Katie Malone BAPP ACI blog

 In this call these points were discussed: Research validity- the validity of sources and how can you tell if a source is just opinion or fact? This raised the topic of the ethics of Web 2.0 and who decides what is right? the point was brought up that everything is down to perspective and what could be a useful and a truthful source for one person may not be for another due to how personal this course is and how subjective information on web 2.0 is. Cross reference and looking up other sources that are on the same topic can help clarify whether what is being said is more factual or an opinion. It can still be hard to know 100%, but it can provide some confidence and an avenue for discussion and mindful comparison with your own experiences and opinions. The relationship you have with the information is important, as there are different realities for different people, so don't get too hung up on proving a point during this course. Methodology vs Methods - methodology is the approach...

 Throughout the past 2 weeks I have read through the handbook, brainstormed some very vague ideas for the topic of my future enquiry, and have read the first few chapters of 'Doing your Research Project' By Judith Bell and Stephen Waters (highly recommend this book), along with beginning reading the Kortext book for this module. This module is definitely over-whelming especially with the amount of literature required to read and the increase in workload, and I found it difficult to put down various ideas, but here are my initial thoughts.   Some vague ideas for topics for my enquiry are: - How nutrition and exercise/ movement can impact our mental health this could flow into social views/ diet culture/ how it can impact performers going from being employed and active to being not/ how being this active can impact both the body and mind and what people feel like helps/ the 'ideal' diet - perfectionism and how this can affect dancers/ performers becoming the best artist ...

Many interesting points were raised during this call, some of the ones that stood out to me are: • teaching and mentoring styles and how they can impact you as person, along with effecting if you are an introvert or an extrovert. One thing that stood out was being stripped back and built back up. This can be important for technique, but has made me question whether or not this can affect your creativity; because after all you are being taught your way of doing it is wrong and are being shown how to move in the 'right' way for a genre. • criticism- why it is more prevalent in the performing industry, how it can affect yourself and your practice. Self criticism, in my opinion is vital to developing as an artist. However, it is only beneficial if kept in check and not allowed to consume you. • the importance of separation from your job and finding other hobbies, or the opposite- the impact (which can be positive) of fully immersing yourself in your practice and career. For me, ful...

                                                  We as humans have such a large capability to learn and develop that when you think about it, it's really quite inspiring. From the minute we are born we learn, first to breathe and get over the initial shock of our new environment; later on to walk and talk. Granted this is slower than most other species, but our real learning happens when we become social (this is  topic I will explore later) It's interesting to see different perspectives on learning. Some people believe that we have a specific learning style, while others will contradict this and say that we could be preventing learning in different ways through pigeon-holing ourselves to a specific learning style ( Tesia Marshik- Tedx talk- learning styles and the importance of critical self reflection ).  In this talk, Tesia Marshik expressed that wha...

 I haven't been blogging as much as I should, as I started to struggle with the stress of working 31 hours a week, doing this degree, finishing my teaching qualification, going to class, keeping up my fitness, organising modeling shoots among numerous job applications and filming of self tapes. Now this isn't an excuse for falling behind but I have now a new mindset that I will not be drowned by the tidal wave of stress and panic that does come with juggling possibly too many things for me to handle at this time. Instead I will practice more self care and listen to my body and what it needs. This raised the questions: How do we deal with stress? and what is it's impacts on our body?  stress is defined as:  "a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances"- Oxford dictionary From my experience when I am under stress for any period of time my body becomes fatigued, my eating patterns are disrupted, and my mental h...

  C ollective intelligence is an interesting concept. It is seen throughout nature from ants to bees and flocks of birds. These species naturally work together to thrive as colonies; each member plays a different but key role which, when combined with other skills, brings about the success of the species. Collective Intelligence is defined as "shared or group intelligence that emerges from the collaboration, collective efforts, and competition of many individuals and appears in consensus decision making."- Wikipedia.  It's interesting that both competition and collaboration are part of the definition. Competition is a natural instinct that is present in all of us to some degree. This suggests that in order for a collective to be successful, each individual needs to compete in order to better themselves first, before the collective can be improved. When all the individual advances are combined and shared with each other, the collective result is greater than if the individ...

 In todays module one discussion group, many interesting topics were brought up which shows that learning through conversation and debate is so important in development as a person. Some of the topics that were touched on were the impacts and uses of web 2.0, how social media can have its positives (like networking, inspiration, and connectivity) but also negatives (exposure when 'too young' and its implications and possibly doing the opposite it was designed for). Along with diversity within shows and when is it (in your opinion) acceptable to be historically accurate in a show and when is it not?  This brings me to question whether I feel more connected when on social media than I do in the 'real world'. I use social media, like many others, as a way promote myself and network with both modeling and dance contacts. I do find web 2.0 helpful in this respect to sign up to classes, auditions and form working relationships with many performers and photographers alike. Man...