being in a process

The Sunday discussion yesterday, focussed on refection and learning processes, but also on making connections, between modules and between learning and our practice.

When looking back at the three modules, as this course draws to an end for me,  I start to feel, like the lines between the modules start to blur and I can see the in between bits clearer and realise, that my learning happened just as much during the modules as in those spaces between. The gaps are no longer gaps, but become meaningful connections.

I feel that a big part of my learning emerged from an unexpected source of learning: I have learned just as much through the actual experience of being in a learning or research process, as through all of the information, literature and data I collected and was engaged with. Being in a "research mode" made me more attentive and open, to everything around me. 

Bolton (2014) states, Questions determine  directions,  and  what  might  be  discovered,  rather  than  destinations. The image that comes to my mind is the difference between adults and children in going some where. Adults most of the times want to get from A to B as fast as they can, the path is not important, it is just something they have to do, in order to get where they want to go. What I love about children is, that they are much more connected to the path, they look around, there is a sense of wonder, they take time to notice things. I feel the engagement with this course has allowed me to reconnect with that sense of wonder a bit.

And I am very curious of how this will all keep on developing. And I am curious to hear, how all you are doing with the last bit of this semester?

single stories

I was going to blog about last Sundays discussion on theory and frameworks. I was going to write about how theory can allow us to question frame works, how to explore them, how we can look at our practice or frame work through all the different lenses of theory. But I have attended a symposium about fields of knowledge in dance today, which shifted my question from how to use theory to question our frame works, to WHY it is so important to question or even just being aware of the constructs that frameworks are, in the first place.

While the symposium was quite interesting, what struck me at the end of the day was, how often we function and act within a collectively created and upheld framework, or single narrative. While the topic of the symposium was fields of knowledge in dance, what every one was talking about and referring to as dance, was always western contemporary dance. Without specifying it (not even in the program description), some how every one "knew" that when talking about dance, people meant western contemporary dance. This made me wonder how often we just collectively assume things, or see them through one kind of lenses, without realizing, that we are looking through lenses at all and we somehow become blind to all that is excluded from that frame work. Like today: there was no reference or mentioning of fields of knowledge in other dance forms, from other cultural back grounds etc. I mean its ok to focus on one specific form of dance, but it amazed me that most of us didnt think about it as being about one very specific field of dance, but about dance.

Watching the video Adesola posted "in my language" and reflecting on todays experience at the symposium, really makes me think how important it is to question frame works, or even just being aware that we are constantly moving within frame works, and by "following the rules" of the frame work, the frame work is upheld. How enriching it can be, or how differently you can see things if you encounter them with a more open mind. Even if at the and of a process of questioning a frame work, you end up being happy with that frame work, I think to critically think about what we consider "normal" or "obvious" is so important.

This made me also think of a video Helen has posted some time ago, about the danger of a single story:
http://helenkindred.blogspot.com/2018/03/multiple-narratives-multiple.html

exploring the in-betweens

We had a really interesting Skype discussion, with so many great topics and ideas to explore and reflect upon further!

Lately I feel I stumble very often across the topic of connections/connectivism/connecting....
So that was also what intrigued me the most today: the topic of connections and connecting, within the learning process; exploring the space in-between. Or using Helens Analogy of the rocks in the ocean: taking the focus to the connections between the rocks, how do the connect, underneath the ocean, how do they relate to each other, what do I learn from the process of becoming aware of the connections. I feel that it is in that space, in-between the rocks, where a big part of the learning process happens (apart from discovering new rocks, of course), where we weave our knowledge together in a way maybe...?

In this course I feel a lot of the learning for me happened, through the process of connecting theory and practice. Weaving bits together. I struggled a lot with that in the beginning (still now sometimes ;-). But found, there is this huge richness of things to discover, once you allow yourself to search for connections and look in between. But also in my teaching practice or movement research, I find myself more and more drawn to the in-betweens. I teach ballet and contemporary, and what I find really exciting is, what happens between the "positions", the organisation of dynamics, rather than the shaping of a form, but also in improv, the little moments that connect one movement to the next. The space in-between where anything can happen, where you allow yourself not to know.

I have participated in a course on fascia (connecting tissue) not so long ago and wanted to share an image from that course with you. This image for me illustrates the strength, but at the same time also the fragility of connections. It brings attention to the point that everything is basically made up of connections, not only are our neurones connected and wired together in our brain, but the whole of our body is connected through connective tissue. And through our actions, but also reflections we make connections with our environment.

I am curious to hear what your thoughts are on that topic and what role connections, or the process of connecting have played in your learning processes, your practice or the ones of your students!

fostering trust

I really liked the TEDx talk Helen posted today about creative thinking. What made me think was, the moment Dr. Corazza talked about how the situation or environment we're in can influence our thinking out of the box. He talked about the fear of punishment (i.e.for answering in the "wrong" way), being one reason, that could hold us back.

Fear seems to be quite a big inhibitor, for thinking, but also dancing/moving outside of the box. My daughter took up gymnastics recently, she absolutely loves it. But she is hypersensitive and transitions and entering a new situation is always an immense challenge for her. When we arrive at the gymnastics studio, her whole body would always tense up and she would cry for the first five minutes. You can literally observe, how fear freezes her body.
This is the fear of a six year old. But I think we all have our fears, that can inhibit us to think, or voice our thoughts outside the box, or to dance outside the box, or our comfort zone. Maybe less obvious, than in the example above, (but that can some times make it even more challenging to address, or even be aware of the fear).
"What will the others think of me?", "Is that the correct answer?", "I must look so silly doing that step", "I have the feeling my students can't connect at all, to what I'm saying" etc.

