Sunday skype meeting
On Sunday I participated in both skype meetings am and pm. On the first skype meeting, it was only Hannah, Katya and me who participated. This gave us extra time to talk about our inquiries (Hannah and me) and AOL's (for Katya). It was all about communicating our ideas and thoughts. Personally, I found it very difficult. I think that I rambled a lot. Plus the comments I received from Adesola and Maria indicated that this rambling was not for good and certainly there was a lot of incomprehension, as I did not explain my inquiry theme well. It is true that I come from a different country and my mother tongue is Greek but right now I have come to a point in my life that I speak three languages (Greek, English and French) at the same time (due to my seasonal work). However, it was difficult for me to speak English fluently and coherently at that moment. And then I realised that the problem was not that I was not able to structure a sentence in English (daah!). The problem was that I could not communicate my ideas properly. I really wanted to explain so many things at the same time that I lost the line of my thought. So as the skype finished I questioned myself "what does it mean to communicate your ideas?" Communication is a key point in dance and especially in dance teaching. All types of communication (verbal and non-verbal) are essential in order to achieve effective teaching and learning. However, I feel that communicating your ideas is something different in the specific context. It is to have clear vision of what you are saying and then to choose the right words to express it. Another important thing is that you need to claim how you perceive things and then explain your ideas. In other words if your inquiry is about the teacher's perception and point of view on a theme, you should claim this first and then explain further (reminder to myself). All of the above maybe apparent and self-explanatory for some people but, believe me, when you start to present your thesis is not THAT easy!
Then I decided to take part in the second Skype too because I thought that might be helpful for me to listen to more opinions and ideas. So I said, why not? In pm Skype the number of participants was greater. Most people from module 3 (including myself) wanted to know about the professional artefact. There were given some questions/guidelines that might help us, such as: professional artefact is a different way to communicate your ideas, which way would you choose to present your inquiry to others?, etc. I have to admit that I am still struggling with the professional artefact.
The theme of that meeting was the embodiment. Embodiment of ideas in dance and in dance teaching. Embodiment includes a variety of things from cognitive science to arts. In dance it is usually associated with the representation of ideas and thoughts in a more tangible/visual way. What is the connection though with the dance teaching? I was amazed with the words of one my classmates (I cannot recall who said that 😕) mentioned: "intuition in dance teaching". As teachers we can learn a lot from the students' bodies: what they feel, if they have understood the movement or not, how to correct them in order to do a specific movement and the list goes on. Is that embodiment? Yes, for me it is. It is both embodiment and learning. Learning can be achieved through a variety of ways and one of them is embodiment.
What do you think?
On Sunday I participated in both skype meetings am and pm. On the first skype meeting, it was only Hannah, Katya and me who participated. This gave us extra time to talk about our inquiries (Hannah and me) and AOL's (for Katya). It was all about communicating our ideas and thoughts. Personally, I found it very difficult. I think that I rambled a lot. Plus the comments I received from Adesola and Maria indicated that this rambling was not for good and certainly there was a lot of incomprehension, as I did not explain my inquiry theme well. It is true that I come from a different country and my mother tongue is Greek but right now I have come to a point in my life that I speak three languages (Greek, English and French) at the same time (due to my seasonal work). However, it was difficult for me to speak English fluently and coherently at that moment. And then I realised that the problem was not that I was not able to structure a sentence in English (daah!). The problem was that I could not communicate my ideas properly. I really wanted to explain so many things at the same time that I lost the line of my thought. So as the skype finished I questioned myself "what does it mean to communicate your ideas?" Communication is a key point in dance and especially in dance teaching. All types of communication (verbal and non-verbal) are essential in order to achieve effective teaching and learning. However, I feel that communicating your ideas is something different in the specific context. It is to have clear vision of what you are saying and then to choose the right words to express it. Another important thing is that you need to claim how you perceive things and then explain your ideas. In other words if your inquiry is about the teacher's perception and point of view on a theme, you should claim this first and then explain further (reminder to myself). All of the above maybe apparent and self-explanatory for some people but, believe me, when you start to present your thesis is not THAT easy!
Then I decided to take part in the second Skype too because I thought that might be helpful for me to listen to more opinions and ideas. So I said, why not? In pm Skype the number of participants was greater. Most people from module 3 (including myself) wanted to know about the professional artefact. There were given some questions/guidelines that might help us, such as: professional artefact is a different way to communicate your ideas, which way would you choose to present your inquiry to others?, etc. I have to admit that I am still struggling with the professional artefact.
The theme of that meeting was the embodiment. Embodiment of ideas in dance and in dance teaching. Embodiment includes a variety of things from cognitive science to arts. In dance it is usually associated with the representation of ideas and thoughts in a more tangible/visual way. What is the connection though with the dance teaching? I was amazed with the words of one my classmates (I cannot recall who said that 😕) mentioned: "intuition in dance teaching". As teachers we can learn a lot from the students' bodies: what they feel, if they have understood the movement or not, how to correct them in order to do a specific movement and the list goes on. Is that embodiment? Yes, for me it is. It is both embodiment and learning. Learning can be achieved through a variety of ways and one of them is embodiment.
What do you think?
Hi, so interesting to read your post, thank you for posting. And I agree, it is quite a challenge to communicate your ideas clearly, I guess its also something we have to practice and I often feel that even though some times I can't communicate what I want to say clearly, through the process of trying to do it any way and reflecting later on , on what went wrong, things become more clear to me. OR I realise where the "missing pieces" are in my discourse. Im really interested to hear what your research inquiry theme is?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post. I think we all feel we are struggling to communicate what we would like to say, and with the absence of faces this is also more difficult. I think you are amazing to speak three languages as my mere English is a challenge! Dance is one great vast language and has so many styles, orders and interpretations. I feel you just have to say what you want to say and don't worry. We've all been doing the hard graft for a long time and this should just be an extension of what we do so well. The course has helped me to feel valued and of worth, that I have a voice among many and that we have commonalities as well. Love the typeset by the way! Good luck with everything x
ReplyDeleteDear Elizabeth, thank you so much for posting about the Sunday Skypes. I sadly had to work so couldn't participate. I live and work in another country and have to express myself in another language in meetings, often with the students if they don't understand ( working with me in their second language English ) The little ones are confused why I would speak English to them, if I can speak Turkish :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I first worked in a dance company as the only non-native, I barely spoke a word and tried to memorize small phrases , so I could at least pass the time of day and speak simple pleasantries with my colleagues. What we all did have was the language of Dance as a means of communication. We shared so much and learned so much from one another.
I can truly empathise with how you feel in the Skype calls. I find it so hard to communicate or listen in another language, when I cant see peoples facial and body expressions. Even in a yoga class I get completely in a muddle if I cant see the teacher. I think you are doing ever so well and this course is giving you a great opportunity to learn about yourself, and how to communicate clearly as a teacher and as a student.
Thank you for sharing. Linda x