Module three - Literature Review

Rory Foster

Rory Foster trained at the American Ballet Theatre were he went on to become a ballet dance performer, teacher and choreographer within ballet. He has worked with many choreographers and fantastic ballet teachers including David Howard, Vincenzo Celli (Cecchetti Method) etc. He then began teaching professional dancers and young students where he became company ballet master for New Orleans Ballet and Chicago Ballet.

David Howard was an English Ballet dancer and teacher. He taught internationally at many institutions such as the Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet and National Ballet of Canada.

Ballet Pedagogy

Whilst reading his written work I came across many points which I can relate to with my practice and inquiry.

'There are some teachers who assume that all they need to know to be successful and effective are the contents of the syllabus, which will either include methodical exercises and combinations or a guideline of ballet vocabulary. It is important to recognise that all of the training methods/systems in ballet are simply tools-specific approaches to the teaching process.'

'Knowing how to use this tool effectively requires good teaching skills. These do not come automatically through learning and memorizing a particular syllabus, nor do methodologies inherently delineate skills such as proper demonstration, counting, correcting, musicality, anatomical approach, et cetera. These skills are taught in formal training sessions, or they are learned through experience.'

I believe completely in this statement as I can comment from my own experience. In the past I have learnt from a variety of people and I know that I have learnt more off someone who understands and has been within the industry which in return gains further respect from myself to someone who has not been within the industry at all. The reason for this is because I believe that to become a great teacher within anything you do you need to have acquired knowledge from experience and gained knowledge from others within the same industry to help you become versatile and learn in a variety of ways.
This is why I would like to look further into the past experiences I have acquired from others who have provided me with tools. I will look into them and see how they have worked for me. I would also like to look further into performance and gain an extended knowledge on the performance of characterisation through dance. This will help my practice as a performer and intern will enable me to become a better teacher in the future.

'There are many who give very few, if any, individual or general corrections-they simply give class rather than teach class.'

Here Foster hits the nail on the head about many dance teachers who turn up to a class unprepared and take a class which they have thought of whilst on their way to the lesson. However this is something I don't and do not want to do as a teacher and certainly do not want to be taught by anyone who does this. In my opinion I believe, to create a great architecture of a lesson generates in a very clear structure for the class. To have a clear structure will help gain what you have set to accomplish. Many ideas for diverse lessons would need experience to put together variety of tools learnt in the past. I will look back at my past experiences to help develop a dance class the plan. The small goals you accomplish by making the class clear and structured will result by taking small steps. During training this was very helpful as it became clear to myself to know what I was working towards. Here I felt like I was learning because during the dance class we discussed ideas, thoughts etc to enhance our training.


I have really enjoyed reading Fosters work as he is very passionate about teaching and the way in which his students learn from him.

Module 3 - The Final Stretch

 

After being introduced over Skype by Paula into Module three it became apparent to me that from my feedback and conversation I need to make my vision and inquiry clearer and more specific.

Many times the words PERFORMANCE and CREATIVITY were coming into conversation. At which point Paula challenged me to answer what is PERFORMANCE and CREATIVITY?

 

 

 

I believe that I needed to go away and research both of these areas as they are so vast and big. To do this I need to narrow down what it is that I want to understand about both words and how I can incorporate them into helping me to make changes to my practice and future goals.

 

At the momet if anyone asks what I am doing and looking into will be;

Changes to my professional practice and my future goals.

This is not my final question but for now this is what I am finding out without a specific question until I have researched further.

 

------------------------------------------------------------x------------------------------------------------------------
 

We spoke about many other tasks I need to complete as well as the Tasks within the Mod 3 Handbook. I need to make sure that I write literature reviews and look into the Author and understand if it is a reliable source. To do this I will look into the contents page to gain knowledge on the authors experiences prior to writing the book/journal etc.

 

For me to fully take in everything that had been said I have made a spider diagram with certain headings to help me out. These headings are;

- My influences as a performer and how I learnt

- PERFORMANCE

- Literature

- My own Experiences of teaching.

Here I will add to it as I progress by adding pictures, experiences, memories, literature I have come across tohelp finalise my question quicker as I will have a clearer root.

 

 

Looking into My Inquiry Question

My question:

'Enhancing practice as a dance teacher by combining pedagogy and creativity, with my students from my theatre school within the studio.'

From looking at my title I need to make it more specific and shorter so people understand the question quicker with it being more to the point. I also need to change it as my ethics have slightly altered which may have an impact on certain words within the question.

Whilst looking into literature and doing a couple of literature reviews I feel that the understanding of my inquiry is becoming easier to visualise and the intentions and goals are becoming clearer. To help with shortening my question I am going to write down the intentions of my inquiry and the goals of what I would like to achieve to gain further vocabulary for the question.

Whilst reading books about pedagogy/ dance teaching and creativity I believe that my knowledge will become greater about previous work others have already done. With this I would like to compare, liken or disagree with this knowledge/opinion, to my own opinions and findings I have gathered over the past 6 months.

Literature Review - Teaching Dance in the 21st Century

Taken from:
Anu Sööta*, Ele Viskusb, The European Journal of Social & Behavioural Sciences (eISSN: 2301-2218), Teaching dance in the 21st century: A literature review, from University of Tartu, Estonia, pg 1.  

It is now widely accepted that transformation of dance content knowledge into knowledge for teaching and learning involves far more than dance technique and control, and that teachers need a wide range of teaching strategies to motivate and engage their students (Chappell, 2007; Shapiro, 1998; Smith-Autard, 2002; Sööt & Leijen, 2012).

Here it agrees with my understanding of needing a range of teaching strategies  to engage students within  the dance class. Within the 21st century dance classes have changed their approach to students as they are more accommodating to include students of all backgrounds.

