How can using a real life experience as a
stimulus influence or support the choreographic process for section 4A of the
GCSE specification
Context of Inquiry
This inquiry will be conducted within a mixed gender
secondary school which has recently received ‘academy status’ and is situated
within the Runcorn area. The school has been
judged as ‘outstanding’ by OFSTED in 2010. They are a National Teaching
School and a STEM Centre of Excellence. With regards to the schools
demographics there are a total of: 1096 students on roll at the school, 49.5%
of which are boys and the remainder 50.5% are girls. The percentage of students
with SEN statement or on action school plus is 12.7% and 0.6% of the schools
cohort are pupils with English as an additional language. In connection to the
schools pupil premium cohort, 24.7% of students are eligible for free school
meals.
The investigation will target students who study dance at
GCSE level. After conversations with the Arts teachers I decided to base this
inquiry on students who are studying unit 4b of the GCSE specification, I will
be seeking out information on how a real life experience can act as a form of
stimulus and influence or support the choreographic process. This study could
potentially benefit both the students and my own professional practice. I
currently work as a cover supervisory at this school and have just secured a
placement for teacher training in the subject of dance, this will commence
September 2015. This line of inquiry will be beneficial when I become a
qualified teacher as it focuses on a unit of GCSE work that the students
struggle with.
Rationale
After having conversations with a few year 11 students; I
found many were using traumatic life experiences as a stimulus for their
performances. When asked how dance has helped, the students responded
differently. Some said it helped to communicate issues they didn’t wish to
discuss which impacted on the construction of their choreography, others said
it acts as a release, while some simply stated it helped them to forget and
feel good. I have been using dance as a form of therapy for years without
realising, whether I have been dealing with a loss, a break up or just life
itself, one thing is for sure, my feelings and life experiences have impacted
my choreography. I believe working in this way enhanced my enjoyment and
contributed to the continuous flow of creativity which has helped me to create
original work. This got me thinking about how the students could do the same
and use this form of expression to better their performance and potentially
raise their final grade. As some students are already doing this it will be
interesting to see how their progress differs from the students using a
stimulus chosen for them.
The healing
nature of creative therapies has been reported in anecdotes that describe a way
of restoring wholness to a person struggling with either mind or body illness. (Pratt, 2004) This has stimulated
my interest in this topic and I have discovered many documents supporting the
benefits of the arts as a whole and how they can act as a form of therapy, for
students encountering difficulties as well as how it can support them as a
choreogrpaher.
Upon researching dance therapy I contacted our school
counsellor to discuss this as she has experience using art therapy. Through the
medium of Art, I have found that students can express themselves perhaps more
freely than trying to talk (Jenkins, 2015) . She has agreed to
help with any issues that may arise during the study and agreed to offer
support for students. I asked if I could publish her email in my inquiry
proposal as I felt it was very interesting and could potentially add new depth
to my study, Appendix E Rachel Jenkins.
This line of inquiry may benefit the student’s physical
and mental development, hopefully raising the quality of their work through
ownership of learning. The work produced could potentially be heightened due to
their levels of commitment and passion, in connection to the stimulus (life
experiences). Working with students in this way will provide behaviour
management strategies, enabling the students to channel negative energy into
creativity. This will hopefully raise levels of engagement which will impact
their overall achievement, befitting not only the students but the school as a
whole.
Through this inquiry I hope to enhance my own professional
development as a teacher by establishing new teaching styles that can be used
in all creative subjects. This will also have an impact on fellow colleagues
within the arts departments, by sharing new strategies for teaching whilst raising
awareness to any students in need.
In connection to this I am already aware of Neil Flemings
VARK model (2006) which consists of Visual, auditory, reading writing and
kinaesthetic learning styles. However, I hope to broaden my knowledge and
experience of how students learn and benefit from the various ways in which content
can be delivered. Some students learn while others have tuned out or are having
difficulty. In observing the best of teachers apparently there is no single
best way to teach but teachers who cater for the different needs of students by
using a variety of teaching approaches are rewarded with
improved learning (Fleming, 1995) . My overall aim is
to develop a style for structuring lessons that provides a safe and stimulating
environment, to enhance a love of learning
Aims and Objectives
The aim is to investigate how life experiences can engage
students and act as a form of therapy within performing arts; I will select a
sample of volunteered students for this inquiry.
