Here we gooooo

Hey Bloggers and members of MDX BAPP course!!!

Blogger, so we meet again...I can't believe a whole year has passed, module 1 and 2 completed and accomplished! Who would have thought that we'd make it to the final module?!
I was away for the whole summer period and failed to 'keep blogging' now I need to get back on it and I feel that this term, my blogging will be non stop! (apologies in advance)
So, here we go, the last term of BAPP!
I have arranged to have some days off of work in my week this so that I can dedicate time to my Uni work. Myself and my SIG members on facebook have already been chatting and discussing the work for Module3. After reading the handbook, it seems I/we are very wary, confused and scared! This module is definitely going to be hard work...

Anyway, until the next blog, I'm off to start Task7 :/ ahhhhh

Critical Reflection

Critical Reflection on Professional Practitioner Inquiry

Starting Module 2 I was apprehensive; after completing Module1 I thought I understood how the rest of the course was going to progress, but then my thoughts changed. Module 2 has been very different and far more challenging than Module 1. The tasks were very different; no more creating new network pages and constant reflecting, which I was thankful for! Though, the thought of planning an inquiry had me very worried; at first I did not know how I was ever going to find a “question” that I could research and plan a whole investigation around. I actually enjoyed working through the tasks however; they kept me distracted and stopped me from panicking about my inquiry, for a while at least. Without noticing I was being lead closer and closer to my final chosen line of inquiry.

Learning about ethics was the most interesting part of Module 2 for me. I felt I learnt the most from the 5^th Reader. I never really understood what ethics were, I also didn’t realise how many ethics I was already using in everyday life and work. I have learnt about the many different types of ethics: personal, professional, organisation and society. I now understand just how important they are and by discussing my ethics with my colleagues at work, they helped me figure out which ones I will need to be aware of and use during my inquiry.

The big learning curve for me during Module 2 apart from studying the Reader5 on ‘ethics’ was creating my final inquiry subject from interacting online with my SIG members. I felt a little strange creating my SIG group at first; using my blog, I found some people who had similar ideas as mine on the subject of teaching, I felt uncomfortable adding people I didn’t know to my Facebook page and asking them for help and advice. Thankfully, it didn’t take long before we were all commenting on each other’s posts and have now created a friendship through the worry that we were all experiencing and all the help that we gave each other.

My SIG members have helped me through my confusion, their advice and answers to my questions guided me all the way to deciding my final line of inquiry. From their answers, I figured that my initial line of inquiry on 'advantages/disadvantages of having teaching qualifications' wasn’t going to make much of an inquiry; I had already found the answer to my question from their responses.

Experiencing this really changed my way of thinking and learning. I changed my questions to more of a 'teaching techniques' theme which actually interested me more and I was getting more of a variety of answers. Interacting with other members on the course proved to me that networking is a great way of learning and on reflection I can understand how I would have never been able to reach my final line of inquiry had it not been for my SIG Group members.

Piloting the tools suggested in the reader also helped me decide which I should use for my inquiry, I realised that by doing face to face interviews and teacher observations, I  would get a better set of results which were reliable because I could judge the situation myself and make my own notes and evaluations.  

Overall, I have enjoyed the Module 2 tasks, I’ve felt eager to do the work this term and really wanted to find something to inquire that interests me and will benefit me. I’m happy to be investigating teaching methods and believe it will guide others and myself in my position wanting to improve their teaching. I am looking forward to starting my inquiry and finding some answers to help me progress my teaching skills and use my findings to help me further my career.

4C - SIG Questions/Answers

Over the past few weeks I've been posting questions to my SIG group, here are the answers that were posted. I'm so thankful that some of my SIG members have taken the time to reply; their answers have really helped me with creating further questions for my line of inquiry.

