Submissions and Coffee : )

So, as you're furiously all wading through your portfolios and your essays in amongst passing thoughts of Dec 25th looming and remembering what you haven't bought yet...just thought I'd add to the brain overload with the nuts and bolts if submitting your assessment materials too!

Jan 7th 2013 Deadline:

You can submit by post:

Helen Kindred, Programme Leader MA Professional Practice, Dance Pedagogy
School of Media and Performing Arts
Middlesex University London
The Burroughs
Hendon
London NW4 4BT

by email:
h.kindred@mdx.ac.uk

or in person
UniHelp desk in the Sheppard Library, Hendon Campus (please note the UniHelp desk is closed Dec 22-Jan 1)

and then...
time for a coffee and a catch up altogether!!

Adesola and I thought it would be really nice to have a couple of points in the year after submission points when (if possible) we can all come together for coffee and a chance to touch base with each other and share experiences (stresses) of the module.

So, we would like to invite you all to a MAPP Coffee Morning (except it's in the afternoon) on
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 1, 4PM, COSTA COFFEE, THE GROVE ATRIUM, HENDON CAMPUS


This is not a requirement, just an informal coffee break that we hope some of you will be able to make. It will be a chance to meet and share your experiences with the new January starter MAPPers too, as this will be their induction day too.

So, wishing you all, all the very best for the holidays and the scurrying together of your assignments,

I am on email/Skype/phone until midday tomorrow (Dec 21) and will be available again from Jan 3, 2013 if you need any help.

Helen

Write and re-write...

Drafting, re-drafting, writing what you know, writing about what you didn't know, grappling with what you still don't know, but know you don't know it...
pausing...breathing...
reading, re-thinking, re-writing, re-considering...
pausing...breathing...
re-writing...
pausing...breathing...
re-writing...
pausing...breathing...
re-reading...
submitting.


YOU WILL GET THERE!
but don't forget the PAUSING AND BREATHING...


module one has been all about reflection, why would the process of writing the assignment be any different?

Supporting Thinking...

How do you know what you know? (yes I come back to it!)

You know something because you have experienced it, felt it, sensed it, touched it, been moved by it, moved in it.  Huge amounts of learning as dancers taking place within and through our bodies.  Though through an understanding of embodiment we know that the body is not (for those that follow this theory) a separate entity from the mind.  How do we know about theories such as embodiment and dualism?  Because we have read about them, understood them through applying them (in practice) and been able to integrate our learning within both body and mind.  

The same process needs to happen in academic writing, integrating theory with practice.  What have you read during this module?  What have you related to in terms of your practice;  doing, teaching, observing?  What/who has influenced you along your journey through this module?  Who/what has inspired, challenged, provoked you?  Students, writers, practitioners, colleagues, philosophers, artists, all sources of research, which from reading your blogs I know you are identifying with and feeding from, so make sure you acknowledge them in your writing.

Adesola has already posted on her MAPP blog offering guidance as to academic writing, citations, references to research for the...use this.  Writing at this level must be supported, ie: backed up by research, underpinned by theory, acknowledged in context.  Whilst the RoL essays are your reflection on your journey through this module, they need to move beyond personal narratives and find greater substance within a pedagogical, artistic, philosophical and academic framework.

Go back to your notes from whatever you have been reading in relation to this module/time, to the tasks suggested in your Introduction to Module One handbook, how did you approach them, what did you take from them, where did they or your reading lead you?  Try to follow this learning journey, which has you very much at the heart of it, but which also contextualises you and your experiential learning within a broader framework of knowledge.

See how you sit there...in the glory of YOUR knowledge of dance pedagogy.