Journal of Media Practice Volume 7 Number 2 © Intellect Ltd 2006

Context and Debates. English language. doi: 10.1386/jmpr.7.2.151/3

From ‘doing’ to ‘knowing what you aredoing’: Kolb’s learning theory inteaching documentary practiceWilma de Jong University of Sussex

AbstractThis article presents the results of a research project on the student learning expe-rience of the third year undergraduate course Documentary Theory and Practiceat the University of Sussex. Both course design and teaching methods are inspiredby Kolb’s experiential learning theory, which the author considers in particularsuitable to teach theory and practice of documentary film production. Analyses ofstudent experiences indicate that students experienced theory as an empower-ment of their practice.

Introduction

‘The aim is to make the student self-renewing and self-directed; to focus on integra-tive development where the person is highly developed in each of the four learningmodes; active, reflective, abstract and concrete. Here the student is taught to experi-ence the tension and conflict among these orientations, for it is from these tensionsthat creativity springs’.

(Kolb, 1984, emphasis added)

In this article I wish to explore the relationship between theory and prac-tice in teaching documentary practice. I will provide a model of teachingbased on Kolb’s experiential learning theory, while at the same time evalu-ating the students’ experiences of this approach.

Theory and practice in teaching media practiceRecent debate on teaching media practice has focussed on issues sur-rounding theory1 and practice and how they relate. Wayne formulates thechallenge as, ‘how to teach theory in a way that best allows the possibilityof integrating it within the students own documentary practices’ (2003:58). Wayne proposes a workshop model of teaching, which could bedescribed as theoretically enhanced practice, as theory is taught within apractice-based course.

Wayne’s approach contrasts with Geraghty (2002), who argues againstthe integration of theory and practice on the basis that this could lead to aloss in the distinctiveness of each sphere. Integration, Geraghty argues,tends to require media practice to be in the service of theoretical courses;

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Keywordsteaching media

practiceteaching documentary

theory and practiceKolb’s experiential

learning theory

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1 Although I’m fullyaware of theproblematic binaryopposition betweentheory and practice,in this article I haveused the terminologyas it appears in thecurriculum, timetable,course guide,marketing and coursetitles at my ownuniversity andtherefore known toour students.

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the how and what of integration becomes the prerogative of the theoryteacher. However, I argue that this would not a problem in cases wherethere is a clear link and collaboration between theory and practice tutors.The other widespread concept is to teach ‘theoretically informed mediapractice’. I agree with Wayne that this could lead to practice being reducedto ‘little more than exploring what students have already learned theoreti-cally’ (2001: 31). This debate concerning the relationship between theoryand practice reflects a current ambivalence in HE towards vocational prac-tical education. Fleming notes that: ‘[teaching media practice] whenattempted, is seldom, if ever, well done in Media Studies degree programmes(it requires too much time, too costly resources and too many teaching staff. . .’ (2000: 390). My own experience suggests that this is not necessarilythe case but the effective teaching of practice within a degree programrequires the relationship between theory and practice to be given explicitform. To this end Kolb’s learning theory provides a useful model to theorizethe practice of teaching media practice within a university context.

Academic departments and individual media practice educators at timesseem to approach the teaching of this subject either as a kind of practicalacademic course, or as a ‘hands-on’ course. Therein lies the challenge. Toogreat an emphasis on theoretically informed practice on the one hand, orthe reduction of media practice to simply a ‘practical’, course on the otherhand, leads to a failure to critique the medium or place it in its historical andcultural context. It is by analysing the produced texts within their institu-tional and historical settings, and by exploring the links between these ele-ments, that an increased critical awareness of the medium develops and acritical and aware practitioner will emerge. For instance, my students oftensee observational (fly on the wall) documentary as the most honest and leastinterventionist form of documentary filmmaking. According to these stu-dents such documentaries give the audience the power to make their owninterpretation of the ‘realities’ presented. Within documentary theory this isoften considered to be a ‘politically naive’ stance (Nichols 1991, Winston1995/1999). An exercise in which you ask students to describe the choicesfilmmakers made while recording and editing the film makes students awarethat ‘the honesty of non-intervention’ is a very doubtful argument.

