Reflective Practice- Task 2C

Critical Reflection on Reflective Practice

It is fascinating how reflection relies heavily on learning from an experience, and to me it is a way of life. As Dewey stated that reflective thought is an ‘active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends’ (Dewey, 1933). In order to conclude an opinion to be able to reflect, knowledge is an important factor to be able to understand this term, where experience is needed in order to gain knowledge. Therefore without experience, people wouldn’t be able to learn, without learning people wouldn’t be able to reflect, and without reflecting, people wouldn’t be able to learn something new and ‘come across new ideas,’ create change and therefore evolution.

Take for example the research for a cancer cure- through trial and error from different experiences, patients and doctors have learnt more, have been able to reflect on it and think back on the knowledge gained to create new theories and develop, overcome all the obstacles each time a little better for that hope to reach their goal. Reflective practice is one whole big beautiful cycle that allows and individual to be able to find meaning for them.

I strongly agree with all Dewey’s theories. I love how he states that ‘interaction with the Arts led to a unique and valuable experience (Dewey, 1934).’ Because artists’ way of reflecting is through creating, to me experiencing the process of creation is something so unique, allowing you to value this art form.

Experience is defined as an ‘observation of facts/events’ to be able to put it into ‘practice in doing something.’

Relating to Honey and Mumford’s model of stages: having an experience, reviewing, concluding and planning the next steps, I realized how much it relates to my work practice where you observe and watch, learn from it and then put it into practice.

There are a few examples I can look back on, for instance the whole intention of the title for my blog- Life after Ballet School. It gives an insight on my experiences as an example for a life after ballet school, and stepping into the professional world as a dancer. The key concept on how I developed, and how any dancer develops and progresses to reach his/ her goal is through experience. Companies are naturally more attracted to those with more experience, as it is secure, more predictable.

The breakthrough for me was being chosen to do Swan Lake with BRB. The experience I gained working with such a prestigious company was invaluable, and from what I learnt I was able to reflect on it, put it into practice and so for the future I knew what was the unknown before.

For everyone, reflection is regarded on a personal level on how they will learn, but it does make sense how there are tools as a guidance to outline the different ways/ types to reflect form an experience. Referring to Kolb’s cycle, it is interesting to see that people have different stages of learning whilst ‘entering ‘an experience.’

For me it is a whole mixture! It is quite certain I learn in a ‘concrete experience’ (doing something), having to learn through movement most of the time. However, when I studied for exams, or even when writing this reflective essay, I need to write down notes. So when I see my thoughts and ideas written down, the action makes it clearer for me to proceed. Therefore in some cases active experimentation describes my process of learning here. But then I look back and in a way I can sometimes learn through reflective observation, for e.g. when watching other dancers on how to do certain moves an then try to copy, or getting inspiration from my idols. In some circumstances I will learn through abstract conceptualization whilst puzzling through my thoughts in a journal, or writing down corrections, imagining them and thinking about them.

Backing up Kottcamp’s view on how certain academics say that it is harder to learn from ‘reflection-in-action’ rather than ‘reflection-on-action,’ it really comes down to the event at that time that you are reflecting on. It makes sense how academics find it easier to reflect ‘off-line’ when studying and artists to reflect better ‘on-line’ when creating. I could give endless examples of how as a dancer there are so many times where you have to be on your feet and aware, where you will definitely learn from being ‘in the moment.’

Another part of the Reader I found intriguing is the idea of tacit knowledge and muscle memory. Twyla Tharp mentions that the qualities of muscle memory are ‘Automatic. Precise. A little Scary.’ and that the ‘...memory of movement doesn’t need to be accessed through conscious effort.’ It is in turn a great way of learning, and I find a skill. But it is also in a way a tacit knowledge as it is connected to the creative process of an art form, mainly dance, where in words it cannot be transcribed but when in practice it makes total sense. Through experience, the body will be more comfortable with how it will learn and process the movements and thus make it an unconscious effort whilst dancing. Especially when performing, it is a great skill to have because once on stage, anything can happen! If the body is more in tune and used to the flow of the piece, it will simply just move how it is used to.

Personally I think muscle memory is the best creation! I luckily have good muscle memory, therefore learning choreography initially might take a little time, but once it is in my body it all comes natural. The hardest part is actually trying to break down the steps once fully taught!

Reflecting ‘using language to interpret something (she) knows nonverbally,’ (Tharp and Reiter, 2006) is very common in the arts, however I do agree that reflective tools like journals, sketching, writing, keeping a blog etc is a great way to articulate this tacit knowledge into further development of ideas and evolvement.

So far I have thoroughly enjoyed this reflective process. Keeping a journal and creating my own blog has allowed me to reflect on my inner thoughts and after develop them into ideas I would never think of before- thoughts about the present, the future, my work, dance, life. 

I realized how lucky we all are and to just embrace every moment, learn from the great experiences and knowledge and just live life! Striving for the unknown is exciting and enriching. Because you don’t actually know something before you actually know what it means, don’t you?