My name is Amanda and I am a returning student to BAPP after taking a study interruption.

I am starting Module 3 and my Inquiry which was approved by Middlesex University is "Feminism - The Changing Role of Women in Performance Arts."

I have just been a part of the first Skype Welcome To and Welcome Back conversation.

The three supervisors Adesola, Helen and Maria all introduced themselves as did the students. Because I have had a year out, I have been reading the blogs posted and made comments to be part of the conversation again.

Louise Elliott (Module 2) said she has not decided on her Inquiry yet and is thinking about "What and Why?"

Cath Limerick talked about her interest in self-reflection within her practice and looking at things from a different angle.

Beverley Drain said she was thinking about manners in the classroom, learning theories and ethics.

Danila Lucia (Module 2) is focusing on deciding what to base her Inquiry on and the challenge of a new job, her first week back and reflecting on what she has learnt.

Sam Cook (Module 2) discussed finding the blogs helpful as living in Newcastle makes it difficult to get to Middlesex and the blogs made her feel she is not alone on her BAPP journey.

Ryan (Module 2) said he was thinking about basing his Inquiry within his school environment.

Tom (Module 1) discussed his self reflection and the importance of blogging.


Adesola talked about us all getting into the rhythm of study and the three pillars of learning, Helen making sense of our work and making it part of our lives and Maria the challenges ahead of us all, our self development and our process.

Adesola discussed the Handbooks, Uni-Hub and Programme pages. Also about setting our goals, engaging in ideas and exploration. How we need to articulate our practice by thinking about our past, present and future and how we communicate, network and reflect.

Adesola explained that as our supervisors on our journey, they will supply feedback, ask us what we
are aiming to do and explain how our thoughts are coming across.

 We need to discover the value of our practice and its meaning to us as students.


We talked about planning study and making our own timeline to enable us to get feedback from our drafts in time. Also the importance of settling into the programme and making our course work part of an established routine.

In module 1 we begin to research and reflect and need to understand our process. In Module 2 we work on what it means to make an inquiry and how do we go about asking the questions. In Module 3  our Inquiry.

Adesola said that there is no perfect question to ask so don't look for it. Instead think about how do I find out what I need to know, what should I rely on and what can I dismiss?

The blogs were mentioned and I reiterated that blog posts are important as it is productive to read each others blogs and to comment thereby bringing something new to the conversation, not just "I agree" or "I like this." We are a "Community of Learning" where we can develop questions and be open to others perspectives.

Study Plans and emails confirming who our supervisors are will be provided and we were reminded to remember to check our University emails for updates.

I added that I thought the new format of having all the information on one site on the Uni-hub was an improvement and easy to negotiate. What I learnt from Module 1 and 2 has really improved my practice.

When asked what tips I thought Module 3 could give to Module 2, I said that it helped me to think about the re-occuring themes throughout my work. I found this helped me decide on what I wanted to base my Inquiry on.

I also said that I think blogging can be difficult to do in the beginning but really is a useful tool and helps us all to get to know each other.

I have written this blog up straight away so I can remember what we all talked about but also to start a discussion with you all. Please feel free to ask me any questions about my past two modules and I am looking forward to reading all your blogs and comments so we can all keep the conversation flowing.

To quote a famous tv show "we are not alone". Good luck.