Facebook SIG Group 
Question1- If you have teaching qualifications, in what ways have they helped you get jobs or have you managed to get jobs without them?
R.B: I teach at a club on a Saturday and I got that job because the lady came to watch a show I was in at a theatre in Leicester and I emailed her company a year later to ask of vacancies and she remembered me from watching the show and offered me the job. She said on the phone normally she would arrange an interview or an audition but I didn't need to. I help in schools but only as an assistant and I do not have any teaching qualification to do this but they are aware I am doing BAPP. Obviously I cannot apply for a teacher position until I have my degree. X

L.W:  I think generally nowadays you're required to teach a class as an audition having your future employers watching. I've lead plenty of musical workshops for children and future professionals but that's all been off the back of performing in the shows themselves. From that I have secured regular work teaching jazz or tap classes. I gained my RAD and ISTD associates while at college but not wanting to teach syllabus I've never put them to use. In the current climate teaching qualifications are becoming a necessity....I'm not sure why.....does anyone know?

R.B:  I think it's because as it's more becoming more popular in schools the government are saying you have to have a degree to teach science etc so why is dance any different, but going to university for a scientist is how they learn their subject. Us performers learn our subject by doing it in shows etc and I don't think the government fully understand this. I have had teachers that went to university to study dance but have never worked in the industry and are no where near as good as true professionals.

Question 2 (teachers) - Do you think your training has effected the way you teach, if so, how?
K.G: Absolutely!! There have been so many teachers that inspired me! Their style and even them having a vast variety of styles. I also feel that I now expect high standards so drive the kids as much as possible n push them to the point that I know is there best! I don't accept the word 'can't' anymore.

L.W: I agree with Kimberley. Positive effects from teachers you've had influence your manner and style of teaching. You'll sub-conscienceley take the, what you consider, best attributes of all your teachers and use them yourself. The same goes for the negative aspects. Techniques you weren't fond of, you'll steer clear of. I believe this all to be dependent on which age group you're referring to? With students who've serious intentions of being professionals your teaching style and attitude will change dramatically to those students for whom it's just a hobby. It's all relevant to specifics.

R.B I think it has definitely because I have learnt from teachers I have been taught by and taken on board things they have taught me and their methods of teaching. Also I have picked out good things from good teachers I have experienced that I want to be like or incorporate in my teaching and the same with the bad experiences I have had from teachers, I will be sure not to be like them. From training I have decided what kind of teacher I want to be x

N.M: Yes, definitely! Many of the vocal warm-ups I learnt at collage I use within my own singing teaching warm-ups. I was inspired by many teachers and they made me the performer/teacher I am today. My training has helped me be more imaginative/creative in teaching style but also taught me to be firm and encourage positive behaviour and encourage pupils to be disciplined and respectful. My training made me work hard to achieve success if you don't put the hard work in then you'll never improve and better yourself this work ethic I bring into everyday life and at work.

K.L.W: Yes defo I learnt so much at college by having different Teachers it helped me more, as the teacher would teach you in there own ways which I found some easier than others and it made me look at different movement in another light

Question3 What are some qualities you feel you have as a teacher/or qualities teachers should have?

K.G : I think for definite you need to have a fun side for the children and a good sense of humour all round, but being firm like you mentioned in an earlier post.

6C Award Title draft

Choosing my award title.
Options...

BAPP Dance: This title is too specific, I want to be able to teach all performing arts subjects and I feel this award title might limit me to do so.
BAPP Performing Arts: I feel that this title would be best for my future, as I already have a Diploma in Performing arts, I'd like to add 'Teaching' onto it to be a little bit more specific and it also relates to my inquiry.
BAPP Musical Theatre: This title is also quite specific, I don't want to limit my title, Musical Theatre only covers 'musicals' and I have been trained in other types of performance such as ballet for example, I want my degree to allow me to teach many other subjects.
BAPP Arts Management: This title doesn't relate to me or my inquiry at all, I am not researching into management though I might need to in the future perhaps.
BAPP Performing Arts Management: like above, this doesn't reflect my inquiry in any way, though performing arts management is something I may look into.
BAPP Theatre Arts: Similar to Performing arts though not quite as broad so I won't be choosing this one.
BAPP Dance Teaching: This relates to me very much as my passion is dance and I'm currently teaching a lot of dance classes. Though I want to follow on from my Diploma and keep my award title open to be able to teach other subjects.
BAPP Graphic Design: This title would not benefit me at all, I know nothing about it and I have never learnt about graphics and design in the industry.

