Focusing and refocusing

Just an update from the middle of term on module 2.
I'm feeling a bit lonely being the only one working on module 2, I think I am?  I'm coming across so many interesting ideas through my reading which is great but I'm also struggling to keep focused on what I'm trying to create for my research  proposal. What stumbling blocks did people who have completed it find?
I'm aware that I'm not tackling tasks from the handbook in a consecutive order, I've been working on the things that I feel most able to tackle first in order to feel able to start other tasks. I'm trying to read a lot but am not getting much down in writing apart from lots of notes.  I've know that reading of the literature of all kinds, needs to happen throughout the whole process of research; focusing, framing, planning, refocusing, data collection, analysis and report writing.

I keep coming back to, or coming across ideas about language and it's meaning and importance. The words we choose to represent are thoughts and beliefs, reveal and contain so much meaning, although sometimes I know I use words that aren't right but I can't find better ones!  An example of this in relation to my research is the use of the word 'correction'. Do I want to use it in my teaching? Is it appropriate for dance students at university? It says right and wrong to me, "you must do it this way" and I'm not sure that's always the case in my classes. The students I teach might/should be able to find their own way, their own solution to a movement or skill, after all, no two bodies or individuals are the same. Perhaps there's not a one size fits all solution in technique classes.I certainly don't want students to dance like me, I want them to dance like themselves. What does this all mean for codified techniques such as Limon?  Or perhaps it's simply the word itself,  "correction" that I don't seem to like using (why do I feel a bit uncomfortable about it?) What does it mean if I replace it with "feedback" but teach in exactly the same way?

Some final thoughts on a different note. I'm not teaching dance at the moment, back to work in January, but I have been taking a few classes, mostly Pilates, but also a couple of  Contemporary classes and I enjoyed dancing again so much! It's been 10 months.  It felt like my body was waking up again, things felt so familiar (I was worried they wouldn't) the endorphins flowed, the knowledge was still there although I was a bit wobbly, and I REALLY enjoyed the class. It made me think about the importance of trying to find the pleasure in dance ( I was looking around at a few miserable looking students, admittedly it was 9am) that sounds obvious and I know enjoying a class depends on a multitude of different factors but I also remember the teachers at a professional gaga workshop I went to, talking again and again about pleasure, not worrying about what we look like, whether we're doing it right, it won't be right unless you can enjoy it!

The embodied mind, the heart of movement

Have a look at this link if you have a moment. Beautiful written expression about Siobhan Davies'  realisation of her physical expression through the working process on Two Quartets.

http://www.siobhandaviesreplay.com/media2/UserType/00000000/00002000/00002679.pdf

I'm exploring epistemological and ontological ideas in relation to her work at the moment. More coming soon........

Communication

Hi all,
Yesterday's Skype meeting gave me a lot to think about, even though I had to drop out to feed my little one. Apologies for the sudden exit!

It is interesting to see what issues and questions re-surface for me and other members of the group. One thing for me is our group discussions. Skype sessions are working more smoothly and are certainly always very constructive but it seems to be a difficult thing to do well. This from someone who doesn't enjoy phone conversations! The lack of body language and facial expression definitely cause me some difficulties. There is the video option of course, but as far as I know you can't see everyone's faces at the same time, in real time? That would be really good!

Still on the theme of communication, I notice that often someone else can put into words exactly what I was trying to say, and often say it so much better, effortlessly summing up the ideas. Someone, sorry, I can't remember who, Ainsley?  did this when talking about the difference between the communication spaces of Linked-in and blogs. Statements v questions, group v individual, and ease of use were all mentioned.
Thinking, reacting and responding quickly is obviously a key part of teaching (being able to think on your feet) but going back to learning styles, if someone is more of a reflective nature, needing time to formulate ideas without too much pressure, perhaps this need for a fast response is one of the more challenging aspects of teaching practice for them. This might contradict what I was saying in my last blog about responding and just putting some thoughts out there. I think it's great to do that but not always easy in case you reveal your thinking to be confused or lacking in knowledge which can result in feeling vulnerable, or even embarrassed.

Sometimes words, spoken or written, feel inadequate. It could be my language skills of course but a passage in Case Study Research in Educational Settings (Bassey, 1999, p.43))  helped shed some light on feeling unable to make your meaning clear to someone else or the possibility of your meaning being misconstrued....

'language as a more or less agreed symbolic system, in which different people may have some differences in their meanings;' 

Here the author is talking about qualitative research and the problem of differences in perception, interpretation and language that which make it unsurprising that we all have different opinions on what is real. What stood out were the words 'more or less' in relation to our shared understanding of language. 

Was any of that clear!?

Link to Linked in

Hi all,
Here's the link to the Linked in discussion I've started. It would be really good to hear your thoughts.
It was interesting that Helen mentioned about trust on her blog this week as it's another aspect I was thinking about in relation to the student teacher relationship and the giving and receiving of feedback.

https://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&item=5932981799532658691&type=member&gid=4276460&trk=eml-b2_anet_digest-hero-1-hero-disc-disc-0&midToken=AQFwFFz15Gdn_w&fromEmail=fromEmail&ut=3hNxTOMhTyRCs1&_mSplash=1