References
Chappell, K. (2007). The dilemmas of teaching for creativity: Insights from expert specialist dance teachers. Thinking Skills and Creativity 2, 39–56.
Shapiro, S. B. (1998). Toward transformative teachers: Critical and feminist perspectives in dance education. In S.B. Shapiro (Ed.), Dance, power and difference (pp. 7–21). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Sööt, A & Leijen, Ä. (2012). Designing Support for Reflection Activities in Tertiary Dance Education. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 45, 448 - 456.  Here I believe

Literature Review - Pedagogy in Dance

I came across this video which links to my Inquiry question on how I would like to influence my  students in dance.

How to use Pedagogy in Dance

Uploaded on 22 Mar 2011

Education Director Yvonne H. Chow talking to her students during the BLADE Dance Technique® Class (Dance Theory and Dance Heuristics) lecture. She prefaced this starting with the heuristic process and learning styles of different people and then explained how to use the pedagogical approach in relation to dance classes taken outside of the conservatory:

 

 

I believe that the way in which people approach dance is completely individual and dependent on their knowledge before hand or lack of knowledge. This dictates the varied approach within the class by all students as they all see, understand and experience information, instruction, movement, choreography in different ways.

The part that strikes me the most is when Yvonne H, Chow talks about how no one is taught how to learn dance. This encouraged me to look further into my inquiry question of how to explain/put across dance in a variety of learning styles for students to find their preferred way of understanding and learning dance.

As a student I remembered struggling with rhythm and their were so many ways in which I have found help me later on in my career from trial and error. However if those tools are put in place at a young age there will be less confusion and more understanding dance students.

In some cases the idea of trying to cater for everyone is tough and you may not have the answers and tools for specific students, but by having a presence an informative approach and by asking questions at the appropriate time, something may shift in the students mind which may unlock a certain part of confusion to understand a small part of what they are trying to achieve.

 

I believe that as a dance teacher the pedagogy within dance is varied and can be hard to teach if other students have had previous training under a different pedagogy. Nevertheless, with the different learning styles and tools I hope to look further into, this could be understood, stripped back and changed in a shorter space of time.

 





Critical Reflection for Professional Practitioner Inquiry

Looking back on module one I gained  an interest in certain issues that arose from my journal and blogs and once I had addressed each question, I could see where my passion and interest remained,  Appendix A. I automatically found an interest when looking at theorists and the ways in which people learn whilst linking them to  my time as a student  Appendix B.

I wanted to base my research on ways to enhance my dance teaching and how to benefit my students. I had  accomplished a three year  physically intensive course in Musical Theatre where  I received  training from the best and I wanted to be able to pass this information on to my students and I have found that  by undertaking  my research it has given me an  understanding of how to incorporate my experience within my teaching in an exciting way to benefit my students.

I have experienced a variety of teaching styles and I would like my students to also experience the variety in order to help advance them as dancers. It would mean that by looking into different learning styles I could try to incorporate them within each dance class. I also wanted to cater for children with Dyspraxia and Cerebral Palsy by incorporating any students who are affected by these disabilities/learning difficulties into my research, which in turn would, enable inclusion within the classes I provide (Appendix C).

To be certain that I had selected the correct Award Title for myself I looked into each avenue that I would like to pursue. I have spoken to a Head Teacher of a school and also looked into the ISTD qualifications to ensure that my title is acceptable for each of the routes I plan to follow, see Appendix D.

Ethics for my Inquiry

When looking into Ethics I already had an insight as to what is needed (Appendix E) and I have also looked into the ethics of dance associations (Appendix F). When looking into the ways  ethics relates to my Inquiry (Appendix G) I  realised how important the confidentiality of children needed  to be even though I need to be able to incorporate my findings within my work, see Appendix H

I will also be incorporating two SEN children within my inquiry, and I will need to consider ethics for them. (See Appendix I)

Tools I will use during my Inquiry

To be confident in the tools I have chosen, I found the merits and limits of each and  based my decision on the specific tools I will gain the best information/feedback from, see Appendix J.

I then looked into the structure of my Interview and Questionnaires and carried out a pilot Interview (Appendix K) and pilot Questionnaire (AppendixL)  to fully understand what worked and what didn’t. I have yet to conduct my pilot observation but I have been fortunate enough to teach and observe students dancing for a long time.

Conclusion

Module two has been an eye opener and has enhanced my research  allowing me to gain further information. I will continue to gain more knowledge from a variety of literature which will give me more information of how to enhance my practice as a dance teacher by combining pedagogy and creativity to prepare for module three.

6c Award Title

When trying to make a decision on my Award Title I became very confused and stuck as I didn't know what I wanted my Professional Practice to be in as I needed to do more research as to what qualifications I needed for the career paths I would like to pursue in the future.

When deciding I had a lot to take into consideration;
- What qualifications I had already done at Bird College and what Degree I would like to compliment my hard work.
- My future plans for a theatre and dance school and the workshops I offer at the moment.
- What degree title would be the best if I wanted to do a PGCE or Schools Direct.

PGCE and Schools Direct
After a lot of confusion about my Award Title I approached a Head Teacher of a primary school who then rang up Warwickshire Council and checked with a variety of contacts within various positions of other schools or who work higher up in education.

I currently am yet to hear back from this Head Teacher and am interested in what has been said however I know that with any degree I am able to accomplish schools direct or a PGCE and offer my services regarding dance and musical theatre within a primary/secondary school.

Dance Associations
I know that to become a dance teacher I need to complete further qualifications within the different associations I hope to teach the syllabus from. I currently am in the process of sorting out each teaching qualification I hope to do in different associations.
RAD - Classical Ballet
ISTD - Tap
ISTD - Modern theatre




www.istd.org/

Here is a ISTD Qualifications May and near the bottom is the degree I am doing at MDX.

This degree is something that you would do after completing your DDE ISTD and if you went on to do your MA in Professional Practice you would become a 'Fellowship'.
















Narrowing the Award Title Down

BA (Hons) Professional Practice (Dance)
BA (Hons) Professional Practice (Musical Theatre)
BA (Hons) Professional Practice (Dance Teaching)


Here I have put down the three possibilities that I would like to base my degree title on as these three titles are close to me and what I have worked on for a long time, yet I cannot decide between them as they all have a reason and purpose as to why I would like them as a title.