This is a first draft of my award title form. Something along the lines of this...

I feel that the title 'performing arts teaching' will be best suited to me. I am currently working as a Dance, Acting and Musical Theatre teacher hence choosing the broader title would best reflect my current status. In the future I am aiming to continue teaching as well as performing professionally in all areas of the Performing Arts industry. This particular award title also relates to my line of inquiry for my final 2 modules of the BAPP course. I am researching the methods of teaching, studying the different qualities of teachers and their qualifications that enable them to work. I want to be able to use my award title to show that I will be a professional in Performing Arts Teaching, not just dance or musical theatre teaching; I have been trained in all three aspects for three years and gained a level 6 Performing Arts Diploma so this award title would best benefit me for my future career of teaching.

If you have any advice or ways I could improve please comment :) 

Thanks 

5D - Ethical Considerations (notes)

Planning Ethical Considerations

I've just made a few points from my thoughts and discussions. I've also used some questions from the reader to help me think about all the ethics I will need to consider and help me fill out my ethics forms in Task 6. 

Participants: I want to use my employees during my inquiry, some performing arts students above the age of 18 and some workers like myself, preferably older than me though with more experience in teaching and the industry itself. 

I have chosen these participants by selecting those closest to my job and and easier to arrange interviews/observations etc. 

I chose these people because they have all trained/are training and some have been in the industry and have turned to teaching. I believe they are intelligent, well-experienced and I feel they will be able to give me truthful and reliable answers to help me within my inquiry research. 

I will contact my participants via email or in person to arrange the parts of my inquiry that they will be involved in. 

I will have to ensure that I have a few backup participants similar to those I intend to use just in case my participant no longer wish to continue participating in my inquiry. I will explain before commencing that there will be no issues should they want to leave the inquiry. 

As of now, not all the participants have my contact details. I think I will make a information sheet, explaining my inquiry and their contribution to it, I'll add my contact details should they have any issues or questions prior to the start of my inquiry. 

I will be making notes, maybe recording voices, keeping forms that my participants fill out. I will ensure all of this data is stored privately where only I will be able to use it. Also, I'll make sure that the participants are aware that I may be recording them and using their information privately. 

Considering that my some of the participants I plan to use are work colleagues and friends, I will need to be completely professional when carrying out the parts of my inquiry. Atmosphere should feel comfortable and not too over friendly to ensure reliable and sufficient answers/results. 

4D - Literature 1

I have left this task out for a while. I wanted to ask a few more of my questions to my colleagues and SIG group on Facebook. My topic/thoughts for my inquiry have moved on and are mainly based on teaching methods and how teaching qualifications and experience in the industry affects ways of teaching and how people get jobs as Dance and Performing Arts teachers.

I looked around on the Internet for pieces of literature, also the 'summon' part of the MDX library.
Here is a piece that interested me to read on expand my general thoughts.

1 - Google search, newspaper article.
Firstly,  I chose to search on Google, my primary (favourite) way of researching. I typed in 'articles on teachers without qualifications' there were some pages from schools and associations that talked about how to gain and train to be a teacher though I thought this link to The Guardian would best benefit my research and learning. 

The Guardian 

It first caught me when the first line read 'Do teachers need to be qualified?' which is pretty much exactly what my inquiry is going to be about. This article should delve deeper into what I'm looking into. I want to find out what qualifications are needed to become a teacher and if we really need them. Are they beneficial or can we get jobs as teachers without them? Ideally, I'm searching for more information on performing arts teachers (and their qualifications) but I wanted to do a broader search first. 

