Wednesday, 4 June 2014

WOW! Everything is now finally done!


Well yesterday I had my Final oral Presentation at Middlesex university. I can not believe that's it now! All my work is handed in my Critical review, Artefact and presentation performed yesterday. I can't believe how quickly my time has gone on the course, I would love to say a huge well done to everyone, the work we all saw yesterday i though was fantastic, and such a wide variety of work, not one persons inquiry was the same. I found it most interesting how each person found something so passionate to discuss with ourselves, and some people's presentations were a little emotional. 

I myself have loved this course, yes its been hard work, confusing, frustration but should everything be a little challenging at times, it makes it worth the fight more. I am extremely proud of myself for sticking with this, considering i am a dancer, pen and paper and literature does not come easy to myself. Hehe! :-)

The course had lead me on a journey and i am sure everyones journey is different. Not only has my inquiry opened my eyes so much more to my professional practice but also to myself as a person. I can see my journey and the path i am now heading, I feel a sense of achievement by learning so much more and my knowledge has grown considerably. This inquiry has impacted my life a considerable amount and helped me with career decisions for the future , I feel I can proceed confidently and have my inquiry behind me which i can now only but grow upon, it doesn't end here. 

I have met some remarkable people along the way, people i will most defiantly stay in contact with.

Now its the long awaited results and graduation!

xxxx


Tuesday, 25 February 2014

Critical Reflection on Professional Practitioner Inquiry

Critical Reflection on Professional Practitioner Inquiry


From reading the readers over the modules i can fully say that i know these have had a huge impact on my development and broadened by knowledge and ways of learning/ writing styles that have made me end up where i am today. Developing questions for this module has been a work in progress and one which have to have an impact on my practice, to broaden my knowledge and understanding.


I really feel in this module we have covered so much and i have learnt a great deal things i would never have thought of before.  Going back to the start when we first set up out SIG this was most useful to us but as time went on pole were not using these as much, initially they wee brilliant for trading views and information, once agin something i had never thought of. Please feel free to to search for mine SIG module 2. (Appendix 1)
We then lead on to thinking about our inquiry and questions that arise when we think of our own professional practise, what is highlighted in my head what springs to mind that i wish to know further, it needed to be something very valuable to myself. (Appendix 2)

Moving on into Ethics originally this worried me, what were they, why, how?? But its only ensure i go about my work in the correct safe ethical manor. (Appendix 3)

Pilot interview/observations were brilliant for me to weigh up ideas and ways that may work best for myself and what i will get the most out of my research  


My research tools 
Observations 

Observations will involve myself watching researching and analysing events that relate to my line of enquiry I also will be a participant in the classes as I’ll be teaching a few and observing events as the class as it unfolds 
This on a down side is a time consuming event as it involves myself attending the sessions but I believe it is well worth it. Other tools are much quicker. However with this I’ll be able to analyse and inspect what I’ve recorded. My observations will be in a written note form. I of course will take into consideration issues of ethics permission of teachers and confidentiality of students. 

I have been fortunate enough to over the last week been able to observe 4 classes in my old secondary school. And i must say i have found these most beneficial to myself for experience but also for my line of inquiry and the research method i have used in watching over these 4 classes. I have also decided that i will continue to observe them , to see if any progress is made and to get more of an understanding about how teachers and students work together. I will be attending a showcase at the school in a few weeks time. It will be most interesting to see how all the pieces have come along and what improvements and alterations they have made to have a finished product. I have found it most interesting as i have already put in a previous blog to see how the classes have learnt, what skills they have and what manners and interests they have within the subject of dance. 
Another way to look at this inquiry tool is that as i am doing the research the inquiring, i may have a biased opinion. So therefor the validity of the data may not be as weighty. I feel i have written fairly in my observations, but i could have easily put a more bias opinion. And to conclude on my observation tool, i also have thought that as i would be sitting in on the classes, i may not get a true reflection of day to day classes, my presence in the room may influence the children's behaviour, which will then result in myself reporting a different observation. I of course will not make any contribution unless asked and will sit quietly to write notes and observe what i see only. 
Interviews 

