Task 2A/B: Journal Writing

If I am completely honest, the idea of writing a personal journal has at times been a daunting thought for me. I am often uncomfortable in expressing my own emotions, particularly within a working environment and I don’t find myself ever naturally gravitating towards the idea that sharing my own private thoughts within a written medium will be of great use to me. Having read many of the blogs written by my fellow BAPP colleagues, I can see that my reasoning for being reluctant to share my thoughts on paper is completely absurd given that you do not have to share these publicly.

In fact, reflection can in some ways be more fruitful if we are willing to try more ideas. If anything should reflection not drag you away kicking and screaming from a comfort zone in order to help you reach out to new ideas? Is my practice likely to become stale if I only choose to reflect within my own chosen methods? As a result of these chosen fields am I likely to draw the same conclusions regarding my practice and never really get to grips with long-term issues in my practice?

David Boud raises an interesting point when speaking about the balance between journal writing for a reflective purpose or an academic assessment;

‘The conventions of assessment demand that students display their best work for it to be judged’

     

I often find it hard to reflect via the use of a journal as I feel that it needs to be written in a formal manner in order to be valid.

When working with years 5 & 6 however, I do keep a form of journal consisting mainly of bullet points and diagrams that allow me to retain ideas between sessions. Below I have put in an excerpt of one of the Year 6 groups that I work with to show how I have been developing one of their final scenes for performance. The group are not currently rehearsing in the performance space they will use. As a result I use diagrams and rough synopsis to allow me to keep track of stage layouts and key dialogue for reference in future rehearsals. This has been a constant feature for me throughout and is good in order to reflect on practical issues that may arise or need to be addressed as we progress towards the showcase.

(Image will attach separately)

Of the suggested ways of writing a journal outlined in the course handbook, I feel that an interesting concept comes through the idea of writing from ‘Another View’. As a method of reflection, it would be of great use to see how the implementation of my practice would come across or potentially engage or disengage my students. Of course I may write from the perspective of a complete outsider or perhaps the Head Teacher who can hear proceedings from her office next door.

Verbal Journal: I often find that conversations with students and colleagues often provide me with an opportunity to share my thoughts in a way that helps me to reflect. Does this count as a form of journal writing/keeping?