Thursday, 12 April 2012

Task: 6b

I found all methods extrmely useful in different ways but all helping my research. I found the survey opening many other questions but was good to see the outcome of the questions clearly, i would now like to develop my survey to ask about the students perceptions of examination in both ballet and other genres. The holistic nature of my survey perhaps was not narrow enough to get a clear picture of the final problem, but it helped me to identify other trends I had not considered before such as examination difficulty and achievement. I will now look in to this matter more closely through student survey. I may am alos going to get a critical friend to deliver the survey to the students and collect the raw data so the students don’t feel they have to respond positively to questions about my teaching. I feel I need to focus on the vocabulary I use to promote a longer term career view and show ballet as being more than just ballerinas. I also need to work on body confidence body dismorphia with the class I plan to achieve this by being more open in the class.

I teach both subjects and my approaches to the two are clearly different. My results showed my ballet students had a deeper understanding of technical vocabulary which on reflection I feel is from the way I deliver this subject. I need to translate my good practice from ballet in to the hip hop lessons by using Pilates to gain strength good body awareness and stamina to the students which will in the future help to retain students in ballet by not using words like “to be a ballerina” and to focus on the strength and the benefits in studying ballet.

Task: 6c

Literture

Howard Gardner displays an interesting theory that the attempt to succeed with any intelligence will come to nothing if students are not motivated or attentive within a class:

‘to train any – indeed, all – of the intelligences are like to come to nought in the absence of proper motivation and sufficiently focused attention.’ (Howard Gardner, 1993, Frames of minds, Pg. 288)

But how do we achieve this, according to Wikipedia there are two forms that best describe motivation: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation which refers to self-motivation and motivation from reward schemes:

‘Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivation#Motivational_theories accessed 1st April 2012 ‘Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the individual……… rewards like money and grades’




  ‘…as children grow, their passion for learning frequently seems to shrink’ http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content2/Student_Motivatation.html accessed 1st April 11th 2012

If this is the case and the desire to learn and progress is shrinking we need to home in on how to continue to motivate students and reignite their passion to learn through extrinsic motivation.

These set of scholarly ideas that at best represent a small fraction of what is written on motivation of young people. There is little consensus in this area apart from young people need to receive praise and reward to build self-esteem.

Task: 6a

Please see the link below on another survey I conducted
Your thoughts on this would be appreciated
I apologise ....It is slightly long
Thank you
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1VQIPPhrUFdsyiEo1OMHW73Wsyb26YZJ_nxHJH5kZ5Dg

Task: 6a

Focus Group Findings:

The findings to the question “what do you think ballet is” showed that with the ballet students at the beginning of the workshop their perception of ballet was ‘posh, flexibility, strength, hard, fun perfection’ whereas the Hip hop perception of ballet was ‘boring, strict, leotard, slow, tutus, perfection’. The word perfection repeated which was interesting to me because an informal discussion of these spider diagrams showed they did not think hip hop had to be perfect, this made me aware that, was this just students picking the ‘easy option’ in terms of discipline. The Ballet student’s responses use of vocabulary was more technical reflecting a deeper educational understanding of dance. My use of language in both lessons are different, I use more technical terms within ballet classes and I am less strict about using these terms in the hip hop class. These finding made me reassess my language and perception within both classes suggesting to me that, is my use of language and lack of communication with the students the reason students are turning to hip hop.

Through the development of the workshop when looking at body images, my finding showed pupils misplaced them showing that another reason for this decline in ballet could be their perception of their body image having a low self-esteem is resulting in the students not being motivated because they don’t feel like they can be a ballerina or why they need it to study ballet at all. This was interesting to me as the results from the survey questions (16/17) were about confidents with peers and self-assessment backed up my reason to believe that image is an issue with the ballet students.

A student also brought to my attention through a passing comment that ‘examinations are way easier in hip hop’ this is an area that I never would of considered if she had not spoken out. This was very interesting to me as examinations are taken annually at the dance school although they are not compulsory students do want some gratification of achievement through their study and do seem to take the examination. 