(Dance) - I would like my award title to be 'dance' as I have worked consistently since the age of 6 years old completing many exams and investing a lot of time and effort into dance as a whole. I then feel that for three years at Bird I worked extremely hard within each dance class trying to better my knowledge, technique and performance within each style gaining a better understanding of each discipline. I feel that it would be a great title as I have invested three years into my qualification at Bird and to add this on for it to become a degree would be a good decision especially as my Inquiry is based within dance.

(Musical Theatre) - I would like my award title to be 'musical theatre' as I have put a lot of time into musical theatre since the age of 3 and invested in a lot of peoples time and effort to get me to where I am today. I also would like to use it as a title as this is the career I have dreamt of pursuing since a very young age and have already gained two smaller qualifications in 'Musical Theatre'.  I have just recently set up my own theatre school and look to continue with a theatre school which works on the three main disciplines of Musical Theatre and so to have a degree specialising in 'Musical Theatre' would be great to show to parents of any students that join my school. I primarily believe that the hard work, time, dedication and effort I have put into musical theatre, like dance, my award title should be 'musical theatre' as it is a way of changing my qualification, from Bird, (Level 6 Diploma) to a degree.

(Dance Teaching) - I would like my award title to be 'dance teaching' as I would like to continue to pursue this career in my future as I have currently set up my own theatre school which requires me teaching dance but I hope to expand this as I draw to a close with my career as a professional performer and want to teach dance and Musical Theatre as a career, this is why I think I would benefit with a degree in dance teaching. This award title also compliments my inquiry title very well.

Deciding on a Title

I finally came up with my Award Title which includes both dance and musical theatre as I realised that these two titles meant a lot to me and that I have worked hard for five years and continue to do so and I would enjoy having a degree in dance and musical theatre.

BA (Hons) Professional Practice (Dance and Musical Theatre)

My Rationale

After training for three years and graduating from Doreen Bird College, gaining a Diploma in Professional Musical Theatre, and prior to this gaining further qualifications within many dance styles and Musical Theatre I have decided on my Award Title being ‘Professional Dance and Musical Thetare’. Over the years I have acquired the knowledge and understanding within dance disciplines as well as Musical Theatre which has made me the professional I am today.

Since a young age I wanted to follow my dream to become a professional performer which I have worked towards tackling many obstacles along the way. At the moment I am very fortunate to continue auditioning whilst being lucky to work professionally, however I am yet to reach my dream of performing in the West End. Another passion of mine is to own my own dance/theatre school where I could pass on the knowledge that I have developed and watch my students flourish within the three main disciplines of Musical Theatre whilst being educated in a variety of dance styles. At the moment I have just recently opened my own theatre school where I offer workshops in Musical Theatre which offers fantastic opportunity’s.

Once I reach the end of my professional career I would like to expand my Theater school and open a dance school which will work alongside.  I am extremely passionate about teaching which is demonstrated through my line of inquiry.

The reason I chose this specific title was the reason that I have trained extremely hard within both areas where I have learnt a large amount of knowledge from a variety of people. It will also compliment my future plans when I expand my Theatre and Dance school where I will teach both areas of performing arts to a high standard.

Ethics when working with children/young people with SEN

Here I have found further information about Ethics and what to put in place and take into consideration when working with children and others : Ethics working with children and young people

SEN Ethics and Every Child Matters that need to be put in place

1). What I have had or am going to put in place in the future for my own Professional Practice
Soon I will be holding a Musical Theatre Workshop and taking a large group of children to put on two shows at a theatre. When taking this into consideration I had to think of the student who has cerebral palsy and speak to there parents to assure them that when I look around the theatre we will look at the space to get on and off the stage.
I took someone with a lot of experience of working with adults with many difficulties/disabilities and who is a lead internal verifier who gave myself and my employees manual handling course before working with this specific student. We both will now have to make our own risk assessments for the theatre for this specific student so everyone knows what to do with this student and the student knows what will happen in case of emergency's etc.

2). Below are the changes that are happening to the SEN Code of Practice;

Changes from the SEN Code of Practice (2001)

The main changes from the SEN Code of Practice (2001) reflect the changes introduced by the Children and Families Act 2014. These are:

• The Code of Practice (2014) covers the 0-25 age range and includes guidance relating to disabled children and young people as well as those with SEN

• There is a clearer focus on the participation of children and young people and parents in decision-making at individual and strategic levels

• There is a stronger focus on high aspirations and on improving outcomes for children and young people

• It includes guidance on the joint planning and commissioning of services to ensure close co-operation between education, health and social care

• It includes guidance on publishing a Local Offer of support for children and young people with SEN or disabilities

• There is new guidance for education and training settings on taking a graduated approach to identifying and supporting pupils and students with SEN (to replace School Action and School Action Plus)

• For children and young people with more complex needs a co-ordinated assessment process and the new 0-25 Education, Health and Care plan (EHC plan) replace statements and Learning Difficulty Assessments (LDAs)

• There is a greater focus on support that enables those with SEN to succeed in their education and make a successful transition to adulthood

• Information is provided on relevant duties under the Equality Act 2010

• Information is provided on relevant provisions of the Mental Capacity Act 2005

• There is new guidance on supporting children and young people with SEN who are in youth custody. (Department of Education, 2015)

Here you can see how there has been more progress and focus on certain areas over the past few years to ensure that those who are affected by SEN, disabilities, learning difficulties are treated fair and have options of avenues and paths they can take for their future.

3). Within the .GOV website I have looked into the Legislations and Guidance for SEN.

- Safeguarding
- The Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations Volume 2 and 3 (this is setting out the responsibilities of local authorities towards looked after children and care leavers)
- Equality Act 2010
- Responsible adjustments for disabled pupils (2012).
- Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions (2014)
- The Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice: Protecting the vulnerable (2005)
4). As well as the legal documents all legal authorities must make sure that the children/young people and parents are fully involved with any decisions about their own individual support and about the local provision given. (Department of Education, 2015).

