Emily Smith BA (Hons) Professional Practice, Arts and Creative Industries Blog

I have started to piece my essay together and plan a structure... but in all honestly, I am crossing my fingers and hoping for the best! Essay writing doesn't come naturally to me and I keep questioning myself if I have gone deep enough into my theories and research! The draft hand in date is starting to quickly get closer! Here is a mind map I created a few weeks ago to try and choose my areas of learning... I have solidified two but I keep changing my mind on my third! In some respects there are so many areas of learning I could acknowledge in my practise, as all my training and during every professional contract I have learnt so many new things! Our practises are constantly developing! Today I plan on chaining myself to a desk to get productive!  Wish me luck x  

Anyone who is taking part in the Professional Practise in Creative Industries course will have certainly come across the idea of reflection. A huge part of discovering and understanding what our practise is, is by reflecting on our training, our lives and our jobs. ‘Reflection is a process of exploring and examining ourselves, our perspectives, attributes, experiences and actions / interactions. It helps us gain insight and see how to move forward.’  Docs.hss.ed.ac.uk. 2020. Reflection: What Is It And Why Is It Useful? . [online] Available at: <http://www.docs.hss.ed.ac.uk/iad/Learning_teaching/Academic_pastoral/Reflect/Reflection_explanation_HO.pdf> [Accessed 20 October 2020]. I have quite enjoyed looking back at all my past experiences, training and my influences, that have helped mould me into who I am today. It’s really made me appreciate how far I have come and how brave I have been starting up this course during such a difficult time (we are all doing great!) This blog ...

Kolbs Learning Cycle  I have been reading through the handbook again today, trying to organise my thoughts and I re-read the section about ‘Kolbs leaning cycle’. Instead of just skimming over the text (which I can be a culprit of) I tried to think about an experience I have had, where I have unknowingly at the time, followed this learning cycle and asked myself which section I started at… Below is a diagram of how the cycle works   Image taken from-Skillshub.com. 2020. What Are KOLB’S Learning Styles And What Do They Mean? - Skillshub.Com . [online] Available at: <https://www.skillshub.com/what-are-kolbs-learning-styles/> [Accessed 16 October 2020]. I want to relate this to an experience I had learning a new lift on a job. My dance partner on this occasion was my fiancé Rodney; so I already felt safe and trusting and we have danced together before. My partner is very experienced with lifting and partner work and although I have had lots of experience too, I have also dea...

6pm Writing workshop with guest speaker Peter Thomas For anyone who was unable to attend this lecture, this blog’s purpose is to record the main outcomes that I took away from the talk. I haven’t academically written an essay since I did my A-Levels back in 2011 ( a scary 9 years ago! ) So to say I feel slightly apprehensive and find this whole process daunting, is an understatement! However, listening to Peter and understanding his methods of breaking down the writing process, has left me with hope! A quote Peter shared on the screen was ‘Writing Is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then for money.’ (Moliere) I found my own quote which is ‘Either write something worth reading, or do something worth writing’ - Benjamin Franklin . This resonated with me more, as we are writing about our experiences and reflecting on our practise. He spoke about ways to break down the process of writing Step 1- Generate your thoughts Step 2- Organise your ...

This past week I have been feeling quite overwhelmed with this course and as the first draft of the essay looms closer, I can feel myself getting into a panic! Its funny… I know what ethics are, as I am aware we make ethical decisions everyday, however I am finding it hard to explain or define them… What are ethics? At its simplest, ethics is a system of moral principles. They affect how people make decisions and lead their lives. Ethics is concerned with what is good for individuals and society and is also described as moral philosophy. The term is derived from the Greek word ethos which can mean custom, habit, character or disposition. Ethics covers the following dilemmas: how to live a good life our rights and responsibilities the language of right and wrong moral decisions - what is good and bad? Ethics doesn't always show the right answer to moral problems. Indeed more and more people think that for many ethical issues there isn't a single right answer - just a set of ...

Transferable skills As I have been delving into the world of ‘what is my practise’ I thought I would dedicate a blog to ‘Transferable skills’…to what I am doing during the year of 2020… the Covid- 19 pandemic… I should have spent this year cruising around the Caribbean, being a beach bum and performing some dreamy shows! However my world came crashing down on March 23rd, when I had to debark the beautiful Freedom of the seas, fly home from Barbados and wave goodbye to my wonderful cast! With no clue that 6 months later I would still be home… After I’d say, about 2 and a half months of grieving, netflix, home workouts and many wine bottles later, I thought it was time that I came back to reality and got a job… a normal job… This has fortunately been the first normal job I’ve had to get in about 5 years and the thought of it filled me with anxiety and dread. Anyway, cut to point, I am now working in a pub / waitressing / bar work / cleaning / making deserts, you name it! But ‘hey ho’ I d...