My own position is that theory and practice of documentary should betaught separately. I want to emphasize that theorising documentary textsand documentary practices are very different social and creative practices,but by applying Kolb’s ideas to course and session design, theory and prac-tice could meet, clash or integrate. They can critically relate, or indicate amutual tension, which might actually prove fruitful, as Kolb hints in theopening quotation of this article.

Kolb’s experiential learning theoryAlthough Kolb’s learning theory has become popular in higher education,there have as yet been no publications about the implementation Kolb’slearning theory in the teaching of documentary practice. I would arguethat a critical understanding of Kolb’s theory2 could provide a soundtheoretical foundation in documentary practice teaching within a univer-sity context. Kolb argues that ‘Learning is the process whereby knowledge

2 For an elaboratedebate on‘experientiallearning’, I refer tothe website created byTim Pickles,http://reviewing.co.uk/research/experiential.learning.htm.

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153From ‘doing’ to ‘knowing what you are doing’: Kolb’s learning theory in teaching . . .

is created through the transformation of experience’ (1984: 38). This def-inition undermines the notion that learning is either solely an intellectualactivity, or one that involves doing alone.

Kolb’s four-stage model entails: concrete experience (CE), reflectiveobservation (RO), abstract conceptualisation (AC) and active experimenta-tion (AE).

Although the title of the theory ‘Experiential Learning Theory’ affirmsthe centrality of experiential activities, it does not necessarily prioritizethose forms of learning. The purpose is to lead students through thevarious cycles, ensuring that crucial links between the different momentsin the process are being made. Certainly, in the case of teaching mediapractice, with its emphasis on using equipment and ‘doing’, the impor-tance of reflecting, thinking and of integrating knowledge and experienceseems essential.

Knudsen (2000) emphasizes the importance of connecting to the per-sonal experience of students in teaching media practice. This echoes Kolb’sapproach and that of many other education theorists, such as Freire(1970). Of course media production, both at the university and in the cre-ative industries, tends to be a team effort. This makes tapping into per-sonal experience a complex process, though one that is still feasible whenaddressed sensitively. This is true when addressing creativity in a collabo-rative context. It is therefore important to conceptualize both elements ofpersonal experience and of creativity as a fluid process that is part of thegroup dynamic. In such a process each student can and should contributeto the realisation of a collectively produced film.

Degree programmes offering both theory and practice coursesWhy do students choose a degree which offers both theory and practice?John Beacham (1999), then senior-lecturer in television drama atGoldsmiths College, did a survey among undergraduate students. Hissample included 144 graduates from the BA Media and Communicationprogramme, who completed their studies between 1996 and 1998. Heconcluded that 86% of those students wanted to work in the media but61% were unsure of the kind of job they wanted, while 25% were sure ofwhich job they wanted. In addition to departmental reputation and thegeographic location, he writes, ‘experimentation in media practice from a

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breadth of options is still remarkably important to the graduates in theirdecision making and their choice of programme, and reinforces anecdotalevidence from former and current students’ (Beacham 1999: 4). I canconfirm this in relation to my teaching experience of both media theoryand media practice at Goldsmiths College, and at the University of Sussex,where a BA course in Media Theory and Practice is offered (split almost50/50), for which 453 students applied in the 2003/2004 academic yearfor 50 places, attesting for the continuing popularity of ‘theory and prac-tice’ courses.

