First post of module 2

Here we are in module two, I can honestly say that module one went so fast and was over before I knew it, but it was a whirlwind of reflections and realisations, which I will carry with me throughout my practice and of course into this module.

One aspect which I now utilise regularly is that of reflective writing, I have found it incredibly rewarding and useful in my day to day life as well as on the Bapp course.  I have written about various situations and events and found a sense of reasoning in my writing that has often helped me to either come to a solution or just accept what happened.  Writing freely is therapeutic and I am able to see my thoughts out there in front of me, some of which don't even exist till there is a pen in my hand.  I can spot patterns and often go back over my writing to make sense of what's there and to also make some discoveries.

So in regards to reader 4 I thought the best thing for me to do would be to use my journal  to record my initial reactions and questions.  In this blog, I have gone over what I have written and pieced together my thoughts and their progressions to find out the real meaning behind my reaction to the information presented in reader 4 and how I can use it to develop my own lines of inquiry.

I'm sure everyone is thinking about their own inquiry. What do I want to know? Over the past few weeks I have been researching and looking into the use of the arts as therapy and this lead me on to drama as a therapy which in turn lead me on to psychodrama.  A truly fascinating subject which has absorbed all of my free time, I'm excited by it and what it can do.  Every time I read something, I just want to read more and learn about it.  I have started an online course in the foundations of psychotherapy in order to gain a basic understanding of some of the principles and history behind it, there is an overwhelming amount of knowledge and experience to be gained.  It takes, dedication and years, not to mention a fully accredited course be registered as a psychotherapist and/or psychodrama therapist.

I feel like over that time between module one and module two I may have gotten a little carried away with this and I am extremely glad to be able to use the reader 4 as a map which can put me back on the right track again.  I have always been the type of person to want to know everything about a subject that interests me.  I feel with this I have to keep in mind the big picture and stay focused on the inquiry without shifting my focus too far down a different pathway and becoming overwhelmed.

The first thing I decided to freely write about in reader 4 was the idea about different disciplines and knowledge.  My competences and capabilities, professional knowledge, what knowledge do I have? Where did it come from? My first thought was that of my performance training, definitely a discipline, also now I would class it as a type of tacit knowledge too, but the skills and techniques are a discipline.  I think it's safe to say that most people in this industry would understand that that is not enough, and you need another type of knowledge more in the way of marketing and networking.  In a professional knowledge sense, being a performer requires so much more than just the performance side of it but I think primarily the marketing and advertising of yourself is one of the most important things to be aware of.

When I think of specific roles I have had in organisations and companies I think of my life as a performer on cruise ships.  Again, just the performance knowledge is not enough.  A performer on cruise ships needs a professional workplace knowledge in the realm of safety and security which starts to be taught as soon as you board.

Then I think of my time as a teacher.  Technically,  just by being taught by others I think people are always aware of different teaching styles.  My experience in this began very early on as I was a helper at my dance school from a young age, being given small groups of children to work with.  Another thing from module one I will carry with me is the realisation that a type of intelligence I have is that of interpersonal skills, I had never really considered it an intelligence before other than I understood people very well and am usually good with people in different situations.  I noticed this also on cruise ships with passengers of all ages from across the globe.  So is my teaching capability an extension of my interpersonal intelligence, in a way, yes I think it is.  At least it definitely  helps.  I also see teaching as a type of performance art, you are forced to improvise, be creative and often rehearse material before a class.  You have to think about your audience and what type of impression you want to leave on them.  Without my performance background I don't think I would be as good a teacher, so how exactly did I learn to teach? Well aside from the the formal level three teaching assistant diploma I really think it's a mix of experience and all the other things I have mentioned.  To really be good at something, one discipline is not enough.  I think my teaching capabilities are really a combination of experience, being lucky enough to have good teachers myself, interpersonal skills, creativity and the real enjoyment of imparting knowledge of something you enjoy onto someone else. It really can feel like your passing the torch, it's a responsibility.

With all of this in mind it's time to try an connect the lines between this and my fascination for drama as a therapy.  Within an educational setting I have used drama techniques to overcome educational barriers and to provide a lesson that otherwise would have been unsuccessful.  Drama is powerful and can achieve wonderful results, I've experienced that first hand too. But I need to know more, a lot more.