An interview is a qualitative of method I would use. Its a way of extracting information to use as evidence in my line of enquiry I will directly asked people who have experienced perceptions and knowledge about the professional theatrical and teaching industry. I will arrange a face to face with an individual person who i already have in mind. This person has already achieved what i wish to. She has already followed her dream as a professional performer and is now teaching to inspire, this is exactly what i wish to do. 
My interview will consist of a set of varied questions all about my inquiry. But also so i can hear of experiences and what interested her to do this career. I wish to gain as much feedback as possible and discuss in depth with this lady, this will be an open interview and not be so formal with a colloquial approach. However this interview must also be structured if not things may gets lost or misunderstood. The person must not feel 
intimidated, they should feel relaxed and give honest answers to give a true representation to the subject area, to get accurate date to analyse. 
Survey's/questionnaires 
This method I am sure to use to ask people who they are and what they think. The survey can allow me together a large amount of data from a wide range of representatives and people. i aim to ask all ages, genders and ethnicities for feedback. This survey will be filled with both straight forward “yes or no answers” and areas to fill in on peoples personal feedback. I will think closely about my questions to ensure i get the most out of my people, as every little helps. 

I wish to find out all information of all responses so I can look for comparisons or similarities between people the more responses I get the bigger my enquiry. I have to ensure that i ask the correct information otherwise this could be useless to me and be meaningless information. But also distribute this to the right people. People in my particular area that have been in the education system or know about it. Also in my case people who have been or feel inspired by teaching. Another disadvantage may be that some people i ask may be biased to this line of inquiry which can damage the outcome of my research. 


Reviewing Literature 

Find, Read, Analyse 
Reviewing literature i feel is key its a way of looking at academic research that has already been carried out. This of course will relate to my professional practice and line of inquiry. I will highlight in other literature about critical thinking and peoples theories and thoughts. I will review excising literature to gain an understanding of my chosen topic through other peoples opinions and ideas. This will lead to more in-depth knowledge and most probably uncover more questions for me. 
Whilst reading the literature i will ensure the source is legitimate and if its accurate. I will also ensure i tittle authors and co- authors, and detail about their research quality and reasoning for this. I have decided to annotate my chosen literature, highlighting particular aspects that i find intriguing, this will help with also building my knowledge. 
A possible downside to reviewing literature could be that it may not be completely right for you, the literature has to be of use to you and your inquiry but you will only find it out if you read it all and this is also time consuming like observations. 


Furthermore Whilst browsing the web this evening i came across this website, where a particular lady shared her experience as a teacher. I found this very mesmorising as to how one teacher had used various methods and techiques to control a situation in a instant that had been proceeding for a long time.  Her conclusion saying how "Every student is different; no two students react in the same way. It is our tasks as teachers to find not only what motivates each student to learn but also what motivates them to misbehave. If we can meet them at that point and take away that motivation, we can go a long way towards a more effective classroom and learning experience."sums this up perfectly.

(Appendix 4)


http://712educators.about.com/od/teachertips/a/teaching_exp.htm

Interviews

An interview is a qualitative of method I would use. Its a way of extracting information to use as evidence in my line of enquiry I will directly asked people who have experienced perceptions and knowledge about the professional theatrical and teaching industry. I will arrange a face to face with an individual person who i already have in mind. This person has already achieved what i wish to. She has already followed her dream as a professional performer and is now teaching to inspire, this is exactly what i wish to do.

My interview will consist of a set of varied questions all about my inquiry. But also so i can hear of experiences and  what interested her to do this career. I wish to gain as much feedback as possible and discuss in depth with this lady, this will be an open interview and not be so formal with a quilloquial approach. However this interview must also be structured if not things may gets lost or misunderstood. 

