Job Done!

It is now finished (well apart from the presentation)!

I have to say that over the cours of this project I have not been the most regular blogger, trying to fit in all the written work with everything else and then spend time blogging did not happen.

I just wanted to say to everyone (if there is anybody out there that reads my blog), you should all be very proud of completing this course and those of you that I have met on campus days and talked through blogging, you have all been a lovely peer group to be part of and I wish everybody on the course the best of luck

Learning Blog Four: Reflection

Having now almost completed the BAPP course I have now come to realise how misconceived I was at the start of the course in relation to how much work would b involved an how much longer full academic writing can take when compared with what I had previously experienced. Before this course I felt that two days was ample time to complete a 2000 word referenced essay as this is what I achieved when doing the written work required for the NQF Level 6 Diploma obtained at Performing Arts College. I have learnt to always try to allow extra time than what you think a piece of academic writing is going to take you as it probably will take longer than you anticipate.

The first term of the BAPP course involved a number of small tasks that were set in order to develop our research, analytical, reflection and writing skills which were necessary experience to prepare us for the writing of our project proposal and the conduction and writing of the research project. These tasks were also a gentle start to learning the time management skills necessary for the later work. Term two at the time felt like being thrown in the deep end of research and academic writing on a larger scale as I had not experienced these before (with the exception of the short task in term one) however looking back it was far better to undertake this steep learning curve at this stage of the degree rather than having to undertake this learning while doing the final research project. However through this I have learnt about a number of different styles of research, how to undertake research (both primary and secondary) within my professional practice and of I can development my teaching skills through research and through looking ‘outside the box’ from the syllabi that I teach and the way that I was taught to teach it within the teaching course provided by the ISTD. Although I found the blogging created a sense of community within myself and my peers throughout the course, enabling us to help each other with problems and provide feedback, I found that I struggled trying to fit this in with the demand of writing my final project, I had to make the decision of what was more important getting the project finished or keeping a regular track of what my peers were doing as I could not fit both in.

I have learnt academically within this project on how to write in a professional academic manor but also how to analyse my own learning in a way that is more than ‘ok in that pirouette my weight was to far back which is why I fell off’. The analysing of the research and deducing the meaning of this is not a skill that I have previously struggled with as this is the type of personality that I have (a tendency to over think things) however the final project in particular I have learned to be more direct with my analysis and to be critical with what I have written in order to fit within a specific word limit. Although the thought of writing a 12,000 word report in the beginning I found quite daunting when I began to write the report I found that I was basically writing 6 shorter essays which were not any longer than those that I had written before. Once I got writing I found that I easily reached the 12,000 word limit and when quite far over this therefore I had to develop my editing skills leaving only the most important relevant information within my report, a skill that I had not previously had to use as this was the first project I had undertaken with a word limit.I have also learnt a number of personal lessons while undertaking this degree course, the most prominent not to take on too much as although I would have considered myself an organised person having to work full time, teaching, do a degree, plan a wedding/ get married, undertook my own dance exams as well as the day to days of life, I found myself not being the prepared person that I always had been. I had to quickly learn to really prioritise my tasks and make sacrifices in areas so that I could achieve what I deemed most important.

My project has had a tangible effect on my professional practice and given me further thought of how I can help the students personally which will help them in life and will remove a barrier that is preventing their success in dance. The project has also shown my employer a different way of working and she witnessed the effect that this project had on the students. This course has ultimately nurtured and provide me with new academic skill and shown me ways of looking at my own professional project and how I can improve myself as a teacher going beyond reading articles provided by the ISTD, the dancing times and going to seminars at ‘move it’ but by actually changing my own teaching practice to see what works, ultimately improving the dance skill and enjoyment of my students but also developing them as people not just as dancers.

Learning Blog 3: Project Summary

The aim of my project was to ‘Asses the effects of the inclusion of creative dance in a private sector ballet class on the students syllabus work’ and the following were the main project findings:

- Creative dance is not a style of dance but rather a process by which dance is created which encourages self- expression and exploration of self, an idea or the social world. Creative dance in essence cannot be neatly defined as it is personal to each dancer.

- The educational approaches taken the ISTD and the Public Sector (State Schools) can be explained by the mission of the ISTD to provide technical training for the dance profession and within state schools the creative educational aims set out by the government.

- That in the situation of Action Research group one the inclusion of creative dance had a positive effect on student’s performance skills within their set syllabi ballet work. In the situation of the Action Research conducted although an improvement in technique was seen this is unlikely to be attributed to the inclusion of creative dance.