Early years providers, schools and colleges should also take steps to ensure that young people and parents are actively supported in contributing to needs assessments, developing and reviewing Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans. Specifically, local authorities must

• ensure the child’s parents or the young person are fully included in the EHC needs assessment process from the start, are fully aware of their opportunities to offer views and information, and are consulted about the content of the plan (Chapter 9)  

• consult children with SEN or disabilities, and their parents and young people with SEN or disabilities when reviewing local SEN and social care provision (Chapter 4)

• consult them in developing and reviewing their Local Offer (Chapter 4)

• make arrangements for providing children with SEN or disabilities, and their parents, and young people with SEN or disabilities with advice and information about matters relating to SEN and disability (Chapter 2) (Department of Education, 2015)

Here it gives us an idea that I will need to converse with each parent and individual student that has difficulties so that they are aware of the support I can offer and the way in which I will involve their child/them to be included within each dance class. Depending on the different types of disabilities I may need to do a risk assessment for each individual who has a difficulty/disability.  

5). As well as having all ethics all children as well as children/young people with SEN/Disability's need a high quality of teaching and provision, even though the following statements of requirement are for early years/schools/colleges etc. it still applies to myself.

Early years providers, schools and colleges should know precisely where children and young people with SEN are in their learning and development. They should:
• ensure decisions are informed by the insights of parents and those of children and young people themselves
• have high ambitions and set stretching targets for them
• track their progress towards these goals
• keep under review the additional or different provision that is made for them
• promote positive outcomes in the wider areas of personal and social development, and
• ensure that the approaches used are based on the best possible evidence and are having the required impact on progress (Department of Education, 2015)

The way in which I will accomplish these certain points will be to keep parents/carers/guardians of the students with SEN/disability's/learning difficulties, in the loop of knowing what their progression is and where their weaknesses and strengths are as well as conversing with the student. After a conversation I would like to set goals that they (the student) would like to accomplish and tie this within my planning of lessons to help towards this target for each individual which could also help other students. 

For further information I will refer back to Department of education website as I know that all information on here is up to date and covers many areas and aspects when working with children/young people with Special Educational Needs.

Every Child needs Nurturing so it can

Flourish to be the best it can be!

http://headguruteacher.com/2014/08/30/every-child-still-matters-communities-still-need-cohesion/

Pilot Questionaire - Trial and Information

To be ready for my questionnaires to be handed out to my students after each workshop I need to know what I will be carrying out before I can begin each one. However the structure of the questionnaire and the way in which it will appear and how each student will answer the questions needs to be thought through before adding any questions and answers.
I went and spoke to a Head Teacher of a Primary School about my ideas and was able to show a structure of my questionnaire and asked many questions about his thoughts and ideas about whether younger children will understand the structure and is it clear about the way they will have to answer questions. The reason I have asked a Primary school head teacher is because I know that older students will be able to answer and elaborate on the questions they have been asked.

Here are the Outcomes for the Pilot Questionaire

1). To begin with I have put at the top of the page that there are answers given as multiple choice and next to each box is a word that would describe the way they feel about each question which will relate to the workshop they have just done. It will state that they can only tick one box and if the want to elaborate as to why they chose that answer a box will be under each question as well which can give older students an option to expand. The Head Teacher said that this is a great idea, however he asked me what age groups will I provide the workshops for as some may not be able to read so pictures next to each box could be a good idea as well. This made me really think and visually it could be easier for children to relate to but I could keep the words next to the boxes as well as the pictures.

2). The wording of each question needs to be easy to understand and the language needs to be kept as simple as possible for complete understanding of each child.

3). I also want this questionnaire to not last too long as it will be given to the students 10 mins before they go home after a 50 min workshop class. This means that there needs to be no more than 5 questions on each questionnaire. The head teacher and myself spoke about this and decided I needed to involve 2 sections when planning my class and ask 2 questions each about each section and then ask an overall question about how they found the workshop and what they learnt. This would really help  me gain clear information on each section and will show my students what and how they had learnt through the workshop.

This has really helped my understanding of questionnaires and how they can be answered by a variety of ages in a quick and efficient way.

Informal Interview Trial - Pilot Interview

On Friday 1st May I conducted an informal Interview with someone who I am close to that works within a school and works with a variety of children/family's and has an insight into dance teaching as she has supported me and works close with me in my theatre school.
This gave me an insight as to what worked well and how I could help myself when I carry out my Interviews with professionals within their own practice. It also allowed me to see if the structure of my interview worked and gave me an idea of how I could gain further information from the way that my questions are asked/worded.

The Outcomes from the Pilot Interview

1). When beginning my Interview by reading out the paragraph of information I had put on the first page of my Interview sheet (See Appendix A) I knew that from her reaction that she knew what I wanted to accomplish and she said that;
'It gave me more of an understanding as to what my answers where going to be for each question rather than wasting my time by moving completely away from the answers you required. I also liked that you let me know that it didn't matter if I wanted to add to a question if you thought it related to the interview to give you further information.'
I will keep the beginning bit of the interview as I am sure it gives the professional another reminder, after their letter they have received off myself, what it is I am doing and why.

2). The semi-structured approach of my interview worked well as it allowed the opportunity for my questions to flow but if other issues and ideas arose we were able to talk about those as well. I personally think that telling my friend at the beginning of the interview made her more at ease to divert to other ideas that cropped up for some questions.

3). I originally had 10 questions with smaller questions attached just in case if the professionals did not expand on an idea I wanted to know more about, however automatically she expanded and linked questions I was going to talk about later on in the interview, this threw me for a few minutes leaving me in a bit of a pickle. To stop this from happening I will look into swapping some questions around to make it flow better as I forgot how certain questions could be linked but I will keep other smaller questions in place just in case they do not expand on the question, but they are not essential to use.

