Georgina Knight BAPP Blog

 I can't even explain the overwhelming sense of accomplishment I feel after completing my presentation this morning but this photo of me in NZ from 2019 pretty much sums it up!! Firstly a huge well done to Jen, Olivia, Clare, Shelley, Katie, Roanne, Alys, Chloe and Olivia for your presentations. I feel like I have learnt so much from your short presentations alone and the information and ideas you shared were enriching and have given me even more to think about in regards to our wider industry! The journey I have been on throughout the BAPP course has definitely had its ups and downs and on more than one occasion I felt like giving up because I didn't know if I was on the right track or not. My advice to anyone in Module 2, Module 1 or even people considering the BAPP course is to try your best to be open minded to the experience and accept that there really is never a right or wrong answer. Reflecting on my journey has highlighted just how much I have grown as both a practitio...

Firstly a massive CONGRATULATIONS to everyone who has submitted their work and to those still working - you've got this! Submitting my work for the final time last week felt amazing! Looking back at my journey from module one I can't believe I'm actually here (I remember sneaking a peak at the module 3 handbook when we first started, seeing the 5500 word report and just thinking - no thank you!) My absolute biggest challenge and similarly to others blogs I have read was the word count. Someone once said to me it's better to have too much than not enough but actually I found this harder! For me it would have been easier to pad the report out with more detail but after re drafting my overview and analysis I was already at 6500 words - and that was without my introduction, literature review and reflection! It took me longer than anticipated to amend my word count without losing any of the analysis and reflection that I had discovered during the inquiry process. Eventuall...

 I know I'm jumping the gun a little with my blog title as I know we still have our VIVA presentations to do in January however I am starting this week feeling rather positive about the submission due on Friday! My essay is complete, I just need to get the word count down now by taking out some of my waffling, although this seems like a difficult task I am grateful to be in a position this week where I have too much as opposed to not enough! I have also finished the creation of my artefact, there were lots of little pieces to organise and now it is just a case of putting them altogether in a video presentation. Originally I was going to accompany my video with text but I know myself I sometimes switch off if there is too much to read so instead I am going to attempt to record a voice over to go with it! I am extremely nervous about this because as much as I love to talk I actually hate the sound of my own voice and I know it's going to take me multiple takes before I get one I ...

 You would think by now I would have realised how quickly the time flys in the last couple of weeks of the module! Going from feeling rather relaxed about my report to getting my draft back and also working on my artefact has sent me into another whirlwind spiral! My biggest concern with my report is getting the word count down! I know it's better to have too much than not enough but I was already cutting it close and now I know it's going to be a challenge in itself! The feedback on my draft was incredibly helpful and has left me with a lot of things to consider about my inquiry. I really can't believe this time last year I was working on my module one dreading having to write a 5000 word report in module 3 and now I am fully embracing the entire process. I've made a good start with my artefact and now its a case of fine tuning the small details to really reflect my inquiry and the individuality of the process itself! Presentations aside there will be a huge sense of r...

Tonight I was finally able to make the module 3 call and it was everything I needed at this point in the inquiry process. Before we started Helen read a excerpt from the KORTEXT  "nothing is lost, but we can get lost in it"  What we're saying here is that its not how we get the data for our inquiry, all research is valuable, but how do we figure out what to do with it? This was one of my biggest questions and the part of the inquiry that I felt I was hitting a wall with - the analysis. First of all Helen reminded us of some key points when thinking about the analysis section of the report: Do something with the data - don't include 'raw' data in your report, yes you can use quotes to support your themes but make sure you do something with them. Reflect on what research you have gathered - what relationship does the data have to the lens of your professional practice? What does it mean to you? Analysis is a process - more often than not you will step away fr...

As I outlined in my previous blogs this term has been a tough one! My new job has taken over much more of my time than I initially thought and I found myself struggling to keep up with the workload so I was extremely grateful for the arrival of half term. I have managed to catch up on the Module 3 blogs that I missed and they were exactly what I needed! It was nice to have to opportunity to hear what everyones inquiry was and how they were finding their initial data collecting but having finished my final interview last week it was that Data and Analysis recording that I was most desperate to view. Helen started off by explaining that the traditional and more scientific definition of data probably wasn't the most relevant to our inquiry and that in fact when it comes to data we are simply talking about t he information we have gathered from a range of sources. Both Emily and Alice then went on to talk about how the data they had collected looked and felt for them at the present mom...

