A few points of the MA Scale Up sessions

If I am completely and uncompromisingly open about this particular series of sessions, I hated almost every moment of each one. Apparently this has turned out to be an experiment in the MA program, which I don't really appreciate either, as I'd prefer a straight-up, definitive learning slap from the tutors who know a session is going to work and yield nothing short of a tear-inducing epiphany. Too romantic? Hopelessly. Other tutors I have spoken to about this frustration (which is not only on my part, but felt by pretty much every other student), have let slip with a pause and said "it's, uh... an interesting experiment." - I'm reading so hard between the lines on that with bitter amusement. 

However, there were some particular things salvaged from the session that got me thinking about what is to be expected from the learning outcome, particularly from this Research & Context module. All of these things are asked in my Learning Agreement anyway, but I suppose the fresh thing about them is that they were addressed in the Scale Up sessions in more open discussion. These were (and my answers to them):

Demonstrate potential for advanced research: 

I might interpret this as the rationale for my project. What is the significance? This is a research that I think would delve deeper into the human understanding of a topic or question, which presents potential to add something to the overall knowledge of the subject, and that in nutshell can be applied to anything.

Ability to conduct advanced research independently: 

I'm uncertain as to what one means by “advanced.” How advanced are we talking? That has always been a vague word. In the context of research, I once asked Nancy Hughes about her perspective on working as a Research Fellow or anything else related. Other than the fact that it's hard work to get into, there are a wide range of research techniques one can pick up on and a range of terminologies to become familiar with. Types of research, albeit independence, can be audience or production. There's the matter of primary and secondary research. Primary being the observations I've made first-hand, and secondary entailing information from sources like books or the internet. I guess advanced might mean a lot more of the primary kind.

Demonstrates your comprehensive understanding of research methodologies, techniques, ethical considerations and personal development needs: 

Again, referring a lot to my learning agreement, a reflective journal will demonstrate a lot of these via pictures, videos, writing (sometimes on paper), referenced works by others in the field, case studies (one such that I have done already in the Performance Arena), interviews with various practitioners in the relevant field and context, discussion with other people in a group/meeting etc. 

Ethical considerations can almost entirely be a different animal, depending how one conducts this research. In my case, I've referred to the appropriate protocols and Nottingham Trent provided. The only time I had to do this was when I was considering whether or not it was appropriate to film those reacting to my artwork without their knowledge. But then, this is easily rectified by a sign informing those that filming is currently taking place in the public space.

As far as I know, the Scale Up sessions are now finished, and theory has largely been moved out of the way for the practical side of everyone's projects.