Focus on Ty Hollett’s essay: Symbiotic learning partnerships in youth action sports: Vibing, rhythm, and analytic cycles. (2017)
Hollett’s research could be placed within the pedagogical strategy of peer learning. He is principally interested in the relationship between the skater and the videographer and the resulting media artefact. Hollett identifies the unique consequence of the ‘respective crafts’; skateboarding and videography and celebrates the notion that the resulting video is entirely collaborative. Hollett’s aim of “drawing out potential implications for the design of digital media learning settings” (Hollett, 2017: p.1) is particularly interesting from a personal perspective, coming from both my professional stand (as I currently lecture in media production) and from a creative viewpoint in consideration of my documentary series WeCanFly.
Written in 2017, Hollett grasps the opportunity to contemporize previous thesis on the ethnographic skateboard lens in consideration of social media platforms. His observations highlight the relevance of social, visual, communication techniques and the potential that this has for reaching corporate sponsors. He describes the work produced by the skater/ videographers partnership as a “portfolio of one’s capabilities” (Hollett, 2017: p.2). Quoting from Snyder’s The city and the subculture career: Professional street skateboarding in LA. (2012) Hollett observes that the skateboarder “cannot achieve these feats alone- in order to contribute to this progression, they need photographers and filmers to document their tricks’ (Snyder, 2012: p. 321). Further to both Snyder’s and Hollett’s observations here, I would suggest that the videographer is more likely to be able to use platforms such as Instagram, YouTube and Vimeo to create some form of commercial success, revenue or career path. The media industry is notoriously difficult to break into and many young people completing under graduates in this field end up working freelance. The skills that the skate videographer has are highly transferable with the commercial sector, and can provide an excellent platform for progression within this industry. “The filmer must also have an encyclopedic knowledge of tricks in order to know how to frame the shot, how to follow the trick’s movement., how to choose an angle and more – all while managing technical aspects, like shutter speed and lighting (Snyder, 2012: p. 323). Alongside their cinematography skills, the videographer is also responsible for the sound and editing processes, both of which have highly complex skills prerequisites. From a teaching and learning perspective, the videographer’s ability to multi task should not be underestimated. Alongside these technical skills, the videographer must also demonstrate entrepreneurial skills: they must have the wherewithal to manage their ‘business’ from a promotional and financial perspective. Thus the role of the videographer offers many teaching and learning opportunities in regards to my proposed area of study.
In Hollett’s essay he investigates the Symbiotic leaning partnerships between the skater and the videographer. Within my proposed Ph.D., I am to look at the fundamentals of learning when it comes to learning to skateboard to see if these strategies could be applied in a wider didactic framework. Hollett’s observations in regards to relationships with skateboarding are predominantly concerned with the element of peer to peer rapports. This is both an obstacle and opportunity when it comes to my study. The question that it raises concerns whether skateboarding in an educational context can only work if both teacher and learner are on mutual levels. As Hollett explains through the use of the phrase “Vibing”, “there is a rhythmic quality” (Hollett, 2017: p.3). Drawing on the work of Lefebvre, Hollett homes in on the notion of the interaction between skate and videographer as a paradigm for the interaction between time and space: “everywhere there is an interaction between place, a time and an exploration of energy, there is a rhythm” (Lefebvre, 2004: p.15). With this in mind, a key consideration in employing skateboarding’s intrinsic learning model would have to disregard the traditional teacher/ student hierarchy. Hollett observes this within this paragraph:
“This emphasis on collaborative partnerships is important when bridging them toward designed learning opportunities, especially given the fact that much of the literature on youth digital media production focuses on individual efforts, especially in out-of-school settings (Barron et al., 2014; Ito et al., 2013). While there is certainly a need to track the progression of individual, media-related skill sets (Bevan et al., 2012), or how mentors broker digital production opportunities for youth (Ching et al., 2015), there is also a need to investigate cross- domain partnerships, such as those that grow among skateboarders and digital media learners, like photographers and videographers. More specifically, digital media production within the action sports community – and especially the critical partnership between athlete and photographer or videographer – points not towards individual learning pathways, but rather towards entangled, bound pathways that emerge alongside each other” (Hollett, 2017: p 4)
Hollett’s study intrigues me mostly, because of how he observes the importance of togetherness. His principle findings focus around how the skater and videographer experience a symbiosis in the production of a media artefact. What must be noted within this synergy is the element of perseverance for both parties. The videographer must persist in getting the shot, just as much as the skater must endure many fails before they land the trick (in most cases). Hollet describes this process as a “cycle of reflection and nurture”. The videographer often taking on the role of the councilor, or encourager (much like a good teacher). The notion of learning partnerships such as that of the skater and the filmer has immense potential within any educational context. We often consider the importance of self-reflection and evaluation within a didactic framework where as Hollett puts this notion into the context of “nurture and joint success”. Within my own classroom we often produce projects in groups. These are challenging situations within the setting of further education as learners are often faced with working with other students with varying levels of motivation towards their outcomes. My goal is to continue to investigate how skateboarding and the arts that surround it is able to support such intrinsic learning. I haven’t found the answer yet but the mission continues.
References
Hollett, T (2017) Symbiotic learning partnerships in youth action sports: Vibing, rhythm, and analytic cycles, Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 1–14, Published by Sage 2017
Lefebvre H (2004) Rhythmanalysis: Space, Time and Everyday Life. London: Blackwell.
Snyder GJ (2012) The city and the subculture career: Professional street skateboarding in LA. Ethnography 13(3): 306–329.