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.