Module 2 has been a huge eye opener for myself and i am now fully ware of how huge my inquiry is going to be for module 3.  The final aspect i learnt in module 2 was to use delicious this is a brilliant way of keeping tabs on research or literature you have found and this i will use throughout my time searing the web. (Appendix 6)


My Gantt Chart

I have decided to add a Gantt chart to my proposal as i felt i got lost a few times with all my research and timings. Obviously my inquiry is hugely important to me and i wish to take great care which using my research tools and take time analysing data. The chart will be my project schedule for Module 3 and as of yet this is what i have come up with.

I know that by having this chart this will keep me up to date with each week keeping on top of reviewing my research tools, over looking them, maybe picking up on a different line each time i investigate more. I hope this method will keep me in good timing so i don't rush or miss any vital data that may be key to my investigation. 


The point of my inquiry i keep reminding myself is to not highlight what i already know but to open up minds and ideas, hear new views to what i do not know already get a better knowledge of my practice to build upon this for my future career. 

7A, Summary Module 3


Inquiry title 

How does a professional performer adapt/make the transitions into a secondary school educational setting to educate dance?

My research/ Inquiry questions and ideas

What has been highlighted to me from reading through my feedback from my last module is that I need to delve a little more into what I mean by inspirational teaching and what I see as teaching. Once I have written my views I can then contrast and compare these with the outcomes of the interviews I will conduct. I can then highlight re occurring themes. 

Ethical Issues

From a glance I hope that there will be no obvious ethical issues. All of the participates involved in my inquiry are fully aware of their input and that no data would be shared unless agreed to. I have written up an email and sent this to the participants outlining my proposal and have asked for confirmation that this is all ok from them. 

Literature review

I am very pleased with my chosen literature. However I also thoroughly agree with Adesola that I should also add some alternative literature about what it means to teach. I also need to further research for my literature go beyond google. I know there are various resources that I could look into. I will look in my local library to see what it has to offer covering my inquiry topic on teaching. 


Changes to my plan 


I am not going to change my plan, just areas have been highlighted to me. Such as more in depth knowledge on what teaching means personally to me. I am happy with only 3 research tools, and that a survey would be of no use to me. I am very keen to know the outcome of the ire view with a non performer. Furthermore I much ensure that throughout my inquiry that I do not only confirm things I already know but actually set out to find out something new. 


The 5 stages

I currently have reviewed my feedback from Adeshola and after reading through the hand books, and completing task 7A, making me reflect and summarise what has occurred so far. 
I have decided to also look for other research choosing my local library for text on teaching. This is something I am currently looking into other than just finding literature off of the web. I have set out emails ready to send to participants the sooner these are agreed I can then set dates to carry out my observation and interviews. 
Stage 3 is where I carry out the activates, I am very open minded to what I may find out and see if this inquiry will change course. 

I feel the analysing of my research will be a challenge for myself. I wish to thoroughly extract as much as possible from my findings and present this in a way that people will understand and what to know more them selves. I hope my inquiry will open up people's eyes into transition from professional performer to teacher, and how inspiration can be a quality a teacher possess. 

Stage 5 is where I will present all my findings and complete my inequity. I hope to have learnt a huge insight into the world of teaching and how inspiration must be a key factor when teaching. 

Module 3

It's been so long since i have blogged so thought i should! Well it's finally arrived module 3 but the fun part we have all been working towards. Our inquiry!! I have decided to inquire about the transition from professional performer to teach and educate dance in a secondary school. This is something i am hugely interested in as after my years as a performer i wish to go into teaching and inspire others!

Tuesday, 19 November 2013

6d, Delicious

I have now successfully set up my page on Delicious. I found it actually quiet easy, so to all of you nearing to do it don't worry.

I have put my link below to my page with all my taggs so far. It's a great method to use and is going to be very helpful from now on.

https://delicious.com/srjones17

I am sure some of you may find these taggs very interesting.

