Reflective Theory

I found John Dewey theory about education streaming from experience and how this can cause full engagement to be a productive part of society very interesting. In the entertainment world most concepts, ideas and themes streams from people’s own personal experience to produce an entertaining product for the public. Most of these products can be very educational as well as entertain. However, it can only be educational to the receiver if that concept is relatable.

John Dewey's significance for informal educators lies in a number of areas. First, his belief that education must engage with and enlarge experience has continued to be a significant strand in informal education practice. (http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-dewey.htm, 5/12/2011). Also refer to the Reader on Reflection

I am in the middle of writing my own play. The setting for the play is in Newham and the cast is aimed at ethnic minorities. Even though the concept of the play isn’t educational, I consciously made the decision to choose this setting and to choose this group of people because my fundamental experience in life was in the London Borough of Newham and my surroundings were with ethnic minority. I could only write about what I know and what I have experience; it wasn’t taught to me in the conventional educational system.  I started to reflect using Dewey’s theories long before I have even heard of John Dewey. His theories will continue to influence my future writing projects and directing projects.

Dewey influence many people and writers with his experience and reflection theories. One of these people is Kolb and his four stages of the learning Circle. Kolb’s learning circle explains the different style of how individual learns and how we approach and relates to these styles of learning depending on the circumstances. He also stated that at some point all the key elements converge (experiencing, reflecting, thinking, and acting) to make a new (learning) experience. Also what makes it a learning experience is the ability to analyze and reflect on the experience and noticing when a new knowledge or experience has been gained.   

Kolb says that ideally (and by inference not always) this process represents a learning cycle or spiral where the learner 'touches all the bases', ie., a cycle of experiencing, reflecting, thinking, and acting. Immediate or concrete experiences lead to observations and reflections. These reflections are then assimilated (absorbed and translated) into abstract concepts with implications for action, which the person can actively test and experiment with, which in turn enable the creation of new experiences. (http://www.businessballs.com/kolblearningstyles.htm, 5/12/2011).

 An example of Kolb’s learning circle from Google image search (5/12/2011).

As an actress I am constantly using Kolb’s learning circle. I use Reflective Observation (watching other people perform or other performances will give me access to new skills and will inspire my own performance to be better); Abstract Conceptualisation allows me to constantly scrutinize my character, my performance and other’s performance to give me the knowledge on how to improve my work for the better. Active Experimental is done during the rehearsal process. Getting up and exploring the character, the scene and the play that allows me to find the right emotion, right movement and right tone for the character, the scene and the play. This, with the Abstract Conceptualisation is probable the most important sections of the learning circle for an actor/actress. Concrete Experience is the fun part of the whole acting process. I am always using the learning circle, is just that I wasn’t aware of it until I did the BAPP course. I also need to learn how to use it in other area’s of my life.
Schon and Kottcamp’s ideas about ‘reflection in action’ or ‘reflection on action’, is very important in both of the profession I am in. It is all about self reflection and self analyzing to improve the work that is being produce. When I am in rehearsing (present to the future), I am always asking myself, what ways can I say this line to make it more real to the character and the scene?  How can I make my movement more natural and more connected to the character? After a performance (past to the future), I would ask; How can I make my reaction with other characters and the scenario more believable? What improvement do I need to make to my character, line, etc, to allow the audience to relate more to my character and believe the story? I also use this idea with my teaching. How do I need to explain and demonstrate tasks better? How do I deal and handle difficult children/situations? How can I make the lesson more fun and engaging?       

Garner theory about people using ‘different ways to engage in learning and understanding’, is very interesting. This theory has got me thinking about all the different methods I use for my student (all with different levels and attention span) to engage them in their learning and get the most out of the class. One of the questions I ask myself is; how do I improve my interpersonal skill? Garner has giving me the name of a skill, I would like to explore further in my teaching work (I use this in my acting work) and that is intrapersonal skill. Once I’ve learn to integrate this skill in my teaching work I think this will improve my teaching skills and make me a more rounded teacher.