Another Annoyingly Long Extract From My Theatre Blog

Critical Response to Diploma Programme Theatre - Guide - Journal Syllabus

The journal

Introduction
Students at both HL and SL should keep a journal from the outset of the course. This is the student’s own record, charting development, challenges and achievements, and, as such, students are free to determine what form it should take (written, audio and/or visual). The aim of the journal is to support and nurture development and reflection, and it is expected that much of the students’ assessed work will emerge from it. Students should also be encouraged to explore connections between different areas of learning throughout the course. The journal is not directly assessed or moderated but, since what it contains will reflect the sensibility of individual students, and will contain their responses to the different areas of learning, it should be regarded as a fundamental activity of the course.

Focus and selection of material
The journal should contain an objective review of the work done during the course, and the student’s reflection on his or her own progress. It should focus specifically on learning experiences, rather than being simply a record of triumphs or an exhaustive chronicle of everything the student experiences in theatre. Therefore, students should select carefully those experiences from the course that illustrate personal growth and understanding of theatre. It should indicate development and progress that reveal the extent and direction of the student’s journey throughout the course. Challenges and obstacles in activities should be included, as well as steps forward.

Students should develop a critical relationship with theatre and may use the journal to debate theory and practice in their own work. They may use it as a space for experimentation, where different stylistic approaches to acting or theatre design could be articulated either in words or visuals. Critical responses to external productions should also be included, where students can test their own ideas about performance against what contemporary productions offer.

Students should not use the journal to engage with their personal emotions, but should strive to reflect on and analyse their experiences at various stages of development. Before adding anything to it, students should ask the questions “Why am I including this?” and “How is this a reflection of my experience of theatre, my discoveries in theatre, and the development of my knowledge, understanding and skills?” Students should draw upon the journal as a useful resource once they start work on their independent project portfolio.

-From the IBO - Diploma Program - Theatre Guide

The above text is taken from the IBO Theatre Syllabus guide. After reading this, I developed a critical outlook on the matter of the journal as seen by the IBO. If I were to look at this without the intent of remaining objective, I could clearly note that I disagree with the IBO criterion on the journal. So in this sense, my opinions are blatantly subjective, and are likely to apply to me, only. In the objective sense, I merely believe that the description of the journal in the syllabus guide may follow a criterion for a goal that limits the full potential of the journal. In this sense, the journal follows more of an intent as a systematic record than as a method of organizing thoughts. There are a few key phrases that may be pointed out.


My main criticism is towards the Focus and Selection of Material section of the Journal. It seems to primarily focus on the selection of thoughts as a key point. In the first paragraph of this section, it notes that the student should carefully select the experiences in which personal growth is demonstrated. I do agree that, in the sense of aesthetic writing, conciseness is important, but I fail to see the relevance of selectivity in relation to a journal. If the function of the journal is to track progress and development, then why does it matter what information is included, as long as the reflection is thorough? It seems to me that any exclusion of information or selectivity towards ones personal development would undermine the objective nature of the journal.

My greatest deviation from the DP description of the journal (and possibly my most subjective) is with the deterrence of the student from engaging with personal emotions. I believe that, although bound for subjectivity, emotions are an important part of the process of theatre and all forms of Art. They tend to swell up confusion in the thoughts of the student. They must be addressed in the journal, because if they are not, they will continue to blur the individuals thoughts and they will ultimately lead to an outlook on theatre and is faulted or vague. I have often used journals as a method of organizing myself, both emotionally and cognitively. Emotion and thoughts are interrelated, and through the journal, both can be sorted out so that the student can develop a clear understanding of theatre, through both its individual effects and its importance as a whole. I believe this will actually allow for greater objectivity in other writings and reflections.

“How is this a reflection of my experience of theatre, my discoveries in theatre, and the development of my knowledge, understanding and skills?”

I do not see the coherence of the extracted statement above with the idea of keeping an objective journal. It seems to me that this mindset of selectivity towards reflection would allow for a subjective portrayal of one's self. It allows for the student to add a subconscious bias towards what is included to reflect development and growth. If the point of the journal is to reflect a students growth objectively, it should include the raw reflections of the student as the whole. These can be analyzed whenever it is necessary to review ones growth.

I agree that research and review is fairly important. Objectivity should apply in these senses and these should be included, but my main concern is not with the information that is included, it is with the information that is excluded. From my subjective viewpoint, I believe that, as long as organizational measures are taken, it should not matter which information is excluded if all the information that is necessary is included as well. My primary disagreement with the IBO description of the journal is with the information it believes should be excluded, not the information that it calls for.


Source Cited:

International Baccalaureate Organization. "Syllabus Details - The Journal." Diploma Programme Theatre—guide. Cardiff: International Baccalaureate Organization, 2007. 17-18. Print.