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?