Alison Lonsdale BA (Hons) - Professional Practice, Arts & Creative Industries Blog

 I don't think blogging will ever be my go to thing when I am wanting to express my thoughts. It still feels alien to me writing this. I thought about the last time (before this course) I wrote something with intentions of others seeing it, and I do it every day in the form of a text message. How can writing your views on a subject on social media or a text message feel so different to blogging. The recent work shop on 'talking about writing' with the guest speaker Peter Thomas was refreshing and also a god send to help me begin getting ideas and thoughts down on paper to start writing. In past modules I have gone through the process of writing bullet points on ideas, but I do this throughout the day, so when I come back to that bullet point my thoughts are lost or irrelevant because I can't remember the intentions. Writing continuously to get everything down on paper was difficult to do, my thoughts can sometimes be fragmented as the thought/idea isn't quite finish...

 When doing any form of data collection you have to maintain a certain degree of organisation. Collecting multiple versions of an interview explores so many paths and brings forward different considerations. Maybe some subjects that you haven't thought about and sometimes subjects that you intend to focus on. I chose to conduct semi-structured interviews because I feel it will keep me focused on the subjects at hand but it will also give me opportunity to broaden my learning. I think it is important to remain focused, as I have experienced (so far) that it can be very easy to delve into extending subjects that are linked to your inquiry, but the scope is way too wide for a 12 week research project. Interest draws me towards something that I read or have heard and so I research it and end up down a rabbit hole and have lost focus on what I set out to do. This is where I have to really think about if I have listened and filtered everything properly. We had a module 3 Skype that opene...

 I am one week into my data collection process and off to a flying start. It has been a lot easier to schedule people in than I first though. I didn't know how easy it as going to be arranging a date and time for interviews and more so for focus groups as I struggle to do things like; book a doctors appointment or a hair appointment. There always seems to be something that crops up and things are constantly being rescheduled around work and my busy life style. My thoughts are that Covid has had a huge impact on how people spend their time and also go about everyday life. Weekends don't seem to pan out the same, people are spending more time at home. Weekdays are mainly filed with work and planning. For me, this has been beneficial as people are more likely to be able to attend a Skype session.  So far I have managed to hold 4 interviews and one focus group and I intend to hold at least one more focus group. My plan over the next few weeks is going to progress onto analysis, wr...

How time flies! I am not too sure if I could say 'how time flies when you're having fun' because I don't know if you can describe the last couple of months as fun, however it is so nice to have a focus, and a positive drive. Welcome to the people starting module 1, and welcome back to those moving onto Module 2. Module 2, for me, was a challenge because there were so many different elements and I always felt like I had something else to add in or consider. The list never ended, it was like I was always adding on another job at the end of the day, and don't even mention the word count. Editing the work that you have worked so hard on is extremely time consuming, as you are trying to maintain integrity but the overflowing word count is still screaming out at you. I have read through the module 3 handbook a few times before starting this final leg, as I felt it was paramount to start my research with knowledge and most importantly confidence within my self. Once comple...

Submitting all of the documents that I have worked hard on over the months was scary but a relief. I am always doubting myself and aim to constantly evolve upon my work, but towards the end I had to stop editing and trust that it was at a standard I was happy with. Hitting the submit button and seeing all of the documents on Turnitin was extremely satisfying and I did a celebratory dance around my kitchen.  I don't want to jump the gun, but I always said that I would give myself a couple of weeks to get my head together and get myself straight at work, and then I would pick up the module 3 handbook. I don't want to jinx it and throw myself into module 3 as we haven't yet had the results for module 2, but I also want to make sure that I can assure my self that I used my time wisely and did enough, no matter what my results are.  I will give myself a month and then begin further reading and also read over the module 3 handbook to get to grips with everything I need to prepare...

So during this absolutely crazy time, I was re-deployed into an adult care home. Here, I was in a 14 day isolation period, making sure that the most vulnerable came into contact with as few people as possible. The second rota of staff are working the isolation period right now and I am back to my 'normal' day work in school. We are keeping the 14 days isolation, 14 days day work routine until we feel appropriate and safe for everyone concerned. The isolation has been a very challenging time, more so than I thought it would be. Going in I thought I was going to be absolutely fine. I had no idea what was going to be fine, but I just didn't think a lot of it.  The first couple of days were absolutely fine, we had a good routine and everyone seemed to be on the same thought path, the good thing was the team spirit carried on throughout. Around the 4th day I started to miss home, it was less than a mile away from the home but I wasn't allowed to leave. I started to miss waki...

For those who are new to my blog, I am a dance and yoga teacher in a school for special educational needs and disability (SEND), and I also work in a private dance school a few nights a week teaching ISTD syllabus in tap, modern and ballet. Unfortunately due to the current situation around Covid-19 the dance school has closed for the foreseeable, which is extremely sad but others are in this very same situation. I miss my students so much, they were meant to be doing their annual show this week!! We are keeping spirits high by constantly posting on the schools instagram page and streaming live or pre-recorded classes. I am still working during the day as the school as this place of work falls into the 'vulnerable' section and we are required to keep providing services for the students who need additional care. Due to the vulnerability of some students we have been forced to go into a lockdown in some of the homes connected to the school and college. I have been working and livi...

Interview techniques and conducting interviews is something that I have never had to think about, and until now, I have only experienced them in the form of a job interview.  Job interviews to me have never been a joyful experience and I often don't remember them at all upon walking out of the room. It all turns into a blur and a fraction of self doubt. "Why did I say that?", "did I answer their questions fully?", "could I have done better?". Conducting an interview feels very surreal sitting on the other side of the table in the manner of having to prompt questions and lead the session.  For my inquiry I have chosen to carry out my interviews and focus groups in semi-structured format. These types of interviews are exactly what the title says, they are not rigid and dictated completely in the form of closed questions in search for a yes/no answer. The interviewer maintains structure by taking into the interview pre-set open ended questions to keep the...

Throughout my journey so far on the BA PP course I have had many lightbulb moments, and also moments of complete hysteria where I don't have a clue what I am doing. Through our community on blogger and also the Facebook group (which has been a god send) I have managed to stumble through module 1 and into module 2, but feel like I have constantly not been able to catch myself fully upright on my feet.  I tuned into a Skype session with a module 3 focus last week. I logged into Skype and was away chatting with module 3 students and some of my fellow module 2 students. My intent going into a Skype session is always blown out of the water and I come out with different thoughts, my questions that I write down before hand and intended to ask are either irrelevant or just don't fit into the conversation. My mind is away thinking about what has just been discussed during the session and my questions are left on the side unanswered. This is what I call my 'reoccurring hazy fog of a ...

I think the way we think about ethics and the way we portray them in life has a lot to do with; how and where we are brought up, how open minded we are and experience. My upbringing was not one of religion, I wasn't exposed to it at all and I was from a small town. My big move to a city at 16 was when I realised how different life was. I had no option but to open my eyes and change the way I looked at things. I felt a bit like a blank canvas that was able to form my own considerations but also a little uneducated in approaching certain situations. Attending other dance classes was a massive eye opener for me. There was a student that didn't take off their cardigan for the entire ballet class, throughout the barre, centre work, allegro and all the way through to pointe work. Out of curiosity I asked why they made this choice, to which they politely explained that it was due to religious reasons they were making this choice. Things as simple as this I had never had to think abo...