Course: documentary: theory and practiceBy actually creating media screenworks, students not only engage in thepractice of ‘deconstructing texts’ (Derrida 1988), but develop a deeperunderstanding of the ‘structure’ or ‘architecture’ of a work that underpinprinciples of what might otherwise be perceived ‘natural’ construction.This is one of the critical knowledges students learn from media practice.In devising the third-year course ‘documentary: theory and practice’ atthe University of Sussex I decided that theory should be taught separately(unlike Wayne 2003), but I have created specific moments where theoret-ical and practical issues could meet, clash, integrate or inspire. Drawingon the principles established by Kolb, this third year course consists of the-oretical seminars, practice workshops and sessions where theory and prac-tice meet called ‘guided screenings’. The latter entail the showing of clipsfrom work by filmmakers such as Joris Ivens, to Grierson, to Wiseman toChris Morris, and special attention is paid to female filmmakers and docu-mentary filmmakers from ethnic minorities and the developing world. Iaddress theoretical issues such as: the representation of the real, docu-mentary modes of expression, interview styles, roles of the filmmaker andthe historical, cultural and institutional contexts. For instance I use JorisIvens’s film Spanish Earth (The Netherlands, 1936) not only to talk aboutfilm as a political tool for change or propaganda, but also to address whatI describe as practice-related theory (including shot composition, sequenc-ing, use of light, editing techniques and so on). As Metz (1991) has indi-cated, techniques are not neutral and my focus on the technical does notentail depolitication. In Spanish Earth for example we look at ways inwhich shot sequencing is used to suggest the nature and power of ‘the col-lective’: shot by shot Ivens introduces each individual who contributes tosociety through their work (farmer, baker) until he sequentially producesone long march of people.

In the seminars of the theory course, I do not avoid issues such as‘quality’ and ‘personal experience and preference’, but try to connectthese to the problems of conception and construction of media texts.

Each practical session is split in two: practical instruction on camera,sound, lighting, editing interview techniques; and project development,which takes students through the development of their own documentaryfilm. The course lasts 15 weeks and the first 8 sessions are solely spent onresearch, script development and pre-production activities. Studentsreceive practical exercises related to the theme of the week, which are eval-uated with Kolb’s approach in mind.

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The first session/seminarThe course starts with a session on the nature of documentary, and stu-dents are asked to describe what kind of documentaries they watch: ‘dothey remember the first documentary they saw’, and ‘what is the best docu-mentary they have ever seen?’ It takes the form of both individual andgroup exercises. Students write down their own individual criteria forwhat they consider to be a good documentary. Following these studentswill discuss the issue in small groups and create a list of criteria for a gooddocumentary, which is presented on a poster.

This session is supported by an article by John Mepham (1991) onquality and truth-telling in the media, while students are also providedwith articles from newspapers to consider ‘representing the real’ in thelight of ‘image manipulation’.

In Kolb’s terminology, students are asked to observe and reflect on theirexperience, while additional literature and debate provide an intellectualcontext in which to address issues of quality and the specifics of a docu-mentary text. As previously stated, it is essential that the teacher’s roleattempts to link different elements of the learning cycle by asking ques-tions. For instance: if prime-time television offers only ‘reality TV’, whatlevel of public knowledge would you expect our society to demonstrate inthe running of a democracy? The personal experiences and general crite-ria students use to make judgements should be explored in these widerdebates, so that students have the opportunity to reformulate their experi-ence and theoretical knowledge in relation to the quality of a documen-tary text and wider issues of our society.

First session/practice courseThe practice course starts with an exercise exploring working in a group,and specifically focuses on the drafting of group rules for use in themaking of a group production. In Kolb’s terms, students are asked toreflect on their own experience of producing a film as a group, and areasked to provide ideas about how to improve or better appreciate groupwork. They are given information and some ideas that might supportthem in working with a team. At the end of that session, students shouldbe able to agree the working rules suitable for their own group.

The aim of the practice course is for students to progress from thinkingin terms of individual shots towards thinking in a sequence of shots. Thisinvolves story-boarding exercises in small groups, for which only pen andpaper are necessary. In addition some self-directed exercises are set-upinvolving the use of recording equipment. When discussing the storyboarding exercises the aim is to relate the shot to the purpose of that par-ticular sequence, or even to the complete film. Very often the biggestproblem for students is to limit the number of shots to what is essential inconveying the aim of the sequence.