- Within the situations of the Action Research and those within the Royal Academy of Dance Case studies the inclusion of creative dance enhanced the student’s enjoyment of dance.

The main benefits of my findings are my enhanced knowledge of creative dance, the conclusion that it is possible that the low confidence in adolescent (self-esteem) can be detrimental to the application of learning. The main benefit I have learnt that within the scope of my professional practice the inclusion of creative dance enhances the enjoyment of the dance education they receive and with younger students a positive effect is seen on the performance skills required for syllabi

Learning Blog Two: Google Docs

Google Docs is an additional function created by the search engine Google in order to be able to store or create documents on the internet. This enables you to access your documents from any computer and or allows you to share your documents with others. In order to be able to use Google Docs it requires a Google email account however on this occasion this did not cause a problem as previously within this course we had to create a Google email account in order to use Google Reader to monitor our peers blogs. The site allows you to apply different share settings to the documents you store on Google; Anybody can access it, Those who have been provided with the link can access it (When a document is uploaded an the share settings selected Google provides you with a link to this webpage of your document which you can email to others), or private settings where you can invite certain people to be able to access your work which requires them to sign in. Google Docs also had the facility to create a range of documents including, Microsoft Word, Excel and Publisher documents.

The concept of being able to access you work from anywhere without the use of a memory stick is useful however the use of Google Docs to store documents I do not believe to be a secure storage of information and in storing any information resulting from my primary research would cause ethical issues as I had not stated the possibility of this being done to the participants within my research. Uploading this information having not informed my participants of this would not have been good ethical practice. I did however use Google Docs to allow my interview subjects to access the ‘Informed Consent Form’ for my project to enable them to read it before the interview (As I had not met in person the subject of my interviews before the conduction). This was an easy, convenient and quick way to provide information to the participants, to ensure that they were fully informed about the project (I took a paper copy to the interview, in order to obtain a signed copy from the participants). Although throughout much of this project I have considered Google Docs an insecure way to store work once my the first draft of my project was submitted (this way an potential leaks of my work onto the internet from Google Docs it could not be brought into doubt if any work was copied from the internet) I found Google Docs useful in illustrating some help that I provided to a peer. The best way to explain to her what I was trying to convey was to provided an example however the work was simply too large to publish on her blog therefore by giving a brief explanation and signposting her to Google docs I was able provide her with advice in an applied way.

For information that is not confidential Google Docs is a useful tool to distribute a document to a number of people and I believe would be useful if a person does not have their own computer from which to work as Google Docs is more reliable than a memory stick which can be lost however due to ethical consideration to obtain feedback on my own project this was not possible.

Learning Blog One: Delicious

The website ‘delicious’ is a social book-marking site which enables you to create internet based bookmarks (much like ones that you can create from a desktop) which can be accessed by yourself from any computer or which others can find. The site delicious enables you to search using keywords for sites that others have book marked. One disadvantage I found with this site was the necessity for a Yahoo email address thus adding to the long list of email addresses I currently have in order use to certain web based applications and for my personal and professional use. Delicious suggests that you can still set up an account using another email provider however I was unable to do this and was forced to create an account with Yahoo. The concept of this facility suggests that it would make it more time efficient to search the internet for sites on specific topics however for the purpose of my research project I found this was not the case. I searched a number of key words relating to my topic which centred around creative dance and dance education hoping to find possible literature that I could reference and would provide useful insight into my topic however all delicious provided was websites for dance schools advertising their dance classes. I utilised delicious finding one website which referred to dancer’s nutrition which I knew one of my peers was researching and therefore booked marked the site to hopefully assist her with her project. The use of delicious was not beneficial towards my research project. I believe that delicious could be improved by being able to add descriptors to the bookmarked website e.g. advertising or academic in order to be able to quickly decipher whether the websites retrieved from the search are worth-while accessing thus making a more time efficient process.

I retain the notion that the concept of delicious sounds as though it would be a time-saving tool for searching the internet however I did not find this the case and do not consider it a research tool beneficial during the research for my project.

Help!

This is my first blo in a long time, as time has been so precious I've struggled to be able to do all the things I have to do for my prject and blog as well. having gone through the handbook on what we need to include in our projects can anybody tell my what a research statement is and how this differs from our aims, objectives and research questions?

Please help me!