By the end of the workshop both the ballet and hip hop students showed a much deeper understanding of ballet and the career opportunities ballet offers. The ballet students responses were ‘Good knowledge for auditions, jobs’ this relates to question (4/12) of survey because it shows that these students have a longer term view of the dance career. Hip hop students began to recognise its importance but one commented that it was easier to get it wrong in ballet which showed me students had a fear of failure in ballet as it becomes more complex which again comes back to motivation self-esteem and confidence.


Task: 6a

Focus Group:

I carried out two 1hr workshop for my ballet students and my hip hop students; the aim of the focus . group was to recognise their thoughts and understanding of ballet in group and class discussion. I was hoping by the end of the workshop students will have a clear knowledge of the career advantages, benefits in ballet for example stamina, alignment and artistry, looking at celebrities who are known for their singing/dance such as pussy cat dolls Kimberley Wyatt, Victoria Beckham and Cheryl Cole looking at and the similarities between ballet and hip hop regarding to core stability and alignment. I did this by looking at DVD footage with the rest of the group showing New York City Ballet Workout DVD and Pineapple dance studio Masterclass Ultimate Street DVD, in the hope of a better understanding that even if you are never going to be the next Darcy Bussel you can still have a career, maybe not in ballet itself but in other dance genres.

I found this to be very useful. I started the focus group by putting twelve students into 3 different groups and asking them to brainstorm "What do you think ballet is?" by analysing their results looking at frequency that certain words that appear and identify a trend in both groups. I am hoping to find that students at the beginning of the focus group are unaware about the benefits in ballet but by the end of the focus group i am hoping to see students perception and understanding was widened by asking the same question "What do you think ballet is?" and eyeballing their data again to identify the frequent words. During the focus group we looked at body images of ballet and hip hop dancers this was in the hope to explain that regardless to their shape and size the importance laid in flexibility, strength and confidence. I did this with the group as a whole to instigate a debate in the class.

Tuesday, 10 April 2012

Task: 6a

Pilot Interview Findings:

It is quite clear from the answers given to question 3 that examinations were a factor to the loss of my ballet students to hip-hop, as at my school i promote examinations to both the gifted and talented and to the students who are taking ballet classes for the fun. The interviewee only enters the students for examinations who have private tuition. He reasons that examinations were not successful as the higher the grades became the harder it became to receive a pass so he does not big up the examinations beyond grade 5 ballet at his school and proves to be successful. Questions have now emerged from this do i put to much pressure on my students to take exams to further their qualification. Question 6 revealed that by using extrinsic motivation is clearly a successful tool as he as 63 students at 14 plus although i do reward through praise i do not get guest teachers in or take students to see professional shows. I am also going to do a workshop with both my ballet students and repeat the same workshop with my hip hop students. the aim of the workshop will be to recognise their thoughts and understanding of what ballet is. 

Task: 6a

Pilot Interview:

I chose to interview via e-mail correspondence a British Ballet Organisation (BBO) ballet teacher who wishes to rename anonymous his specification in Liverpool in a similar social economic context as my own. The ballet teacher was asked 3 open ended questions and given freedom to respond honestly. This is 'where the interviewer asks certain pre-set questions but allows interviewees freedom to digress and raise their own topics as the interview' Elliot,J. (1991, pg.80-81). He was a colleague at a previous appointment and i had little correspondence with him regrading my current situation or findings so that he could answer objectively as possible to these questions without any bias from my position. These results will be useful to me as they will reveal if the problem is just local to my dance school or goes wider to other areas of the country or contexts. I will analyse this data using the constant comparative method, eyeballing the statements that he makes to identify key vocabulary trends and ask questions to deconstruct his meanings and his understanding of the context he faces. I will then compare this to the survey and spider diagrams of the students to find a clear comparison that can be made. Thus not excepting his ideas to necessary reflect the truth but reflect the truth of his situation in the same way my research will reflect the truth of my situation:

My Questions:
I asked 6 questions which were drawn from
1. How many students are studying ballet aged 14 plus at your dance school?
2. Do all your ballet students who are 14 plus take examinations?
3. Please give a brief explanation about why you chose the above answer?
4. How many lessons do your students study ballet per week?
5. Do you offer other styles of dance?
6. How do you motivate your 14 plus students?