4). When carrying out my interview and knowing that the information given needs to be written down exactly as they have said it, I knew that from the beginning of the interview I was going to struggle with writing the explanations, answers and opinions as quickly as possible whilst keeping up with the flow of the interview. To make sure this doesn't happen when I carry out my interviews I will take a Dictaphone and use this so I can listen carefully  whilst taking all information in knowing that their words will be captured on the Dictaphone for me to refer back to away from the interview, without missing any vital information they had shared with me. I will now have to ask their permission to use a dictaphone for my own personal use before the interview and even better to email them all to make sure that they are fully aware this will happen.

5). I was not sure how long the Interview was going to last and with the option to adding information to questions. Overall the interview with my close friend lasted 35minutes and she added a lot of information to questions as well as me loosing the flow of the interview by writing information downs. I will allow 40 mins for each interview but if it goes over, if the participant is happy, then it will not matter to go on for a further 10 mins but if it happens to go under the time limit that does not matter either.

By doing a pilot interview it has allowed me to see what has worked and what hasn't and has given me an insight as to how it will work and what to expect. I look forward to gathering further information from all of the professionals that have got back to me and have agreed to the interview and look forward to broadening my knowledge from their experiences.

Literature - Looking into Learning Difficulties, Disabilities and SEN

Linking Learning Difficulties, Disabilities and SEN into my Inquiry

 

As I have been teaching for a while I have come across a lot of children who have their own difficulties in certain areas. For my inquiry I want to help all of my students and to help them to learn by offering their strengths of learning as well as work on their weaknesses.

Within my inquiry I want to learn about SEN and Learning difficulties however I know that I cannot look at all of them as I need to research heavily into each one individually. I have made up my mind to look into two difficulties which I deal with a lot but do not know that much about, these are;

Dyspraxia and Cerebral Palsy.

The idea for me to look into these two learning difficulties is because I want to learn about their behaviour, their particular problems and to find strategies for dealing with those difficulties.

 

 

Definition of special educational needs (SEN) and Ethics

The Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (SEN Code) (DfES, 2001) was introduced to demonstrate the rights and duties introduced by the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA) 2001. This code sets out a model of intervention for children with SEN within early education settings and in school setting and provides a toolkit to help practitioners with its implementation.

The law states that if a child has a significantly grater difficulty than most children their age with their schoolwork, communication or behaviour, they have a learning difficulty. According to Directgov (2009) the term SEN refers to 'children who have learning difficulties or disabilities that make it harder for them to learn or access education than most children of the same age.' (J.Thompson, 2010) 

History of disability and integration (1971 - 1989)



Taken from the book by J.Thompson, 2010

It has been an interesting read about how children/adults were affected in the past and to see how over the years how much we have integrated those who have difficulties in specific areas.
I then looked into the Warnock Report (1978) and how after this report was made the term special educational needs was introduced into UK legislation.
The Warnock report had two categories for SEN children;
- Children who had difficulties at school whose needs could be helped within a mainstream school.
- Children who's difficulties where more complex that required a specialised educational environment/school as their difficulties could not be met within mainstream.
This was a big turning point for children with SEN as they were introduced into mainstream rather than being segregated, this then gave teachers a 'responsibility in the identification and assessment of children who they suspected may have special educational needs.'(J.Thompson, 2010)

Below is the Social model of disability and inclusion;


Taken from the book by J.Thompson, 2010

The impact of the Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda has been significant, as it advocates a multi-agency approach to ensuring that the needs of children with SEN are met. The focus of ECM is to ensure inclusive lifelong learning opportunities for all children, ensuring that every aspect of school life is taken into consideration. (J.Thompson, 2010)

Here I want to cater for every child within my inquiry however I know I need to research just two SEN. However in the furture I want to do more research into other SEN so I can cater for most people who want to learn dance. I need to take into consideration the Warnock Report as I may not be able to cater for those with complex special educational needs and they may require specialised help

 

General Learning Disabilities

The model of learning disabilities that is currently most widely used evolved during the 1960s. Four stages of information processing used in learning are identified and difficulties experienced by learners are categorised accordingly. (D. Fulton 2014)

The four stages that are used within a learning environment that some children with learning difficulties/disabilities/SEN may struggle to face;

1). Input

Some may struggle to take in and process information that has been given to them.

Input is usually received through all of our senses, but we most commonly use our vision and hearing to take most information in. The difficulty with vision may be that the perception of an image/shape/orientation can be distorted or difficult to identify. The problem with auditory may mean that the student has not heard what has been accurately, as certain letters/sounds may not be identified altering words.

2). Integration

Some may find it difficult to understand the way information is interpreted or placed into a sequence which is linked with previous learning.

Integration is usually difficult for students with learning difficulties as they can not remember the sequence/order of information.

3). Memory

Students may find it difficult to recall on information which they had learnt in the past.

Students can have a difficulty with memory with long-term or short-term. Most commonly it is short-term memory so with more repetitions the student should start to remember more each time.

4). Output

There may be a difficulty showing the actions which could be verbal, gestural or a movement from an input which has been stored.

The difficulties of output is the frustration of not being able to recall information to generate a response.

 

Here I already can see how some of these effect dyspraxia and cerebral palsy.

Dyspraxia

The name dyspraxia offers a description in itself, as 'dys' means 'faulty' and 'praxis' means 'the ability to use the body as a skilled tool'. (J.Thompson 2010)

Dyspraxia usually runs within families and is more likely to be seen within males rather than females. It is thought that dyspraxia affects 10% of the population. As I said before all children are unique and some children may show signs of dyspraxia which can be very mild or severe depending on where they are and what they are doing. People who are affected by dyspraxia understand their difficulties and develop their own strategies to dealing with their weaknesses.
People with dyspraxia usually develop the skills of walking, running, writing and talking later than others but with the correct help and support they will be able to accomplish these skills. Dyspraxia may not be recognised very quick as the children's condition is not visible but only apparent when the teacher/parent recognises it. As a teacher if I have a student that has dyspraxia I need to make a mental note to always ensure that child may be struggling and I need to offer the correct support for that specific child.

