Monday 30th Sep. Skype- Module One- Self Practice (2)

 Yesterday evening we had our first Module one Skype session, This was actually my first Skype beyond the induction so I was feeling quite anxious on the lead up, but all was fine! No need to panic!

We covered a lot during this session and I'm still trying to get my head around it all. I have a real habit of  going down conceptual thought paths (so I warn you now) but the main topics discussed were

-how we view our 'Practice'
-Past teacher influences/ your ‘Journey’ influences

- Web 2.0/ connectivity 

- Multidisciplinary practice

I’m gonna jump straight in with viewing our ‘self Practice’ - I think I currently view my practice as a giant knot, with hundreds of strands all intertwined. And my aim is to try and unpick the knot, but in unpicking it there is a knock on effect. For example;

There are 3 strings, you take string 1 under string 2- so now string 2 is released- but string 3 is even more twisted so you then shift your focus to string 3. And in trying to unpick the knot there is always the possibility that you might create an even bigger knot. 

So my goal is not to untangle the knot but to try and understand the ‘strings’ the knot is formed of. I think I may use this metaphor as the start point/ structure for my ‘Mapping/Diagram’

Other interesting points considered within the Skype were the Ideas of seeing your practise as ‘you’ or seeing it as a ‘persona’. I have always considered my practise as me, I am my practice, but after consideration over night I think this is hard to say. For the past 5 years it has felt like everything I do is a step in my practise. My whole drive is my practise and therefore it is the deciding factor in almost every decision, and I mean even as far as deciding what to eat/drink, when to go to bed, what jobs to take that allow my focus to be on my practice, or even what jobs not to take. The only time that I feel my ‘practise’ is not the leading factor or motivation is when I’m on holiday. I mean it definitely affects my decisions about whether to, or when to take the holiday but what I mean is when I’m ON holiday then I can ‘turn it off’. But if I can turn it off, maybe it isn’t ‘Me’ after all? I would also add to this that when I say I can turn it off on holiday, realistically I think this now only applies to an abroad holiday. Why? Because of Web 2.0, the internet. When holidaying in the UK you pretty much have no restrictions, your still reachable, more than likely you have signal and data and some kind of access to wi-fi. But abroad, with roaming charges, possible lack of wi-fi, and additional charges for connectivity, you are much more isolated and therefore able to ‘switch off’. I have tried to switch off during UK based holidays- Only a few weeks ago I went to Cornwall- and during my time there, via email, data and internet access I discovered there had been a mix up in my enrollment to this course which needed immediate attention but ultimately meant my induction Skype was whilst I was ‘On (uk) holiday’. But I strongly feel this ties in with other factors that were mentioned throughout the Skype session- the connectivity and networking instantly available to us now and the pro’s and cons of this. And also ethical factors too.

Who can afford regular abroad holidays? (I can’t!)

Is it fair not to be able to ‘turn off’ because connectivity is 24/7 now, and mentally how does that affect you?

Is it your ‘responsibility’ to find alternative ways to switch off- but if you loose a job because you weren’t instantly connected, who’s at fault? Who has to face the repercussions?

You are a representing yourself, you are your work ethic and your reputation, Your talent and your flaws. You are constantly judged. Is that restricting? Can you really be ‘you’? are you hired as ‘you’ or a persona? Where is the line? What is the line?

I did say I like to go off on Conceptual tangents! But I think the mental effects caused by the development of web 2.0 and 24/7 connectivity is a really interesting topic to further research, it is just also a huge topic as it is something that I think has an effect on everyone even if it is a subconscious effect. And also the affects it has on people who do not necessarily have this access and is it a disadvantage too? …

(Another tangent) …

My Grandpa wants to book a holiday to Blackpool…He has internet in the house but doesn’t have the knowledge of knowing how to access it. Computers and tablets and mobiles are all foreign objects to him, and he’s always had an attitude of not wanting to ‘get into all that’! But now that my Nan has passed away he feels the need to fill his time and has maybe become aware of how isolating this lack of knowledge is - It makes me so sad- And that’s just a personal aspect of it. Everything is trying to shift its way online and some of these things we have no control over - Banking is becoming more and more online based and interconnected. You need to use your phone to generate a code to access your online account?! ‘Your statements are going paperless, please log on to view’. ‘We will Email you and changes to your service’….

What if;...

‘I don’t have a smartphone’

‘I’ve never set up an email address’

‘I don’t know how to get online’

And this is just the effects of development within the UK. What about other countries, less developed or poor countries. We are progressing without them. How does this affect their society, every day life, access to improving or growing? If ‘we’ continue to move without them, are they going to be ‘stuck’?

As you can tell I can waffle on for ages, but really need to learn how to write a small summarist blogs! This blog alone has a word count of 1,085 (Thanks to anyone who has actually managed to get through it all!) so I think I’m going to struggle to be concise and create an essay of only 2500 words.