Task 2c: Reflective Theory

Section 1
How do you reflect on events?This is done through the idea of reflecting on experience, and how you process that information and turn it into knowledge. Reflection means you can look at your experiences in more ways than one, by comparing your own experiences to others, and their own understanding of it, will therefore extend your own understanding and help you to learn something new.
Have you ever said "I learnt that by experience"?Yes, I believe that you learn by doing. I believe it is our own life experiences that help us grow into the people we are. As we can learn from them, and the effects shape our personalities based on how we respond to experiences in life.
Have you ever known something before you realise what it means to you?Yes, the way in which humans process information is different for everyone. Sometimes a person can be told a fact or something that is "known" by others, and it can take time before this information takes effect on that person and triggers a reaction. For me personally, if something is told to me that is "known" by others, and I am unaware of what it means to me or how to respond to the matter, I go away and reflect on that information. Whether that means, reflecting on it on my own and being alone with my thoughts. Or, I may go to others and discuss it with them to seek out their thoughts to see if it has an impact on my own thoughts/ knowledge of the situation.
Section 2
I believe after extensive reading and using past examples of how I learn things, I believe I begin at Abstract Conceptualisation, to Active Experimentation, to Concrete Experience and ending with Reflective Observation.
Because we all do all of these it can be hard to tell, think about learning to make your blog. Did you need to get on with doing it using the same ideas you might know from using Facebook (concrete experience), did you visit other peoples to see what they did to get some ideas (Reflective observation), did you read-up on it or watch a video about your options and how to make it with the idea you wanted to use (Abstract Conceptualisation) or , did you just start and use trial and error going back to change it a few times as your ideas grew (active experimentation) ?When I was in the process of making my blog, because I had never used/ made one before or ever seen one. Therefore I used the "Reflection Observation" process. I visited other peoples sites before I made mine as I needed to know what the layout of a blog needed to look like, and what kind of information I should have been including. Once I knew what I needed to put in, I then used "Abstract Conceptualisation" to put my own ideas that were in my head into what I wanted as a blog.
Think of someone else you know. Do they learn in the same way as you? Where do they enter Kolb’s cycle as a learner? Does their way of learning compliment yours?I decided to use someone who not only do I know, but who I am related to, as I became interested to see if it is the same learning cycle that I use. After observing the learning ways and behaviour of this family member, I discovered that they learnt with "Active Experimentation". Their way of learning is slightly different as they tend to dive straight into something and learn that way, where as I like to plan in my head before actively extending my own knowledge. The reason why I do this is because if I learn staright away with Active Experimentation, if I discover problems/ boundaries along the way, sometimes I’m stopped in my tracks as I don’t know which way to continue from there. However, when this other person encounters any problems they continue to carry on through them and incorporate them into their knowledge as a natural response.
Section 3Using Gardeners Multiple Intelligences theory think about yourself and how you use many ways to understand and idea or experience. Can you think of an example of yourself using your Interpersonal intelligence - being able to understand what is going on around you by understanding how and why the people around you are responding? I use this intelligence a lot when I need to move through a crowd quickly, for instance in the tube at rush hour! It has kept me out of a lot of trouble.An example of when I use interpersonal intelligence is when I am trying to hit a ball in tennis. I have to be aware of where the ball is moving, where I need to be, and where the other player is so I know where to aim. There are many things to take into account in this situation
Think about VAK. When do you do best learning Kinaesthetically? Visually? By listening? Which of these do you feel most comfortable with most of the time?The way of learning which seems to suit me best is through the "Visual" sense. I have always been a very visual person, I have always responded best to this way of learning and it is something I tend to use more in my own work.
Try using the other two more for one day. What effect does it have on your comfort zone? Can you see how you can support your learning by developing your preferred VAK? Maybe you could make diagrams and pictures of the books you are reading to remind you what they say (visual)? Maybe you could leave yourself voice-mail messages or ask to record campus sessions (audio)? Maybe you could give yourself movements to help remember ideas, like the way people remember the pattern their fingers make when dialling rather than the phone number itself? Explore what helps you and what make you feel uncomfortable.After experimenting with the other two VAK’s, I was pleasantly surprised about how much/ little I tend to use them in my everyday life. I discovered I automatically use Auditory learning in my singing lessons. When I am teaching/ learning in singing, I always use my Dictaphone. This is so I can listen to myself later, and learn how to improve my vocals and to decide if anything needs changing.. It also helps me to learn harmonies for any ensemble pieces.
I also discovered that I use Kinaesthetic learning when I am choreographing. When I choreograph, I always work by putting on the chosen music, and just moving to whatever comes into my head or whatever I feel. Any ideas that I come up with I always have to write down so that I don’t forget them later on.
Section 4In this last section we read an excerpt from Kottcamp, then we looked at why he might have thought this. We were looking at the meaning behind the excerpt (the discourse). This is using critical reflection. It is unpicking the layers of understanding and meaning behind an idea. Think about an idea you really like. Try thinking about why that idea would appeal to you. For instance, I like the idea that dancers are practical people and learn kinaesthetically, and like to ‘do’ rather than read about it, they move rather than sit and read! But why do I like that idea? And why am I so quick to think of it as true? Part of the reason is because I consider myself a dancer, BUT I also consider myself very bad at reading and writing. I like thinking that dancers are good at ‘doing’ because it makes me feel better about the idea that I am not very good at sitting and reading. This makes me realise that the idea I like is not some much about the idea itself, "dancers learn Kinaesthetically", is more about my feelings about myself. When I realised on 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!The idea I like and which only came to me whilst reading this Reader, is that singers learn through Auditory. Before I read this reader, to me this was the only way possible to me to learn how to sing. You have to listen to the piano to know what notes you are singing, listen to yourself so you know you are in tune, and listen back on yourself using a Dictaphone to know how to correct or to learn harmonies. However, when you think about it in a more complex way, this isn’t necessarily true. You can also learn to sing through the Visual sense. This is because some people learn purely by reading notes, those who have the talent of "sight reading", which is where you can sing any note, means the learn in a visual sense. I also realised that I sometimes learn kinaesthetically in singing by recognising if my body is in the right position. I know when my body has the correct posture, as my body recognises when I’m wrong, and I know if I am using my diaphragm because I can feel it working and I know when I am singing technically correct, e.g. when I can feel my head moving up on high notes, which strains my voice.
Also, there are many deaf musicians who had to learn Visually or Kinaesthetically, as they had no option in learning in an Auditory sense. Such musicians include Beethoven, Gabriel Faure and Mandy Harvey.

What ideas do you like? Think about why? (This is a hard think to do (!), you may not be able to think of anything at first, keep coming back to asking yourself what the layers are behind the ideas you encounter.)The idea I like the most is the idea that in singing, the form of learning that most people rely on so much to use is the Auditory sense. However, I find it incredible that there are people out there who cannot use this learning idea whatsoever, and have had to find other ways to build upon their knowledge. At this point in my life now, if someone took away my ability to hear, I can’t be 100% sure that I would be able to completely change my learning format, and in a way, learn how to start all over again. Which is why I find it so incredible that there are people out there with the ability to do that.At which point in Kolb’s cycle do you feel you enter learning?