Oral examAn oral exam, where students’ documentary is discussed, has been intro-duced ‘to situate this highly personal work within a critical context, a veryshort time after completion’ (Wayne 2001: 35). This forty-five minute oral

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exam formalizes the ‘observe and reflect’ stage of the course. All studentsreceive the same questions which focus on both documentary theory,practice related theory and their own experience of working in a group tocreate a media text. This oral exam takes place a week or so after the sub-mission deadline. Some distance seems both necessary and fruitful in theprocess of reflection and critical analysis of ones own work.

Presentation, feedback and assessmentStudents are requested to give a presentation in the theoretical seminars,which they evaluate in a written form and email to me. I then give feed-back to the student, also by email. This presentation involves applyingdocumentary/practice-related theory to a documentary of their own choice.Most of these presentations illustrate the very different ways in whichtheory relates to a documentary text. Students can also decide to study agroup of documentary filmmakers such as women, or ethnic minorities, orfilmmakers from developing countries, which addresses not only the docu-mentary text but also the social and political conditions of production. Theself-evaluations are not part of the final course assessment, but theyprepare students for it. The final assessment for the theory part of thecourse involves a research project presented in the form of an essay. Theguidelines in the course guide state that original research is required.Themes which have been chosen include: documentary as tool of socialchange or propaganda, reality TV and representation of the real, black orfemale documentary makers, the representation of working-class womenin documentary film making, the blurring of different modes of represen-tation in historical or contemporary documentaries.

These examples illustrate that planning exercises related to both thestudent’s own experience of watching and their theoretical knowledge canlead to new awareness and new knowledge.

Evaluation of Kolb’s theoryMy research consisted of two questionnaires; distributed among studentsat the beginning and at the end of the course. These questionnaires3

focused on the relationship between theory and practice, and how stu-dents think media practice courses should be taught. In addition, I haveused 69 course evaluation forms. I have collected over three consecutiveyears that I have taught this course.

The guided screenings; this hybrid form of theory, practice-related theoryand a wide range of historical and contemporary clips, has been highly suc-cessful since it was introduced in 2002. Most students expressed their wishfor ‘more’ guided screenings, using words such as: ‘inspiring’,’ informative’,‘entertaining’, ‘interesting’. Other comments from their evaluation formsinclude: ‘very useful to get the wider context of films’, ‘I felt that my precon-ceived ideas of documentaries were challenged’ and ‘documentaries are morevaried than I thought’. One student reported, ‘My interest before taking thisseminar was purely superficial’. The same student writes, ‘Yes, it hasincreased my interest in documentary, now I want to watch more’. Two stu-dents write that this course, ‘has been the best course of my whole universityeducation’ or ‘the best and most enjoyable course of the whole degree’.

3 The questionnairewas filled in by 20 ofthe 23 students at thestart of the courseand 19 out of 23 atthe end of the course.

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It seems valid to conclude that this hybrid presentation of theory andpractice-related theory has been successful in Kolb’s terms: the learningexperience has changed their perception of documentary as a cultural form.

Theory empowers practiceAt the end of this course all students could indicate how the theory hadinfluenced their practice. They stated that the theory influenced their choiceof interviewees and enhanced their awareness of how editing could influ-ence their representation of the interviewees. All of them ticked the box indi-cating that guided screening/screenings had given them insight into thestructure and scripting and visualisation of a documentary. Individual stu-dents added: ‘it helped me think about aesthetics’,’ it made me aware of thefilmmaker’s choice’ or ‘it has helped me to learn about the histories of docu-mentary making’ or ‘interesting links between theory and practice’. Or‘theory and practice – good to have knowledge and then put it into practice,that way you learn better’. They also felt that theory supported them inchoosing the kind of film they would make and in developing awareness ofhow different modes of representation were used in their films.

In short: theory empowered the practice. If there was ever any case forreducing media practice to ‘doing’ then these results undermine such anapproach.

