? I would love to hear what you think about this subject. 

MODULE 2 here we go!

 So here we go again, back to the laptop, books and study!

It's so good to be back and have something to do. I don't know what's it like around the world but where I am I can do absolutely NOTHING that makes me-me. No dance, creativity, travel or even work. It seems even the Zooming has slowed down as people wait to finally get back to the studio. So it hasn't been the easiest of times and I'm glad to get back to dance through this course and feel connected to the arts again. Exited to explore new areas of dance education and this Module is all about research!

After reading the handbook and having my one on one I have a general idea of where to start....so the next couple of weeks all I'll be doing is reading! 

God knows there's sooooo much to read and research. So maybe it's a blessing in disguise I find myself with so much time. All I need now is the motivation 😋

I find the academic language difficult and actually had to look up definitions of many words I never came across before while reading the Module 2 handbook. So normally after 30-45min of reading articles, books and journals written "academically" I hit a wall and my brain can't take in more. It has nothing to do with English not being my first language, I just don't understand why can't things be put into plain words that everyone understands 😂 One of my friends described studying at this level, researching and writing as learning a new language and that's just what I'll have to do. 

I've decided to do a little bit of reading every day while the world is still shut and hopefully with time I'll be able to understand more. I'll have Google at hand to look up definitions of complicated words and power through! 

I'm starting with Researching Dance: Evolving Modes of Inquiry while I wait for some more books to be delivered. Just like last term I don't know what I'm doing but this time around I trust the process a bit more and hope it will all become clearer as the weeks go by.

So how is everyone doing? What are your first steps this term?