Rational for Degree Title

I propose the following for my degree title:

BA (Hons) Professional Practice Dance Education

Previous to commencing this degree course I obtained a NQF level 6 Diploma in Professional Dance from Stella Mann College where I studied a variety of dance genres, as well as obtaining a classical ballet teaching qualification (Foundation in Dance Instruction with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing). The education that I received whilst at Stella Mann in order to achieve the Diploma in professional dance and an FDI qualification has provided me with the knowledge and skill that it required for my professional practice today. The knowledge of technique, performance skills, dance history, teaching methods, syllabus knowledge, choreography, safe dance practice and child development gained is essential and has provided the groundwork for my professional practise as a teacher. My professional practice at present is as a ballet, modern, tap and jazz teacher for students aged 2 ½- 14 at a private sector dance school where I provide my students with an education in the dance genres that they choose to study. I have taught for a number of years whilst a secondary school and dance college student however know having graduated I have been able to make teaching dance my professional practice

As a dance teacher I am constantly looking for ways to improve my teaching practice and the dance education that my students receive and this is what led to topic choice for my research project. My research topic centres around extending the dance education that my students receive by integrating creative dance into their classes, thus improving their experience and knowledge of dance. I aim to improve my knowledge of creative dance and seek the positive benefits that this will have on the students in a technique based classical ballet class. It is widely acknowledged that the dance education provided in the private and public sectors is focuses on different aspects of a dance education and generically the education received does not cross over between the two. In the future I plan use my knowledge to integrate the two by bringing my knowledge of a public sector education into the private sector and vice versa. Following this degree my plan is obtain Qualified Teaching Status (QTS) so that I can teach in secondary schools, bring the knowledge I have gained on technique and performance skills into a public sector education. The process of this degree course has been exceedingly beneficial to my professional practice as a Dance educator and I believe that this should be shown in my degree title

I believe that having the words ‘Dance’ and ‘Education’ are instrumental to my degree title, they reflect my current professional practice as a dance teacher, my previous training and the future progression that a plan to take as a dance teaching professional. My professional practice at present is educating young girls in the world of dance and I plan to continue to educate students in dance in a variety of institutions providing a long and fulfilled career. The degree title; BA (Hons) Professional Practices encompasses my past, my present and my future and therefore is completely appropriate and justifiable.

Critical Commentry

This module has been a intensive learning experience for me, it has increased my knowledge or research methods and data collection tools/ the process when conducting primary research, developed my analytical and evaluation skills, nurtured my academic writing skills, developed my secondary research skills, and enhanced my organisational skills (in particular time management skills). I have found the process of completing Module 3835 has taken my academic learning to a level that I have not experienced before and although the experience has been demanding I have learnt or enhanced a multitude of skills that will be crucial to both the research project for this course and for my professional practice.

At the start of this module having read the handbook and the first few chapters of the recommended text by Judith Bell I was rather over- whelmed with the enormity of information and confused over the various social research methods. My first diary entry that I wrote on the way to the first campus session (unofficial diary entry not on blog) focused on my confusion on what exactly was involved in each research approach and how the application of these could transfer to my situation, a number a re-reads of the Bell text was required before I formed a basic understanding of the methods however through further research, attendance of the campus sessions and a particularly useful conversation with my academic advisor (see Learning Blog 4) I now have a comprehensive understanding of the common social research methods and how they apply in an educational setting. I now understand that the choice of research topic can dictate the method that you use, it depends on what you are trying to find out as to which method will work best. Having said this I found that it can be very easy to over complicate matters (see Learning Blog Four) and this is never productive. Looking back I believe that my confusion was caused by a combination of me reading a vast amount of material in a short space of time, not fully comprehending the material and not allowing the material to ‘sink in’. This process quickly took me from knowing nothing about research methods and tools to having a vast volume of information in my head that I had to process however once I had systematically organised my thoughts on paper I was able to take what I had learnt about experiments, action research, case studies and ethnography and deduce what would be most appropriate for my study and why.

