My Example of Kolbs Learning Cycle

Subsequent to reading several papers on Kolb’s learning cycle and analysing the four stages of learning, Concrete Experience, Reflective Observation, Abstract Conceptualization, Active Experimentation, which he states may happen in a flash, or over days, weeks or months, depending on the topic, I correlated this to taking a photograph.

Concrete Experience (direct practical) - take the digital image
Reflective Observation (look back) - scrutinise
Abstract Conceptualization (think about changes) - alter the lenses
Active Experimentation (make the changes) - increase the lenses speed Perpetuating to
Concrete Experience - take another photograph.

Using this hypothesise I was able to look back at how this theory relates to my past experiences. I presented with a task while training and more recently I embarked upon a similar task and how learning from my previous experience and how that fits with Kolb theory.

Concrete Experience
While I was studying at the Northern Ballet School, I chose choreography as an area of interest as part of my final module towards my Dance diploma. The reason being, choreography had never been offered before and it was something that stimulated my ideas and captivated my imagination. I feel that I am very good with ideas and I am able to imagine the final product.
The choreography was to be performed on the stage to a large audience that consisted of the dance faculty and dancers in the lower years.
The music was to be composed and performed by the Royal Northern College of Music. This meant I had to listen to what they had composed and link this to a theme and my ideas for the choreography. Part of the process was to select the dancers’ design the costumes and the lighting.
The marking criteria was based on overall choreography, costumes and lighting. This is my concrete experience because it’s something that I have physically and mentally experienced.

Reflective Observation
The music created several problems, in different ways, because more often than not I listen to a piece of music, which stimulates my ideas which in turn inspires me to dance, and create a final product before I have even put the steps together. However I didn’t have a choice or any say in the composure of the music and to make matters worse I never heard the final piece of music until the week of choreography. This was due to lack of communication between the musicians and the Ballet school.
Research and planning for my choreography was virtually none existent as time was limited and the dancers were getting involved in other projects and I was totally in the dark as to what the music would sound like let alone how long it would last.
Nevertheless I choreographed a piece that I thought revealed my ideas and enhanced the music. However watching my choreography live, I was extremely disappointed. It demonstrated little empathy for the music and the choreography unproductive in evoking passion or energy. While producing it I hadn’t realised that I had rarely watched it and what I had imagined in my head was not actually being portrayed.
The feedback from my tutor supported my own observations, that the lack of communication, research and the development of ideas had reduced the potential of my choreography. I was able to scrutinise my work and this exposes my reflective observation about my experience.

Abstract Conceptualisation
As a choreographer and reflecting back on my experience I needed to understand fully why my choreography failed to reach its potential. This is abstract conceptualisation and as I conclude what I have learnt from my observations is that planning is essential, and clear aims need to be set so that they could be used as a constant form of reference throughout, informing decisions. Research is also a beneficial tool as it can help in the discovery of what inspires you and scrutinizing other choreography can trigger your ideas.
Most importantly choreography is an on going piece of work and can happen over days, weeks or months, because to allow it to evolve it lends itself several modifications and can develop into a process of trail and elimination until the desired effect is accomplished. Therefore it is imperative to manage what time you have to the maximum.
In addition when choreographing you can often get carried along with the moment and the atmosphere, therefore it is vital to step back frequently to observe and see if it’s working and developing into what you perceive it to be, hence leading to informed changes. Another important aspect is getting other people to watch and enlighten you with what they think is being portrayed. Furthermore communication is also fundamental when working as a team, if everyone knows what is going on, the better the team work.

Active Experimentation
My active experimentation is solving the problems I had when reflecting back on an experience. Since graduating from the Ballet School and working for The Glenda Ann School of Dancing I have frequently had to choreograph and experiment with ideas.
Recently I choreographed several dances for a performance at the Middleton Arena http://www.link4life.org/ a showcase for a few select students. It was important to choreograph dances to reflect the student’s potentials but also to consider the nature of the audience and what genres to use to keep it entertaining. I had to think of the costumes for the best effect, the running order so that they could recover from one dance to the next leaving room for costume changes, and the overall performance to make sure it was the best that it could be.
Consequently I put Kolb’s theory into practice and made use of my reflective observations so that I did not repeat my previous experience. Therefore I utilized my abstract conceptualisation to put my active experimentation into place.

For the show, at the Arena I thoroughly planned all of my choreography setting myself achievable aims. I made comprehensive notes when I listened to the music and captured my initial inspirations which I reflected upon repeatedly throughout my choreographing. I also researched dances from www.youtube.com to deepen my understanding of what I like and others interpretations of themes. I made notes and sketched diagrams so I could incorporate sections into my own choreography. I used many genres to demonstrate to the audience that both the dancers myself and are diverse.
The running order I constructed to give the performers maximum time for costume changes but I also worked out that the dancers could wear tracksuits that were loose fitting for their first dance so they could layer their costumes underneath for subsequent dances, hence saving time hence fluid running.
Communication was evident this time. I communicated with my dancer’s in depth as I had discovered it was vital. We shared our ideas and discussed our opinions and this made me feel they were secure with the choreography and happy with what they were doing which increased my confidence in what I was producing. They shared ideas on costumes and discussed what they felt comfortable wearing, which is essential if the performance is to look professional.
To Summarise
Learning using Kolb’s theory is a continuous loop; I received lots of praise and positive feedback about my choreography and can now reflect and use the knowledge and repeat the process. I can now correlate this to choreography.

Concrete Experience Choreograph a dance
Reflective Observation Scrutinise the dance
Abstract Conceptualization Plan the adjust and amend the dance
Active Experimentation Implement the changes
Concrete Experience Choreograph a dance etc……