You can plan all you want before a class, but one thing that is sure to ruin you’re day is resources. I’m not going to dwell on detail here as moaning hardly constitutes critical reflection. Suffice to say, things got a bit mixed up room-wise causing me to think on my feet a bit more than usual.
I began the day with my usual email and Moodle checking before attending individual tutorials with the 2nd Year SM Students. They are nearing the end of a very long module (P4/5) which began last November. The aim of these tutorials was to give the final formative feedback for the module and a chance for the students to respond. I also asked them to think about perceived gaps in their knowledge, so I could facilitate further learning on their behalf and before they progressed to a more senior allocation (next term).
Next term has been designed as an experimental one. All but one of the students are dedicated to one production for the duration of the term with time at the end to reflect. Two are to take on the role of Stage Manager and the remaining pair are allocated as Deputy Stage Managers, all of them are ready to progress and I made this clear to them. Of course there is still work to do, but that is what next term is in place to achieve. It is a time for them to experiment and try things out for the first time, instead of relying on me to tell them what best practice is, I want them to discover this themselves through exploration. In many ways, this is the most important module that they will undertake while at the Academy. They get to set their own standards and goals. I will, of course, be there every step of the way guiding and coaching in context. The A2’s are basic stripped down ‘bare-bones’ productions, an ideal playground for them to learn their craft with enough head-space for them to investigate and hopefully innovate.
I have laid the foundations for this innovation, giving them brief introductions into e-documentation and online collaborative tools, though innovation may emerge in areas other than these digital realms. Perhaps team management or any number of necessary inter disciplinary skills will lead them to develop that factor ‘x’. All of this can be achieved with this forthcoming module, it’s a far cry from the ‘meat grinder’ approach of two years ago and one more conducive to learning.
In the afternoon there was a production meeting for the next A3 studio show, which one of the 2nd Year students were Stage Managing. She (Emma) was to attend, so I requested that the other 3 (Kieron, Vicky & Anne) attend also with the view of using the meeting as a class. We were to sit at the back and observe, making notes on the process for discussion later on that afternoon. However, only Emma turned up for it which was really quite disappointing as we had moved room in order to especially accommodate the extra people. This is the first time that anyone in the Academy has used part of the production process in this way, actually as a direct learning experience, albeit in a completely discrete way. Usually we would sit with the students directly allocated to the production and be part of teh process ourselves. I wanted the students not involved to analyse and evaluate the process for themselves, sadly the opportunity was missed this time. I plan to use this approach throughout the A2 and A3 productions next term i.e. as observation platforms for students at all levels and especially if they are not involved in the show itself. I feel that I may have a struggle on my hands with certain Directors who still see TPA Students as their to purely support their own agenda’s and students. I am determined to see the end of this approach.
The problem I have always found with RSAMD is the ongoing struggle it has with deciding whether it is a producing theater to support the performing courses, for financial gain or for artistic reputation or an educational establishment which provides the best learning environment for ALL it’s students. At times it feels as if this dichotomy will tear the place in two. Thankfully, this attitude is gradually being phased out, with the PG-Cert becoming a grand catalyst in this progression.
After the meeting I had scheduled a ’round table’ discussion for any Stage Management student that worked on Love for 3 Oranges (Opera 1) earlier this module. This included a 3rd year SM & DSM, four 2nd year ASMs, the 3rd Year SM for Opera 3 (who is feeling anxiety about her coming role next term), and four interested 1st Years. The room we were situated in was wholly inadequate, so in a spontaneous decision decided to hold the mini-event in the bar of the Universal. The idea behind this was one that I have harbored for several years, it encouraged a forum for discussion from a varied group of students who ranged from the curious to the informed. It was a chance to unwrap the Opera and ask questions of each other. I was worried that the conversations would dry up shortly into the discussion but I feel that those who worked the Opera found it cathartic. While the others were given an opportunity to hear it ‘from the horses mouth’, so to speak.
The 1st years have a big presentation on Friday which I also hoped would provide a direct and final font of information for it. The OvD Project (Opera vs Drama) has been running for several weeks and cover both last term and this one. See here for more details.
The session lasted for 90 minutes before I had to leave, so I called a halt in proceedings and left them to discuss the topic more in my absence. The reality is that they probably changed the subject to alcohol choices soon after I left!