Looking back at my learning Diary and blogs I can see the though process and development of ideas, one re-occurring process that I looking back I have noticed is the evaluation of my experiences and the formulation of action plans/ questions for future use. The questions that I formulated in Learning Blog Three were a true test measure on whether my final idea for the topic of research was feasible, the enabled me to structurally analyse my project idea to ensure that the idea was feasible and then make the appropriate amendments before starting the cycle again. I state the word cycle as although I was not aware I was doing this at the time, the process that I was completing was representative of Kolb’s learning cycle that was looked at in Module 3002. The process included a concrete experience (formulating the research idea), reflective observation (applying the questions), abstract conceptualisation (analysis of what the answers to the questions mean) and active experimentation (coming up with ways to combat any problems of experimenting with new ideas). Similarly the reminders that I produced in Learning Blog 5 have given me a guidance to follow when that can be applied to my final research project proposal, the research project and any future write up of a work. based research project that I may conduct thus making sure that I produce the best work that I can in an respected academic style and in a time efficient manor. This analytical skill I will be able to apply to a innumerable number of situations and I believe one of the most important learning skills that I have developed.

This module has propelled a vast amount of learning however I can now see how the activities and projects set in Module 3002 were the foundation building blocks of skills that are required for a research proposal and project. The tasks of finding resources that we use for our professional practice, analysis of what has been passed down to use from our teachers, our influences, Kolb’s learning cycle and learning to write in an academic writing style, were all preparation exercises for the research, analytical and academic writing skills that have been required for this module.

Throughout this course I have found my the learning environment to be very different from my previous academic learning experience as my previous learning has always been extensively supported by teachers telling me what and how to do things, however in this module the focus of study what completely under my control and when I became stuck I had to solve the problems by myself rather than just asking my teacher for help. Through the process of this module I have been able to develop my problem solving ability as now I am able to conduct self- sufficient research and analysis to solve a problem a skill that I can use both in academic work and my professional practice. Although there were guidelines and advice throughout this module this was not specific to my situation and study and therefore I have had to evaluate this advice and see what can be applied to my work and how. Having said this I have also learnt the benefit of consulting with one’s peers when facing a problem as they are able to offer advice and they are able to look at scenarios with a fresh pair of eyes. The blogs and campus sessions have been crucial to this as they have given me the opportunity to converse and discuss problems and ideas with others who are in the same situation as me.

This process has taken me through a journey from having a few sketchy ideas right through to a formulated and precise research proposal. The formulation of ideas has come from looking at my own professional practice, how I can improve this while also considering my future aims. There were a number of ideas however looking at my interest in the subjects, the feasibility of the project and the notion of ‘who cares’ I was able to formulate a research project that I feel will be most worth- while to my professional practice and to that of other private sector dance teacher.

This module has provided me with many difficult problems which at times I thought were almost impossible to overcome however it is through these difficulties that I have accomplished the most fruitful learning. I have developed a number of essential skills that will be integral as I continue through this degree programme and throughout my professional practice both in the present and in the future. I am sure that I will come across a number of problems in my professional and academic future and now I have the analytical and research skills to overcome these problems. The prospect of actually now doing the proposed research is somewhat daunting however I am certain the I will learn even more doing this and I am excited about the information that I will uncover that I am sure will have a profound effect on my professional practice as a dance teacher.

Learning Blog Five 23/04/10:

I have now completed the first draft of my project proposal, I have drawn a number of conclusions that I must consider when completing the writing of my research project. I found that writing the first draft of my proposal took me drastically longer than I had anticipated, for although I have written a number of essays of this length before this level of academic referencing took much longer than the style that was required in my previous learning. This has made me consider my time management skills for the research project as I found writing this first draft of project proposal that citing existing research and constructing my prose with this in a fluid manor took much more time that I had previously considered therefore in the future I must ensure that I allow more time than I anticipate in order to alleviate the pressure that I felt when writing this first draft. Before commencing writing the draft I thought that I had extensively researched social researched methods as I had spent many hours reading about the subject and though that I had accumulated sufficient information to reference my choices however when writing the draft I found myself becoming aware that I was constantly referencing the same resource thus revealing that I was heavily relying upon one resource. This resource was published and was exceedingly well referenced however I was still referring the same resource none the less, although at the moment I am trying to find the original papers/ books referenced in this publication, this is proving difficult and therefore I must consider this in my future research project. When beginning my research project I must try to obtain information from a number of resources, even if one resource details extensive and supported information, I should read from as many resources as possible. I found that I was formulating concepts as I was writing and this meant that I was having to read further to evidence these theories thus reaffirming that I must allow plenty of time to write up my research and have a multitude of resources to reference so that it does not appear that I have not researched sufficiently.

Having completed the first drafts I must remember the following points:
- Allow plenty of time for writing plus extra to what I anticipate.
- Record of all websites as I go along not just the dates that I have accessed them as this will make the references page at the end less time consuming.
- Don’t rely heavily on one resource even if that resource is extensive.
- When writing allow extra time for further research as there will be new things that present themselves as I write.
- Be specific in my words and don’t be repetitive as this adds to an unnecessary word count.