I plan to use interviews with open ended questions to
give the students freedom to extend their responses, hoping to discover in
depth detail relating to the topic of inquiry. This will provide students with
the opportunity to discuss the process of this inquiry from their prospective;
which will hopefully encourage learners to be more engaged and committed. Giving
students the opportunity to voice their own opinions could possibly consolidate
information; which students will input into their diary entry, giving the
investigation a sense of unity as a whole.
Diary entries will be a productive way for students to document
their individual progress; which will better my understanding of how the
students are using their stimulus to help develop their choreography. In order
for this method to be consistent students will log their experiences after each
dance lesson. Students will comment on: how they are feeling and how their
lesson has helped or hindered their progress that day. I hope to link patterns
of behaviour to form strategies to best enable their learning.
Ethical Considerations
The selected sample will be a group of volunteers from
KS4 GCSE dance classes. The health and well being of students will be taken
into considerations with regards to health and safety giving the practical
nature of this inquiry. Permission has been requested from the school it’s self
for the inquiry to be conducted within those confines. The head teacher has
agreed to this investigation and sent a confirmation email of approval. The
head of the Arts department has also signed the employee support form and sent
a confirmation email of approval. I have consulted with the schools safe
guarding team who are going to proof read consent forms and guidelines. Further
more to this consent, separate forms will be sent home to the parents of
students involved.
All data will be stored on the schools data zone, for E
safety and safe guarding purposes. All students will remain anonymous while
involved in the study. The inquiry will be strategically planned so that data
is gathered with in lesson time and interviews take place either during break
or after school. A discussion will take place to see what dates and times
accommodate the student best. If lesson time is not sufficient for data entry,
then addition time slots will be allocated. The head of dance will be present
whilst interviews are conducted, these will take place in the dance hall via a
Dictaphone. A dance teacher will be present during all practical aspects of
this investigation.
Analysis
Interviews will be transcribed and all data will be coded
to highlight information specific or essential to the inquiry. I will review
the data generated and compare my findings to existing literature; to see if
there are any similarities or discrepancies. Data relevant to the inquiry will
then be extracted to form the findings with in my reports.
Resources
·
Schedule
·
Questionnaires
·
Log
books
·
Laptop
·
Dictaphone
Schedule
·
Week
1: Brief students on the inquiry. Hand out log books and distribute
questionnaires to selected sample.
·
Week
2: Retrieve completed questionnaires and use data to construct interview
questions based on answers. Monitor log books.
·
Week
3: Arrange and conduct interview with student A and B of the selected sample
·
Week
4: Arrange and conduct interview with student C and D.
·
Week
5: Transcribe interviews. Monitor log books
·
Week
6: Construct a method for coding and use this to analyse data
·
Weeks
7: Conduct second set of interviews with student A and B. Transcribe and code
interviews. Monitor log books
·
Week
8: Conduct second set of interviews with student C and D. Transcribe and code
interviews. Monitor log books
·
Week
9: Select data most relevant to the study and research literature that either
supports or contrasts.
·
Week
10: begin to write up findings and continue to search for literature that
supports data from questionnaires/ interview/ logs.
·
Week
11: Proof read and send off completed draft to tutor for feedback
·
Week
12: make relevant amendments utilising the feedback given and submit final
copy. Distribute a student evaluation form to see how they have benefitted from
this process. This is for my own professional development as a teacher and will
not be used as a form of data for this inquiry.
Conclusion
In conclusion to this inquiry, I hope to develop my own
professional knowledge as well as gaining a better understanding of how the
performing arts can benefit students throughout their choreographic process of
unit 4a who are using real life experiences as their stimulus. The results of
this investigation could potentially heighten my awareness of specific matters
that students may experience, better equipping me with the skills needed to
deal with those issues professionally and effectively, within my teaching
career. The information gathered from this experience could then be used to
support fellow colleagues in their teaching practice and could potentially be
utilised as a ‘teaching tool’ for other subject areas were creativity is
required.
Bibliography
Fleming, N. (1995). I'm different; not dumb Modes of
presentation (V.A.R.K.).
Jenkins, R. (2015, Jan). Art Therapy .
