Task 5B: Ethics Continued

After finishing task 5A on my thoughts of Ethics, it was insightful to continue with this task of looking at the codes of practice/regulations at my own places of work and see how they differ. 

My first comparison was my own business. As mentioned previously, we don’t have our own code of practice, so i put some questions to my business partner and asked her what she considered to be her own ethics. 

Responsibility - Having a responsibility towards students to engage them and inspire them for the future. Being a role model that many students look up to.

Fun - Important that students are enjoying themselves in a safe secure environment. Students feel safe when entering class and don’t ever feel embarrassed. They shouldn’t feel scared.

Providing - Catering to all needs and differentiating for individuals.

Predictably, most of ethics matched apart from a few which are mentioned above. These are of course are the same ethics that i would indeed use, however i wasn’t fully aware that i was using them.

My second comparison was a Independent Boarding School that i’ve been teaching at for 2 years. This was interesting to look at as my own business is out of school hours and casual. Below is a list of teaching standards that are expected by the school as a minimum

1. Set high expectations which inspire, motivate and challenge pupils
2. Promote good progress and outcomes by pupils
3. Demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge
4. Plan and teach well structured lessons
5. Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils
6. Make accurate and productive use of assessment
7. Manage behavior effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment
8. Fulfill wider professional responsibilities

These seem fairly standard ethics that i would assume to be in place in most areas of education. Although most of these are similar to my own ethics which i follow, these seem to be much more formal. 

Task 5a: Ethics

Ethics. 

An insightful topic for myself discovering the codes of practice i automatically have been using whilst running my business.

This was extremely interesting for me as one would assume that most people who are running a business normally have their own ethics/code of practice. However, as my business partner and myself have been teaching together for numerous years we rarely seem to disagree when working together and our ethics would be the same.

Normally i would pick up the phone and give her a ring asking her what her ethics are when teaching/running our business. But sticking to the task given to me, i have to consider the ethics which i use without referencing to documents or discussion. 

I decided it would be interesting if wrote down all the ethics that i would normally use in my workplace and then ask my partner what her standard ethics are. Comparing them afterwards will show if our ethics differ.

My ethics whilst running my business (Teaching Dance)

Health & Safety - Student’s safety is always a number 1 priority in my line of work. Weather this be making sure moves are being executed correctly, the studio/workplace is clean/tidy and acceptable to dance in, fire exits are known & generally keeping an eye on the students to make sure they are well.

Punctuality - Arriving at least 15 mins before any dance class to make sure i have enough time to set up and are able to greet students and parents as they arrive. Also making sure that my punctuality whilst sending invoices or replying to voicemails, emails and messages is impeccable. 

Commitment - Always making sure that i put 100% into every class i teach so that every student is getting the most out of every class.

Preparation - Being preparing is an important factor as a dance teacher. Making sure i am fully prepared for every dance class with the correct music, prepared choreography and a lesson plan.

Respect - I always make sure that all my students know how to respect each other during a dance class. Supporting other students at all times when dancing. 

Behavior - I do not accept any bad behavior in my classes. Students are warned if being disruptive to other pupils and absolutely no fighting or swearing. 

Fun - Always making sure that every student is having an enjoyable dance class and as well as working hard at the same time they are having fun! 

Improving my methods - As a dance teacher i am constantly trying to improve my methods of teaching. This is usually done by attending dance classes to make sure i am improving myself to which i can share this knowledge with my students.

After re-reading through my idea of ethics, i couldn’t help but think these actually sound a lot like rules? Are these ethics something that i have i have learnt from somewhere else or just my natural instincts?

Task 4B - SIG

I've finally worked out how to create my own SIG (special interest group) on LinkedIn.

Choosing a name for my group proved to be difficult at first but i settled for Teacher of Dance in Education in the end.

Hoping that fellow practitioners who share the same interests as me will be able to join my group and we can help answer each other's questions.

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Teachers-Dance-in-Education-4711131?home=&gid=4711131&trk=anet_ug_hm

So...any professionals that are interested......Join My SIG!!

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......

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?