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......

Grades for Module 1?

I'm really confused....Do we get a grade for Module 1?

If we do, i'm not sure how we find out what it is?

I had a look on myUniHub but it all looks too confusing for me?

Anyone help?

Task 3b - Theories relating to networking

After finishing the course reader for the first time i felt somewhat confused. I thought i had a fair understanding of networking until i came across the various concepts and was confused weather i have ever witnessed these before in my own professional networks. 

This gave me a chance to explore my networks further and was somewhat surprised that i have experienced these concepts before.

Cooperation was an extremely interesting concept of networking. Robert Axelrod identifies it as ‘The benefits of cooperating fully with others, until you reach maximum benefit.’ [Reader 3] However we all identify this process as tit for tat, give and take or you scratch my back and i’ll scratch yours.

In the performing arts industry this seems to take place a lot and even i have worked alongside dancers who are willing to do whatever they can to help raise the profile of their own career. But has the outcome been positive? Have they gained anything from it?

I also seem to have built up my own network of friends on a social networking site whom i have met on jobs or at castings. Our relationship is not social in the slightest and we are only friends as somewhere in the future we might be able to help each other out with jobs, I was always told ‘Never burn your bridges.’ but ive always been wary of this way of these relationships. There have been times when I have mentioned that i am going to a casting and i’ve been asked What’s it for? Where is it? Can I have the details? I’ve selfishly thought to myself.....Why should I? What do I gain out of this? What if they attend the same casting as me and book the job? 

I came across this excellent quote from Jean Jacques Rousseau in The Social Contract

[The social contract] can arise only where several persons come together: but, as the force and liberty of each man are the chief instruments of his self-preservation, how can he pledge them without harming his own interests, and neglecting the care he owes himself? [Rousseau 1762, p. 13]

Affiliation was an important part of networking for me. Crisp and Turner suggest that it is “Building a network of support that will help us when we’re in need.”  I think it’s safe to say that everyone has used affiliation at some point in their lives. I have built up my most important networks around me using this concept, these include my family and friends whom i use for support when i need to get an outside opinion for my professional business. 

I came across an intriguing article produced by Scholastic, which is for parents raising children and the importance of affiliation. They explain that as human beings we are born dependent and we are made to work and live in groups.

It is in groups that your child has thousands of brief emotional, social, and cognitive experiences that help define his development. The capacity to join in, contribute to, and benefit from groups is essential to his healthy development. [http://www.scholastic.com/resources/article/the-importance-of-affiliation/]

It made me question myself weather i would be the person i am today without growing up with affiliation. All these life experiences that i have shared with my closest networks have made me the person i am today. This article also got me thinking that about my profession as a teacher and working in education. It is not only important for myself to affiliate but to make sure my students also are benefiting from it.

Social Constructionism was a hard concept for me to grasp at first. It refers to the way we create meaning through social interaction with others. The idea is that meaning isn’t waiting to be discovered but is in fact constructed within a culture or group. Breakdancing or B-Boying wasn’t waiting to be discovered, it was socially constructed in the South Bronx of New York City to replace fighting between gangs of youth. 

Connectivism is a learning theory for the digital age and contests the traditional classroom method of learning from teacher to pupil. 

The aim of teaching is not only to transmit information, but also to transform students from passive recipients of other people’s knowledge into active constructors of their own and others’ knowledge - [Richard F. Elmore, Education for Judgment: The Artistry of Discussion Leadership, xvi]

Since joining the BAPP course, i already have an established network in this concept. It has provided me with support when i have not fully understood a theory or module task and i have used the network of blogs to give myself inspiration and to trigger new ideas.

The last concept of networking that reader three presented me with was “Communities of Practice”

Members of a community of practice, weather work place, special interests, virtual or of any other form, come together because of a mutual interest and generate a shared experience of engagement in the community of practice - [Reader 3 - Page 16]

The idea that learning from each other in a community of practice has been visible in my networks since graduating from performing arts college. Stepping into the industry after 3 years of training can be quite daunting and i’ve recognized that you can never be fully prepared of what is ahead of you.  Most of my learning actually took place after i had graduated and it was through meeting other professionals in the industry and learning from each other. I know that i can always turn to others in my community of practice when in need of help.

