Specific Identifiable Meaningful Information

Within Module 1 our focus is to establish our professional practice, contextualise and articulate what our current practice is alongside what we have learnt through wider education and life/professional experiences. I have found that the main reason that I am struggling is that I am distracted by the 'big' and 'complex' words that make up the handbook. It has been almost 4 years since I did any kind of proper academic work and even then I was completing my A-levels which had strict guidelines and revision tools to follow. With this course, I have at times felt like I am drowning in words that I simply don't understand the meaning of. Resulting in me feeling incapable of starting what I need to do. 

On Monday night other Module 1 members and I had a zoom call to catch up and see where were we all at. We used it like the skype discussions bring up areas that we were struggling with and what we had or hadn't found. I felt less insecure that I hadn't understood some of the topics in the handbook that others had felt the same. Hearing about others ideas of their area of learning, made me push aside my fears of my own experiences not being good enough and jump into what I want to focus on. 

I have spent the last day looking through my many mind maps and collating ideas that come up a lot as well as experiences where I have learnt that are linked to give me a wide range of areas to think about. I also looked at it from a different perspective of what areas will I be able to research and how to do that link into my practice. 

area of learning (AOL)

A specific identifiable subject where you have gain meaningful information that can be transformed into other different situations. For instance, an area of learning could be the pastoral care you give children when you are teaching them your art form (recognising when they need support in their learning) this recognition of when people need support could have then have been transferred to when you worked with a cast and support newcomers to the cast learn the material. We ask you to identify a few of these from your past experiences. In ACI3611 you will write-up three as part of your submitted essay. 

3 main ideas that I think come under the term of 'Specific, Identifiable, Meaningful Information' have stood out to me :

1. Non-Verbal Communication - My parents split up when I was 10. I feel that from a young age I needed to develop a more mature way of communicating. I think that this included being able to read body language and non-verbal communication to understand emotions and the true meaning behind conversations. I think that non-verbal communication plays a big role in our ability to perform to an audience, allowing us to communicate a story with emotions and meaning without saying a word. Developing my non-verbal communication and observation of such skills has allowed me to be able to 'read' a room effectively which is extremely useful when it comes to auditions and interviews. 
2. Dyslexic Learning Styles - In high school I noticed that I didn't find reading and writing as easy as other students and my class and that most of the time I would have to work twice as hard to produce the same amount of work. However, I found that other aspects of learning much easier such as drawing and muscle memory in my body when it came to dancing. By having a learning difficulty but still wanting to be a high achiever I had to develop new coping skills or learning strategies that allowed me to be successful academically as well as in my practical subjects. It has taught me to be perseverant when encountering tasks that I struggle with as well as allowing me to see things from a different perspective that others might not see. 
3. Short and Long Term Recovery - In my second year of professional training, I injured myself in an accident outside of my practice, by dislocating my collar bone during a migraine episode. I know about preventing an injury however, this was a simple accident and taught me the importance of recovery. I am more aware of my own body and when something isn't quite right as well as being able to support myself and my practice through an injury. It has given me transferable skills to my mental health as well, you can't just hope it will get better you have to put the rest and the work into recovery. 

I don't know if these are or could be classed as areas of learning or if I need to be more or less generalised with my topics but this is defiantly a starting point. I feel 5 steps ahead of where I was at the start of the week and that I have something to research and develop. I can't thank my other module 1's enough for the true sense of community that I felt. 

Akinleye, A. (2019) 'MODULE HANDBOOK ACI3611
Establishing Professional Practice 2020/21', Page 60.