Research in Dyspraxia

Dyspraxia has been discussed by many people through literature for the past 100 years however there doesn't seem to be an agreement on the definition of this disorder.

The Dyspraxi Foundation (2009) suggests that developmental dyspraxia is An impairment or immaturity of the organisation of movement. It is an immaturity in the way that the brain processes information, which results in messages not being properly or fully transmitted. Dyspraxia affects the planning of what to do and how to do it. It is associated with problems of perception, language and thought. (J.Thompson, 2010)

 However a researcher Dawdy (1981, cited in Ripley et al., 1997, p1) described dyspraxia as something different. I believe that this debate on what dyspraxia is as a whole will always be ever changing and there will always be a disagreement on what is said.

Characteristics of dyspraxia

 

Photo taken from the book by J.Thompson 2010

 

Here within the characteristics of noticing dyspraxia and here they struggle I instantly can see the difficulty they may have when learning dance or when they are put into a dance studio environment.
Here the main issues for my teaching dance to people with dyspraxia will be;
- co-ordination
- overbalancing when changing direction
- may change the movement to the opposite hand/foot, this will then confuse them.
- poor concentration skills
-poor listening skills
- may get annoyed and angry if they cannot get anything due to lack of coordination and inability of controlling movements.
- difficulty making friends.

I need to make sure that when looking into my inquiry that I take into consideration the learning styles I could do or certain exercises to enhance co-ordination and the control of movements. This will challenge the students but motivation and praise will be needed and an extra assistant may be needed to give a one to one support.

Cerebral palsy

Cerebral palsy covers a number of disorders affecting muscles, movement and mobility. This is effected by part of the brain which is damaged or has failed to develop properly resulting to a lack or no movement. There is no definite cause for cerebral palsy but it is thought that a virus, drug, poor nutrition or premature birth may have an effect on cerebral palsy as well as low birth weight, lack of oxygen around the time of birth, or injury to the brain before, during or just after birth.

There are approximately 1,800 babies diagnosed with cerebral palsy in Britain each year. (D.Fulton, 2014)

This struck me as I didn't realise how many diagnosis's were made for cerebral palsy every year in Britain.

Research in Cerebral palsy

When researching I realised that there was no cure for cerebral palsy however physiotherapy and other therapies helps people with the condition become more independent.

Further into my research I discovered there are three main types of Cerebral palsy but most people will have a mixture of these types;
Spastic Cerebral palsy
Dyskinetic cerebral palsy
Ataxic cerebral palsy

I need to look further into each of these three main types to fully understand the difference between each one looking at the difficulties each on has.  I have found a great website which I can refer to for this; More information on Cerebral palsy.

Characteristics of Cerebral palsy

Here I have looked at each characteristic and realised which ones will be difficult to overcome within a dance environment.
- limited or uncontrolled movement
- poor mobility
- muscle weakness/stiffness
- muscle spasm or floppiness
- problems with speech
- hearing difficulties
- visual difficulties
- difficulties chewing and swallowing food
- a tendency towards epilepsy

Already working with a child with cerebral palsy I have already learnt that I needed to include them within each class. This can be difficult if you are working on a specific move which is the area that has limited/no movement for the student with cerebral palsy as you need to keep mindful that they may feel left out so incorporating an arm movement or leg movement for them to work on at the same time keeps their mind active.

I currently have had training in moving and handling for this specific student with cerebral palsy and have used a variety of ways to keep them involved in the dance class.

Conclusion

Looking into the history of SEN and learning difficulties as well as the specific difficulties I want to look into further has really opened my eyes to the day to day difficulties they may face and how I as a teacher need to acknowledge this and make dancing a place and environment they feel valued like everyone else where they are treated like every other student that is present at my dance school.

Places which specialise in SEN for those who need extra help.

I have done some research into places near me that cater for SEN dance classes where I could point people in there direction if I cannot offer the specialisation that their child may need but I can also learn from them and look into what they do. Tiger Feet

Preparing for my Interviews (Part 1)

When starting to look at my interviews I had a clear idea with who I wanted to get in touch with to have a variety of answers which may be similar or completely the opposite to what others have said.
The professions that I have chosen to get in touch with are;

- Primary School Teacher.

- SEN Teaching Assistant (Primary School).

- PE/Dance Teacher (Secondary School).

- Principle of a Dance School.

- Choreographer working in London with Professionals.

Before approaching each person I decided to write a letter explaining what I was doing, what I wanted to achieve and how they could be apart of my inquiry by helping me by me doing an interview setting so I could listen and learn from the knowledge which they have developed through their own professions.

Within the letter it does not make them feel they have to but explains more so as to why I want to do interviews. It also states that there name and identity will remain anonymous when their own opinions are presented anywhere within my work. This will hopefully make them feel more at ease to say yes to being apart of my inquiry as they know that they can give honest answers about each question without being penalised for it in the future.

Ideally for the letters I would like to get 3/4 back to have a variety of questions. If this does not happen and only have 2 I have carefully decided who I choose because anyone's answers, regarding their own professions, will be very different and useful to me.

Preparing for the Interviews

At the moment I have drafted nine questions with smaller questions to ask off those bigger questions. I have left room for more just in case if new research/information comes up as I am researching and I would like to add that to my interview.
I have also put a paragraph to say to them before the interview to remind them what my title is and why I am researching this specific idea. Below is the draft of the paragraph I will say before the interview;-

I am currently undertaking a degree in Professional Practice within the Arts. For my personal inquiry I have decided to look into one of my practices that I would like to enhance and become more knowledgeable for my students that I teach.

At the moment I have my own business of a theatre school but I am just basing my inquiry on the dance classes I provide within my school. I have been researching into many different learning styles that theorists have been researching for many years and am trying to understand if they are correct or are flawed. I have also looked into the debate about learning styles, in particularly the V-A-K as it seems to be the most common within schools. I have also been looking into two specific learning difficulties that I am/have dealt with in the past but would like to know more about the way in which they find easier to learn to improve my understanding further.