Learning Blog Four: 02/04/10

From reading briefly into research I methods I had formed my own plan on how I would collect my primary data, performing what I had classed as an experiment. This involved me introducing a creative dance exercise into one of the Jazz classes and then observe the effect this had on the students modern syllabus work (approximately half the modern class did jazz and therefore I thought the half that didn’t would be my control group however when reading further into the realm of experiments I found that my idea was not matching the criteria of any of the types of experiments that I had discovered (The static group comparison, The pretest- posttest control group design (True experimental design), The nonequivilent control group design (quasi-experiment) and the Time series design (quasi-experiment). I then pondered on whether there was such a thing as I mixing an experiment with ethnography and continued to mix various research methods in order to fit defined research methods to what I was trying to accomplish, confusing myself in the process by trying to blur the boundaries between methods. Following a conversation with my academic adviser I concluded that I was over complicating the process and following advice, my concept was simply the standard qualitative research method. Following this experience I must ensure that in future I do not over complicate the information I collate regarding research methods and do not so absorbed into the information that I am reading, attempting to make links that are simply not there. It is often productive to take a step back from your literature research so that you do not become over-whelmed by all the information that you have discovered otherwise you can create more barriers rather than informed solutions.

For Michelle

The book I mentioned in the campus session today, that may be relevant to your topic is:

'Child Development from Birth to Eight: A Practical Focus' by Jennie Lindon and published by the National Children's Bureau.

I think I got it off Amazon but it might also be available on Dance books. When completing my FDI we had to complete a unit on Child Lifespan and development which looked into the cognitive, social and emotional development of children.The ISTD put together a textbook for this, so it may be worthwhile contacting the I.S.T.D. to see where they got and how they got their info for the book. There website is www.istd.org

I hope this helps

Useful Activity

At the Campus session I approached Paula having thought I'd completed activity 7 and she asked me to bog what I had done as a useful exercise for every body.

The exercise:

Take an existing data collection tool and critique it, use the questions in activity 7 to analyse what you have found is effective and any faults that you have found in the tool.

I took interview questions designed and used by Julia Buckroyd when writing her book 'The Student Dancer' and here is what I concluded:

Critique of Interview questions used by Julia Buckroyd when looking into ‘The Experience of Professional Dance Training for Male Trainees’ Buckroyd, J, 2000, The Student Dancer – Emotional Aspects of Learning Dance (p218), London, Dance Books Ltd.

The interview questions proposed by Julia Buckroyd in order to indentify “distinctive issues for boys in professional dance training with the idea of clarifying how dance training could ensure those needs are met” (Buckroyd, J, 2000, The Student Dancer – Emotional Aspects of Learning Dance (p128), London, Dance Books Ltd) are well structured, thorough and are appropriate to the purpose of the investigation. Buckroyd has explored all imaginable areas of the emotional/ psychological aspects of a boy undertaking full time dance training however there are questions that may lead the interviewee to form a certain way of thinking, questions that could possibly lead to the identification of the participant and there are also a number of questions that may alienate the male student dancer.
The interview is well structured with all relatable questions grouped together for example all questions relating to weight and food issues follow one another. There are a few exceptions to this where a question does not precisely fit into the running them for example the question “Do you watch dance performance?” is situated among questions about the male dancer’s hobbies other than dance however these questions can still be encompassed in the general area that the surrounding questions and are simple, short answered questions and therefore they do not disrupt the flow of the interview. The questions are not only in logical groups but they also follow a structure taking the interviewee on a progressive journey through their training; starting with their experiences before their professional training/ information on when they started and concluding with life after their training and life after dance thus making a well structured interview. The questions are very thorough and appropriate to the purpose of the research, exploring all areas of the emotional aspect of a male dancers training however it is possible that there are too many and some unnecessary questions especially considering that Buckroyd allocated a time period of one hour for the interview. Some of the questions could be simple yes or no answers however many of the questions are written to prompt more in depth answers and therefore could take the length of the interview far beyond the allocated timescale, this combined with the volume of questions could make the interview more time consuming than anticipated.

