Impulse and Reflection
Wednesday 11th October 2017

On Monday 9th  October we had a Skype session for module one, I have previously written a blog post on what we were discussing during the session but I missed out one point that I wanted to discuss in further detail and hopefully get other people's opinions on it too.

During the session we discussed how we as a group were apprehensive of doing tasks for module one because we didn't know how best to do the tasks. We discussed how this comes from the way in which we are used to learning, meaning we normally go to a teacher for them to teach us, tell us what to do and we merely repeated what we have been told to do. However, the course we are doing is a work-based learning course, where there is no set lesson but a continuing growth of knowledge and experience. This is so that by the end of our learning we hopefully have better 'tools in our belt' for tackling issues in our profession.

Adesola, my tutor, was explaining that in this course we can't wait to be told what to do and how to do it; mainly because the whole point of the course is to be independent so that when we face issues in our profession we know how to tackle them ourselves. Additionally, by just being impulsive and attempting a task this will be better for us, as we can always go back to the task and with reflection and a different mind set (possibly with more knowledge) we can edit or improve what we have already done. The question is, unless we are impulsive and attempt the task in the first place will we ever gain that knowledge? If we take the idea that in the course we aren't being taught lessons, we are however growing independently, then unless we make that impulse to try the task and be prepared to make a mistake we can't grow as a person. 

We can also learn a lot from that first attempt about us as a person. For example, one of the tasks in module one is to write an 'about me' section on our blog. I did this before even starting the course and I found it interesting to reflect that. I found that the first thing I displayed to the world was that I am '20 years old'. When I reflected on that I realised this could be a negative thing, as someone reading that description could think "oh well he's only 20 he can't have that much life experience to reflect on or talk about" but equally I think it's a good thing, as it gives the reader the idea of who is writing. Granted I don't have much life experience at this stage, although I probably have a lot more than the 'average' 20 year old, as I moved to London by myself aged 16 to study something I loved for 3 years and somehow I've kept myself alive all that time. However, I think it might also indicate to some readers that I am still learning and with that age I might bring a new perspective for them in topics and also gives me plenty of time to grow, as everything at this stage is new to me so I'm learning constantly and this is adding to my views on life.

Outside of the terms of this blog however, this reflection highlighted to me the importance of how I first present myself and communicate who I am as a person to the world, especially in my profession.

 So my question to you is how important is the balance of impulse and reflection to you? Do you reflect maybe too much before doing something, does this hold you back in your opinion? Do you maybe jump into things too quickly and does this impulsive nature cause any implications? Or do you think you have a good balance of being impulsive when you need to be but allowing yourself some time for reflection? If so, tell me how!!

Matthew