Niamh Eccleston-Tuohy BAPP

 Yesterday evening we had a Zoom call with Helen to discuss our practice and how we would define it. We also discussed our thoughts on parts of the Module handbook and Learning Areas.  As an introduction we each introduced ourselves and spoke about our disciplines and then delved further into what we felt our practice was. I found this very daunting as students began to answer with such intellectual, well thought answers and all I could think was... I don't know. Despite mind mapping my practice and really thinking about it that day I find it so hard to put my thoughts into words. Dance is definitely my choice of expression as through vocalising my thoughts I rarely make any sense. However, I managed to communicate my thoughts on my practice (kind of) and after listening to everyone else it made a lot more sense. I found it very interesting to hear what other dancers felt their practice was as we all felt differently despite having the same discipline.  Throughout the dis...

  Networks, Community and Connectivism 'Knowledge is beyond a single language of communication' This quote really sparked my interest as I've always thought of knowledge as just being... knowledge and that knowledge is simply passed down from generation to generation. However through exploring the lenses I realise that is only one of many ways of learning knowledge. Networks are a huge part of our learning as they are the modes through which knowledge flows. I tried to focus on Steve Downes concepts on what he believes are imperative to have a working network and relate them to my networks. Autonomy - Within my professional networks they are governed by ourselves and not an overriding external source. For example the BA PP Community Facebook page which is controlled by us - the students. Diversity - Within my professional networks there is lots of diversity whether it be age, career, sex and more. The most Important thing is that we all have one thing in common which is ou...

 On Wednesday evening I joined the Zoom discussion group for all modules. It was lovely to share and discuss everything with like minded people and I feel like these discussions will be very beneficial for me going forward. We mainly focused on 3 things: Learning Areas, Creativity and Ethics. As I've been focusing on Lens 2 recently I noticed a lot of links with this lens and what we were discussing so I'm aiming to link them in this blog.  I personally was struggling with the concept of learning areas and as we need to write 3 paragraphs on it for the essay I felt a bit lost. I felt like I had all these thoughts, feelings and opinions but surely too many to only focus on 3 areas. However after reflecting on this I've realised that lots of topics fit into the same brackets which will help me reduce my areas of learning topics to 3, yet write deeply about a lot more things within each area. Students in other modules really helped me to do this by trying to make us think abou...

 I thought I'd do a quick blog post about Web 2.0 as I've just been going over it and thought it best to post while everything is fresh in my mind. I could talk about the positives and negatives of web 2.0 forever but I'll try to summarise my thoughts and beliefs.  Web 2.0 is arguably the biggest and most popular form of global communication. Social media platforms are bigger than ever. These platforms are ever changing to meet out demands and although they can be wonderful they can be very harmful both within and outside of our practice. With such a vast flow of knowledge at our fingertips it'd so easy to become consumed and fall down a rabbit hole of information. However, it is up to us to really tune into our emotional intelligence to decide what is valuable or not.  In this current climate in particular I think we would be lost without Web 2.0. Our practice for many of us has come to a complete holt and our only way of pushing forwards and continuing our development...

 Before starting this course I certainly have never reflected on many things surrounding my practice. This past week I've been focusing on reading the Core text and 'Knowing Knowledge' by George Siemens, as after much deliberation on where to start my studies I thought here would be appropriate. I've come to realise that I've never given much thought as to how we learn and how we retain knowledge. I've always been very accepting of the notions of learning and acquiring knowledge but never delved deeper and asked the bigger questions. If there's anything these books have taught me so far is how little I don't know, which I know is completely acceptable at this point in study. Through teaching dance to younger children it has been apparent that individuals learn in a variety of ways whether it be verbal-linguistic, kinaesthetic, musical or more. I accepted this and adapted my teaching style accordingly but through lack of inquisitiveness never gave it a se...

 On the 5th February we had the opportunity to join a welcome Skype session with Helen and other faculty members. I'm very glad I joined in with this session as it was very insightful and has made me feel more prepared for the course. One of the main things I was very pleased to hear was that you can take a break from your studies between modules, if going on a contract prevents you from studying efficiently. Like many of you I'm currently waiting to hear if I have another contract in the coming year and as a cruise ship worker I know how challenging it can be in terms of adequate wifi and internet connection. This was one of my biggest concerns starting the course but I'm happy to know now that I could still complete the course even if work meant having a short break from my studies.  Helen broke down the course and what we were to expect in the coming terms. It seems that Module One is very much about recognising your own practice and exploring it deeply. I'm really l...

Hello!  This is my first blog of undoubtedly many. Unfortunately I’m a bit of a technophobe so getting used to this new platform came as a challenge. However, I’ve managed to navigate around Blogger and read some very interesting blogs of those who are on the course as well.  I have been looking forward to starting this course for a while and it has always been something I wanted to accomplish after my professional training. After completing two professional contracts and waiting (patiently) to go back on another, I thought what better time to start this degree than now. As performers, we have been forced to leave our professions which for me personally has led to spending a lot of time at home. This time was much needed and when I look back I’ll always be grateful for it. Through this pandemic it has allowed me to reflect on many areas of my life, especially my profession; which is why now is the perfect time to start this course and focus on the deeper thoughts, reflections,...