Finding the time to write in my journal was not an issue at all. Which is perhaps something I might have thought would be. With countless, mundane, tour bus journeys, I didn't struggle to get thoughts typed up on my iPad (although, I admit it is a lot easier, motivationally, when I sit next to a fellow BAPP student). I found recapping on the day and writing about it, was somewhat therapeutic and it helped me to have a period of unwinding which is always nice after a busy day. I know this was perhaps a little ignorant of me, but initially I did struggle to find a major benefit of a reflective journal other than its therapeutic effect, nevertheless, I enjoyed it all the same.
To the left is a screenshot of my first few days in my journal. As you can see, it was very basic and written in note form just highlighting key thoughts, feelings and events as opposed to going into detail. I was beginning to think about what each event meant in relation to my professional practice and the life of a professional dancer. The additional thoughts put after the hyphens show how I believe it relates. For example, On day one I was particularly anxious about doing my warm up class on pointe shoes as I hadn't done much pointe work since breaking my ankle and I wanted to save myself for the rehearsals. I added a comment about self management and adapting to suit your needs, which I feel is very important for professional dancers as you are in charge of your own bodies and know your own capabilities. This deeper thinking into small events is the essence of the reflective practice and encourages you to take lessons from your day and your thoughts rather than letting it pass and moving on without any kind of absorption.
As I was now just touching on the deeper concept of reflective practice, I decided to do a little bit of research into the benefits and found two wonderful quotes which I believe 'hit the nail on the head', so to speak, of the real reasons for reflective practice. They are as follows:
“Reflection is a basic mental process with either a purpose, an outcome, or both, applied in situations in which material is unstructured or uncertain and where there is no obvious solution.”
This was said by Jennifer A Moon in reflection in learning and professional development : theory & practice. This quote shows the reflecting and writing about every day isn't necessary unless there is a purpose or something to be gained by it. I agree that simply writing down events for the sake of it, perhaps doesn't have the benefit of writing about a particular event with a lesson or meaning. The idea of reflective practice is to learn from past experiences as opposed to just noting them down. I think the section about an uncertain solution is interesting also, as it approaches refection in a direction I hadn't necessarily considered. Writing about situations which confused you or you feel leave unanswered questions is a good way to take more information from the event than you had at the time, thus gaining more knowledge and perspective.
"Reflective practice is 'a dialogue of thinking and doing through which I become more skilful'"
This quote comes from The Reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action and it was said by Donald A Schon. Again, this highlights the importance of using your reflective practice as a learning experience and to gain skills that weren't as developed before. I think the use of the word "dialogue" is really interesting and it evokes imagery of your thoughts and actions conversing and almost working in opposition. Your thoughts and actions are very independent from one another and your reflection should show this. They can influence each other, but one doesn't always happen as a result of another. Using reflection for self improvement is also a very interesting point. There is little benefit in writing down events if you don't use them to improve how you may act in the same situation should it arise.
I am now going to use the table given to us in the handbook to explore alternative methods of reflective practice. I will also use what I have learnt from the above quotations to re-evaluate the purpose of my reflection and direction I shall approach it in for the remainder of the course. I shall write a post shortly about my discoveries and I hope you gained something from the quotes as much as I did!
Your have been very thoughtful here, and the way that you are collecting your experiences and observations very clear - this way of working will be helpful as you start to plan your inquiry. There is a good sense of the control that reflective practice gives to the critical thinking process.
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