Buckroyd has asked a number of difficult questions in her interview which although may be considered necessary to understand the emotional aspects of a male dancer undergoing training, they may also alienate the participant for example the question “What kind of social life do you have in comparison with your non-dancer friends?” may embarrass the participant as the question is making two assumptions; one, that the participant has an active social life and two, that the participant has friends outside of the dance community. These sorts of probing questions may cause the participant to feel uncomfortable and could affect the information that they divulge throughout the rest of the interview. The questions that Buckroyd has posed also stipulate a certain intellectual level with her questions assuming that the participant has a certain level of understanding about the ‘normal’ development of the adolescent male, which again could possibly alienate the subject due to feeling of in-adequacy. Buckroyd has been careful with most of her questions not to lead the participant into a specific way of thinking/ point of view however there are a few questions which could possibly do this for example the question “Do teachers treat you differently from girls” could lead the participant to over analyse something that otherwise may not have occurred to them. Buckroyd has appeared to have made the assumption that a boys experience will differ from that of a female student by the question that she has asked regarding the treatment of the participant compared to the girls in the class however, although these questions insinuate certain assumptions they are necessary to all possible emotional aspects of a professional dance education for boys. The opening question regarding age of entering the school, current age and previous experience when combined with school records may allow the participant to de identified however this is only when combined with the schools information and therefore does not present an ethical issue. Buckroyd also provided an example of her consent forms which clearly expressed her intentions of recording and ways of publishing the participants involved and thereby preventing ethical issues

Buckroyd has formulated a probing in-depth interview that will thoroughly investigate the experience of the male dancer. The interview is well structure with the interview following a logical progression of topics and all questions put into topic related groups however Buckroyd in her endeavour for thoroughness may have; asked too many questions, alienated the participant and led the participant into a certain way of thinking however the negative aspect to Buckroyd’s interview questions are only possibilities and are completely dependent on the views and experiences of the participant. Buckroyd has created an effective instrument for research which providing the researcher has an extensive timescale could prove extremely useful however if a researcher has a restricted timescale like that of our project Buckroyd’s in-depth style of interview may not be an effective and time efficient way of gathering data.

You don't need to right it all out in an essay like I did (this is what I thought Activity 7 was) just annotate a photocopy or printout of the questionnaire/ interview questions and see what you come up with and what you can learn from this.

Learning Diary: Blog 3 19/03/10

At the Campus session this week, we discussed a number of issues regarding data collection methods specifically observations, interview and questionnaires. We were asked to observe a pre-recorded segment of a dance class to look for phenomena in the class, following Paula’s comments it was obvious that as a teacher I automatically analyse any observation that I make and in the process of this project I must ensure that I only record my observations and not my analysis of those observations. If I record my immediate analysis of those observations rather than the observations themselves I am not accurately recording my primary data which could jeopardise the validity of my conclusions.

The campus sessions also resonated the importance of a pilot study, which is effectively a trial run of your observation/interview/questionnaire. The purpose of a pilot study is to ensure that your data collection technique achieves what you want it to achieve and that it does this in a effective way. After you conduct a pilot study it is imperative that you receive feedback from your pilot study test subjects in order to ascertain if any improvements could be made. By having a pilot study I can ensure that my data collection methods are effective, understandable and fit for purpose before I begin my final research project thereby minimising the chance of having to completely change my research tools halfway through the final project or finding out at the end that the data collected does not answer my research questions.

The campus session extended my knowledge of data collection method and educated me in the more precise and well research my project proposal is the more successful that my final research project will be.

Project idea

This week the concepts I had come up with have taken a complete U-turn, I have to apologize to Peter who went through the long list of project ideas that I had and have now just completely disregarded. Following what I’m calling my crisis moment I had a bit of an epiphany looking at why I entered into this course in the first place, my previous ideas were all about looking into improve my teaching practice and teaching methods which although would aid me and my students, in Peter’s words ‘Who cares’ (apart from me that is). So now I’ve gone a bit bigger that just my classroom.

The idea:

The benefits of integrating creative dance into technical syllabus work in a dance education/ preparation for a professional career in dance?

There has been a lot of research into the benefits of a creative dance education in the public sector (secondary and primary education) but what I would like to know are what would be the benefits of integrating creative dance into the private sector? What would the impact of adding a creative dance exercise into Modern/ Jazz/ Ballet syllabus work? I know from experience that many students struggle with the idea of freestyle when introduced to the concept dance college and this can often be the make of brake point of getting that all important job. Would having to create your own choreography from an earlier age/ improvisation have helped with this?

The areas I would look at:
What is a dance education?
What is creative dance?
What skills are required for a successful career in dance?
How is creative dance taught in the public sector?