Thursday, 14 November 2013

6c My Literature


My three pieces of literature are;

1

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=bTm-W4oX0HgC&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=literature+of+dance+teachers&source=bl&ots=PE0tLdS27z&sig=Xw_bs1TpoUAjlPexLrx5I-VvNBk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=MRKBUtbxLOiO7AaL0oDwDA&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

My first piece of literature is from google books, i came across this piece of literature by typing into google search engine literature of dance teachers. This took me a while to find, but once i started reading this i thought it was an Amazing article. For myself this is ideal it covers all areas about dance teachers, various teaching methods, teachers learning process and about teachers environment. For the first time this is a pice of literature that is all together that i can make an understanding of about teachers and all areas involved in teaching. This article answers many  of the questions i had in my head about teaching, as this is a career i wish to go into i had no idea. The piece advises you on skills and qualities you must uphold such as dedication to your subject, but also shows me a variety of dance educator jobs that are out there that i could take into consideration. Weather it be a mentor, choreographer, teacher, assessor, i feel within all of these forms you have to inspire.  

There are 2 authors to the book i have found firstly,



Gayle Kassing, who has been a professional dancer, choreographer,  dance educator, presenter, and author. As a professional dancer, she is experienced ballet, modern dance, and musical theatre. She obtained a BFA in ballet and theatre from the Christian University in texas. She has now been an educator for more than 25 years, teaching at various different universities in physical education and fine arts undergraduate programs and graduate dance education programs. 
Her work also includes dance technique, dance production, classes in primary schools, dance studios, ballet companies, workshops in public schools and she helped write state curriculum guidelines and dance teacher certification tests. This lady is clearly experienced in all areas and i am sure to say she has inspired hundreds of people. 

Referencing from;

And Danielle Mary jay is also the author along side Gayle Kassing.

2

file:///Users/sophiejones/Desktop/My%20pieces%20of%20li%20module%202%206c/My%20Learning%20Journey:%20Critique.webarchive

My second piece of literature is taken from a gentleman's blog. David Fawcett has titled him blog “My learning journey”. Whilst looking on the web i came across this blog. David is a secondary school teacher of PE and a learning innovator in Southampton. He strongly believes and has a very passion interest in independent learning and “learning to learn”.

Whilst reading through his blog which is dated 6th April 2013, i found this most relevant to myself and my line of inquiry. His blogg relates to a few of my questions in part 4a. I have spoke of;

effectiveness as a  teacher?
what skills and attributes?
What qualities?
What journey? 
What teaching styles/work loads and classroom methods?

These are just a few highlighted areas that are in my questions for my line of inquiry and in davids blogg he talks about students and the opportunity to properly act upon feedback and as a teacher to be this is exactly what i would wish my students to do. Especially in the subject area i have chose. Dance is a subject area where you can majorly take on feedback, and for example rehearse, practice , give more feedback, keep learning and working together simultaneously to get things better. 


“I would therefore create dedicated times in my lessons for students to do something with the comments that I or their peers had given them.”  

David talks in his blog about critique and i personally feel in a classroom this is vital. This is a quality and skill i will have to use a lot, this is to ensure that the quality of work produced is driven forward to improve the standard of work. He also strongly believes that other students/peeps within the right manner should help advise other students once again in my subject area, within dance you on many occasions have to work in groups so this is ideal, i feel this is a brilliant technique not only for myself to observe other students but for those to critique others and seek independent feedback off one another. 

I also on this page found the youtube clips very helpful he talks about effective feedback. Every teacher in todays society requires to give feedback and its interesting to see ones who do act upon feedback. I strongly agree that critique is a powerful method of feedback. As a teacher you hope that once you give a student feedback that they will then go away have taken in your opinions and feedback to then work on this for next time, but this is not always the case, so i need to ensure i make this an area they wish to develop and grow in. 




These diagrams are taken from David’s blog, i came across these and i find that the process’s are very easy to follow, the structure i completely agree with and will use these when i i come to teach classes.

3

file:///Users/sophiejones/Desktop/My%20pieces%20of%20li%20module%202%206c/Insight:%20Passion%20takes%20a%20teacher%20from%20being%20merely%20good%20to%20great%20-%20Telegraph.webarchive


My third piece of literature is taken from a web article from the Telegraph paper. Written by

Adrian Furnham who is a professor of psychology at University College London.



