The Importance of Questioning
Yesterday was my first experience of a group Skype discussion which included students who were currently at various different points within the programme, led by Helen Kindred. A key focus was on communication and its importance within one's development on the programme and how we can utilise various forms within the learning community to develop a stronger understanding of our practice, sharing previous experience and thoughts on Web 2.0 facilities to enhance our understanding.
This session confirmed the importance of communication as I felt immediately more informed and confident in myself and listening to others to gain a stronger understanding of the best ways to document reflection of my professional practice and the importance of remembering that 'questions should lead to more informed or deeper question'.
This inspired me to look back over reflective journals that I completed as a requirement for my Diploma in Musical Theatre. As I went back over my thoughts from over a decade ago, I found it interesting that my younger self had a stronger understanding that the process I was involved in was something that I would take with me, and the 'finish line' was only moments of understanding and self appreciation of development through reflection, but not the finale to the work executed.
Within my current professional practice as a teacher and course leader, I feel that sometimes I create an expectation of myself to know the answers to everything, The past few days have reminded me that the beauty of the creative arts is that development is endless and comes through discovery. The director is never fully happy on opening night, the choreographer would always like more time to work on numbers and the musical director would always want to clarify dynamics.
Within my work on the programme I now appreciate that we always have questions to ask and all we learn continues with us and informs us. The cycle of learning allows us to grow, with no need for answers...just thoughts.
This session confirmed the importance of communication as I felt immediately more informed and confident in myself and listening to others to gain a stronger understanding of the best ways to document reflection of my professional practice and the importance of remembering that 'questions should lead to more informed or deeper question'.
This inspired me to look back over reflective journals that I completed as a requirement for my Diploma in Musical Theatre. As I went back over my thoughts from over a decade ago, I found it interesting that my younger self had a stronger understanding that the process I was involved in was something that I would take with me, and the 'finish line' was only moments of understanding and self appreciation of development through reflection, but not the finale to the work executed.
Within my current professional practice as a teacher and course leader, I feel that sometimes I create an expectation of myself to know the answers to everything, The past few days have reminded me that the beauty of the creative arts is that development is endless and comes through discovery. The director is never fully happy on opening night, the choreographer would always like more time to work on numbers and the musical director would always want to clarify dynamics.
Within my work on the programme I now appreciate that we always have questions to ask and all we learn continues with us and informs us. The cycle of learning allows us to grow, with no need for answers...just thoughts.
Great read Andrew. I especially like the point about as creatives it is a joy to explore and discover as we reflect. Rather than be rigid and not expand.
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed reading this, I think at this point we are all trying to get into the mindset of expanding on what we already know, but not forgetting where our roots are.
ReplyDeleteReally informative read as I missed the group discussion. Loved the passage regarding being a teacher as can totally relate. I look forward to more posts from you!
ReplyDeleteHi Andrew,
ReplyDeleteThis is EXACLTY why Rehearsals were ALWAYS my favourite part of any process. Totally agree, I think ambition can easily be confused with development.
Matt M3 :)