As well as looking into the different learning styles I want to be able to cater for as many students as possible and to offer the learning of movement/material/performance/steps/rhythm etc. in a colourful and stimulating way to achieve the best that they can be within dance.

Please feel free to elaborate on any question I ask even if it doesn’t stay quiet on track it may also be very helpful for my investigation. Any information you have given me  within the interview will be anonymous when presented within any information I hand in or write about.

As a draft I am happy with the way the paragraph is structured but I know it will need to be looked over and added to or have certain bits taken out. I will keep adding to my questions and expand on the questions I have already written down.

Task 6C: The Title to my Professional Inquiry (Part 1)

What I wanted to incorporate within my title?

As I have been researching into so many avenues from a specific idea I found it difficult to narrow my question down without making it too long. As I kept going through each section I wanted to look into whilst gaining the information I wanted to achieve for my own practice I realised that the main thing I want to do is to enhance my own practice as a dance teacher. This has helped me to discard any title that will limit my research.

My Draft Title I am starting to look at expanding:

Enhancing and advancing my practice as a dance teacher.

 

After this I then realised that this isn't what I want to achieve so sent a new version of the title;

 

Enhancing and advancing my practice and creativity of teaching as a dance teacher.

 

Once I sent my idea to Paula I realised that the title doesn't have much body. Paula also agreed and sent back that the question was too vague. I have taken Paula's advice and I am trying to develop a title with more depth and an issue that needs resolving.

 

Paula gave me the question of; What issues are you trying to respond to? (creativity? curriculum? performance? pedagogy?).

 

From thinking about Paula's question I now know that I am not looking into curriculum. However, I do know that the other three issues link with my research and could play a part within my professional inquiry.

Below I have researched the definitions of each issue so I know that I am 100% sure which one or two I would like to look into but, most importantly which one relates the most to the research I have been looking into.

Definition of Creativity: (Mass Noun) The use of imagination or original ideas to create something; inventiveness: 'firms are keen to encourage creativity'. (Oxford Dictionaries)

Definition of Performance: (noun) An act of presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. (Oxford Dictionaries) 

Definition of Pedagogy: (Mass Noun) The method and practice of teaching, especially as an academic subject or theoretical concept: 'The relationship between applied linguistics and language pedagogy'. (Oxford Dictionaries)

I now need to go away and broaden my question and figure out which issue/s it is that I would like to include within my title.



Literature - Learning Styles

After being on holiday I have done a lot of reading and have gained more knowledge within the area I am looking into for my personal inquiry.

D. Fulton - Ways of Learning (third edition) - Learning theories and learning styles in the classroom.

 

LEARNING STYLES

Since 1970 there has been a variety of ideas and theories into the way in which we learn: learning styles. This is mainly looked into for the specific fields of education, learning and psychology.

Over time theorists have agreed or disagreed with each other as some ideas change or go out of fashion. Other theorists may have elaborated on what previous theorists have originally stated.

 

Learning style is defined variously as:

- a particular way in which an individual learns; 

- a mode of learning - an individual's preferred or best manner(s) in which to think, process information and demonstrate learning;

- an individual preferred means of acquiring knowledge and skills;

- habits, strategies or regular mental behaviours concerning learning, particularly deliberate educational learning, that an individual displays. (D. Fulton 2014 pg. 46)

Here there are a few ideas that overlap each other, however the term 'learning style' is a preferred way of learning/studying.

The term 'learning preferences' has been used to refer to the conditions - encompassing environmental, emotional, sociological and physical conditions - that an individual learner would choose, if they were in a position to make a choice (Dunn et al. 1989) (D.Fulton 2014 pg. 47)

As a dance teacher I understand that my students all learn in a variety of ways. By understanding 'learning styles' it gives me a clearer vision of the different types of learners out there. As well as people learning in different ways I also believe that when a student has an interest in a specific subject, that person will develop a better confidence and motivation to fully understand and fulfil that subject than a student who is half hearted in that specific area/subject. This could automatically push your student away to begin with creating a larger gap to fill with confidence and motivation. This is what Dewar 1996; Hartman 1995; leadership project 1995 agreed with as well;

Learners who are actively engaged in the learning process will be more likely to achieve success. (D. Fulton 2014 pg. 47)

Honey-Mumford model 

When looking at Honey-Mumford in module one I realised how interested I am in different ways in which people learn and this is where I realised what I have already used to encourage certain learners.
The most important information in which Honey-Mumford gives us is that learning styles are not fixed and people can adopt certain traits and styles along the way.
The four styles within the Honey-Mumford model is;
1.  activist;
2.  reflector;
3.  theorist;
4.  pragmatist.

What each style's strengths and weakness are? How can I incorporate that into my dance teaching?

ACTIVIST
- Learn by doing.
- Like to work within groups.
- Don't like to plan but just like to get on and do.
- Open minded and enthusiastic.
- They get bored with repetition.

When a student who has traits of an activist is within my class I need to make sure that I have a point within the class where they can work within a group (even in twos). I could allow this to happen when I have explained a movement or new step and explained it then ask for them to work in small groups to watch each other to fully grasp the step by helping each other.
As they learn by doing I need to show the step first and then explain for those other learners whilst doing it so the activist learner can copy and 'learn' the step/movement whist 'doing'.
Repetition needs to be kept to a minimum but make sure that you have other corrections to give whilst they are practicing to focus on other components of the step eg. arm/head lines.

REFLECTORS
- Stand back and observe;
- Like to look at the bigger picture, including previous experiences and the perspectives of others;
- Collect data well followed with an analysis.
- Slow to make up their minds but when they do it is based on their own knowledge and opinions and what they have watched and listened to off others.

When approached with a person who owns the traits of a reflector within my class I need to make sure that I do not rush them into a decision quickly. These students may enjoy watching others when accomplishing a new movement to see how it is done after being taught it from the teacher. These students will be trying to critically understand the movement before coming to the 'conclusion' which will be to execute the step.