The article is a viewpoint from a teacher. He talks about how he felt he could not have become a teacher without working towards his qualifications first. He discusses the advantages and disadvantages of schools employing teachers without qualifications and he asks many questions which got me thinking about my own opinions on the matter. He finished off with some advice and final statement 'Teachers should be qualified'. 

The article was quite informal and definitely reader friendly. He was very opinionated in his writing though never overly persuasive towards the reader. There was a box below which allowed readers to post their comments and opinions on the article. I was happy after reading the whole page to find that this was helpful in my research on 'teaching qualifications'. I felt as though I had personally asked him my question (similar to the one I asked my SIG members on Facebook) and this was his answer. Though this piece that I found was similar to my line of inquiry, it didn't give me many facts or theories on the subject. I will need to look for other pieces of literature to help me learn more. 

5C - Reader 5 Professional Ethics

Reader 5

Not knowing much about ethics before researching for task 5B and reading the 5th reader; i found this really helped me learn about the separate groups of ethics.

Personal
Professional
Organisation
Society

There are many different theoretical ethics...
Some people are Consequentialists (JS Mill) - they believe that you can do something that isn't necessarily seen as 'correct' as long as it maximises the good. 
Then there are Deontologists (Immanuel Kant) - They feel that 'Lying' for example is always wrong. The motive behind an action determines whether or not it is morally right. 
Last of all the Virtue Ethicists (Plato and Aristotle) - being rather than doing, virtue ethics emphasises the character of the moral agent rather than the rules or the consequences and what actions taken reveal about one's character. 

I personally feel that depending on the situation I'd react differently. I would say that I am most definitely more of a consequentialist rather than a virtue ethicist or deontologist. I feel that though you may do something that might not be abiding by the rules of your job, for example, if it is correct in the circumstance that you're in then you should do it. 

Religion and Law ethics - Laws exist to provide societies with a framework for a civil and ordered society. The religious ethics basically my own personal ethics and the way I live day to day. I am christian and one of the 10 commandments 'Thou shalt not kill' just so happens to be an act of the law here in the UK. 'Thou shalt not steal', also illegal which is one of the main codes of practice used in all businesses and work places over here. There are some commandments that are not a Law here in the UK, for example, 'Thou shall love thy neighbour', but religious people would follow these types of ethics and that creates the kind of person they are. 

Ethics and Morals - Comparative Ethics
Professional Ethics - by law teachers are not allowed to touch children which I completely understand and agree with, though I know that many teachers would have to disagree with this and feel that to teach a physical subject like dance (especially ballet) you simply have to correct a pupil by moving their arms and legs etc.
At my work there is a rule about leaving children if their parents are late to pick them up. I abide by this rule and leave the children at the after school club though I feel bad and would rather just sit and wait with them. Sometimes pupils get upset about things and naturally I would give them a hug which shouldn't be done. I think this is an example of work ethics going against my morals. In case study2, the photographer that left the African girl to die, perhaps because his job required him not to touch anything that he was photographing; this is an example that I personally feel is wrong. How can you leave a person, a human being to die when you could have helped. If I was ever in a situation like that, I know that my instinct and own personal ethics would take over. 

Normative and Descriptive inquiry questions. 
This part of the reader helped me to learn and focus on how I will word my questions surrounding my inquiry.  
Normative questions - examines principles that people use when they make moral choices. 
Descriptive questions - (factual) reasons behind moral choices and values in society. 

Case Study 5 is a clear example of a bad inquiry. The language used was inappropriate. I could tell that the writer was biased in the way that they described some groups of people, I would consider calling an older generation of people 'old dears' quite offensive. I know that I need to be very careful when directing questions and when writing about people.  I must not show any opinion or seem biased in anyway.