Task 2d - Inquiry

I felt comfortable with this task and answering these questions. It seemed to be able to consider for a moment what my path for the future was and how it would be achieved. 

What is my practice?

I graduated from performing arts college back in 2006 and since then have done various jobs performing. Weather this be filming commercials, dancing on a cruise ship around the world or generally guest teaching at different dance schools. It wasn’t until last year that i had a chance to sit back and reflect on what i had achieved and it was convinced there was something else out there for me. Something bigger...

I’ve always wanted the challenge of running my own dance school and had this dream from a young age.

My best friend and I decided it was finally the right time to start some dance classes which would eventually build into a dance school. We realised there was was a massive gap for some street dance in the area and as this is a style we both love we couldn’t be more than excited to start some class. After a few months of planning and hard work we started the ‘BPM Dance Academy’ on Saturday mornings. We also branched out into various other opportunities including Workshops, After School Clubs and Birthday Parties.

It’s just coming up to a year that we have been open and to say I’m proud of our success is an understatement. Our started with 2 classes and 8 pupils and in less than a year have gained an excellent reputation and more than 7 classes a week with over 100 pupils! It’s great to be able to turn the dream into a reality. The next question for myself now is What’s Next?

What in your daily practice gets you really enthusiastic to find out more?

Since starting my own business up, i have been extremely enthusiastic about my line of work. I enjoy juggling between the creative side of teaching with choreography and also the business side. I’ve found it intensely rewarding to say that i taught myself a lot and to be able to sit back and say “I created that”

My biggest challenge was creating my own website. I had played around in the past with a few packages but as i wanted to create the ‘Perfect’ website, i knew i had to step it up to another level. I did all my research and found tutorials online to help me. I also had to find the right servers to host the website on and register the domain. There was a lot of trial and error at first but once i had finished the final product, i was proud of myself. I am enthusiastic about how i can always improve on my website and looking for new updates etc.

Have a look and see what you think - www.bpmdanceacademy.co.uk

What do you love about what you do?

Being a dance teacher has many great benefits. I see many children that come into my school that have never danced a step before in their lives. My biggest passion is watching a child develop and grow confidence as a dancer. I especially love a challenge and being able to teach a student who finds to hard to follow rhythm or choreograph are the biggest reward when you see that they have improved.

I struggle sometimes to be able to call what i do “Work.” Yes, it is how i earn a living. However, because this i something i enjoy so much and i am my own boss, I find it hard to be able to relate with the word “Work.” This is why i love that i do!

What don’t you understand?

As much i am fully enthusiastic about the business side of my company. There is a lot of topics that i am struggling to understand. It’s coming up to the end of my first tax year for our business and i am slightly worried about dealing with it. We have an accountant who will be helping us. However, I normally like to know everything that relates to the company and don’t just want to leave everything in their hands. 

Another topic i would like to improve and research on is learning difficulties within children. As i teach over 100 children on a weekly basis. I’m have various children from all types of background’s and some with learning difficulties. This is not something i have really experienced before in the past and would like to be become more aware of it and know exactly what i am dealing with. 

After finishing this task i have a better understanding of what i would possibly might be my line of inquiry. I am always looking at ways of improve my teaching in dance education and also the business side of running a company. It’s the combination of the both that will help improve my practice and prepare me for the future.

Task 2c - Reflective Theory

Reflection is something that i have encountered in my profession many times. I’ve always been aware of the term but wasn’t quite sure what it meant. It’s apparent that i’ve been doing it a lot but i wasn’t sure how i was doing it and why? Why do we reflect?

‘It is not sufficient simply to have an experience in order to learn.   

Without reflecting upon this experience it may quickly be forgotten,  

or its learning potential lost” - Gibbs (1988)

As a dancer, i seem to reflect back to when i was learning myself. I will always remember my teachers corrections for me to improve as a dancer and whenever executing certain moves, i can still hear them in the back of my mind. With this in mind, i seem to always be reflecting and i’m now passing on this knowledge to my pupils that i’m teaching. 

Schön identifies two kinds of reflection: -  Reflection-In-Action and Reflection-On-Action (Schön, 1987)

Reflection-In-Action (RIA) means to reflect in the present tense. 

Reflection-On-Action (ROA) means to reflect after the practice has occurred. 

In my practice as a Dance Teacher, I’m used to both kinds of reflection in my practice but i’m more familiar with Reflection-In-Action. I find it easier to Reflect-In-Action when teaching a lot as i need to make sure that the class i am teaching is keeping up. If for some reason, the students are struggling with the choreography, the pace of the class or aren’t simply keeping focused, then i immediately reflect-in-action and draw from past experiences to make sure that everyone is keeping up. 

However, i could argue that i also Reflect-On-Action when teaching as i always look back on the class and reflect on What went wrong? What i could improve? and What worked?

Using a combination of both Reflection-In-Action and Reflection-On-Action will help me to develop the reflection of my practice.