As has been the case every morning this week, the students had score reading classes. Today was their last day and they all came back with the usual enthusiasm for the sessions. I must see if I can get the go-ahead to schedule more in. While they were attending the class I set up (on Moodle) a Critical Incident form and notified them that they should fill it in. The nice thing about doing one of these forms online is that Moodle collates al of the answers onto one sheet, making it easier to evaluate group responses. Hopefully I will get a better response than last years paper-based attempt.
I began the class (again in the Chandler) by introducing an old friend of mine from my theater days, Ruth Alexander. She is currently the Company Stage Manager at Pitlochry Festival Theater, the only repertoire venue in the UK. Pitlochry have always been good employers of RSAMD graduates and are a leading voice in FST. The combination of this and it being a repertoire system made getting Ruth involved with my students all the more interesting for them. The PLX students came along to sit in and contribute.
After the complaints of over work and long hours during the Opera from this same group of students, this actually turned our to be timely. Ruth’s talk made it clear that professional theater and the style in which Pitlochry works is not for the work shy or those adverse to working long hours. She brought around a raft of paperwork examples and had a series of supporting Powerpoint slides. This was much more than any other guest lecturer had ever turned up with to one of my classes. The students didn’t have to write anything down as notes were also provided. I was really pleased with the way the session went and on leaving I arranged a venue visit with Ruth for both myself and my students.
After lunch we sat around a table and discussed the paperwork they had produced so far. We discussed corporate layouts and I gave a series of tips and tricks to help them to produce professional looking documentation. We also touched on eDocuments and how we would be exploring this at a later date. This is an area that, if used appropriately could modernise Stage Management. I have never attempted to teach this area before and it is one I am looking forward to immensely.
Later on (after a few minor technical hic-cups) we were joined by the PLX students and ran a Sound Plot for both shows. We agreed on a cue order and added some new cues. We then briefed them on all the LX cues that were required, leaving them with a free reign to design any extra cues themselves.
In all it was a slow and relaxed day. I left the students to rig lighting and continue designing the sound, the SMs were briefed on getting thier Prompt Copies ready for Monday, when they were to cue thier shows, leaving an hour on Monday morning to go over thier weekend homework and make corrections. Another day full of simulations of actual production sessions, but slowed to a crawl. I wish I could use an actual production in this way as a learning environment, but the pressures placed on TPA by other departments agenda’s always makes this next to impossible. My aim is to use 2nd Year productions, such as the A2 Shakespeares as on such purely ‘learning production’ where the schedule is drawn out to accomodate both learning and reflection. A production where sessions can be paused for educational purposes and less emphasis is placed on simpley ‘gettin the show on’. That would leave 3rd Year as a purely production based forum for practise and the honing of skills.
I have cut and pasted the 1st Year Production Student Project Brief that I wrote a few weeks ago. Along with Stage Management classes and 2 other projects running along side this, the students have quite a workload. Planning hasn’t been the best and it is something that requires revisiting before next year. The outcome is the students becoming disheartened as they have been forced to compromise on each project in order to fit them all into the schedule. This is not to mention the stress involved and this is only thier 2nd term here!
The project itself addresses a few key learning issues and this year we attempted to incorporate a more blended approach. We asked the students to reveal their managemnt and organisational processes through online forum collaboration. Along with Twitter (on which they created a dedicated feed which solely represented the project) thier work became transparent, allowing the tutors a rare glimpse into the cohorts participation and engagement. It also allowed us to scaffold whenever necessary. This daily process was further enhanced by the students individual blogs, these reflections served to summarise the days progress. They hinted at possible disruptive influences and uncertaities, as well as successes and affirmations.
PP1/2 Collaborative Project
Drama and Opera
Briefing Paper
Aim
The aim of this project is to identify the differences and/or similarities between a Drama Production and that of an Opera.
Process
Using your observations made on Mother Goose and ‘5’ last term and Love for 3 Oranges this term, compare and contrast the different processes involved in staging these productions.Identify key personnel and line management systems and how each department communicated whilst onstage e.g.
Who was in charge during which session?
How did departments communicate?
What was the line management structure?
Also identify key sessions and how they differ between the two genre’s e.g.
LX Sessions
TSM Sessions
SM Sessions
Time i.e. scheduling
Management (see above)
Opera Preparation
For Opera 1 (Love for 3 Oranges) you will be required to attend a minimum of one of each of the following scheduled sessions (see Opera schedule for dates and times):
Rehearsal (Wednesday 14th January either am or pm) in Groves Studio.
