Critical Reflection on Professional Practitioner Inquiry

My Professional practitioner inquiry has developed considerably over the past few months.  At first I had many ideas and could not decide which I wanted to use.  I kept asking myself many questions such as ;

"What do you want to know?" and "What can you gain from this inquiry to help with my career?"   I wanted to choose a question that I knew nothing about.  I had ideas but no actual facts.  I then chose the inquiry  "What is more important a degree or a cv full of professional jobs?"  I had my opinions on this but I did not know any actual facts. 

I spoke to many people about this and started my inquiry.  I did formal interviews with friends, teachers and colleagues but then thought,  "I seem to be getting the same responses."  Their replies included, 'It depends on your situation',  ' Who you know', 'Your talent, experience, and age.' 

To work as a dance teacher in a school you need to have a degree but to be a performer talent is what will get you a job. You attend an audition and they look at you first, your appearance, your performance and how you conduct yourself not your cv.  

I then became interested in Respect.  I wanted to know how as a teacher one gains respect from ones students and colleagues but after formally interviewing teachers, colleagues and friends the answer became clear.  Like the answer to my first question it all depends on your situation.  Many factors can have an influence on respect; age, gender, experience to name a few.  I tried to think of questions to sum up my inquiry on respect but the topic was too broad, so again I changed my inquiry for hopefully the last time.  This brought me to the question of  "How can dance be given a higher status?"

As I have studied dance from a young age and learned it in different learning environments I have recognised its importance, not just as a career but as an important part of people's lives, both socially and culturally.  It can be a profession or a hobby.  One can be a spectator or a performer, watch or take part.  I feel that in school it is not valued as an important subject, It is not equal to Maths and Science or rated with English or Humanities.  These being subjects for the academically able who may later go into more highly valued professions.  Dance is viewed more as a subject for the less academically able and a subject that is looked down on and used to keep the students occupied.

Reflective practice has taught me the importance of looking back on the work I have done so it can be analysed, the positives used to improve my practice and the negatives used to avoid practices or to plan a different strategy to achieve the required outcome. Reflecting back on module 2, I feel glad that I found the answers to my original questions and that I have now chosen this inquiry , because I do not know as much about the subject as I would like to and it will give me the opportunity to find answers and be a good and worthwhile inquiry. 

Campus session 3

At campus session 3 we started off with a lecture from Paula about knowledge. We also spoke about what we had learnt in the other 3 campus sessions. Campus session 1 was about love (Searching and
Theorising) and campus session 2 was Alan's lecture on positionally (philosophy
Constructivism 
Dewey 
Points of view)

We also spoke about the module and our work.

After talking about my work I was still left a little confused because the topic I chose is very large and I don't quit know how I want to decrease it.

I have left myself asking these questions


What values and effects does the age of teachers have on students?
Does gender have an effect on respect?
Does age have an effect on respect?
Is there a type of personality that someone needs for respect?
How is respect shown?
What creates respect? Established teachers. Qualities,features, capabilities, qualifications?


What are he characteristics if an established, respected teacher?
How to be an established, respected teacher?

(She's unqualified b can teach. Have a degree for the position, not taken seriously)

So I am now going to put my head down and think about which route of respect I want to go down!

4D

4D Literature

This is the task I have struggled with the most, so I am posting it last (even though it is last haha)

As my inquiry has changed in evolved into something a little different I started looking at literature for my old ideas and then again looked for my newer ideas so I have read some interesting things for both inquiry ideas.

I looked on the internet for some literature, also used summon to find something. As at first I typed in the word respect I was shown a lot of literature so had to do my best to get it down. 

I have mainly used google though to search things because I find you can also go onto blogs and forums and find out pupils opinion and comment this way as well as books and published articles. I use google everyday and find it is the quickest and easiest source of finding things. 

I came across a few links that were the helpful. Most of what I found were forums that people had shown their opinions but I wanted more factual information. 

I came across 2 websites two that I found the most helpful.

One website was about respect in general and another was respect within teaching.

The website that was more general and didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know but it reminded me of the things I may have forgotten!

The other website which was more about respect in teaching was very interesting. It informed me that respect is an attitude and we should always remember the saying "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".

With children they are still learning so when a child experiences respect, they know what it feel like and begin to understand how important it is. If children don't have respect for peers, authority or themselves, it's almost impossible for them to succeed. So we need to start them learning about respect from young. Schools have a lot of influence on how to teach children about respect, but parents have the most influence on how respectful children become. Until children show respect at home, it's unlikely they will show it anywhere else. 

