Critical Thinking Task 2c

This for me is the most daunting assignment, so far.
I am aware that I have used reflection in my personal life and my acting, but always taken it for granted. I have never, until now, analysed the process and form, let alone assign and credit particular practitioners to the way my reflective process manifests.
I use reflective thinking everyday in my profession. It goes hand in hand with my reflective thinking as an individual. Often when taking on a character, you are monitoring your own attitudes, thoughts, fears, feelings, and suppressing them, so as not to let them taint the character you are playing. Only by reflecting on my fears, joy, objectives as an individual, can I identify them, ensuring they do not creep into the performance. Like wise, identifying similarities between you and the character, can make the portrayal more convincing.
Knowledge of yourself informs the performance.
Similar to "I must know what the words ‘unmarried’, ‘married’ mean, if I am to understand what is being said when you claim that a bachelor is an unmarried man.  " Mcfee "Defining what is a bachelor (McFee, 1992: 18).
I must understand my own place in the world before I can truly appreciate where my character fits in.
Dewey believed that the common experience was enough and that man desired to learn from it, so as to better himself in the world. I think what links all creative people is that desire to better themselves and better understand themselves. To evolve their art and to find their create voice.
"Critical thinking is essentially an "active" process- one in which you think things through for yourself, raise questions yourself, find relevant information yourself etc" (clarifying Dewey's Reflective Thinking, in Critical Thinking An Introduction. Alec Fisher. Cambridge Press 2001)
These are tools an actor must have. When a director says he wants an actor that "brings something to the table" it is this ability to think, question and implement, to which he refers.

Here are a few examples of reflection in my profession :

On Stage.
During technical rehearsals, Director and Lighting, will discuss and experiment with different lighting cues and colour palettes.
Actors (during rehearsals) use reflection to build character, develop back-story, find ways of lifting the text off of the page. Then, as the performer : ways to tighten a performance from night to night. This is one example of Kolb's Learning Cycle in practice, another is the directors notes.
Before the next nights performance, the director will give "notes." This is a detailed plan to improve the next performance, based on the directors personal reflection and his assumptions of what the audience saw/experienced (Another View).

When it came to Kolb's Learning Cycle, and where I join it, I had to really think about this one.
I'm not sure I join the cycle in the same place for every learning experience. I think for the majority I join the cycle at Abstract Conceptualisation, going over it in my head until I have a "eureka" moment. I sometimes learn from watching others, however these observations are more of a filtering process of "what not to do."

Reflection in Film.
It can be argued that the film industry is run by men in suits not creatives. However, even here there is a great deal of reflection. If a film is successful, talk of a sequel soon surfaces. So begins the lengthy process of reflection: What made the first film a success? How can it be improved? what did the audience like/ identify with? etc. It may be spearheaded by the desire for wealth, but nevertheless, there is reflection going on.

Schon: Reflection in Action. Reflection on Action.
"For Schon, reflection-in-action was the core of "professional artistry." (Linda Finlay Reflecting on"Reflective practice" Open University)
If I'm performing and am lucky enough to be in the holy grail of acting states, "being in the moment", then I am in flux between reality and performance. I say this because, even if you are in the moment, you are still conscious of your general surroundings, of the mechanics of performance. Whilst on stage I am aware of the technical aspects of performance (blocking etc) and my duty to the audience, to tell a story (clarity, projection). I navigate through the performance, sensing pace and being mindful that anything can happen. I am engaged in reflection in action but purely as a means to steer a successful course through the scene. Any larger issues that need reflection are dealt with between scenes or after the show. As potent as reflection-in- action is I think you have to be selective. The more thoughts you have that aren't your characters, the more you distance yourself from the character.

I'm having a hard time with Polanyi's views on Tacit Knowledge. If I understand it right it is "gut instinct". If so the example I would give in acting would be "sense of truth." You can teach someone stagecraft or acting to camera techniques, but you cannot teach someone to act. You cannot give them their sense of truth.
Where I'm confused, is if somewhere down the line you are able to verbalise a piece of Tacit Knowledge, does that make it no longer Tacit Knowledge? Is it Tacit Knowledge if it is felt by one person and cannot be replicated in another?

Moon's views on reflection, resonate with me more. She lists the qualities of task that encourage reflection. Among them are : "Ill- structured, "messy" or real life situations." and "Tasks that demand the ordering of thoughts."
I think we are always trying to create calm from chaos  make sense of events and feelings, in our personal and professional lives. As an actor, I am here to tell the story, plain and simple. I must first make sense of what I am about to convey, before I can successfully communicate it. This of course I do through cycling experience and reflection and experimentation (the rehearsal process) And this will be personal to me, as it draws influence from my past experience, emotional state, belief system and imagination.

As, I read another paper, draw another diagram, adhere to the Learning Cycle, its all to easy to view the process as academic. I need to distance myself from that when engaged in reflection. Bring it back to the organic process.
I take heed of Boud & Walkers (1998) warning: "It is common for reflection to be treated as an intellectual exercise- a simple matter of thinking rigorously. However reflection is not solely a cognitive process: emotions are central to all learning."

Some criticism I have read, centred on the teaching profession. Raising the question, if  the educator has the expertise  to pass the skills onto others, and if the students are  emotionally  mature enough to develop them.
Practices mentioned above have also had critics: Moon (1999) regards Schon's reflection-in-action, as unobtainable. I feel this is wrong. Unless Moon is referring to something slightly different, the fine adjustments I make in real time within a scene, I attribute to Schon's theory.
A major criticism of Kolb's Learning Cycle, is that any or all of the four phases he identifies could occur simultaneously. (Jeffs and Smith 1999) others suggest phases can be bypassed altogether. This may be true, but for me, I'm happy to have a clear visual aid of the process. However, when I'm engaged in the process, the last thing I'm thinking of is the diagram.

Moon (1999) defines reflective practice as "a set of abilities and skills, to indicate the taking of a critical stance, an orientation to problem solving or state of mind."
As I further explore reflective thinking, I will adopt/ continue to use, some of the approaches mentioned above. Kolb,s Learning Cycle (and Honey & Mumfords revision, for that matter) is an affective way of structuring the experience-evaluation-evolution practice. And Schon's "in action" and "on action" are vital when working in a creative environment. Lastly, just the fact that by reading these different views on reflection, I'm now thinking about thinking, is surely a step in the right direction?

So, to sum up, I have always used reflection in my acting. The difference now is that it has an sense of structure/order. I have more tools at my disposal, more approaches  into my critical thinking. Plus, a journal, an invaluable reference and record of my growth as a practitioner of reflective thinking. I hope my development in this area will enhance the quality of my work, and better prepare me for a time when I want to communicate the craft to others.