Emma Dalton BA PP

Its been a while since my last blog and I wont lie, the current situation has thrown me a little. I had so many work plans and a holiday booked for the Easter holidays, that when Covid-19 finally hit the UK it really knocked me off kilter. A massive part of my practice is my self- employed status. This allows me the flexibility to fit my personal life around my working one, however Monday 23rd March 2020 saw this all come to a halt with an official countrywide lockdown put in place. All the schools were shut and as a result all my work dried up. I began to panic about of how I was going to support myself financially and as you can imagine my uni work took a back bench for the week. My well rehearsed act of juggling work and my personal  life had been messed with  and all the sudden I had so much time and no purpose. In the days since the lockdown I have had plenty of time to reflect and think. Sometimes in life we are so busy that we forget to stop and think about fortunat...

Another week has flown by meaning that it was time for a group discussion on skype. Now if I’m honest I think this has been my hardest week to date of this course. I have been unbelievably busy with my work schedule and the preparation work that goes along side this. As we approach summer show term I’m sure other teachers will understand the manic schedules! On top of this I found myself completely lost with this course. I couldn’t work out what I should be doing, what I should be reading let alone contemplate starting my essay assignment. Feeling lost is not something I am comfortable with and it’s the first time that I have really felt on a “distant” learning course. So this chat came at the perfect time! Although we weren’t told exactly what to write or what is classed as right and wrong on this course, talking with other students gave me an idea if I was on the right track. I think that’s the hardest thing sometimes- the self doubt! An American Poet called Sylvia Plat...

Since beginning this course I have annotated my module handbook, been reading research material, blogging, starting suggested tasks and mainly trying to get my head around the course. So I decided the best next step for me was to attend the campus session to discuss my thoughts and ideas to see if I was heading down the correct route. This course is so reflective and therefore with no definitive “Yes or No” answer it can make you question your approach to subjects! Thankfully I came away from this session sensing I was on the right path! I have a long way to go but I now feel confident in my steps. A sticky topic for me has been Ethics and applying them to my practice. What I discovered is that instead of questioning the situation and asking ‘WHY?’ I was just trying to find answers. We need to question the assumptions we make instead of finding reasons or excuses. It is all about the approach rather than the thing. The questions we ask and the reflection we make are what create...

This was the first group skype call that I had been a part of since the "introductory" call and therefore I was unsure what to expect. I didn't know if we would be just be finding out information or  discussing thoughts on what we had been researching.  After beginning the call by introducing ourselves and what we believe our practice is, Adesola gave us some discussion points to start talking about. One point arose that I found really interesting. This was about Ethics and how these have an impact on our work and our lives. Now initially I had no idea what Ethics really meant- you hear people using the word "Ethical" in day to day life, but would they be able to define it if you asked them? Therefore I looked up the dictionary definition of the word Ethics and this is what I found-  "ethics;   "a complex of moral precepts held or rules of conduct followed by an individual"  In short, Ethics are how we reflect upon something that has happe...

Collective Intelligence.... using Web 2.0 on the internet Now let me backtrack a little here and just explain what Web 2.0 actually is. This is a platform that allows users to take control of their work on the internet. It creates communities that can interact with one another, encouraging communication and participation. It allows users to evolve and encourages them to develop their ideas through debate. Which is what I'm doing right now. I'm writing a blog from my flat, which I know will be accessed by people all over the world and therefore I encourage you to comment and engage in discussion. I have just been reading about Collective Intelligence and Connectivism in the module one handbook and a couple of really interesting questions were raised. In society "Does everyone have equal access to connectivity through the internet?" Initially you would think the answer would be yes! The information is on these platforms that can be accessed by anyone and therefore i...

And so it begins, yet the start date seemed to pass in a blink of an eye.  That was what we were warned about by Helen and Adesola and how true it was. Distance learning is a whole new adventure. For me personally I have always gone to my place of Education and therefore this is a completely new experience for me. Yet somehow I feel more motivated than ever to get stuck in on this course.  Having read Adesola's blog post on beginnings, I allowed myself to reflect on how this would apply to my own practice. Being an ISTD Dance teacher means that I do a lot of freelance work. I teach in various institutes and work a variety of hours teaching different styles of dance. Thinking back to when I began my teaching journey I definitely felt the "3 beginnings" that Aedsola refers to.  Official, Energetic and Effective Beginning.  My "Official Beginning" was the moment I was offered the job, signed a contract and was given a start date. I would find the v...

Well as you can probably guess from the title of my blog post, this is my first ever blog! Having never blogged before a few questions popped to mind about what to include in my posts. Is there a wrong or a right thing to write on your blog? Do people actually want to hear my thoughts and feelings towards chosen topics? This is a barrier that I know I need to overcome in order to find out more about my practice on this course. Hopefully with some practice this will become second nature. After our initial induction skype call for the BAPP course with Adesola and Helen, I re-read the module one handbook. One thing that many of the module two students had said is that not all of the handbook will make sense at the beginning. This rung true with me- for example what is meant by creating an artefact!  However I have now looked at the glossary so its slightly clearer, but if i'm brutally honest I wouldn't know where to start. Therefore I think my best starting point is to continu...