There are many ways to show respects and I could write a list and be here all day but I am not going to do that because I think most of us know at our age how to generally create respect.

I shall now concentrate on finding more information from other sources to help me learn more.

Task 6C Award title

Task 6C - Award Title

After looking at the award titles I think I am certain of the title I would like:

BA (Hons) Professional Practice:  Performing Arts

My Trinity Diploma is in Musical Theatre so I feel I should carry it on but I feel that musical theatre is just a part of performing arts and there are things you can do in performing arts that are not linked to musical theatre. I look at musical theatre to be a type of genre of performing arts. Also, I went to LCPA wanted to just be a dancer but if I just choose dance I am limiting myself, I have trained for many years in performing arts and not just dance so I feel that in the future, opportunities may come up that involve drama and singing. Therefore, if I just chose dance people looking at me to hire for drama or singing positions may think twice and chose someone who has a performing arts qualification and not just dance. They may feel that someone with a performing arts degree rather than a dance degree is a better all rounder. 

So I do not want to put these limitations in my way. I would also like to apply for positions that are not just dance but singing, acting and even music. My ideal job would be head of performing arts in a school because I am a dancer, actor, singer and a musician so a role of this title would link all in my skills. 

The titles I considered were:

BA (Hons) Professional Practice: Dance - I have explained my reasons for not choosing this title above. Basically I do not want to limit myself to only teaching dance.

BA (Hons) Professional Practice: Dance Teaching - The reason I have not chosen this title is pretty much the same as the dance degree because I do not just want to teach dance. I enjoy teaching drama and singing just as much. So do not want to limit myself.

BA (Hons) Professional Practice: Musical Theatre - The reason I have not chosen this degree is because I feel it can still have some limitation. I studied Musical Theatre at LCPA for 3 years and have my trinity diploma and London College of Music diploma in Musical Theatre but I feel that it the musical theatre is only a part of performing arts. 

BA (Hons) Professional Practice: Performing Arts - I feel this is the degree for me because although I wanted to originally just be a dancer, after studying musical theatre for 3 years I enjoyed it throughly. Performing Arts widens more doors than just dance or musical theatre and I do not want any limits on my career. I can sing, dance, act and play musical instruments so why not use these skills to get the best out of my career and work to my full potential. I am also currently working in a performing arts club and eventually would like to get into a school to teach any subject I can in the performing arts subjects. I could still specialise in dance but my degree would be performing arts on a whole allowing me to be a professional in all aspects of it. 

5b

5b

The codes of practice which steer the ethical framework in the place of work are:

1. Conduct themselves at all times with integrity in the discharge of their duties according to law and this clause overrides all other, so that where there is conflict, this cause shall prevail;

2. Maintain high standards of personal behaviour at all times and to do nothing to bring themselves, The college or the profession into disrepute;

3. Take personal responsibility for the establishment and maintenance of good relations with other professional, public and private bodies;

4. Maintain the intercity of the profession in public and in the media;

5. Take no longer action which might injure or malign the reputation of other professionals;

6. Respect the rights of the individual;

7. Respect the wishes and aspirations of parents, guardians and carers of the pupils and students;

8. Maintain the strict confidentiality of personal information;

9. Ensure, as far as is possible, that individual pupils and students, and groups of pupils and students, achieve their full educational potential;

10. Exercise professional judgement in furthering the resolution of educational problems;

11. Refrain form any acts that may cause teachers and pupils harm;

12. Take no advantage of a position of authority with a pupil or student for personal, political or other purposes;

13. Further the development of professional skills, knowledge and attitudes in themselves and colleagues; and

14. Ensure positive collaboration with those in educational and other institutions, authorities, examination boards and other specialist bodies.

This code of professional practice promotes professional behaviour for members of the college. Central to the code are respect for the individuality of the learner, and recognition of the collaborative nature of the profession of learning and teaching.

These points above are pretty much what I thought of when I said what I thought the codes of practice was, except put into better words and a few more points have been added. They basically say follow the rules of your jobs and everything will run smoothly. They think about every part of the company and its operations and all of the people that are involved, whether they are working for the company or 'customers' (referring to the pupils and parents.)

I have learnt that ethics is a huge subject to learn about it and it is their to help us do things properly. Ethics deals with situations in profession, organisation and society. 