Pratt. (2004). Art, Dance and Music Therapy.
Retrieved from
http://jumpjet.info/Emergency-Preparedness/Neighborly-Response/Personal/Nursing/Art,_dance,_and_music_therapy.pdf
Appendix
Appendix A Critical
Reflection
Critical Reflection
Module 2
Developing Lines of Professional
Inquiry
I began
this section of the module by thinking deeply about my future and the kind of
teacher I wanted to be. Before devising the first set of questions, I thought
about my career and what I would like to achieve over the next few years.
Working within the Arts department of a secondary school has allowed me to gain
firsthand experience of teaching and what it would be like having my own
timetable and regular classes. The questions were based on my experiences taking
into account the changes I would make for the future and were just a starting
point. I put these questions to close friends and former colleagues who worked
in a variety of settings within the Arts. I posted the results on my blog ( Radford,
Claire. Developing Lines for Professional
Inquiry. Blogger. [Online]
2014)
Using
their answers I devised a second set of questions that focused specifically on
the importance of the arts for teenagers and the issues for performing arts
teachers within secondary schools. This time I distributed the questions to
fellow colleagues within my school and posted their comments to my blog (Claire Radford. Developing Inquiry
Questions . Blogger. [Online]
2014). I also discussed these questions with my SIG (Radford,
Claire. Google Plus Communities. Teachers Of Performing Arts. [Online]
2014) which helped me narrow down my line of inquiry once
more.
I found
setting up a SIG to be challenging at first. Most of my professional contacts
outside my current place of work use Facebook as a means for communication.
This was a problem for me as popular social media websites are somewhat of an
ethical concern for teachers leaving most unwilling to talk via these channels.
I began to look for new ways to communicate with professionals, ways which
would be both appropriate for teachers and suitable to use on school property.
I found creating my own community on Google to be the best method. I also set
up a LinkedIn account and a Pinterest, but found them to be very complicated.
Finding
literature was also a struggle for me. My local library is very small and
finding literature on the internet seems to just give me a headache. I prefer
to read books and take notes. I struggled with this for several days before
eventually reaching out to colleagues who introduced me to Google scholar. This
was very helpful. I also decided to spend a few hours trying to work out the
library on the Middlesex website, another computer based problem I found myself
giving up very easily. I do need to devote more time to really digging around
the MDX site and utilising all the resources there.
I managed to
find a few interesting articles on the internet which sparked new ideas. Dee
Dickinson posted an interesting article on the Johns Hopkins website titled: why are the Arts important (Dickinson, Dee. Johns Hopkins. Why
Are The Arts Important . [Online] 1993). Dee Dickinson is a name I hadn’t heard
before, after further research I discovered she is the CEO and founder of New
Horizons, a website that provides resources for educational change. The site is
full of helpful teaching strategies with help on how to identify, communicate
and implement successful educational methods.
It was
interesting to see how far support for the arts can stretch. I found a
newspaper article in the Washington post by a writer named Valerie Strauss and
a speech from a Labour MP Harriet Harman on the importance of the Arts (Harman, Harriet. Speech On Young
People and the Arts. Labour Press. [Online]
June 09, 2014). I discussed these articles on my blog (Radford,
Claire. Literature. Blogger. [Online] 2014).
Ethics
For this
section of the module I looked at my own working environment and researched the
schools policies and ethos. I have realised teaching has so many grey areas in
regards to ethics; there isn’t always a set of rules to follow. A teacher needs
to have a good moral compass and be able to trust their own judgment.
Considering my place of work and the ethical aspects involved I created two
lists, one for general teaching and another specifically related to teaching
dance, I posted and discussed these on my blog (Radford,
Claire. Ethics for Teaching in a Secondary
School. Blogger. [Online] 2014). I
searched through many school documents and spent hours reading ethics and codes
of conduct. I posted the schools documents for my job description highlighting
areas I thought were interesting or relevant to my inquiry which I discussed on
my blog (Radford,
Claire. Codes of Practice. Blogger. [Online] 2014).
The reader on
ethics for this module has provided me with the knowledge needed to identify
and focus on the main aspects of my job that are cause for concern with regards
to ethics. From this I have deduced that; teacher student relationships,
recording progress and behaviour management are all areas with many ethical
dilemmas. This is something I have discusses in depth with my fellow
colleagues, leading to new lines for inquiry.
