I created a MindMap at the start of the course to chart the topics that I have been working on and intended to work on. I plan to periodically update the MindMap and this is a blog to quickly capture my progress over time. I expect the map to expand or change as my practice and research grow. I am mindful not to let such a structure confine my practice development – this point was discussed with my tutor at the first tutorial.

My reason for creating the map in the first place was to examine the central purpose of my practice. Then to ensure that all the topics I am working on do contribute towards the central purpose, rather than going off in random tangents. This is important to me because of who I am; I like to freely explore but I need to have an underlying structure that I can come back to and not feel too lost in wandering.

The maps are shown in reverse chronological order.

Date updated: 11th December 2023 (End of first term)

REFLECTION:

I feel that The Third Space is still valid as the central purpose of my practice and I will continue in that direction. I have updated the map with the colour code – some items have gone to yellow and some turned green which was reassuring to know that I have worked on what I had set out to focus on. I have also added some new sub-branches which are expansions of existing topics. The only new branch was ‘Research and study tools’ – an area that I was not expecting but I am very pleased that through the MA course, I am learning about new tools that will help me to organise my research work. Since I have previously mainly used Microsoft Office products, this new knowledge and area of learning are completely new to me hence I felt I should capture them as a new area on the map.

Date created: 23rd October 2023 (Soon after start of Unit 1)

RELATED BLOG

The blog below is a time and activity analysis detailing the time spent on various aspects of my practice development on an ongoing basis:

MA Y1 U1: Time and activity analysis – ongoing log

NOTE

The time and activity analyses show what I have been spending my time on and the MindMaps show where I am working on in my practice map.