The Second Campus Session (17/03/15) - Discussing Module 1 Part 2: The Reflective Practitioner

Although this was the second campus session as part of the BAPP programme, this was in fact my own first experience. I missed the prior session as my enrolment on the course had yet to be finalised. The session was headed by Paula with Irini, Lisa and myself in attendance. It was a pleasure to meet them all face to face for the first time. I felt a touch nervous prior to attending. Due to my late enrolment, I was around three weeks behind judging by how long the module handbook recommends to spend on each part. I was happy to find the session beginning with a re-cap on the first, what we feel constitutes being a professional. I learnt that Lisa and Irini, who were both present for the first, had discussed with Paula that what they feel characterizes the professional is not simply the work produced as an act of performing, but everything that surrounds the performance. This could include how the performer composes themselves in the rehearsal space and that making the most of the time only serves to better the end product. We then put this into some kind of context to lead as an example.

The professionally trained performer may choose to take part in an amateur production during a break between jobs. In a lot of cases, the performer will see this production as an opportunity to exercise their practice within a space that does not come to expect the same calibre of standards as a professional environment would. The time period spent rehearsing is often much longer as it requires to fit around the cast’s regular work schedule. Now granted, a large proportion of people who join amateur dramatic societies take a keen interest in the arts otherwise they often wouldn’t commit their free time to it. There is nothing wrong with members attending purely for the aspect of it being fun as, at the end of the day, it is the reason that spurs all performers to make a go of it as a career! However, the professional performer will often take their work on the project outside of planned rehearsals to further progress what they can bring to the performance. Whilst in rehearsal, they may attempt to maximise all available time in order to achieve the most out of each session. On the other hand, this isn’t to say the amateur performer is incapable of developing the same discipline as the professional. They may not have received the same formal training but an attitude can be cultivated via outside study, reading or going to see theatre to achieve a similar level of quality in their work. This is where the line between amateur and professional performer blurs and shifts to a new idea, the amateur and professional practice.

This brought a conclusion to what was prior discussed and led very nicely into the focus on part 2 of the module, ‘the reflective practitioner’. Paula asked how we were finding the tasks and what style of writing we were finding to be most useful. Since beginning the course, I have been making a conscious effort to compose my posts in an essay-like fashion. This is not a new style for me and probably no more so for anyone else as it was common practice for writing during school. I have chosen to continue using this method as a means to help me draw and sustain a more creative, fluid and grander line of thought in my writing. We spoke about dividing different ideas into paragraphs under their own sub-titles within the same post. Whilst I agree this can be extremely beneficial for some, I personally feel that the style provokes the motive to put a somewhat blinkered-vision on thoughts and doesn’t encourage referencing to earlier points made or building a critical argument. It does, however, accommodate for taking a break from writing and returning to it at a later time, an advantage over the former due to ideas being contained within their own segment. This is all subjective of course, how people choose to log work is their own prerogative and I completely respect that.

We then began discussing writing style in relation to the second reader of the module, more specifically a particular idea presented by renowned influential thinker, Donald Schön. Schön, responsible for developing the theory and practice of reflective professional learning in the twentieth century, put forward the term we know as ‘reflection-in-action’ and ‘reflection-on-action’. The terms are quite self-explanatory with the former referring to assessment being made during an activity and the latter sometime after it has been completed. I will be exploring the concept further in upcoming blog posts as well as other practitioner's work found in the second reader, so I will not be going into specifics right now. This is not a hindrance to the following section however as, at the time of the session, I did not have a full understanding for the purpose of what was to happen next.

Paula asked that we next take part in an exercise. This consisted of going into the main hub of the university, watching people with an attentiveness to their current activity and recording it before returning five minutes later to share our discoveries with the group. I instantly likened the purpose of the exercise to acting techniques learned during my time at college, Stanislavsky’s ‘objectives’ and the more broadly known ‘character observation’ which has been covered by various acting practitioners over the years. After taking a seat in the hub, I began looking for subjects of study. After a couple of minutes I took particular notice of a student who was hovering halfway up the stairs to the second floor of the building. I thought he may be on his way to a lesson and had stopped to check his phone for a call or text message but after ten seconds he began scanning the lower floor. His objective had become clear, he was looking for someone. Sure enough, moments later a fellow student met him the bottom of the stairs. After seeing this event had taken place I caught sight of a girl who walked past me towards the university entrance/exit. Her pace was quick, urgent and direct. Shortly after, it was time to head back and discuss our findings.

After Lisa, Irini and I swapped observations it became clear that without a clear objective or goal, the individual would become much more self-conscious. The man hovering around the stairs, for example, will look for reasons to appear busy when he is in fact unsure at his current activity. His objective actually becomes ‘to look busy’ in order to divert attention from onlookers. Was this the real reason for looking at his phone and that his friend just incidentally found him? I’m sure many of us on occasion can admit to needlessly distracting ourselves with an object like a phone in order to avoid unwanted attention when alone, or maybe letting on that we don’t really know what we’re doing, I know I have. Paula brought up Laban efforts, a technique developed by Rudolf Laban, for identifying and characterising traits of a subject. The nine different terms for describing movement quality within this method are float, punch, glide, slash, dab, wring flick and press. Each quality lends itself to a different activity. This is another idea I am very familiar with as a performer and did not think about when carrying out my study. In the case of this gentleman, I would compare his wandering demeanour to that of a float quality due to his indecisive shuffling along the stairs but also describe it as a flick as his legs swing under his torso, desperate to help give the impression this man is without purpose at this moment in time. The two qualities are different in their speed of movement but are both indirect. Compare this with girl mentioned earlier who was heading for the entrance/exit. She moves with confidence, completely invested in knowing and achieving her objective. She does not observe what surrounds her beyond her destination. Her movement qualities could be described as a glide and press, the opposites to the former mentioned to describe the gentleman. They are sustained and direct. Below you can see the picture I drew in attempting to express the difference between these two individuals.

We were then asked to go out and observe the main hub once again, this time thinking about how the environment affects communication.

 

As can be seen pictured, the hub is symmetrical in the sense that people walking around must pass tables, chairs and stairs on either side in a circular motion. As was the case with the girl moving towards the entrance/exit, she was alone with a pair of headphones on. This makes her introverted, moving rigidly amongst obstacles. On the other hand a group of boys make their way through idly chatting, not concerned with pace or surrounding but collectively creating their own dynamic of movement. Moving onto the environment itself, it was evident that bars and tables and chairs had been placed not only for the social aspect but also as means to integrate work into the same space. Surfaces such as the aforementioned bar and tables provide a space for students to place and rest their laptops and phones. It was interesting to note how information received via technology could spark social interaction but also negate from it. The behavior described could be called ‘progression of conversation’, how the virtual and physical environment crossover and impact communication. The session was concluded upon completion of this final exercise.

Although the aim of it was not clear to me upon starting, the exercises and in fact the whole session was important in beginning to think about ways in which I can document and reflect upon my practice. The exercise explored was just an example how to do so and reader two of the module was to supply us with many other approaches. It may be that my writing style does not alter but I am welcome to try differing processes. Worst case scenario I return to a comfortable form that I know successfully works for myself, best case I discover and learn a technique that offers me a plethora of new tools to incorporate. Nothing to lose and everything to gain!