Literature - M.Gough

This book has so much information of how to become a great teacher and how to teach creatively. This will be great to tie in with my Inquiry as I really want to learn how to better my own practice as a teacher.

 

Student as a Learner

First of all Gough talks about the 'Student as a Learner' and how we need to know each student as an individual. We need to know;

Why are they there?

What do they hope to gain from the workshop/classes?

How do they see the workshop/class?

Who are they?

 

This will make me aware of how to deal with the student or any parents/guardians and how much you can push them in a class/workshop setting. For example you need to be aware if a child is there for a hobby and enjoys the socialisation whilst gaining confidence and qualifications in dance, or if a child is there as they may want  to peruse a career in dance so they will be focused and determined on that goal as well as loving attending class. As each child is there for different reasons it doesn't mean treating the children differently but if a child wants to take it up as a career you may approach them differently as they begin to grow and become more set on the idea of becoming a professional performer. This may mean that you could become harder on them if giving a correction especially if it is a reoccurring fault but you may push them a little harder which may challenge the whole group they are in as you wouldn't single them out but the main reason you are trying it out is for that specific student but the whole group benifits. This gives the whole group a challenge whilst having a bit of fun. Before doing this you would have to talk this through with the student and parents before carrying this procedure out.

It is necessary to be aware of the background and culture of the students. This will affect the form of the dance class and the choice of material, kinds of accompaniment, the method of presentation and strategies to be used. (M.Gough. pg. 8)

M.Gough went on to talk about how important it is to know what the background of each student.  This could effect how I may present my work or I may be more careful when choosing music.

Beginning with Ourselves

 

Further on I found it extremely interesting as she believes that we need to begin with ourselves and the way in which I am as a person and to recognise my own strengths and weaknesses. The way in which I speak, move and present myself will instantly have an effect on my students, this will automatically set you up for either a good class or a challenging one.

Effective teaching requires active participation and commitment by the teacher. (M.Gough, pg. 14)

I can relate to this a lot as I feel that when a teacher is 100% committed and dedicated in what they are teaching then the students will gain more from that subject. If a teacher joins in and gives everything and has gone away and done their own homework and research it provides the students a more exciting atmosphere and helps them to engage quicker and easier. When I was a student myself I gained more interest in the subject matter where the teacher was fully engaging us by their own enthusiasm of the subject rather than a teacher who would just read out of a text book.
When your engaged in a subject matter it is probably because the teacher has used their words creatively and their body movements match it. This also helps stimulate the students imagination and thought process making it a more colourful journey rather than a dull, dim one.

A teacher who uses language effectively and imaginatively, and who uses movement skilfully and expressively, can provoke, encourage and enthuse students to engage with the activity. (M.Gough, pg. 14)

As well as the way we portray ourselves in the class we need to make sure that the way we present the work and class is a way in which all students enjoy not making it too hard but not making it patronising. The involvement of all students must be kept fair and all students need to be kept engaged at all times. This will be easier if we, as teachers, have organised our classes, with the structure of the class set out in a way in which it will progress to make the students have a sense of achievement rather than getting bored and standing still. 

When trying to figure out what the best methods for teaching dance are, we need to look at ourselves and figure out where we gained interest from and how we learnt from our past teachers.

The more we understand about how we learn, the more effective we are likely to be as teachers. (M.Gough, pg. 14)

In the book it tells you to remember a good and bad learning experience and give reasons as to why they were. This reminded me of all the great points about the 'good' experience I had and also reminded me why by 'poor' learning experience was so bad. Here I have done a spider diagram to compare them both.

To the left is my spider diagrams and the right is the M.Gough book

Many points that I have already read about have appeared. The way in which they both came across right at the beginning of the classes were totally different as the 'Good experience class' teacher was very confident and kept herself as a teacher and didn't try to make friends with everyone where as the 'poor experience class' came across very unsure and tried to please everyone at the beginning of the class.
I will learn from this and keep in my head how I preferred my teachers to be and that I need to remember that as a dance teacher your not there to be their friend, you are there to teach and from being a great teacher it earns respect and a likability.

 

Framework

The 'dance as art' model - compose, perform, appreciate - provides a framework for planning and working.(M.Gough, pg. 5)

Reading this made me think of how this framework relates to my practice and how all three of these aspects are important for my own students to grow as performers.
Compose - the classes and rehearsals where the technique and hard work is produced.
Perform - this is where the hard work and classes pay off and the art of performance can be practiced whilst experiencing a fantastic opportunities.
Appreciate - is where the students are taught to look back and either think, be told or to see what they have achieved.
As a teacher I want all of my students to have the experience of doing all three of experiencing praise and a sense of achievement by learning to recognise their own achievements and to appreciate the hard work and effort they have put in.