Task 4D: Award Title

I've been thinking about this award title for a while now. It was mentioned to us at a session back on the first module that we would need to think of our own title.

It's been obvious to me for a while that my career path was always going to be related to Dance and that my award title would definitely relate to this. Since developing my set of question's for a while now, i've realised that i would like to work towards my future of working in Dance in education. Even though my own dance school runs out of school hours, i still see my classes as education for the future.

Therefore i have proposed that my title would be:

BA(Hons) Professional Practice in Dance Education

Task 4a: Further Questions

As mentioned in my previous blog, i was still undecided in what direction i would be heading towards for my inquiry. Initially i was split between my future in teaching and running my business. It occurred to me that i didn't necessarily need to pick a side and would develop a set of questions which would benefit my future in teaching and also help evolve my business.

An interesting theory came to me the other day after a parent came and spoke to me at the end of one of my classes. Their child had only been attending my dance classes for a while but they were extremely complimentary towards my classes and mentioned that their child had been having a tough time at school with other children and since attending classes, their confidence had grown and they were now doing much better at school because of our school. This reminded me that in the past i have had numerous comments from parents along the same lines.

My further questions are:

1. Can dancing help improve a child's education?

2. What areas of my business can i improve to help develop a child's future?

3. Will children with learning difficulties benefit from dance classes?

4. Will exploring the history of dance help improve myself myself as an educator of dance? Will students benefit more from learning the history of the dance style they are learning?  

Task 4a: Questions

After finishing the first module last academic year, i was already well aware that i would need to start preparing for module 2 and develop a set of questions for my line of inquiry.

I had spoken to Paula Nottingham briefly with a few questions that i was thinking of, however it seems in the last few weeks since i have gone back into teaching after a long summer break. My questions are beginning to emerge and take shape.

My biggest problem however is which route i want to go down. At the moment i run my own dance school/business as well as working as a guest teacher at a independent school. My line of inquiry will either be to find new ways in which i can expand, develop and improve my own business or how i can successfully make a transition in to dance education.

These are a few of the questions that have emerged which i hope to adress to fellow colleagues and students to help me identify what my line of inquiry will be.

1. Will having professional experience in performing and dance make me a better teacher?

2. Am i more likely to succeed in gaining jobs in education because of my professional working background and credits?

3. I'm used to teaching freelance and most of my classes are free work. Will i struggle in the future with planning lessons and working to a criteria? What can i do to make this transition easier to prepare myself?

4. What will make me a good teacher? How can i already improve on my teaching methods that i now use?

5. Are most performers that are now working as teachers because of limited work? Was this an easier way of to earn a living?

6. What do most students expect to gain from choosing dance? A stepping stone to further dance education?

7. What do parents expect from a dance class for their children? Improvement? Fun? Social?

8. How can i expand my business? What other classes can i offer?

My questions are still developing. I hope to post more......