His answers:
1. 63 students
2. No
3. Examinations have never ceased to be popular or depending for this age range. 6years ago i stopped doing exams because i noticed a vast in crease of students taking ballet. This was because of the prices of the examinations became more expensive and fewer girls were taking them. My ballet classes now consist of freework, unless the student is taking private tuition where exams are an option (as the marking criteria now makes it harder to pass)
4. 4x1 hour classes and some girls take private tuition.
5. Yes i offer: Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Disco, Latin, Ballroom, Hip Hop, Contemporary.
6. I motivate my students by working towards shows, events and national competitions. I also think it is important for the students to see professional shows, so often we run theatre trips, at a discounted rate to show students what they are working towards. Where possible getting a member of the cast to come and teach a guest class at my studios.

Monday, 9 April 2012

Task 6a

Hi Everyone,
Happy Easter!!

If you have studied ballet in the past, could you please take the time to follow the link below and answer my survey will only take 10mins
Thank you
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MN25V3R
The same survey is on my SIG

Sunday, 8 April 2012

Task: 5c

Professional Ethics
By following professional ethic standards prevents any unintentional harm happening to another person it means I am able to conduct a safe and affective enquiry in a professional manner. Identifying any concerns for ethical harm.
I will ensure the following during my research;
Within my enquiry I plan using interviewing, observations, surveys and workshops. I will make sure that when researching other literature i am honest and don't commit plagiarism when questioning during the interview only ask direct questions to help my research and to avoid asking misleading questions. when reporting my data ensure i do not cherry pick my findings to support my view. Make sure when completing my work that its disposed of from my computer to follow data projection. make sure during workshops everyone as an opportunity to voice their opinion to prevent harm. Ensure i have written permission from anyone under the age of 18 from either a parent or a guardian.

Task 5b

Further to my recent post I have also come across National Occupational Standards (NOS)
these describe what a person needs to do, know and understand in their job, in order to carry out their role in a consistent and competent way. Lifelong learning as worked along side employers, partner organisations and skateholders to develop NOS. Their aim is that the standards are versatile and support employers in a range of ways, including;
Performance management
Identifying training needs
Recruitment and selection
Careers guidance and counselling
Assessing achievement
Formal recognition of competence (CPPD)
Aid in structuring learning programmes (Formal and informal)

Task 5b

In my previous blog i wrote without reference to any documents or discussion what i believed to be the Code of Practice in my place of work.
I have looked at the BBO (British Ballet Organisation) website to see their code of practice,  the BBO are the organisation that i follow with all examinations within my dance school. They follow the CDET  Council for dance education and teaching this is a in depth codes of practice which if followed ensures all students will be taught professional and nurtured in the correct way.
follow the link below to see the recommended code of professional conduct by the council:
www.cdet.org.uk/teaching-and-qualifications/code-of-conduct/www.cdet.org.uk/teaching-and-qualifications/code-of-conduct/

I have also looked at the RAD Royal Academy of Dancing at their code of practice as their syllabus is studied at most vocational schools around the country. This is a condensed version of the CDET but states the same requirements
www.rad.org.uk/.../ART255_Code%20of%20Conduct%20English.p 

I have found doing this task refreshing I have looked at the code of practice a while ago but to see that i am doing things right was good to know. I have now copied the CDET and have a copy at my dance school to remind all teachers of the requirements which we all should follow.

Saturday, 7 April 2012

Task 5a


It is the teachers and organizations responsibility to ensure the safety; education and wellbeing of every student as well comply with current legislations. How a teacher teaches can change the student’s thoughts and feelings for the rest of their lives.

A teacher’s role is never ending and carries many responsibilities:

· First Aid Training
· Ensure room is safe and the teacher as produced a risk assessment: room temperature, health hazards, making students aware of any dangers.
· All teachers and helpers are CRB "Criminal records Bureau"
· Accident book
· Make sure have emergency contact details and that they are updated
· Always behave in a professional manner avoid confrontation
· Code of conduct
· Never give false hope to students or false information to parents/guardians
· keeping up to date on courses to enable students to have the latest information CPPD
· Changing teaching methods to suit students’ needs
· Good observation skills
· Confidentiality
· Ensure environment is safe
· Insurance
· Inclusion
· Statutory requirements; equal opportunity, data protection, health and safety, record keeping