Exploring these concepts has given me new ideas on how to improve on my own networks and the ability to gain everything i can from them. Although some of the concepts will not be used as much compared to others, i feel now that i have a much better understanding of them, i am more likely to use them to their maximum potential.

Task 3c - Sources of Information

As i was beginning to identify my sources of information, it became apparent to me how much i use the internet and was asking myself “How would i survive without the internet?

1. Google - This will always be my first source of information. Without a doubt, whenever i’m stuck i can always guarantee on Google to help me out. I can use this at home when working or even when i am on the move with my phone. Although it might not be 100% useful all of the time, it will help me further progress what i’m looking forward and open up new doors to other websites that i wouldn’t have even thought about.

1. Youtube - I always use Youtube for any inspiration of help with a certain style of dance. It seems easier sometimes to have someone talk you about a subject rather than reading pages after pages of information. Also for inspiration purposes it will help me with any choreography ideas or music ideas.

1. Twitter - A relatively new tool for me but i seem to be using it more so than ever at the moment. It has a unique search will allows you to search any ‘tweet’ that someone has posted. Sometimes this can be absolutely useless and lead me nowhere. There are a few times though that i have found great posts or blogs that have been tweeted. Twitter is also my first source for news. Check out this interesting post :- http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/internet/10-news-stories-that-broke-on-twitter-first-719532

1. Facebook - I’m using this social network less these days for my sources of information, but there has been times in the past when i have resorted to asking a question on my status and i know i will immediately get a response from my friends. Are these responses 100% accurate though? 

1. Classes & Workshops - When i do get some free time, i usually head to London and take classes in the styles that i teach to make sure that i can improve on my teaching and my technique. These can be a great source of information weather it be from the teacher or fellow class mates. I always come out from class with buckets of new ideas, moves and information which i note down and use for future references. 

Looking back at my top 5 sources of information that i can use in my professional practice, it’s amazing that 4 of them are on the internet and 2 of them are social networking sites. I can also access most of this information anywhere i want with the option of my iPhone which is connected to the internet almost all the time. 

Task 3a - Current Networks

In this task we are asked to explore our professional networks. I attended the 3rd campus session back in March and this helped me give a bigger understand of all the networks that i use or have around me.

Working as a professional dancer i have various networks that i keep to make sure i’m constantly updated with the latest jobs and auditions and to make sure i am as some professionals would say “in the loop.”

One of my most important networks as a Dancer would be my agents. I have various agents that represent me for work and i am always keeping in contact with them to make sure i am being put forward for castings. Without my agents i would find it extremely hard to be able to find work. There is still work out there for dancers without agents however it is much harder and you are not invited to private castings etc.

I am a member of Facebook which i use as a personal network, however i also use this a professional network. I am friends with various Casting Directors and Agents which are able to sometimes provide information of the latest jobs in a simple status update. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to gain a job through Facebook.

Other useful networks on Facebook are friends from college and also Dancers that i have worked with in the past or met at castings. There have been times when one of these contacts has mentioned about an audition or contacted me because they thought i might be suitable.

I also use Facebook as a professional network when i am running my own dance school, but it is managed differently. I have a separate page under the name of my company and the parents/students can add us as friends to keep up to date with the latest news, photos and videos. This have proved to be extremely successful for my business as various parents/friends have shared our updates and photos to which their friends have seen and added us as a friend. 

I am a firm believer in the making sure you don’t cross personal with business and now make sure that any students and parents are only friends with our company’s page and not my personal page.

My biggest network for my dance school is the Parents. Of course they are a customers but they are a great network for my business. A lot of my clientele have been recommend by the parents of the dance school or through word of mouth as i operate my business in a small village and i believe this has helped our success a lot.

I plan to improve my networks for my business by extending relationships with local schools and communities. This will be achieved by expanding my customers and network of parents and also creating a new network with the head teachers of schools.

Below you will see a diagram that i drew at the 3rd Campus Session showing my networks around me. I created around the idea of a solar system or universe and all the plants were revolving around the sun which was myself. The closet networks to myself were the most important and least important were further away.

I soon realised that in the future this diagram will be changing rapidly and making changes. Some networks will change from being further and away and becoming closer, and perhaps some networks will be lost.

I’m already beginning to focus more of my time on my business and teaching, so already some of my networks which i created as a dancer will be less important to me than those that are relevant now. However, i will still keep these networks on my rader as i may want to revisit them again in the future.

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.