After what felt like a never ending process I have finished collecting data in the form of interviews and like all things BAPP related I feel like I have more questions than I do answers...  Usually this would leave me on the verge of a breakdown however I am taking this feeling in my stride, my approach to learning has changed over the course of the BAPP programme and I know that there is no black or white answer, every line of inquiry in this course is always going to leave me with more questions. Although I tried my absolute hardest to go into this inquiry without any assumptions it was going to be near impossible, after all, I chose the topic of inquiry so I must have had some pre existing thoughts or feelings towards my inquiry focus which was 'does career transition exist in dance?' I did however make several observations during my interview that as I delve into the literature further could evolve into potential themes… Injury    Job sustainability/Consistent employ...

 I can't believe it's October and this is my first blog post for Module 3. I've been reading a few other blogs and it's nice to know I'm not the only one who feels a little relaxed at this point - I know what I need to do and I know how I'm going to do it so why aren't I getting it done? The truth is, there have been a fair few changes in my life since Module 2 ended. I've moved house and I've started a new job which as much as I love it is FULL ON! I'm also still juggling part time teaching at the dance school during the evenings and at weekends so I'd love to say where has the time gone but I think I've pretty much just covered it! I had my first tutorial last week with Sam and after a lot of initial worry and panic (from me of course) he was completely re-assuring that these things happen and its important to just take things one step at a time, concentrate on your next move and not the end result! We had a great discussion about where...

From what felt like an impossible tasks I can’t believe I am actually sitting here having submitted my Module 2 work a day early. Now I know it’s only a day early but for me this is huge! It doesn’t matter how organised I am I always find myself getting stuck at the final hurdle and submitting at the latest possible moment. The last few weeks have been particularly challenging for me, I wasn’t able to make the last 2 online sessions and balancing my work load with time to study felt impossible so it’s safe to say I am relieved that module 2 is over (results pending of course) Compared to module 1 I feel like this work has been incredibly challenging for me. The inquiry proposal essay itself felt rather natural to me but the literature review and the MORE form were huge mental blocks for me. A lot of this was through a lack of knowledge surrounding university ‘lingo’ and a lot of the time I found myself googling the language used in the handbook or on UniHub because I just hadn’t come a...

This was a question that came up on one of the first zoom calls of this module and I am finally at the point in my own journey where I am ready to answer this for myself - what is the difference between methodology and method? Helen described the differences in the plain understanding of: Methodology - The approach you are going to take Method - How you are going to gather the data? What kind of approaches are there to research? Well one of the big ones here is that we are going to be doing Qualitative Research over Quantitative, I have an earlier blog about what Qualitative Research actually is, but now I am looking into what Methodology in the realm of Qualitative Research will I be using. Here are a few of the approaches I came across: 1. Narrative Research This research is used to form a cohesive story, or narrative, by way of consolidating several events from a small group of people. It involves running in-depth interviews and reading up on documents featuring similar actions as a...

First of all I just want to disclose that I have never in my life written a literature review, nor do I claim to be an expert on the topic. But I've spent the last couple of days researching what the literature review actually is, how it can be approached and the do's and don'ts so I thought I would put together this little blog that will hopefully help at least one other person. I could write paragraphs and paragraphs on 'What is a literature review' but if like me your head feels like its going to explode if you read one more book or article you might find this helpful: 1. The module handbook has most of the core information you need about a literature review - read it again! 2. 'Doing your research project' by Judith Bell and Stephen Waters  - Part 1 Chapters 6 and 7 has further information on Literature Searching and then The Review of the Literature. 3. If like me you've read all of this over and over but you still don't really understand  what...

Ethics, ethical considerations and ethical procedures in both my inquiry topic and in conducting research seem to be popping up all over the Module 2 handbook so I think it's time I dedicate some time to them. I know that ethics was something that I only briefly touched on in Module 1 but the nature of the Module 2 inquiry means it is something I need to dig deeper into.  Ethics is defined as a moral philosophy or code of morals practiced by a person or group of people. Initially I struggled finding personal experiences that had a strong ethical implication. I had never suffered any bias or judgement as a result of my skin colour, age or sex and if I had i certainly wasn't aware of it. These are things that I will be looking out for within my inquiry topic as I narrow down my field of study. Before looking at the ethical considerations surrounding my inquiry topic I wanted to look at the ethical considerations that are to be considered when conducting research (also because I h...

After reading the handbook for the second time it became embedded in me that throughout this project we will be conductive qualitative research - but what does this exactly mean? We've all heard of quality over quantity - but I hadn't really thought of it from a research point of view. Bhandari decribes Qualitive research as  'collecting and analyzing non-numerical data (e.g., text, video, or audio) to understand concepts, opinions, or experiences. It can be used to gather in-depth insights into a problem or generate new ideas for research.' (para1. 2020)   in complete contrast to Quantitive research with uses numerical data to analyse facts and statistics. To kick start my research into research I started to look at the Kortext book  'Qualitative research in physical culture'   and the first thing that stood out to me as the the book is broken up into what the author calls the 7Ps: Purpose, Paradigms, Process, Practice, Politics of Interpretation, Presenta...