What does literature say about the benefits of creative dance?

My primary research:
· An experiment of adding a creative dance section to my syllabus classes- Would it improve, technique, confidence, enhance enjoyment, improve performance etc?
· Conduct a survey of what the child thought of these additions to the classes.
· Survey professional dancers on what they think are the integral skills that they need?
· Observe other teachers conducting my experiment and the effect it has on their students.

I hope that this study would not only interest myself but my employer, other teachers and ultimately the IST D whose syllabus I teach.

What do you think?

Learning Blog 3 05/05/10

When trying to whittle down my ideas for my research project I was trying to answer the question of feasibility on one of ideas ‘the effect that choice of music has on the technique/ performance of dance’ an idea that had come about from a ballet lesson where I found that my students were not exhibiting their previous technique/ performance of their port de bras and footwork. When I asked why they said it was because of the music therefore I thought that it may be a worthwhile investigation looking into the effect that music has on dancers. From my many spider diagrams and reading of research methods I thought the best way to collect my primary data would be to conduct an experiment where I would chose a selection of set exercises in my ballet class and get the students to perform these two contrasting pieces of music and then observe the effect of this. However when looking into the feasibility of conducting this experiment I came across a problem; the most effective way to conduct this experiment would be with a pianist who could easily perform contrasting pieces of music to the specifications that would suit my experiment, but I do not have a pianist (as my classes are all done with the aid of my iPod) and the likelihood of finding appropriate pre-recorded music in the correct time signatures and style of music was un-likely due to the time constraints of balancing this project and my other life commitments. Therefore I have concluded that although this project would have an insightful benefit that would impact my work in a positive way, collecting primary data would not be feasible.

This revelation made me evaluate the priorities of what I need to consider before choosing my project idea in order to complete my project proposal. Primary data collection is an important aspect of our final project and therefore I must ensure that the research that I wish to conduct is feasible which means answering the questions:

1) Do I have persons to conduct the research on (my sample group)?
2) Will my sample group be representative (think validity of research)?
3) Do I have the equipment (if any) to conduct the research.
4) Is the research possible in the time period for the project when considering balance with my other commitments?
5) Are there any problems that I could encounter when conducting this research
6) Are there any ways in which I could overcome these problems and are they feasible.

All these need to be considered in order for me to choose a topic for a realistic project proposal; therefore I am now looking at answering these questions on my other project ideas.

Activity 2

A new influence that perhaps could be classed as an advantage or a disadvantage depending on your point of view is the insider knowledge of the subjects that you are conducting your primary data research on or thinking of conducting your primary data research on. I believe that this is a distinct advantage as it enables you to make more informed choices/ informed conclusions when either planning or analysing your research, for example when trying to put together a group of subjects/ participants that are truly representative of the type of persons/ group of persons that your research is about (your ‘sample’), your insider knowledge will help choose the subjects/ participants in order to make sure that they are truly representative group in order to help ensure the validity or your results.

Activity 1

Social Constructivism: The construction of the social setting in which learning occurs and the effect of learning the construction of the social setting.

Reflexivity: Work with which the researcher tries to be as objective as possible but with which the work takes into account bias and subjective views of the researcher for example, any research that I conduct will be from the perspective of a teacher, a third party academic may draw different conclusions/ have a different opinion on my findings.

Athens!

Can anybody log into Athens? (the portal to let Middlesex uni students look at online books/ journals) I've done what the book tells me to do and what Paula said on the last campus day but its still not letting me in. Can anybody help?

Learning Diary Blog One 18/02/10

Since the beginning of starting the BAPP course I had an idea about what I had wanted my final project to be about ‘the use of imagery in teaching dance’. This concept was based on a subject that I found interesting and what I knew there was a substantial amount of existing literature about, as I knew from my teacher training there has been substantial research into the use of this teaching method. From peer experience I pre-conceived that the literature review was the most integral part of a research project. During the first Campus session we were asked the question ‘What is research?’ My immediate answer was ‘to find existing information about of topic ‘ as this was the only type of research that I had previously experienced, however from the discussion I now realise that this was a very blinkered way to view research. Research is in fact investigating both the known and the unknown in order to advance ones knowledge and understanding , by applying this new thinking I now know that I must consider both what existing knowledge there is on the subject and what new knowledge I can gain from my own active research and experimentation. Aiding to this, I was particularly struck by the advice that we should endeavour to choose a topic where something entirely new can be discovered, not just re-affirming what a number of others have thoroughly investigated.

