Task 2B: Reflective Writing

Journal Writing Experience 

After initially finding my journal a useful tool I began looking into the different methods as suggested by Reader 2. I have been doing this for just over a week, using a different methods to record my thoughts at the end of each day. 

Having got quite used to the general keeping of a journal I was hoping this exercise would help to expand on the experiences I had already started recording and get me looking at my workings within my practice in a new light. 

Description 

This is probably the style I found easiest. Simply describing my day with full freedom, no particular structure is something I found actually quite therapeutic.  

Initial Reflection 

At first I was unsure how this technique would differentiate from the 'description' method I had used previously. However with the 'description' technique I found my journal read like a story, with full sentences and paragraphs and that wasn't how 'initial reflection' needed to be structured. So when reflecting on my day in this way I simply wrote down the very first things that popped into my head, whether that was one word, one sentence or a whole chain of thoughts. 
Again I found this quite a simple method of journal writing that I actually quite enjoyed using.  

Lists

This is the one method of journal keeping I knew I would be good at! I am forever keeping list on a daily basis. Somedays I have lists for other lists!

I think I find list writing particularly helpful as it is a very methodic way of arranging your thoughts. It can feel quite hectic when all my feelings and thoughts are flying around my head. So I write a list. It's a quick and easy way to jot down things down and get it out of your head onto paper. 

Evaluation

This was one method I found quite challenging. I seem to be quite happy writing down my experiences in different formats but when it comes to what I had learnt from those experiences it suddenly became a lot more difficult. It really got me thinking. It sparked questions within me, why did I do that and how can I learn from it? How can I use this to better my practice? 


Graphs, charts, diagrams 


Being quite creative I thought this would be a good method for me but I actually found it quite frustrating! I just wasn't happy with how any of the diagrams I created came out and what they showed about my day. 

I tried documenting all sorts of things, my energy levels throughout the day, my current situation vs this time last year, how much fun I was having etc. But unfortunately I just didn't find it a useful tool for me personally. 


What if?

I found the “What If?” journal day the most interesting. 
I am quite a methodical person by nature (hence lists!) but thinking about all the “What If”s of a day really pushed me out of my comfort zone and had me thinking about the possibilities of, not just my day, but also how I could improve on my general practice at work. 
Sometimes I find it difficult to break out of the way my mind wants to naturally think, but in writing about my day creatively, creating almost fiction, I found it very rewarding (and that was only after the one day!) I will defiantly be reusing this technique. 

Another view

Writing from a objects post of view just isn't something that I found particularly helpful. The only object that is with me throughout the entirety of a day is my mobile phone and its perspective is generally just the inside of my pocket! 
But I did gain some insight when thinking about my day from the point of view of other people that I spend time with. It helped me look at my attitude and actions in term of how they might come across to others, which I found sometimes varied from how I had intended.  

Other

The last method of journal keeping I have decided to try using is to keep an audio visual diary. 

Filming myself on my phone to video record my thoughts and experiences from the day. I chose to do this knowing it will defiantly push me out of my comfort zone and, so far, that seems to be where I gain the best self reflection!
Keep an eye out on my YouTube channel for any material I'm happy to upload. 

skyetupholmeYouTube

In conclusion, I have found this whole exercise very interesting. It has opened my eyes to how many different and varied styles of journal keeping there are and how individually each of them can help self reflection and evaluation. But even more effective is using all methods to make the most of your journal. With this in mind I will be keeping up a daily journal mostly using the descriptive and initial reflection style of writing but I am also going to continue to sum up each entry with an evaluation section where I will continue to deepen my thought process and learn about how I can improve in my practice on a daily bases. 

I will then be experimenting making a comparison between my written journal and my video diary. I'm hoping this will really help highlight different areas of my practice and enable me to develop and explore my strengths and weaknesses.  

Task 2A: Reflective Practice

So last week after studying Reader 2 I began to keep a journal of my daily comings and goings. 

Why? 

My first worry was that writing about my daily life surely wasn't going to be any help for my Professional Practice in Arts as on a daily bases I don't necessarily practice it! I no longer go to auditions or perform in shows on the daily bases. I want to be a teacher and I'm currently working as Manager of a cafe in order to fund my education to get there. 

So, how could keeping a log of my work-a-day life be of any use? 

To help answer this question I found chapter one of "Promoting Journal Writing in Adult Education" by David Boud extremely comforting. 

"Journal writing is as varied as those who engage in it"

 "Journal writing can be used to enhance what we do and how we do it. As a vehicle for learning, it can be used in formal courses, our pro- fessional practice, or any aspect of informal learning."

These quotes from chapter one: "Using journal writing to enhance reflective practice" are just a few that helped me realise it not about the content of what you write, its about a personal journey and what you take from it. There are infinite ways a journal can be a useful tool to anyone and can especially aid the development of a Professional Practitioner, no matter what area they choose to focus on. 

One of the key points that stood out for me after studying Reader 2 was the contrasting ideas of "off-line" and "online" reflection or, as Donald Schön (1987) describes it, "reflection-in-action" vs "reflection-on-action". 
This got me thinking about what I do on a daily bases and keeping a journal this past week has really helped me discover how I reflect throughout my day. 
One extract from my journal this week said "I was making tough decision on the spot" 
Where this was relating to an incident that involved team management during a busy shift at a cafe I soon realised that each day at work as a manager I "reflect-in-action" seeing a scenario develop and adapting to change and improve on it. 
This is the same kind of action I would take say doing a piece of choreography or teaching a classroom full of kids. 
I am starting to see there are many skills I use on a daily bases that are all relevant and extremely useful to a Professional Practitioner in Arts. The use of muscle memory is another  example. 

So far I have found the use of journal keeping very interesting and I'm very excited to see how my ideas develop. 

delving into Reader 2...

This morning I'm delving into Reader 2, something I am excited about as I have really enjoyed all the topics that have been brought to light so far on this course. 

I'm starting to understand this new way of working and really feel some of my ideas are coming along, I know this is just the beginning of the journey so I'm intrigued to see whats up next. 

Part 2 is all about Reflection, something I have never really had to do in a professional practice before. The idea of keeping a journal of some kind is not something I have done since I was a kid writing in my dolphin covered diary! So I am looking forward to seeing how reflection can be used as a tool for a practitioner.