In addition to my research results concerning student responses it isalso significant that our external examiners have always appreciated thehigh quality of essays and films which were the results of this approach.

It should be noted that similar research within a fine art context is lessconclusive. Pritchard, Heathley and Trigwell (2005) analysed students’ con-ceptions of the relationship between theory (dissertation) and practice in art,media and design education. The results show a considerable variation inunderstanding and appreciation of the theory. Although the offered theorywas intended as relevant for their specific practice just a small proportion ofstudents said they experienced the theory as relevant. This may indicate thatthe way theory is taught will influence students perception of relevance.

ConclusionThis experiment in using Kolb’s learning cycle has been successful, moststudents feel challenged, stimulated and experience a sense of achieve-ment. Above all their perception and experience of documentary filmmaking changed and a critical awareness of the medium emerged. Thecombination of offering media and documentary theory, practice-relatedtheory and practical tuition is highly appreciated by students and hasempowered their practice, which should always be considered desirable inteaching media practice in an academic context. Those courses mainlyfocussing on teaching technical skills undermine the aim of fosteringcritically aware practitioners. To create a space in a course where docu-mentary theory, practice-related theory and practice can meet, clash or inte-grate provides students with the possibility to become aware of the specificknowledges each practice can offer. ‘Knowing’ what you are ‘doing’ seemsto be a prerequisite for teaching media practice within an academiccontext where to goal is to foster critically aware practitioners.

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ReferencesBeacham, J. (1999), ‘The Value of Theory/Practice Degrees’, Journal of Media

Practice, 1: 2, pp. 85–97.

Chanan, M. (1997), ‘Politics and Philosophy in Aesthetic Education’, Paper pre-sented at Media Practice Conference, Royal Holloway, 4–6 July 1997.

Fielding, D. (2000), ‘Mystery: Inventing a Genre for Practical Media Studies’, inD. Fleming (ed.), Formations: A Twentieth Century Media Studies Textbook,Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Freire, P. (1970), Pedagogy of the Oppressed, London: Continuum.

Geraghty, C. (2002), ‘Doing Media Studies: Reflection on an Unruly Discipline’,Art, Design and Communication in Higher Education, 1: 1, pp. 25–36.

Knudsen, E. (2000), ‘Fear Eats the Soul; Working with Creative Content and Purposein Media Practice Education’, Journal of Media Practice, 1: 2, pp. 165–171.

Kolb, D. (1984), Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning andDevelopment, Englewoods Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Metz, C. (1991), Film language, a Semiotics of Cinema, Chicago: University of ChicagoPress.

Mepham, J. (1991), ‘Television Fictions, Quality and Truth telling’, RadicalPhilosophy 57, Spring.

Nichols, B. (1991), Representing Reality: Issues and Concepts in Documentary,Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Wayne, M. (2001), ‘Problems and Possibilities in the Developing Critical Practice’,Journal of Media Practice, 2: 1, pp. 30–36.

Wayne, M. (2003), ‘Reflection on Pedagogy: Documentary Theory and Practice inthe Classroom’, Journal of Media Practice, 4: 1, pp. 55–61.

Winston, B. (1995/1999), Claiming the Real: The Documentary Film Revisited,London: BFI.

Suggested Citationde Jong, W. (2006), ‘From “doing” to “knowing what you are doing”: Kolb’s learn-

ing theory in teaching documentary practice’, Journal of Media Practice 7: 2,pp. 151–158, doi: 10.1386/jmpr.7.2.151/3

Contributor detailsWilma de Jong owned an independent film company for 15 years and produceddocumentaries, drama and trainings films for broadcasters, NGOs and corporateindustry. She currently works as Lecturer in Media Theory and Production at theUniversity of Sussex. Contact: Wilma de Jong, Lecturer Media Theory andProduction, University of Sussex, Department of Media and Film, School ofHumanities, Brighton BN1 9QN.E-mail: w.dejong@sussex.ac.uk

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