Tuesday 12;30 Skype discussion. We talked about reflection,
journaling, networks and interviews.
We discussed how there is a worry about being ‘right’ and ‘wrong’
at first but in fact it is your practice so the right and wrong is only in
terms of what you want your practice/you to be. Obviously if you are just doing
something because you’ve been told to – there is a wrong-ness to this because
it is not useful because you don’t know why you are doing it. But this is not ‘doing
it wrong’. It is an indication you need to do it with more depth or do something
with it (like research it). But that is not ‘wrong’ (it is an opportunity!). So,
you can be the judge of your work’s ‘right and wrong’ through reflecting on it –
is it useful, is it practical, are you growing? Is it relevant to what you want
to achieve? Those are the questions that can steer your learning journey when
you are not sure of your direction. Be a friend to yourself not a judge.
What also supports you is discussion communication, sharing,
community with other people interested in the same things as you. People on the
skype discussion always comment on how sometimes Distance Education is lonely
because you are the only one of the people you know doing it. The blogs are how
you keep networked in with other people doing the course. They are to create a
community so taking time to post short blogs posts and comment on other people’s
blogs is really an important part of the learning experience. This is about a
kind of generosity of commenting even if you do not feel your comment is perfect
yet!!
Then your community grows from peers on the course to people
who have written about or made art about the things you are interested in – the
literature, the artists. It is funny sometimes reading a book can end up with you
feeling very close to the author because they have put things that were in your
head into words beautifully. Or because they have opened up a new way of
thinking that gives you more air – more ideas.
Our networks are things we put energy into like comments on
a blog post and which feed us with inspiration.
Have an experience and reflect on that experience – doing
this changes the experience. Often it changes the experience to a moment of
learning.
People on the chat that are posting on some of these things
are:
Shanice can you put your blog address in the comments.
Please comment everyone
Adesola