LX Rig
Set Fit Up
LX Focus
LX Plot
Stage & Piano
Stage & Orchestra
Dress Rehearsal
Please inform either John Wilkie of Stephen Macluskie which sessions you plan to attend. Observation of these sessions should be discrete, please find your way to the first dress circle and watch quietly from there. A speaker system for you to hear cans communications will be available.
Presentation
Working as a group you will be required to organise your time and tasks effectively in order to collate your data and present it to a select group of gusts (who may or may not know anything about theatre). An online Moodle forum on P1/2 has been set up for you to engage in debate or share information.
The presentation can be in any format you wish and must last a minimum of 15 minutes. Each group member must be active during the course of the presentation. The following key points will be considered and go towards your final assessment:
Individual contributions to both the process and final presentation.
The overall quality of the presentation.
Evidence that research has been carried out effectively.
That’s the mantra I relay to my students as being core to the mindset of a Stage Manager, of course it’s much more than a professional expectation and I hope they understand that it’s an all encompassing one. I had that question firmly in mind when attempting to plan this terms classes for the 1st Year Production cohort. I wanted to get the balance right, one that blends practical workshops, keynotes and simulations with eLearning. I decided to link them together, instead of using them as separate activities. The online work would be reflective of the days classes. I wanted to incorporate blogging with some forum discussion so I set about writing introductions to both types of learning vehicle.
Once I had added reflection into the mix, all the other idea’s began to slot into place almost effortlessly. I need do do a little more reading to firm up this idea, after which I will be able to complete the planning and reflect more fully on the outcomes.
I found a much needed resource (for me) while surfing around the net trying to find inspiration. It was a pdf of supplementary resource materials for Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher Brookfield (1995), which contained exercises which were designed to facilitate discussion and debate within the classroom. Most valuable to me were the following questions, which were listed in order to maintain or extend a group discussion:
Questions that ask for more evidence
How do you know that?
What data is that claim based on?
What does the author say that supports your argument?
Where did you find that view expressed in the text?
What evidence would you give to someone who doubted your interpretation?
Questions that ask for clarification
Can you put that another way?
What’s a good example of what you are talking about?
What do you mean by that?
Can you explain the term you just used?
Can you give a different illustration of your point?
Linking or Extension Questions
Is there a connection between what you just said and what was said a moment ago?
How does your comment fit in with Neng’s earlier observation?
How does your observation relate to what the group decided last week?
Does your idea challenge or support what we seem to be saying?
How does that contribution add to what has already been said?
Summary and Synthesis Questions
What are one or two particularly important ideas that emerged from this discussion?
What remains unresolved or contentious about this topic?
What do you understand better as a result of today’s discussion?
Based on our discussion today, what do we need to talk about next time if we’re to
understand this issue better?
What key word or concept best captures the gist of our discussion today?
As is usual with me, I seem to reflect somewhat annoyingly between the hours of 5am and 7am, forcing me to get up and blog. This morning was no exception, so in the midst of domestic breakfast and school chaos I am attempting to jot down my thoughts before they fade.
The idea of a summit for Stage Managers has been with me for a number of years, a day in which all 3 years of SM students and industry professionals all come together to discuss professional expectations of student graduates. It would also provide a valuable learning opportunity for the students, providing a forum to ask those questions only a professionally active SM can answer. I would also like this session to be hosted in a professional environment such as a working theater. I could even involve the Stage Management Association (SMA) and perhaps host skills workshops (that they already provide) in order for students to learn alongside professionals.
The idea was sparked again by the enhancement themes project we were given (see previous post), with particular inspiration derived from the Employability theme and the Leitch Report.
The problem has always been timing. Trying to get all 3 years of SM students free for a day together is difficult enough. This has further been compounded by the 1st Years not making the decision of what specialism they have chosen until the very end of Term 3, which I personally think is a term too late. I do feel that this problem isn’t insurmountable and the benefits far outweigh the potential workload of planning and preparation. It is also strongly linked to both institutional and governmental strategies with regards to skills learning, employability and is underpinned by a persuasive pedagogy.
To begin with I shall start to work on a simple model for the summit, trialing it with the current SM cohort as an internal event, at least to begin with.
