The scariest moment is always just before you start...

On 14th October 2020, I attended an 'academic writing' workshop with guest speaker Peter Thomas, the Senior Lecturer in Academic Writing and Language at Middlesex University. I was particularly intrigued to attend this workshop as I often feel that my writing doesn't transcend well. The workshop was insightful in many ways. We were given a writing activity where we were asked to write uninterrupted for five minutes about the topic 'what is writing'. This technique of 'free writing' is a way to generate a flow of thought, without worrying about the correct language. What I initially realised from this task was that 'I am very bad at writing'. I have read some other students' blogs who have shared what they wrote during this activity and I have been surprised at the creativity and professionalism in their writing. I won't share exactly what I wrote because it is not my best work. To prove this, my last sentence was 'in this moment writing is hurting my hand'. Many thoughts were bouncing around my head after this activity, thoughts of panic and self doubt. I certainly didn't feel ready to write an essay after that. But I reminded myself about a certain part of the module handbook that resonated with me a couple of weeks ago;

"I like thinking that dancers are good at ‘doing’ because it makes me feel better about the experience that I am not very good at sitting and reading. This makes me realise that the idea I like is not so much about the idea itself, “dancers learn Kinaesthetically”, is more about my feelings about myself and my experiences. When I realised this I also realised I was NOT a Kinaesthetic learner after all, I had just assumed I was to justify what I felt I was not good at!"

I remembered this section because the first part felt like my own words. When I was growing up, I had to work extra hard in school to reach my target grades. When I left school to study dance full time, I assumed that I would get better grades because I would be working more practically. Dancers are thought to be able to express themselves better through movement than with words and I was therefore inclined to believe that I learn better kinaesthetically. In some aspects I believe this to be correct, but there have been many times during my learning/career when I believe to have failed this theory. 

In 1983, Howard Gardner released a book called "Frames of Mind' where he looked further into the theory that we can learn in 'multiple intelligences', which I feel is represented well in this picture;

When I researched this theory, I began comparing each intelligence to my life. I could even recall moments in my life when I have used 'logical-mathematical intelligence', despite having struggled with mathematical equations throughout my whole childhood (counting to eight was enough for me). This is something I felt rather insecure about at school. I would constantly reassure myself that I was more 'practical' and the other students were more 'brainy' and our future professions would be a consequence of this. But Gardner's theory states that everyone has all intelligences at varying measures and it doesn't determine someone's intellect. It may be possible that my interest in dance (from a young age) has allowed my bodily kinaesthetic to develop more than other intelligences, or maybe it is a characteristic that I was born with?

I read a very interesting essay by a teacher called 'Joan Walton'. Her knowledge of this theory encouraged her to use different learning techniques in her dance classes, therefore engaging with her students better and helping them learn faster. She described it as "Your intelligence is like a building with seven doors, all of which lead to the same place.  There is no right or wrong way to get there, there is only the way that is best for you.". By researching Gardner's theory and reading Walton's story, I now believe that I have made an assumption of myself; the way I have adapted to learning isn't the reason for my disinterests and my struggle to learn as a child. Furthermore, I now feel that I have a better understanding of this theory, so that I can hopefully support my students better in the future. 

***

Steering back to my original topic, as the workshop continued we were introduced to a writing structure that we can use for our essay writing - generate, organise and present. Thomas also gave us different tools that we can use to help us during these different sections. Free-writing would be helpful during our 'generate' phase. There is a big jump between 'generate' and 'present', and it helped me realise that the task that we did at the beginning of the workshop wasn't going to be the end result. I even realised that I use 'free writing' more frequently than I initially thought. Every time I begin a blog post, I start by writing what comes into my head, I then edit it to make it more presentable. 

As I begin writing my Module One essay, I am feeling apprehensive. But the workshop has given me different ways to overcome my worries as well as urging me to reflect on my own way of learning, ultimately boosting my confidence. 

“The scariest moment is always just before you start. After that, things can only get better.”                                                                                                           - Stephen King

References

Books

ACI3611 BAPP Module Handbook, 2020 - 2021.

Gardner, H.  (1983).  Frames of mind; the theory of multiple intelligences.  New York.  Basic Books

Websites

Marenus, M.  (2020).  Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences.  [online].  Simply Phycology.  Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/multiple-intelligences.html.  (Accessed 17/10/2020).  

Walton, J.  (1999).  The Arts and Science of Teaching/Learning dance.  [online].  Joan Walton.  Available at: http://www.joanwalton.com/Home/Essays/the-art-and-science-of-teachinglearning-dance.  (Accessed 17/10/2020).