The reason i chose this piece of literature is because its perfect for my line of inquiry. I am most interested in teachers and how they inspire and how their passion can make a difference in the classroom. This piece talks all about inspiring students and what teachers do to  make others believe in their subject area, and what qualities they have. 

I couldn't be any more happier than i am with this piece of literature.

Adrian talks of how teacher can change lives and this is exactly what i wish to do, i wish to be that teacher that inspires children to take a particular interest in my subject area. I wish for them to then want to always be engaged in my lessons and maybe even follow this as a career like i have. Enthusiasm and passion is exactly what i wish to offer i am so passionate about my subject and i would like to relay that to as many youngsters as possible. Furthermore i also agree by Adrian saying inspirational teachers set high standards, i think this is most needed in schools high standards is what we needs, and that is only because we want the best for the children. If we know they are capable of it, you can only encourage to achieve higher. Adrien also refers to inspirational teachers bringing their subject alive by referring to real life events. As myself when i eventually enter a school work place i will hopefully also inspire by talking about my own professional experiences, such as west end, shows, dance rehearsals etc, i would like to think that my own life events have inspired them to work harder in the classroom. I would coach them into thinking about real situations, i.e pretend audition days so they are aware of situations and examples of professional works. I would cover as much in my subject area as possible to prepare students for what ever they need to know.

Adrien talks of how also teachers can be inspired, seeing a group of dancers stay behind after school to practice something without even being asked shows they have a passion for your subject, i would love to see this myself one day. 


“And why are inspirational teachers the way they are? Intelligence, knowledge, a variety of skills or all of the above. But most say they became teachers or lecturers because they themselves had an inspirational teacher. So it's not genetic... but it certainly is passed on.”

With Adrian’s last couple of sentences i most defiantly couldn't agree more. I feel i would be an inspirational teacher due to my amount of professional knowledge and skills i had picked up over the years. But mainly i wish to inspire others, just like I was when i was younger.

I was inspired at a young age, so now i wish to gain as much professional knowledge, skills and experience so i can then pas this on and inspire others!

These professional people have carried out their own investigations to bring these pieces of literature Through reading these 3 pieces i have learnt a hell of a lot and my knowledge grows day by day. 


Within any sources of research there are going to be idea/ opinions and views but i honestly feel my tree pieces of literature help not only my line of inquiry but for my own personal benefit for as and when i wish to be a teacher. 








6b My research Tools


My research for my line of inquiry will require different tools but ones will i be using, which ones will benefit me the most. And how am i going to get the most out of my research. 

Methods i could use in my research and what ones will work best for line of inquiry and myself personally. This process will require much time and input of other individuals or who i wish to help me as much as possible with their input/ideas and feedback. 

I wish to gather and analyze as much data/information as possible so i can get an understanding of other peoples opinion and ideas. I wish to observe contrast and compare within my research and see how these may affect my overall inquiry. There is only one way to find out, to start researching. 

I will be using real life experience, such as pilot observations so i can see for myself and gain as much real life self discovery and knowledge. I wish to put this practice based knowledge
then into real life practice as after observing a few classes I will be allowed to for the first time ever have an input into a class and teach something,

The whole idea of this enquiry is so I gain a much broader knowledge and understanding of my professional practice for all I know my outlook may change and my thoughts may develop to a whole new level and show me even more how inspiration is a huge key factor within teaching. But by trying different research methods and skills I will not know until the different evidence is in front of me.

I wish to gather my evidence analyze this then present my findings.

During my research I will of course only ask appropriate and relevant information related to my line of enquiry of course I do not wish to mislead anyone as this may affect my overall outcome of research.

This line of enquiry is very personal to myself and this is why I chose to enquire and find out as much as possible its own investigation that may take me on a journey I didn’t even realize a man mount to a lot of data being processed.

