What is writing?

It was nice to join Peter Thomas' lecture about writing this afternoon. Writing was something that I was so nervous about before I started this course. I began full-time dance training at 16 years old, so I felt rather out of practice this time last year. I remember writing my first blog in Module 1 and feeling so worried that my writing wouldn't be interesting enough, or wouldn't be grammatically correct. But funnily enough, when I was reviewing my inquiry plan from Module 2, I reread my essay and was pleasantly surprised. I never thought that I would be able to use the type of language I was using. I am so grateful to have developed my confidence in writing during this course. 

I attended Peter Thomas' writing lecture last year, and although todays was similar, it was great to be reminded of some simple writing tips which will hopefully help me when I get round to writing my inquiry report. We did a freewriting task where we had to write about writing for 5 minutes. We were a very small group, so it was great to discuss people’s ideas. We spoke about 'creativity' and how writing can be used as a way to communicate without speaking. This made me think about how dance can be a form of communication too. I suppose writing shares many characteristics with dance that I had never thought about before.

Peter shared a quote which I remember seeing last year…

'Writing is rewriting' - Paul Abbott

I remember not understanding this when I saw it last year, but it really resonated with me tonight. This whole inquiry project is rewriting. Rewriting other people’s stories, my own stories, literature. Rewriting all these pieces to create a bigger picture, to develop myself as a practitioner, and as a regular person. There is a lot of pressure when you are holding other people’s stories in your hands, and I don't want to change these stories. People's stories belong to them. I feel privileged that my research participants have shared some incredible stories with me so far, but these are not mine. So when I begin analysing and reporting my findings, I will be keeping this in mind. 

What are your thoughts on this?

All things... questions!

Wow... Week 1 has gone so fast. I have spent my time refamiliarising myself with literature that I found particularly helpful in module 2, recruiting participants, exploring interview questions, and studying interview techniques. 

I will be using a combination of interviews and questionnaires to collect data for my inquiry. I am really excited to see how data differs depending on the way questions are asked (verbally or digitally).

As interviews are so foreign to me, I thought it would be good to do some research about how to interview. I began thinking about this in module 2 and came across a TedX by Dan Moulthrop entitled 'The Art Of Asking Questions' (I shared it in a blog, which you can see here). Moulthrop shares some great tips about choosing questions and different interview approaches. These are his 8 key points:

1. Be unafraid
2. Be curious
3. Try the obvious questions
4. The words you use matter
5. Strive for empathy 
6. Be informed
7. Be simple 
8. Be gracious

He made it seem so simple. I was still unsure so read/listened to some published interviews. Sam recommended 'The Ethnographic Interview', which reminds readers that interviews are very similar to the friendly conversation, and funnily enough, if you Youtube interviews, many are entitled 'A conversation with...'. I then listened to an interview of Billy Joel (which took place in 1963). He was being interviewed by Studs Terkel, a very famous author/broadcaster. He interviewed with such ease. Although he already had knowledge of Joel's background, he asked simple questions, showed a lot of interest, and responded effectively and graciously. I thought it particularly impressive when Terkel would pick up on small fragments of Joel's answers and ask him to expand on this. I thought it was quite beautiful actually.

I had a super helpful tutorial with Sam yesterday. We discussed my interview questions and my approach to interviews. He reinforced the idea of simple interview questions and reminded me that I must be prepared in case participants ask for questions reworded.

For now, I have stopped worrying about interviews, and have composed some interview questions that I have put a lot of thought into. I will also be modifying these questions to suit my questionnaires better. I am excited to see where this leads me and will hoping be documenting my progress/findings soon.

References

Spradley, J., n.d. The ethnographic interview.

TEDx Talks, 2021. The Art Of Asking Questions | Dan Moulthrop | TEDxSHHS. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZSY0PssqH0&t=421s> [Accessed 28 April 2021].

2021. Bob Dylan interviewed by Studs Terkel (1963). [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYdvOPRE3EQ&t=172s> [Accessed 18 September 2021].

New beginnings all round

I can't believe how quickly the time has gone since we were last here. I hope everyone had an excellent break!

This summer, I spent time with some friends and family who I hadn't seen since pre-covid. I also relocated to the seaside, something I have wanted to do for a very long time.

A new home comes with a fresh start, and a new job, and I was so happy to find a job that was similar to my previous one as a teaching assistant, only this one is within an independent school. I was really excited about this job as the headteacher is highly enthusiastic about the arts. His focus is on music, and he is a strong believer that the arts play an important role in a child's development. I am so excited for this next year to learn more about arts and education, to work in collaboration with others, and to hopefully develop myself and my practice.

I spent some time last week becoming familiar with module 3, reading the handbook, and reviewing my inquiry project, but I have been putting off writing a blog as I am still feeling a bit apprehensive about this module. I suppose there is always a fear of the unknown, and undergoing an inquiry is so unfamiliar to me. So I have a new mantra…

The handbook really emphasises the importance of YOU during the inquiry process. I think it could be very easy to forget that the ultimate purpose is to develop ourselves. I chose my topic because I want to become more reflective as a practitioner, but my discoveries could be at risk if I don't value my role within the research. When I remind myself of this, it actually brings me peace of mind, knowing that within this very unfamiliar process of research is something very familiar.

"Begin to see your practice as your research, not separate to it."

Wishing everyone from all modules an amazing term :)