Over the last few weeks students on the PG-Cert class have been furiously posting on the Academies Moodle site. We were each given an enhancement theme to research and present our findings on individual forum posts. In addition to encouraging others to post and keeping our own spaces topped up with enhancement information, we were expected to contribute to the other themes postings. The Enhancement themes were divided up as follows:
The First Year Experience
Integrated Assessment
Flexible Delivery
Research – Teaching Linkages
Meeting Student Support Needs
Employability – Skills for Life
Assessment
At first I struggled to get my forum off the ground, I seemed to be the only one posting. I reflected on WordPress, searching for a solution, when it struck me that perhaps I was being too technical (not sure if thats the right word?) and decided to bring the subject closer to home, especially with my posed questions. i.e. I aimed the content directly at how we were currently benefiting on the PG-Cert course by using a flexible, online approach. It seemed to work and the posts began to appear.
It was an interesting exercise. Studying flexible learning whilst partaking in it. At times I did feel as if I was cheating! The others didn’t have the benefit of a live scenario in which to test their themes. By the end of the research period, I had very little to do but encourage and answer the others questions. They all seemed appreciative of the effort I had put in, as I was of them and what they had provided. It really felt like a community of learners, communicating and collaborating effectively.
There were a few things that I would do differently next time though and I began to address them nearer the end:
1. Change the subject line when posting a new thought or sub-category.
2. Maintain a better balance between reporting in an Academic style and a lighter more social tone.
3. Present more research into the pitfalls of the subject matter. I don’t feel I presented a well balanced discussion.
4. Reduce the amount of personal opinion i.e. non-cited theories.
What do I still need to do?
Having scraped the surface of flexible delivery I am, more than ever, convinced that it is the way to go. My worry is that I have been blinded by technology. Even though I know that eLearning is not all that a flexible program would have to offer, but merely a very effective tool that helps facilitate it, both terms have almost become synonymous with each other. I must separate the two in my head as I still refer to a flexible program as being a wholly technological solution.
I still have to look, in more depth, at how best to assess on a flexible learning activity. It would seem that self and peer assessment are the most popular solutions, or at least the ones that are cited most often. More research is needed in this area, I am particularly interested in how to assess reflective journals, especially online blogs.
Asking the right questions, prompting idea’s and discussions, asking for deep thinking and analysis.
I am finding these to be challenging. Whether it be on the numerous PG-Cert forums or on the forums I use with my students. How can I improve this? If I am to introduce a more coherent and effective course of flexible delivery, then I shall have to find a better way of engaging students on-line. At the moment I tend to use the forums to answer situation specific questions and I feel like some sort of disembodied Oracle. Surely the students themselves should be the Oracles and they come on-line to reflect with each other and pull the answers from their collaborative pool of knowledge and instinct.
e-Learning is still in it’s infancy at the Academy and will take time to evolve (I hope to be in the position of looking back on this is a few years time and laughing at my own naivety). Though, I am worried at my own impatience with getting flexible delivery started and any detrimental affect that this ‘rush’ may have on students. I need to slow down and take stock more often, evaluate and continue at a steadier pace. Perhaps then, those probing and directional questions will come. It also doesn’t help that I feel as if I am playing ‘catch up’ with my colleagues in the office, who are already implementing a more flexible approach. The plus side to this is that I also feel that I am ahead of the game where the rest of the Academy is concerned, thanks to sharing an office with these educational entrepreneurs.
Getting back to my original question, I have already agreed (with myself) to slow down the process of implementing flexible learning, hopefully this will make me consider my on-line prompts more cautiously. I tend to always respond with specific subject based answers or proceed with the same type of question. In future I shall try to base my questions around the learning experience (my latest post on flexible learning on the PG-Cert enhancement themes forum is my first attempt). I was finding it difficult to engage the rest of Teaching Club in an open discussion about Flexible Learning and had received only one post thus far. In slight desperation to get the forum active, I took a completely new tact i.e. ask a series of questions that were immediately relevant to the learners themselves. My post was as follows:
Just a quick point which is a bit closer to home:
What we are doing here, is flexible learning, right now.
Therefore, questions:
How has Moodle (VLE) enhanced your learning on the PG-Cert course?
How has Web 2.0 technologies enhanced your learning?
Would we have learned as much without these technologies?
Which skills have we learned that are not necessarily subject based?
Where have these technologies hindered our learning (if at all)?
Are any of Phil Races 11 benefits (above) relevant to your own learning?
Sometimes looking at our backyard can reveal answers.
I now await to see if this slightly different approach initiates a more fruitful response.
