NEW TERM, NEW ME - REFLECTING BACK & LOOKING AHEAD

Today we welcomed the Module Ones to the learning community sharing our experiences of how we found the first module. I reflected on how you should find your own learning style towards the autonomous process and have a viewpoint of the AOL’s being an extension of your CV.  And that also in picking up the handbook for module two if I hadn’t completed module one prior I would have been overwhelmed in regard to organisational project management and writing skills.

Adesola discussed overall the general feel of the course module by module saying:

Module One – “Looking back over your shoulder if you see time as linear”

 …. And finding AOL’s that differentiate you as a practioner honing in on your skills and knowledge, some that you might not even realise you have in preparation to identify you area of interest for the upcoming modules.

Module Two  - Is about contextualizing your work with the rest of the world, with other people’s thoughts on the subject and how it sits with your knowledge. Shares how you attempt research. And that it can be overwhelming because theirs a lot of other people. And that Module Two is just the proposal not the project. Adesola also looked at the thoughts and theories shared by others on a subject through reading them are like a team on your shoulder and how looking at their bibliography can aid your research.

Module Three – The Main Event…….

Helen shared she sees the course through a visual aid of three circles.

MODULE ONE - LOOKING AT EXPERIENCES (ESTABLISH YOURSELF)

            MODULE TWO - ADDING THEORY (WHERE YOU STAND)

MODULE THREE - WHAT YOUR ADDING YOUR RESEARCH (FINDING OUT MORE)

One thing that really helped me with this was the metaphor you need to see this as a blind journey.

We then discussed feedback or feed-forward as now I know exactly what I need to focus and develop on in this module from the feedback I received.

We then discussed support tools and I totally see this as an online community much more than I did upon when I first started. Like Blogs, Linked-in, Skype Sessions – Group and 1on1. Thanks Mary also for recommending “You and your research project – Mcniff, Lomax and Whitehead.”

I have learnt it to be valuable to make “key notes” whilst the group sessions are on and then to annotate it after so nothing is lost and then I can blog it and put it into my reflective journal, I hope you find it helpful.

 I have also leant the importance of sharing are own thought process’s through metaphorical aids and how it facilitates my learning. Such as Helens three circle steps, And Adesola’s padded black box. The one that really stands out in my mind was making the salad in terms of research “I’m going to make a salad with oil spaghetti tomatoes and onions – that doesn’t sound like a salad it sounds like spag-boll!” #lightbulbmoment.

Would love thoughts and comments on anything I’ve missed.

And remember everyone it was Martin Luther King that said:

“You don’t have to see the whole staircase just take the first step”