I was immediately interested in Kolb’s learning cycle. Kolb’s learning style is represented by the four stage learning cycle. Kolb and Fry (1975) argue that the learning cycle can begin at one of any of the four points. 

After reviewing the cycle, i decided to apply this to a recent event to show that i can relate to all 4 sections of the cycle. I have learnt that you can join the cycle at any stage but most of the time, any one stage often leads into another.

Choreographing a routine for my dance class i will:

• Prepare for the class by listening to various styles of music and planning in my head the choreography -(Active Experimentation)

• Creating the choreography -(Concrete Experience)

• Review the routine that i have made up- (Reflective Observation)

• Come to any conclusions about the choreography. Any changes to be made? Different music? -(Abstract Conceptualisation)

As you can see from the above. I follow the circle around when creating my choreography to make sure that i get the exact product that i want. This is something that i’ve always naturally done but wasn’t aware it was a process of reflecting. 

However after more research, i came across a different learning cycle by Greenaway. His cycle is a more simplified approach than Kolb’s but i something that i can relate more to. Greenaway outlines 3 simple steps to help learn from an experience. This cycle also relates to Schön’s thesis of Reflection-On-Action as it is a process that is used to reflect afterwards.

1. DO - Have an experience

2. REVIEW - Review what happened and what can be learned from it.

3. PLAN - Plan a way to approach the next round of experience.

It wasn’t until i finished reading ‘Reader 2’ that i realised i was reflecting on different events every day. Weather this be in my personal or work life. Now that i have more of an understanding of the term “Reflection” and the process of “Reflective Practice.” I’m sure i will be using it a lot more in my daily experiences. I’m hoping that my practice will improve more now that i’m more aware.

Task 2b - Journal Writing Experience

After completing this task, i have found it to be incredibly rewarding but also a challenge.

Initially i was always a bit weary of writing a journal. I've never been one to record any of my personal thought's and feelings. At college we were asked to keep a journal to record our day to day activities but i remember never being able to keep up and filling it in at the last minute.

I decided to attempt the 9 suggestions of writing over the course of 9 days. I didn't want to use these suggestions on any old day. The thought of logging down a lazy sunday and reflecting on watching tv whilst eating wouldn't help me in anyway. So i would only write about my work days which took slightly longer than nine days as i don't have the usual 9 to 5 job.

I enjoyed recording down my entires in various ways. "Description" and "List" were quick and easy to record down my day and from an outsider's perspective it might be interesting to see what my typical day involves. However, i'm not sure these journal entries will help my with any reflection for the future.

"Initial Reflection","What If?"  and "Evaluation" seemed to be the most rewarding. Looking back at the my entries, i can see how i was was feeling, what might have gone wrong and what i can improve on. "Initial Reflection" was how i would have normally written any journal entry. However, i sometimes found it hard to put thoughts to paper and really explain how i was feeling. I know what i wanted to say but i couldn't explain it? I’m sure looking back at this, it will be an interesting read.

My least favourite entries were "Graphs, Charts and Diagram." I didn't enjoy not being able to write down my day and express my feelings. I used the Graphs, Charts and Diagrams to record down my classes each day and compare them. I compared the focus, improvement and choreography each day between classes.

The last entry was writing from "Another View." This style of writing was intriguing and something i was completely new to. I enjoyed writing from the perspective of another person. I wrote my entry from the view of someone watching me teach one of my dance classes. The result was great and i discovered lots about myself and the way i teach. I'm sure this will be a valuable tool for the future to see areas that i can improve on without reflecting myself.

Once this task was finished, i realised that i really enjoyed the different ways to record a journal entry and that i'm no longer afraid to express my feelings in future journal entires. I'm now looking forward to writing my future journal entries instead of avoiding them.

Task 1c: Audio-Visual

Ive been pondering for a while on how i was going to make my youtube video for this task. Uploading and Editing wouldn't have been a problem as i have been doing this for years.

However, being artistic, i wanted to do something different for a change and challenge myself. My idea came to me this morning and it seemed like a good idea at the time........

An hour or 2 later i have the finished product. Let me know what you think. I hope this gets across my feelings of starting out on the BAPP course!

KONY 2012

Dear BAPP Students,

Waking up this morning, i started my usual routine of logging onto Facebook and keeping up to date with all the activities of my friends and family.

A few of my friends were sharing a Youtube movie which i was told i needed to watch. After watching this movie i have never been so moved by the power of social networking and i immediately had to share this on my blog. 2012 is the year we can make a difference.

Please watch this short movie.

Ahhhhhh

Really starting to feel the pressure now.

I feel like i'm massively behind everyone else as i missed the last 2 sessions.

Work has been crazy at the moment and i feel like i'm always thinking about the course but never having any time to log my thoughts. Tomorrow i'm spending a whole day dedicated to catching up with everyone's blogs and finishing some tasks that i previously started.

I'm actually looking forward to it!