Blog four: critical reflection.

Looking back on my time on the BA professional practice course, I feel I have changed my views on learning as a worker-researcher. I have grown to confidently understand how to complete a project to a high standard. The key factor I feel I have grown to learn and appreciate in doing a project, is the importance of the research in the beginning stages of the project. In implementing the research in various ways, the data and information collected by your target group is the key-factor to the later stages, as well as being a tool which allows the worker-researcher to compile priceless research and information. Personally, I have never had a strong affection towards researching past reading and finding already available data in the field of the subject or topic I require. When I realised in order to competently conclude the project I would need to seek-out my own information, it was not the part of the project I was looking forward to achieving. However, in creating my own project and knowing exactly what I was looking for and why I was doing the interviews, observation, and questionnaires, it all became clear how I needed to complete my research and I grew to really enjoy doing it. This project has enabled me to understand the importance of setting-up a project before delving into it. I understand how knowing your target group’s experience and views on a topic, can be used to your advantage as to see what part of the subject-manner needs to be covered. In learning to enjoy research, I have also really started to enjoy finding any information linked with my topic to educate myself on my field.

I have definitely enjoyed this latter part of the course, as the modules I felt perplexing at times and I didn’t always gain the understanding as to what needed to be achieved from conversing with others. I found some of the tasks slightly pointless at the time, however, now looking back I fully understand why certain aspects of modules were implemented upon us and I feel I could not have gotten to this level of understanding without having completed those modules.

I do feel when picking my project, I should have taken more time to settle-on an idea I was really happy with. The project has changed a lot since I determined its function, however, for a long while I felt caged-into the first project idea I could think of. When I started really getting my teeth into the project though, this all changed and I became very interested in my research.

I am very proud I achieved this project without the help of others, and that it was a success in that the achievements students.

I think the majority of the group if not all of us, started the degree not knowing what to expect. It was so different to the learning we had maintained at Chickenshed that at first I struggled to enjoy learning, I felt I was back at school making such an extra effort with learning and not particularly seeing myself reach any amazing strengths. When I had started learning at Chickenshed, I had learnt in a completely new way which was perfect for me to retain information and push myself to achieve personal goals. I feel this is properly the subconscious reason I wanted to research into the teaching methods implemented by the company on their BTEC national diploma.

To be completely honest, I don’t know what the future holds for me inside professional practice. I would love to stay with Chickenshed, supporting sessions as long as I am cable to do so. I am currently looking into an agency that facilitates individuals in schools as support to children with learning difficulties.

Blog three: summarise of project findings.

My project was to look into Issue-based teaching using an Inclusive ethos within theatre, and applying “alcohol awareness amongst youth” as the issue for the source of research and theatrical workshop with my target group in the company in which I work. The idea was to gain an understanding of the ethos and method’s used on the BTEC national curriculum within my company, and then by creating a workshop based on the issue of my choice, put into practice the teaching methodology to see how the course method’s benefit the student’s learning, and could be improved. Through using observation- both on the outside of the target group, and actively within the group supporting and experiencing how the students work, interview, and questionnaires, I gained an understanding of how the course is run, and the methods implemented, combining edexcel criteria with the inclusive ethos. With this, I also maintained the knowledge and experiences the students have in the subject; so to apply the data collected from the students into the workshop activities.

• Through doing this project I have found in using Inclusive issue-based theatrical methods in an “alcohol awareness amongst youth” workshop, 60% of the students felt their views had changed positively on the subject, and had more of an awareness on the subject.

• By using a more practical approach to a subject with which awareness needs to be spread, teenagers/youth are more receptive.

• They gain the meaning by balancing this out with discussions on what an activity was about, how it made the students feel, and why it was done enabling students to show understanding verbally and through their own point of view. This also allowed students to explain if they felt an activity was executed in a good way, or if they felt it could improve or changed.

• By implementing the use of theatrical text/script, improvisation activities, devising activities, and data on the subject, students gain an understanding of the topic through various teaching inventions.

In doing this project, I have gained an understanding in professional practice as to how to maintain and execute, with high-quality, issue-based learning in the theatre. This is a project I feel can go on to be re-visited and altered again from the findings I collected in doing the project.