Now I have taken a completely new approach (since our campus session) in beginning the long process of choosing a topic for the proposal of my research topic. I started with my purpose for being on this course; teaching, then expanding on this by thinking of areas of teaching that I find interesting/ what areas I can expand my knowledge in, in order to improve understanding/ knowledge of teaching?. Having begun to investigate these ideas through a number of mind maps exploring what I already know about the topic and exploring the research potential (I found this process very useful as it enabled me to express all my thoughts on paper and visually link ideas and concepts together). Now I must take my learning further and use my existing and newly acquired research skills to find out what literature there is on the subjects and what ways I could investigate the subject (when I fully comprehend the approaches to research as described in our set text) as this will aid in determining what project I will undertake and thus what my proposal will be.

Academic Draft 2 (3)

Grade 4 Imperial Classical Ballet students achieve ‘correct’ posture, combating Lordosis through successful teaching methods.

Future fit training limited (2006) states that Lordotic posture or Lordosis is very common in dancers; its defining characteristic is “where the lower back has an excessive curve”. Initially a number of the young girls in Power Academy of Dance Grade 4 Imperial ballet class displayed the anterior pelvic tilt, the lengthened rectus abdominus, the flexed hip joint, the hyper-extended lumbar spine and relaxed gluteals associated with Lordotic posture (http://www.mgmpt.com/id6.html [Accessed 16 November 09]). Correct posture is essential in ballet, Jackie Pelly physiotherapist is quoted in Lantin (2005) stating “If dancers maintain a neutral posture, they are not putting the body under so much strain, and are less likely to sustain injury” (The Telegraph, Lantin, 2005) and therefore it is essential for a dance teacher to instruct on good posture. Buxton (2008) dictates the ideal posture in classical ballet involves the “spine neutral and elongated by the lengthening support of the abdominal and spinal muscles, turn out held in the deep rotators, and the gluteals or butt muscles not over supporting, allowing your hip bone and pelvis of the working side to relax down” (Buxton, 2008, Buzzle.com [Online]). When considering the ages of the students it is necessary to provide them with an increased understanding of the technical requirements of posture as “puberty is an important stage for acquiring elite performance skills (ISTD Dance Examination Board, 2005, p38).

ISTD Dance Examination Board (2005) quotes Fontana (1995) declaring that association, visual presentation, repetition as well as recognition are acknowledged “strategies for assisting memory” (ISTD Dance Examination Board, 2005, p76-77). The students of the grade 4 imperial ballet class had been introduced to posture before the initial lesson on the 14th October, this was through association only (told to stand like princesses and pull in those tummy’s). Previously this concept was never defined as posture until the initial lesson, when the technical concept of posture were introduced using Fontana’s (2005) proven techniques of assisting memory, association, visual representation and repetition. In the forthcoming month repletion, recall and recognition were also used resulting in visible technical improvement. However without the addition of positive praise to the memory strategies White (1991) states that “self-esteem is the pivotal point between success and failure; it has a marked effect on learning” (White 1991, quoted in Buckroyd 2000, p 73) meaning that improvement would not have been possible without aiding the student’s self-esteem. By the 11th November marked improvements were visible on a number of students in the class with their spines more elongated, abdominal muscles and gluteal’s active and the hip bones and pelvis relaxed and therefore level. Essentially their Lordotic posture was not as severe as that observed in the initial lesson. A continuation of repetition, recall and recognition will enable the students to continue to improve their technical ability thus enhancing any work that they perform.

References:

Future Fit Training Limited, 2006, Posture Types [Online],mgmpt.com. Available from: http://www.mgmpt.com/id6.html [Accesses 16 November 09]

Lantin,B, 2005, ‘The Point of Good Posture’, The Telegraph [Online],12th December. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/dietandfitness/3334420/The-pointe-of-good-posture.html

Buxton, D, 2008, Understanding Muscle Function and Correct Posture in Ballet [Online], Buzzle.com. Available from: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/understanding-muscle-function-and-correct-posture-in-ballet.html [Accessed 17 November 2009]

ISTD Dance Examination Board, 2005, quotes Fontana, D,1995, ‘ISTD Foundation in Dance Instruction Unit 3: Lifespan Development and Learning in Dance, London: ISTD Dance Examinations Board

Buckroyd, J, 2000 quotes White, 1991, The Student Dancer, London: Dance Books Ltd