CoP2 Briefing: The Re-Contextualising (of Practice)

During our brief for Level 5 Context of Practice Richard outlined a few of the key differences between CoP2 and last year's context of practice. The keyword for this briefing was 'Visual Research'. Richard wants us to focus more on developing practical work in synthesis with the theory side of the module. Part of this involves keeping a visual journal as a part of one of the study tasks, which will inform the bulk of the practical work we produce for this module. In terms of practical work, we are expected to produce some form of animated artefact to coincide with our essay, meaning anything from storyboards to character sheets. Last year I produced an animated response as a companion to my essay,  but spent a disproportionate amount of time in the pre-production phase. This year, in response to the mistakes I made last year, I will take steps to manage my time better and produce a final product more suited to the content of my essay, whether it is an animation or not.

In terms of the 3000-word essay, this year at Level 5 we are given more leeway to write about a subject that interests us. The module is more independently directed and as a result we are supposed to write our own question to answer in our essay and relate it to one of around half-a-dozen possible themes. As the subject of my essay last year was related to Modernism and Postmodernism, I want to take a more socially focused approach to my essay this year, exploring ideas of representation or more politically charged topics in order to ensure I'm not retreating territory I already explored back in Level 4.

Ultimately, Level 5 is a continuation of what we did at level 4, but takes it up a notch, with more of a focus on self-directed study and independent learning. As Level 5 consists of roughly 33% of my final grade for my degree it is important this year I ensure I am fulfilling all the learning outcomes and assessment objectives to a relatively high standard. Last year, especially when it came to my essay, I struggled to properly establish a link between theory and practice. This is something I am hoping to address and improve this year in my CoP by looking at my developmental work with a more critical eye at an earlier stage, not leaving it til the last minute.