Finally, after attending the induction day last Tuesday i have the time to sit down and start my blog. It was really great to be there last Tuesday and meet a few of the people who will be travelling with me on my journey through higher education, i'm really looking forward to being an active blogger and helping others (who i hope in return will help me) in the form of critical commentary and support.
I suppose one of the first things i'd like to blog about is how daunting it is returning to higher education after 6 years of working professionally in the musical theatre industry. I trained at London studio centre where my higher education was very practical, giving me the tools i needed to succeed in the theatre industry. As many of you who have trained in theatre will know it's a physically challenging time and i'm really looking forward to doing a degree that doesn't involve pulled hamstrings or bruised ribs!
I think that perhaps the most daunting thing for me is going to be changing my life slightly to accommodate the work that needs to be done. I'm very settled in a busy schedule and i suppose i'm worried about finding the time to give my degree the attention i feel it deserves. I think for me one of the little added learning experiences will be how to use my time more effectively.
In 2000 i started my first degree in Mechanical Engineering, that was before i decided to join the circus and be an actor. I stayed at Aberdeen university for 1 year and i was thinking back to my experiences the other day. 10 years ago, if you were writing a dissertation or notes from a lab session, it was all done by hand and then later typed up in a communal computer room. Even just 10 years ago, laptops were the size of a DVD player and cost far more than many students could afford. Now, 10 years on, i'm looking forward to a very different learning experience where i can take my work with me anywhere. I'm having images of sitting on a beach in Thailand whilst discussing the finer points of reflective writing! Using the web 2.0 technologies have so far been a pleasure and i really think it's the future of learning. It makes you think on your own, rather than being spoon-fed information and being asked for black and white answers. Learning is far more than that, I think learning is self discovery, and i'm looking forward to using the skills i develop over the next year and a half to make me a better professional and a more rounded prospect for future employers.
Thanks Sandy for your Blog comments and bringing the idea of self-discovery to the Blog community. I fully agree with your statement about the need to see learning as something we gain through engagement rather than thinking in terms of being 'spoon fed'. For me, most training, and all too much formal education is spoon fed in that the teacher decides on what constitutes 'appropriate learning and standards'.
ReplyDeleteIn higher education we are trying to foster independence, critical thinking and ‘self discovery’ which we believe underpins professional practice. You see it all the time in those commensurate professionals that you meet: they are confident in what they know; they are comfortable with not knowing; they find different ways to explore and develop their own knowledge and insights; they can work with complexity and they try to think and act ethically… and more of course.
It might be worth thinking about these and other attributes as you develop your online profile?
Sandy, I will post this to my own Blog.
Hi Sandy!
ReplyDeleteI was reading your post and feel the exact same about the "daunting" feeling of changing from my normal routine while working and finding the time to study while doing my Degree. It's good to know that someone else is feeling the same!
I made a schedule allocated just to studying each day to help me and hopefully if I try my hardest, it will be as good as I can be!
Hi Sandy,
ReplyDeleteI agree it is going to be difficult to find the time initially- I am currently on tour! However, I do think that once it becomes a part of our routine and day to day life, it will be a wonder what to do with all the spare time when we graduate!
Sandy - while you may not believe me let me assure you that you bring to the university table a feast of experience and knowledge that you probably have not fully accounted for. Simply, consider what you know now and compare it with what you knew 5 or even 10 years ago. You have developed so much in that time frame and now you have the opportunity to recount that and augment it on this programme. I hope you enjoy it very much.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all of your comments, it's good to know i'm not alone!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful post. I truly enjoyed reading this. theater classes
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