Updating the Blog universe on where I stand within Module 1 / Areas of Learning Essays:
I had my first one-on-one Skype meeting with my advisor Adesola today. We went over my initial bullet point ideas for my Areas of Learning (AOL) essays before I went ahead and tackled the first drafts. Our conversation was enlightening and helped me re-think what constitutes as an AOL, and re-directed me on a track to better success.
What I had originally sent to Adesola was really more of a list of six accomplishments within my professional practice, with quotes from literature and articles that were related to these moments. What I misunderstood was that these accomplishments are merely titles of moments when I learned something, rather than an AOL itself. In some instances it sounded like I was just told to do something a certain way and I did it, with no context of what I had taken from that experience.
We took time to unpack each accomplishment, delving deeper into the learning that occurred, and the value of each learning: the "Why?" In one instance that was particularly helpful in unpacking, Adesola asked me: "If it is true that I had done this successfully, what would an unsuccessful version of this look like?"It helped me figure out what I had done uniquely to achieve a goal, and those steps I took to get there was the learning that took place.
I now identify four AOLs, and will make a new bullet point list of some potentially new texts that could go with it.
How are your AOL essays going? Did you face a similar challenge as I have? Different challenges? Any advice on tackling these drafts? I look forward to hearing any reactions and reading other updates!