THEORISTS
- Like to see and understand how one observation is linked/related to another observation;
- Tidy and well-organised minds;
- Cannot relax until they get to the bottom of a situation.;
- Take a one-step-at-a-time approach.

When dealing with a theorists within my dance classes I will need to make sure that I piece steps together for them to understand and see the reason behind doing those particular steps in the first place. I need to be aware that if this student cannot get a step/movement straightaway to be calm and take time as they will not be fully content until they are able. If they make slight progress keep awarding them with praise and go through the movement step by step for them to fully understand.

PRAGMATISTS                                                                                                                                            - Like to find out and use new ideas;
- They are confident in new ideas and will incorporate them into their thinking;
- They do not see much point in putting effort into something that does not work;
- Enjoy problem-solving situations.

When approached by a student who holds a few characteristics of a pragmatic I need to make sure that if they see any floor/failure within themselves or something that they need to do that they should don't give up and I keep encouraging them. I could do this by giving them a situation, practical implication, to show them how a dance step helped and when it is applied to give them an understanding that it IS possible and IS important. They would be great in a class as they like having new ideas and applying them to themselves which could have a great knock on effect to the group and could enhance their knowledge and technicality as a dancer/performer as well as others around them.


Within Honey-Mumford model not every person has a specific learning style, most people have characteristics of all four of them. They didn't make this to assign a person to a specific category, instead they have tried to help individuals find out which predominant learner they might be and what other traits do they have from other learning styles.
To do this Honey and Mumford designed 80 statements, 20 for each learning style, this is then added up and shown on a axes chart.

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)

Neuro-linguistic programming looks at how we communicate and how this effects each individuals learning. Three particular learning styles have been found; visual, auditory and kinaesthetic (V-A-K).

Visual Learners
- Prefer information to be given Visually.
- They tend to use hand gestures when explaining or recalling events or objects.
- Tend to look upwards when thinking or remembering information.

Within a dance class I can give information in picture forms like mood boards or if I need to get more information across a posters could be good as it is visually striking as well as having short sharp statements that are written on it (not too much to read). Another idea to keep information locked in would be the words of the steps we were learning that day or the counts are written out clearly to see visually.

Auditory Learners
- Prefer to learn by listening.
- They like sequence, repetition and summary's.
- Tend to tilt their head when recalling a memory.

Within a dance class these types of learners may benefit from me using descriptive language to grasp information but I will also open up questions as they enjoy discussion. These types of learners may also want to hear the counts or a rhythm to understand the timing of a movement/step/sequence. Another way to stimulate emotion/performance would be to use a piece of music and for them to listen to it and improve or move in the way it makes the student feel, this could be in any genre of dance.

Kinaesthetic Learners
- Prefer to learn by doing.
- Good at recalling events and their feelings or physical experiences with memories.
- Struggle to keep still and want to be active.

Within a dance class the students will be moving 95% of the time and if not it will be to have a water break. When approached with kinaesthetic learners, performance shouldn't be too difficult as most of the time they find it easier to unlock their emotions. This is great and will enhance their understanding and be able to unleash any anger, pain, happiness through dance.

Like Honey and Mumford we do not solely use one specific learning style however some people heavily rely on one of them.

An overreliance on one style, and an inability or unwillingness to adopt another style where it might be appropriate, can be limiting in some learning situations and can mean that learning may be hindered.(D.Fulton 2014 pg.51)

Here as a teacher I need to remember as much as I need to cater for everyone's needs as best as I can I will not be able to do it all of the time. However this is were the students learn as they need to learn to adapt and allow room to grasp information in a different way, otherwise there will always be a hindrance in whatever they do.

Looking further into the debate of Neuro-linguistic Programming (V-A-K)

As I am heavily interested in looking into how to become a dance teacher who gets the most out of her students to make sure they feel a sense of accomplishment and pride I need to look at different ways of teaching and learning. However some do not agree with the (V-A-K) and have put up a good argument for me to look deeper into.

Do children have preferred learning styles? This is the question I kept asking myself as I have been looking into two theories and both have not said that each individual has a certain style but they may acquire many. On the one hand I understand that some of these ways do not work for me but others do and some styles I can relate to more than others but on the other hand do we need specific types of branded learners if we have different preferences from each style?

This is a summary of an article, the full version is on 'More nonsense for teachers to avoid'. I hope to look into this article further and gain more knowledge of why people believe that certain learning styles do not work.

Going back to the summary of the article ...

The V-A-K is largely believed in within the teaching industry it quotes that;

Dekker, Lee, Howar-Jones and Jolles (2012) identified that 93% of UK teachers in their survey believed that 'Individuals learn better when they receive information in their preferred learning style (e,g. auditory, visual, kinaesthetic). (N.Rose 2014)

As we are aware VAK have a self-report questionnaire which has been put together by a few questions. I do agree and believe that in some cases they are poor due to the questions or answers given as they have not been thought out and sometimes/most of the time they have a tendency to be answered incorrectly due to the wording of the question. One reason that questions are usually answered incorrectly is because the questions and answers can be asking a ridiculous question such as; 'what are you more likely to say?' I personally think this is ridiculous as I, personally, don't remember what I say half the time and so it would be more of a guess than a certain answer, or I may say more than one of the answers given below, in which case which one do I choose?

However when reading further it tells of us to only use visual and auditory methods as it 'is best conveyed in that modality'(N.Rose 2014). Even though I agree that the questionnaires are usually flawed I strongly believe that we should not discard of the kinaesthetic approach. This way of learning keeps students minds active and gives a hands on approach to learning keeping them engaged. Even though some may enjoy the visual/auditory learning better we still need to cater for those who enjoy learning through experience. This doesn't only benefit students who enjoy learning hands on but it also gives students an experience in what they have learnt leaving them with their own opinion.

I hope to fill you in with more information I have read and learnt about soon x