This leads me to think, what an important part trust plays in any kind of learning and what a great responsibility we have as teachers to facilitate an environment in our class and practice, where students can learn to trust themselves, but also others: make mistakes without being laughed at, or told off by peers and teachers, where asking questions is ok, where the practice is driven more by curiosity and research, rather than attaining one ideal or finding the correct answer.

Trust allows you freedom, to go further in your thinking and dancing. So how can we foster an atmosphere in teaching/learning situations that allows trust and the best possible growth of our students, but also us as teachers?

Curious to hear your thoughts and experiences around that topic!

frameworks

It was great discussion this morning, we have talked about how we define framework and how frameworks are related to theories, how does theory affect frameworks and how does a framework influence the perception or emergence of theory.

The discussion, as well as carrying out the interviews for my Inquiry made me consider the role of frameworks in teaching dance (or any educational setting).

All around the world you can take ballet or contemporary or any other dance class. But will the ballet class be the same in China as it will be in Australia or Switzerland? Or even in the same country, some times even in the same school there will be completely different approaches to the same dance technique/style. What other factors besides sharing the same terminology for certain steps influence our frame, of how we see and experience for example ballet? Of how we teach it and how we learn (about) it? How do cultural, gender, political, personal life experiences and aesthetical factors influence our frame of what ballet is and on how we share it?

In an interview with a student last week I realised, that while during feedback sessions with students I often discuss physical, emotional and even every day aspects of their learning journey and training, I have never consciously thought about talking or asking them about their framework, on what ballet or what dance is for them. But the interview made me consider, what an important role frameworks actually play in a dancers training, as it will strongly depend on your framework what you will  take or learn from the class. What things you will "hear".

I am really interested to look further into that topic, as it seems fascinating to me and opens so many new questions.

Food for thought

Yesterday I joined exceptionally both discussions, to get a chance to meet every body, as I am taking on the role of student rep for this semester. I want to start this blog, with just briefly saying, that if you have any feed back, thoughts, ideas, suggestions, or other things on your mind, concerning this course and any other university related proceedings, feel free to contact me at any time, I am very happy to represent your ideas and thoughts at the university board of studies meeting. Looking forward to this term with you! My e-mail is krabumbel(at)yahoo.de, we can also talk via Skype or WhatsApp (you can send me an e-mail with your phone nr. if you want and I will get in touch with you then) and I am also on Facebook (so (too??) many ways to communicate ;-)!!)

I felt that both discussions yesterday were very thought triggering and many really interesting topics were touched.

The evening discussion made me think how knowledge is in a constant flux, it is always changing and evolving.

For example the discussion we had about what "academic" writing is, made me realise how much my conception of what academic writing means to me has changed over the course of this program. It has evolved from seeing it as something stiff and formal with strict rules to follow and only one correct way to do it, to perceiving it more of a process of finding my own voice within an academic context, connecting my practice to the theories and to the huge body of knowledge, that is out there, allows me to situate myself, becoming more aware of where I am, of my learning process and choosing more consciously where I want to go from here and all the other questions, that you can explore ;-). And even though citations are a time consuming and sometimes frustrating process, I feel it allows me to acknowledge the work of others and I started to become more aware of and question where information comes from, also in other contexts.

This brings me to the other really interesting topic we talked about in the morning: communication.
We had a really good discussion and Adesola asked in the end, what made it a good discussion. Among other things we talked about that moments of silence are ok, it allows you to think before answering, acknowledging that we are all involved in the same process no matter which module and that every input is valued, were other aspects we talked about.

While I entered the discussions with asking how to communicate specific ideas clearly, I left it thinking about another aspect of communication, that I haven't given much consideration before, that maybe communication is not only about getting a specific meaning across, but also (or maybe fore most) about inspiring a reflective process. Rather than getting a straight answer, getting food for thought. Seeing through some one else eyes and relating it back to your own view. Its about growth. So that would be another aspect, that I would add as to what makes a good discussion: a discussion that inspires a reflective process during the discussion itself, but also as an afterthought.

So, this has been really long, I will stop here ;-) and look forward to many more inspiring discussions with you all and reading your blogs about yesterdays discussions!

beginnings

Welcome back to every body and welcome to all the new MAPPers! It was great reading Adesolas post about beginnings and every bodies responses.

It made me realise, how talking about beginnings can bring people together. We all have experienced a variety of beginnings in our lives, so it is an experience every body can relate to. I like beginnings. I like when a new semester starts, as a teacher welcoming new students, that are anxious to get going, starting to discover them as dancers and people, but also as a student, being curious and excited myself.

Reflecting on the beginning of a performance I saw not so long ago, (as I commented on Adesolas blog), where the dancers started by coming in one by one and either sitting or standing at the front of the stage and just looking at the public. It made me realise, how great it can be to take time, when you begin something new. Just to connect with the work ahead and the people involved.
When I start an education school project, I usually feel a little bit nervous, there is so much information, that needs to be given and explained to the kids and you want to get up and start moving. But I feel I have to remind myself, that its good to take time, to just connect to the kids, allowing them also time to connect to the new situation, before rushing into the beginning of the project.

I am curious to know: what are your rituals when starting a new year/term/project? How do you connect with your students or your work? How do you feel about taking time?