First Tuesday AM chat - Ethics is a way of considering things...

In this mornings chat we caught up on where people were in their work. But in talking about this we noticed the importance of being able to describe what you are doing in terms of what you are actually doing not in terms of the module framework. In other words saying

“I am just starting reader six” does not mean anything outside of this specific course.

“I have been reading about ethics and thinking about how many of the auditions I have been to involve situations that I now think have ethical implications”  makes sense outside the course. This whole course is about your practice not about the course so make sure everything you are doing makes sense in the ‘real’ world of your work place.

Then we looked at ethics – we say ethical issues because issues mean discussion (topics, concerns, questions). Ethics is not about choosing sides it is about thinking about the multiple ways a situation can be experienced. So in fact the ethical issues (topics) that come up as you think about planning in Module Two or analysing in Module Three are ways in to better understanding what you are doing. This is because ethics is a way to question. Looking at ethical issues is a way to think critically. In this course we want you to develop critical thinking skills. This is to:

“Not accept something just because it is being offered”

“Not to accept something just because it is accessible to you”

Ask how it is in-relationship with other things.

The reflective essay/ critical reflection at the end of Module One is all about this. Do not just write a summary of everything you think we have offered you (told you about) in Module One. Critically look at the information and ask how it fits with your experience and your Practice.  Do not just accept it find what meaning is in it for YOU.

In Module Two thinking about ethics underpins the choices you make as you design your research project. Why are you planning to do what you are planning to do. The whole of Module Two is about understanding how what you are planning to do will effect your relationships. Your relationship with your own Professional Practice, your relationship with the existing knowledge (Literature), your relationship with the people around you. The plan is about how you will explore these relationships (NOT about finding a perfect question through anticipating the answer you want to find). Bethany will post more on this:

http://hucklebethany.blogspot.com

Lastly we talked about how ethics is a way to analyse the data you collect. It is so tempting to want to just tell us about the data collected but the important step in the inquiry process of Module Three is the analysis (not to accept what is offered through the data as complete – to understand what is offered is made real or meaningful through interpretation.) Go back to your question – has doing the data collection changed what the question means to you. How and why? Using the lens of ethics helps you explore the data you collect and gets you away from wanting to just tell us about what you collected. Move towards telling us about what it could mean to different people – to you, to the people who have written the literature you have read, to the people you spoke to. Lara will post more on this

 http://larafbapp.blogspot.de

As always it was great to talk to each other and learn from talking to each other.

First Tuesday skype chat

We have our group chats Tuesday April 5th. We have:

AM at 10am (time in London)
or
PM at 6pm (time in London)

Please comment below to indicate which group chat you will attend.

Looking forward to hearing what you have been thinking about.

Adesola

Module One and Module Three group discussions

Today we had two campus sessions. Because we realise again and again the course is not about boxes, sections, tasks, modules it is a learning journey I am going to write one post for us all the read. The first group skype was for Module One’s: we asked the question

What is your Professional Practice? No, really what is it? Can you say?

It is fine if you can’t but what ever it is it is a ‘thing’ not just what you are doing at the moment.

Have a look at Victoria’s blog post http://victoriamayvickers.blogspot.com

To ask what is your Professional Practice was important in the Module Three group skype we had later because if you are starting to think about your Artefact (note: it is a bit to early to do at the moment) but when you start to think about your professional artefact you need to have a sense of what your Profession is to pin point and artefact from your profession. Think about it… Have a look at Lara’s blog post http://larafbapp.blogspot.com

In the Module One chat we them thought about who you admire in your Professional Practice – who are the people that lead the way for you in terms of where you see your practice developing? Why do those people inspire you?

Thinking about our Professional Practice, what the field is and where good practice,and inspiration lay in that field for you helps you see your professional Practice as a thing. Something you are working at and developing even when you are not getting paid for it.

The inquiry you do in Module Three is about that development – inquiring into something that you feel extends your knowledge or to bring things together or to back fill as you develop your profession.

Then I asked “if you were trying to get someone else to think about their Professional Practice what would you ask them to do to try to stimulate this?”

• People said ask them to journal and write down ideas about their practice.
• Someone else suggested asking if you got an injury what would you do – how would you cope – what do you need to know.
• Someone else said get someone to do observations and give feedback to them.

Great those are the ways we chose too. We wrote Modules to try to get you to think about your professional practice: In Module One particularly we introduce those same three tools. Tools we hope you will continue to develop and use across the whole course.

1. Journal – we ask you to look into reflection and reflective practice to think about your Practice.
2. Ask some one what would you do – What are your resources – we talk about this as networks. What networks support you. Can you think about your Practice through thinking about the resources you draw on to Practice.
3. Observations – well we can’t come and observe you so we ask you to observe yourself by looking at your on-line profile. How do you come a cross what do you notice about your-self and your values. Can you think about your Practice through looking at and observing yourself and how you present yourself.

So big – point now: the tasks in every module are just there to stimulate your thinking about your Professional Practice (that’s what your BA is in PP = Professional Practice. You need to have thought about Professional Practice! At some point!).

Have a look at Lauren’s blog post http://laurenhoskins92.blogspot.co.uk/

The tasks are there to help you. If one is more helpful than another spend more time on it.

Have a look at Lois-Mays Blog post http://lois-mayhunt.blogspot.co.uk

The tasks are not hoops to jump through – they are not graded. The tasks in all modules should integrate with each other and with your Professional practice.

Have a look at Caoimhe’s blog post http://norakathleenmccabe.blogspot.cpm

People who attended the chats have written blog posts. Please click on them and see what they thought and wanted to share too.

We are not looking for answers – we are looking for a deeper understanding of the questions.

What do you think? What do you feel?

Hope to talk to you during the Coffee-shop group skype chat/ First Tuesday skype chat on April 5^th.

Adesola

Module three on-line session Friday 18th March

We have a Module Three on-line session on Friday at 8:00pm (in London)

Please comment below if you would like to attend.

(Please make sure you have sent be a sky contact request if we have not skipped before.)

Speak to you Friday

Adesola

Module One on-line session Friday 18th

We have a Module One on-line session on Friday at 6:30pm (in London)

Please comment below if you would like to attend.

(Please make sure you have sent be a sky contact request if we have not skipped before.)
Speak to you Friday

Adesola

The journey is your learning

Question? I’m just making my way through the tasks for Part 4, I think that 4C- Developing your questions within your professional community would be a big advantage in my research. However at the moment everyone is preparing for school inspections in two weeks time. I was going to complete this task after two weeks time, so I can get a fully thought out conversation about my topic. To replace the lack of this task I was going to keep up with my own individual research, literature and other research methods. I know that the timeline says that we should be moving onto Part 5 next week, will postponing task 4c be an issue? I have also found two other students who have a similar path in their inquiry to mine, its nice to know that we are sharing similar challenges within our inquiries.

Adesola’s thoughts: I am happy with you doing whatever order you want whenever you want. Everyone’s practice is different and has busy points. That is the point of the course, you are at work. The important thing is that you don’t disconnect work from study: be thinking about your practice/work as a site of learning not something that gets in its way.

As long as you know where you going with what you will hand in it is fine to make your own pathway there. The course is about your Professionalism, so we trust you to plan your time too.

It sounds like you are doing 4c because you are thinking about inquiry and you are in your professional community doing it.

Have a look at blog posts from people who have done Module Two for insight about how different people approach their time and Module Two – How they got there…