Looking at myself as a learner

 Looking at David Kolb's learning cycle I believe I enter the cycle in the area of reflective observation. I find that although I am likely learning whilst I am working for example, it is only through the time afterwards that I am able to understand what I have learned, and I definitely need space away from my work for the learning to settle within my brain and body. For example, I have had an issue with the way I use my arms when I dance for quite some time. I was working for months trying to make changes to the way I used them. However, it was not until I took a week's holiday and then returned to dance that other people really noticed a difference in how I was using them. It felt as though the learning had to settle in me and with no further conscious thought I have gradually been able to make some positive changes in my port de bras.

Understanding that I am a reflective learner seems crucial in fact as I believe I can become quite unsettled if I am not given sufficient time for preparation and planning. I know that I achieve much greater standards in everything I do if I have applied sufficient time and energy into the preparation. 

I am also quite a visual learner and I like to do mood boards and collage to support my learning and as preparation for the roles I dance. Visualisation is also a key part of the preparation for any role. I undertook a course in Sports Psychology last year which has assisted greatly with this.

In the light of the recent challenges I have faced in teaching, I have decided I will do a teaching mood board next to support this area of learning.

Below is my vision board for 2022 as an example of how use collage to support my learning.

References

https://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html