I truly and strongly agree with Mason 2002 by saying we the researcher becomes one of the tools of enquiry and must reflectively be aware of their own position in and biases as I wish to gain as much knowledge with this line of enquiry I will be open as possible to feedback ideas and opinions and I respect that. it’s true we are at all extracting information to build upon (here I am the quality of research)

Furthermore I also agree with black 2002 page 3 by saying;

“quantitive research is quite good at telling us what is happening, and often qualitative studies are better at determining why events occur”


We as researchers wish to extract information and see what it is telling us however during our research we wish to have a better understanding as to why events occur.

I will use a range of tools and methods to explore my research I will value this and observe all data I wish to make the most out of my line of enquiry I need to work out what methods will be most efficient at collecting the information I need.

My research tools

Observations


Observations will involve myself watching researching and analyzing events that relate to my line of enquiry I also will be a participant in the classes as I’ll be teaching a few and observing events as the class as it unfolds

This is a time consuming event as it involves myself attending the sessions but I believe it is well worth it. With this I’ll be able to analyze and inspect what I’ve recorded. My observations will be in a written note form. I of course will take into consideration issues of ethics permission of teachers and confidentiality of students.

I have been fortunate enough to over the last week been able to observe 4 classes in my old secondary school. And i must say i have found these most beneficial to myself for experience but also for my line of inquiry and the research method i have used in watching over these 4 classes. I have also decided that i will continue to observe them , to see if any progress is made and to get more of an understanding about how teachers and students work together. I will be attending a showcase at the school in a few weeks time. It will be most interesting to see how all the pieces have come along and what improvements and alterations they have made to have a finished product. I have found it most interesting as i have already put in a previous blog to see how the classes have learnt, what skills they have and what manners and interests they have within the subject of dance. 

Interviews


An interview is a qualitative of method I would use. Its a way of extracting information to use as evidence in my line of enquiry I will directly asked people who have experienced perceptions and knowledge about the professional theatrical and teaching industry. I will arrange a face to face with an individual person who i already have in mind. This person has already achieved what i wish to. She has already followed her dream as a professional performer and is now teaching to inspire, this is exactly what i wish to do.

My interview will consist of a set of varied questions all about my inquiry. But also so i can hear of experiences and  what interested her to do this career. I wish to gain as much feedback as possible and discuss in depth with this lady, this will be an open interview and not be so formal with a quilloquial approach. However this interview must also be structured if not things may gets lost or misunderstood. 

Survey's/questionnaires

This method I am sure to use to ask people who they are and what they think. The survey can allow me together a large amount of data from a wide range of representatives and people. i aim to ask all ages, genders and ethnicities for feedback. This survey will be filled with both straight forward “yes or no answers” and areas to fill in on peoples personal feedback. I will think closely about my questions to ensure i get the most out of my people, as every little helps. 

I wish to find out all information of all responses so I can look for comparisons or similarities between people the more responses I get the bigger my enquiry. I have to ensure that i ask the correct information otherwise this could be useless to me and be meaningless information. Another disadvantage may be that some people i ask may be biased to this line of inquiry which can damage the outcome of my research. 

Reviewing Literature

Find, Read, Analyze

Reviewing literature i feel is key its a way of looking at academic research that has already been carried out. This of course will relate to my professional practice and line of inquiry. I will highlight in other literature about critical thinking and peoples theories and thoughts. I will review excising literature to gain an understanding of my chosen topic through other peoples opinions and ideas. This will lead to more in-depth knowledge and most probably uncover more questions for me. 

Whilst reading the literature i will ensure the source is legitimate and if its accurate. I will also ensure i tittle authors and co- authors, and detail about their research quality and reasoning for this. I have decided to annotate my chosen literature, highlighting particular aspects that i find intriguing, this will help with also building my knowledge.


Documents

With what ever documents I come across that are of interest to me and my line of enquiry I will read over makes sense of and critically analyze them. Documents I may come across for example newspapers books journals government white papers or even company documents these are all secondary data these I I may find in a library or even from the Internet.