2.1 Reading Before you begin your interrogation of a text, though, you have to get to know it in a general way. In a sense, you can ‘see’ visual texts (such as paintings, sculptures and buildings) all at once; there they are before you. You can move around them, looking at them from different angles. But with written, aural and moving image texts – in which words, sounds or images follow on from one another – you cannot become familiar with the whole thing until
1.3.2 Texts We can think of all the ‘objects’ that we study in the arts and humanities as, broadly speaking, texts. They may be literary, historical, legal or philosophical written texts; visual texts such as paintings, buildings, artefacts, plays-in-performance and films; aural texts, as in the performance of music and in spoken languages; or symbolic texts, for example religious ceremonies, maps, architectural plans and music scores. These things are all ‘textsâ
1.1 Analysis, interpretation and evaluation When you study a painting, for example, you take it apart to see how it ‘works’ as a painting. You analyse it ‘as it is in itself’, because this gives you many clues to what it might mean. But that analysis is complicated by the fact that the way we understand a painting itself changes over time. For instance, what a religious painting might have meant to the artist and his contemporaries in sixteenth-century Italy cannot be the same as it means to us now. We do n
Learning outcomes After studying this unit you should be able to: understand aspects of human culture, past and present; analyse various ‘objects’, interpret their meaning and evaluate them.
Introduction
In this unit we turn to the nature of the arts and humanities themselves, and look at the main processes involved in studying them. Broadly, when you study the arts and humanities you study aspects of culture. You explore people's ideas and beliefs, their cultural practices and the objects they have made. Human history is criss-crossed with the traces of people who did, said and made things and these people were to some extent aware of what they were doing. So all
Acknowledgements The content acknowledged below is Proprietary (see terms and conditions)>and is used under licence and is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence> Figure 2 Photograph published with permission of the International Tr
Figures
2 Relationships In reality, a message like the one just referred to above is just one of many which forms part of the ongoing relationships we have with the people we work with. How we get on with each other can have a huge impact on the interpretation of a given message, and the subsequent effects that might have on their motivation or morale. The next idea we will introduce is a framework for assessing how relationships are established and evolve, based on the states of mind of those involved
1 Communication The basis of good communication seems very simple, it is speaking or writing clearly such that any message you (the sender) intend to send to someone else (the receiver) is exactly the one which they receive. This means that as well as the detailed content of the message, we have to give some thought to the language we use e.g. ask ourselves if the receiving person might misunderstand any words or phrases we use. We must also be aware of the way we deliver the message –
Learning outcomes After studying this unit you should be able to: recognise the importance of interpersonal skills describe how good communication with other can influence our working relationships outline the roles we play in our work groups and teams
Introduction Much of what is most important about management is interpersonal, how we deal with others. Awareness of our own and others’ interpersonal skills can help us enormously in dealing with the work tasks we are responsible for. This unit is from our archive and is an adapted extract from Understanding management (Y159) which is no longer taught by The Open University. If you want to study formally with us, you may wish to explore other courses we offer in
Acknowledgements The content acknowledged below is Proprietary (see terms and conditions). This content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence All materials included in this unit are derived from content originated at the Open University.
10 Next steps After completing this unit you may wish to study another OpenLearn Study Unit. Here are a few suggestions:
9.8 Drawing ideas together This key skill has used a three-stage framework for developing your skills. By developing a strategy, monitoring your progress and evaluating your overall approach, you take an active role in your own learning. But learning does not necessarily follow a path of steady improvement, it involves change: revisiting ideas, seeing things from different perspectives, tackling things in different ways. You are unlikely to be able to complete your work by working through it from beginning to end
9.7.3 Identify ways of further developing your skills in working with others Use your assessment and reflective comments to suggest ways of improving your own performance in working with others. How do you intend to make these changes? Working in a group is a skill that you may need to go on developing throughout your course of study and in the workplace. All groups vary, and to enhance the performance of any group, as well as to help individual group members develop their skills, it is helpful to look at how the group has operated. 9.7.2 Assess the effectiveness of your strategy When you come to make a final assessment of the effectiveness of your strategy, you need to consider aspects such as how progress was made, the quality of the work, the working relationships of the group members, and how difficulties and problems were addressed. If you have been able to maintain good records from meetings, progress reports, and your own reflective comments, you should be able to look back and be objective about the work and strategy that the group developed. Use the goals you 9.7.1 Negotiate and develop effective ways of presenting the work As you complete the project, you need to finalise how you will present the work making sure that all involved agree with the decisions. Identify the advantages and disadvantages of the working methods you and others in the group proposed. This may be in terms of resource requirements, legal, health and safety regulations, and so on. 9.7 Evaluating strategy and presenting outcomes Evaluation should focus on both the outcomes of the work and the process. Two critical questions guide evaluation: ‘Did we accomplish our goals?’ and ‘Did we accomplish them in an effective and efficient way?’ Your evaluation should attempt to provide answers to both. Thus you need to know how to: negotiate and develop effective ways of presenting the work by using the skills of the group members; assess the effectiveness of t 9.6.1 Monitor and critically reflect on your skills As you work on the group task, you need to make time to reflect on how you are working with others. Try to identify factors that influence your ability to work effectively with others, such as levels of self-confidence, communication skills, gender, culture and the distribution of power and influence between those involved. Try to assess the effectiveness of the choices you have made – for example timescales and resources allocated, methods selected – in working towards the goals and your 9.5.2a Exchange feedback It is important to listen to, and take into account, the views and feelings of others. As a member of the group, you need to provide information on the extent to which your own work is meeting expected timescales and quality requirements: ask for and accept feedback from others on the way you are working and the quality of work being done. These skills take time to develop. Try to establish a climate for learning and developing your skills within the group so you can all actively benefit from 9.4 Activity: Developing your strategy for using skills in working with others Develop a strategy for using skills in working with others over a period of time. Your strategy should include: an identification of the opportunities you can use to practise your skills in working with
