When reflecting upon my personal learnings from the year and the differences in myself not only as a researcher but as well as a creative in comparison to the start of the course, I found a few notable points that changed my outlook on evaluating my work.
Firstly, I feel as I have finally overcome the impostor syndrome that I recurrently mentioned at the start of Unit 2, as I have achieved the goals I had set for myself and managed to create an intervention with the power to change and remodel traditionally existing systems of mindfulness. This could either be because I have been more confident in approaching stakeholders and asking for help and feedback, because I have done more secondary research into the field, or because I have found a way to reshape the value in my project by being adaptable in my method for creating change (or a combination of the above). I have also found a greater purpose in academic research and how it continuously evolves as opposed to stopping after having found an answer, and realised that the emergence of new questions after having completed an intervention is not something to be afraid of, but rather an assurance that something has worked in order to provoke more knowledge to be found – something I had a completely different mindset to at the start of the course. I have also realised that when my creative intention has been within creating change for good, more stakeholders and people I tell about my project have shown interest and involvement in my journey as a result of my own passion for the topic translating through naturally, and that it is often not necessary to know everything about a certain topic but rather the interest itself that conveys to stakeholders that this is a “serious” project.
The role of action research has also had a significant effect on my work- ethic as a creative, as I have become better at time management and project management by understanding how to prioritise my research and holistically reflecting on the key points from primary and secondary research and stakeholders that help me move forward with my interventions. Action research has also allowed me to test the hypotheses derived from my secondary research and given reality to academic concepts- which has been extremely exciting. At the start of the course, I was afraid to conduct much primary research at the risk of either messing up or contradicting existing secondary research (and thus seeing it as a failure), however I have now understood that even an intervention that provides feedback which contradicts an initial hypothesis can add value to the research field. I have also become more confident in approaching external stakeholders and openly admitting the gaps in my research and where I need help, which has led to discussions that have immensely improved my quality of research and provided pathways forward for exploration. Overall, I think the role of failure has had the biggest learning edge on me, as I can now understand that the only type of failure that is truly disadvantageous within research is the failure to take action and be afraid of not reaching an “end- goal”. In my own career moving forward, I will definitely take the learnings from my research process and actively apply them to my professional life, as I see the “action” method and outlook as a huge asset within the creative industries.