5a ethics

Ethics in class:

Organisation,

Constructive critiscm, respect, discipline, professional, feedback, decision making,

Responsibility

Ethics in the workplace:

Be organised,

Be respectful,

Disciplined,

Professional,

Give feedback,

Teamwork,

Decision making,

Cultivate an image,

Responsibility.

These ethics above are mostly the same because we need these in the workplace in general to create a good working vibe.

Some issues I could have in the workplace are:

Lying, bullying, bribery, harassment,

Plagiarism- pupils taking gcses need to submit their own submit for the qualification.

Permission- for photos and videos

Working with children is a job that you have to be very careful in, making sure you follow all the rules properly. You cannot single anyone out especially when I comes to race and religion. Everyone is equal!

Asking my inquiry questions to children would need permission and I may not get it. Also I she to take into consideration that the age of some of my pupils can be from as young as 3 years old so, my answers may not be as accurate as I would like. I think I would benefit more from asking colleagues, teachers and friends in the industry. This way I know they have had more years of experience and can give me more intelligent answers. Also getting permission and the ethics of asking my questions will be simpler than asking a child. 

Campus session 2!

At the beginning of the session Alan gave us a lecture on positionality ,where people are positioned.

Positionality is 'How we come to make sense of things depends on where we are coming from'
There are different accounts of knowledge.

Metaphysics - that existence can be explained through ideas separate from our everyday experiences

Rationalism - that knowledge can be derived from rational, logical thought based of deductive argument.

Empiricism - that knowledge derives from processing our sensory experiences.

Pragmatism- that we can understand the features of the world by what things do, rather than an imposed 'meaning'.

Embodied knowledge- we understand the world in all ways we experience it.

Didacticism / constructivism - questions... Can knowledge be transmitted? Or is it constructed?

This lecture made me reflect back to a conversation I had last week with a colleague at work. He is colourblind and we were talking about what colours he can see. To me something may be blue but to him it is dark black. We are learning for ourselves and gathering knowledge about what these are to us.

The knowledge landscape-
Theology(supernatural)
Humanities (analytical, critical, speculative)
Natural sciences (demonstrable truths)
Social sciences (demonstrable qualities)

The experiencing self and the remembering self - all our experiences pass away forever .... Only the memories that we make remain 'Daniel Kahnemen'

How does this relate to BAPP?
Inquiry is the making sense of something from a particular position;
Ethics is the account we give of our interactions with other people shaped by our Positionality;
Reflection is a process by which we make sense of our positionality.

Module 2 student hen went off with Alan and spoke about our module. We talked about our individual experiences within the module and also e module as a whole. We said that Task 4 is rehearsal process for this module.
Task c5:
5a- rules, what are the written and unwritten rules. (Piercings/tattoos)
5b- expectations for teaching generally - written and unwritten.
Culture- patterns of behaviours
C- is the reader similar to what I Found in 5a/b. Compare and contrast
5d.

Shaping the question
The practical things you do
1.Safeguarding (technical)
2. How it Informs my questions
(Use sig/blog)
Part 6- do with friends and ask them questions.
Assessment:
1. Proposal you are making about your inquiry (A plan) address who will benefit, what's already known (personal thoughts) who your going to interview and how you'll go about it.
Title- -what aRe you aiming to do - to find out- objectives- set up interviews/  conduct interviews / analyse interview/ read literature and compare them with the interviews.
Include task 5s ethical issues.
(Data or people)
2. Another piece of reflection (similar to module 1) what you've benefitted from. Say about the shift in my thinking and what it was.
3. Forms
1.Get the employer to fill one in
2. Choose title - 300 words why?
3. Ethical context statement - whether there is any issues to having ethical issues in your statement



This lecture was very interesting because we never actually think about our thinking we just do it. So putting them into these categories gave me more knowledge about what they are.
The session helped me re create my questions. I was given the idea that if I make a form of a closed question I am not opening the question up to other answers. I had the questions

What values and effects does the age of teachers have on students? This question is still in my questions because it is something that interests me and I am hoping it will link into another question.

What is more important a degree in the arts or a cv full of performing? Total opposites, you could have both. I have made a closed question here, creating an answer where people are going to think it is one or the other when like I have mentioned, it could be both. 
I have therefore transformed my question into a more open question as follows;

What creates respect?
 (Established teachers. Qualities,features, capabilities, qualifications? )

(Many times you can hear 'She's unqualified b can teach'. If you don't Have a degree for the position you not taken seriously?) 