 I can't believe the blog I am about to write is about starting Module 2?! The last time I blogged I had just completed my first draft of my Module 1 essay and I hadn't even started my diagram - it's safe to say that my work/life balanced took a huge hit at the end of last year and every time I thought about sitting down to blog or read what other people were sharing, something else came up. This is something I am actively looking to change throughout Module 2 so as they say... onwards and upwards! The open discussion from Wednesday morning was the first I have ever been able to make - usually I work full days but with the current lockdown I have been lucky enough to have a little bit of extra time.  The discussion group was mainly made up of Module 1 and 2 students with a few Module 3 students which was an absolute godsend! I think I speak for every Module 2 students when I say anytime someone asks a question I would find myself staring through the screen at the Module 3 g...

 So I have completely fallen behind on blogging We've had tier three restrictions, then I moved house and then another full national lockdown so my heads felt a little all over the place! In all honesty I don't know how I feel about my draft being submitted, on one hand, I'm one step closer to the finished product but on the other hand I feel like I've opened a can of worms as for the majority of the time I felt like I was just waffling on as usual. But whatever the outcome I do feel like a huge weight has been lifted and I'm ready to take my feedback onboard - full steam ahead until that December deadline! Would love to know how everyone else is feeling about their drafts?

Module One Focus - 28th September 2020 It's took me a while to get round to writing this, I thought I knew what I was going to say and then I read a few more blogs today and well as you can imagine my head feels like its been through a blender! We discussed so much in the session and I really don't want to leave anything out so I have devised a mini plan.  Summarise here... then blog some more later! I just feel this is the best way to include as much as I can for those who were unable to make the call but without people having to read paragraphs and paragraphs of me waffling on. I just want to say thank you to everyone who was involved in the call and to those who have already blogged about it, Monday seems like a million days ago so reading your blogs really helped refresh my mind on what was discussed. We jumped straight into talking about our Module One Lenses and in particular the following topic from each lens. 1. Web 2.0 2. Ethics 3. Networking I am really looking forwar...

  Earlier this week I had my first 1:1 Skype call with Adesola, in this call we talked through Module One in a little more detail and I had the opportunity to give Adesola an insight on my history and how I've gotten to this point in my journey. For anyone that is remotely interested, the road to get here could most certainly be likened to the M1, in the height of summer, when they decide to do 5 junctions worth of roadworks! To save me from blabbering on, this is the third time I have set out to do this course so it already feels like I've reached a milestone by getting this far! After the call I decided to have another go at reading through the Module One handbook and much to my disappointment I was still really struggling to get my head around what was actually being asked of me. I've not been in a classroom or an academic setting for almost 8 years now and at this point I think to say I was a little rusty would be an understatement. I've never struggled academically...

So here we are, September 2020, not where I was supposed to be and yet exactly where I should be... Logged into Skype and anxiously anticipating my first call I had some time to reflect on how the journey I am about to embark on is going to be nothing like I imagined. I was supposed to be fitting my BAPP around my 6th cruise contract yet instead of relocating from Alaska to Hawaii I found myself relocating from the living room to our home office. It may not be as exciting but its not all doom and gloom, starting this course at home does have its benefits.  - I am grateful for the strong reliable WiFi connection - I don't have to panic as I watch my megabytes drain away before my eyes  - It's great to be in the same time zone as the scheduled call rather than trying to make a 7am Skype co-exist with the carnage that is breakfast in the crew mess. It's safe to say I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this call and I feel like I came away with even more questions that ...

Having never blogged or even considering blogging before I wasn't entirely sure if I was going to be any good at it. - Is blogging something you can be good or not so good at?  - Do people actually want to listen to my ramblings?  - What if I struggle for something to say?  Well I think it's safe to say question 3 isn't going to be too big of a problem, but in all seriousness, what if people don't like my thoughts or the ideas that I am going to blog about? This was a huge deal for me... for all of 5 minutes, and then I realised It doesn't matter! This is going to be my safe space, where I can put out into the world what I'm thinking and connect with others whether they are like-minded or share different views entirely. It's going to be a space for me to grow and learn about myself, about others and about my profession in ways that will challenge me, but that will also reward me. Besides I love talking, more than anything, and blogging is basically thinking ...