What happens when an individual goes through The transition between a professional performer and teacher, and how do we prepare for this?  - I have decided I don't like this question and don't want to use it because I know the answer because I am doing it. Therefore, I don't feel this question will benefit me.

My favourite questions

What values and effect does the age of teachers have on students?

What is more important a degree in the arts or a cv full of performing?

These are the two questions that I have had the most interest in and two that I have more to talk about.
What are your views on these questions?

For me personally these questions interest me.  I have a mother who is older than most parents and I have older siblings, one is about 15 years older so to be honest I was probably not planned haha. My mother was a head teacher and specialised in English and maths. I know this is a little different to the arts but she is over 60 now and still teaches which I would love to do but obviously getting up and demonstrating dance at the age of 60 is something I can't guarantee I will be able to do. My mother still has the same respect from pupils that she always has had and people probably have greater respect for her now because in the last ten years she  has been diagnosed with multipleschlorosis. She is in a wheelchair now so I think people have more respect for her than they did when she was younger because of her motivation to not let her disease get hot he better of her.

As for having a degree and cv full of jobs, as my mother comes from this background of having her masters and getting  high up in the teaching ladder she wants the best for me. When I told her I wanted to do dance she was supportive but she thought I would still go to university. When I told her this was not my plan she didn't seem impressed. She didn't really approve because I wouldn't be getting a degree so we had a lot of disagreement between each other. I paid for myself to go to performing arts college after saving for 3 years and have done a few jobs but now I feel that without a degree it would be hard to get into teaching because I can't perform forever. I
think it depends on what you get into. For example, if I had gotten into the west end I think things could of been a lot different because I would have a good income and be able to stand on my own two feet abit more.

What do you guys think?

Module 2 - 4A

After reading the reader I thought of many different questions.
I had questions that I raised to myself covered many different topics including performing, teaching and qualifications.

Eventually I chose my questions:

1. Does age affect teaching?
2. In teaching which is more important: personality, experience, knowledge or respect?
3. How does a dancer change their career?
4. When do performers prepare themselves for a change in career?
5. Which is more important a degree in dance or a CV full of performing?

Hopefully over the next few weeks I can develop these questions further to help with my inquiry.

I have given a few of my friends in the industry these questions and asked them informally to answer them. The answers I got were:

I think age along with reputation is key. Say for example we used to mess about in ballet (taught by a 75 year old Ballet master from the Russian Ballet) but if it was commercial (taught by a 35 year old male who is big in the commercial industry) at his age we wouldn't but then it's not like we didn't respect the ballet master we just knew we would get away with it. We could have a similar laugh with the commercial teacher but we knew when it would go too far! Ya know? x

Not even reputation it's like a persons personality. Like for example when a particular boy in college would clean a number no one would dare speak out I turn but if it was a quieter/shyer girl to get up and do it we'd all take the piss! No offence to a shy/quiet person! Hahahaha x

A younger teacher would go for it more than an older teacher!

Asking people to help you with work I find is proving harder than I thought because a lot of people ignore you when it comes to things like this or don't say very helpful things.

Campus session for module 2

So I attended campus session 1 on Wednesday. I was the only one there on module 2 but it was good to see what the module 3s were doing and what I would be doing next time. I have started some stuff and shared with the group what I'd done. I feel a little more confident now that I know I am on the right lines. 

At the session we spoke about love and learning. I think these two together and separately are interesting subjects. I love learning and enjoy learning new things. We learn new things everyday even if we don't realise so without learning we would be repeating our actions day in, day out and not learning anything new. Some people say they hate learning but I'm sure they don't mean this. I think they mean they are learning about something they are not interested in. It is still useful to know though. 

In the group at campus session 1 we brain stormed the word love and came up with many options. Paula asked us to think about what we would like to look into further. I thought about dating sites because I know nothing about them but then Paula said I may never need to know about them so should possibly think of something that may be about my career.

So, I thought about love of my career and what I would do for my career and what kind of love could over power the love for what I do. Love for my partner as it gets stronger I think could over power the love for my career. For example, people who have children and are married that were dances choose their family over a cruise job because the love for their family is greater. 

I will now carry on with my module 2, battling any obstructions that get in my of learning!

See you at soon, possibly at module 2 campus session 2

Ruth