The Kevin
carter case had a lasting effect on the way I view ethics. It helped me to
understand the concept of ethics and how sometimes there are no right or wrong
answers, only opinions. When it came to making a professional and personal list
of virtues I found some aspects entwined, but most were different. These
differences highlighted a truth I had been previously unaware of; the
difference between the persona I wish to portray in a professional environment
and the kind of person I wish to be in life. This section of the module forced
me to think about the kind of teacher and person I want to be, I posted my
thoughts on this to my blog (Radford,
Claire. Professional Ethics. Blogger. [Online] 2014).
During this module I have gained a great deal
of knowledge regarding ethics, which in turn has triggered an interest I hadn’t
had before. I am suddenly very aware of my fellow colleagues teaching styles
and methods. I am particularly fascinated with contradicting approaches to
behaviour management and the response different methods and teachers receive
from students. This new interest I feel can only benefit my future practice.
Inquiry pilot and draft
This section
of the module was all about trial and error. Just when I thought I had finally
narrowed down my inquiry question and finished my draft I would stumble across
a road block and changes would have to be made. With an ever changing timetable
and student’s time being limited I have been forced to make many drafts
considering many different approaches to my chosen topic. My inquiry will be
based on the effects dance can have on teenagers and how it can act as a form
of therapy.
After
gathering information from fellow colleagues about the important issues within
the department and researching outside opinions on the importance of dance, I
decided a line of inquiry most beneficial to my future practice would need to
be one that benefits the students. After observing a yr 11 class I realised
many students were using dance as a release, an escape from disruptive home
lives or general teen issues. Some even use real life traumas as a stimulus for
their GCSE choreography. I realised dance can act as a form of therapy and
after several conversations with students and the school counsellor (who has
experience using this form of therapy) I decided this was something I needed to
research.
I researched
this topic in depth and found many articles on arts therapy, but not so many on
the effects for teenagers. To help narrow down this topic I devised a
questionnaire specifically for teenagers related to dance therapy and gave it
to a GCSE dance class, I posted the questions and discussed this further on my blog (Radford,
Claire. Questionnaire. Blogger. [Online] 2014). The results confirmed I was onto
something and that I had several students within the class that would be ideal
for the study. After reading the reader on tools for inquiry I found that all
four methods would be beneficial to my study. I considered and discussed how
each method could potentially be beneficial to my inquiry and also commented on
the negative and ethical aspects in relations to my study and posted my thought
on my blog (Radford,
Claire. Tools For Professional Inquiry. Blogger. [Online] 2014). I had previously planned on using all
four methods during my inquiry, however when it came to putting together my
draft I realised there would be too much data to narrow down. Hopefully I can
incorporate more methods if time allows and the study runs smoothly.
After many
attempts I finally devised a rationale (Radford, Claire. Rationale. Blogger.
[Online] 2014) and completed the final draft of my inquiry plan (Radford, Claire. Inquiry Plan. Blogger. [Online] 2014).
Through
this line of inquiry I hope to develop my own professional knowledge as well as
gaining a better understanding of the importance of dance therapy for
teenagers.
Bibliography
Dickinson, D. (1993). Johns
Hopkins. Retrieved from Why Are The Arts Important : http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/strategies/topics/Arts%20in%20Education/dickinson_why_arts.htm
Harman, H. (2014, june 09). Speech On Young People and
the Arts. Retrieved from Labour Press:
http://press.labour.org.uk/post/88265413304/speech-on-young-people-and-the-arts-by-harriet
Pratt. (2004). Art, Dance and Music Therapy.
Retrieved from
http://jumpjet.info/Emergency-Preparedness/Neighborly-Response/Personal/Nursing/Art,_dance,_and_music_therapy.pdf
Radford, C. (2014). Codes of Practice. Retrieved from
Blogger:
http://claireradford1987.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/task-5b-codes-of-practice.html
Radford, C. (2014). Developing Inquiry Questions .
Retrieved from Blogger:
http://claireradford1987.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/task-4c-developing-inquiry-questions.html
Radford, C. (2014). Developing Lines for Professional
Inquiry. Retrieved from Blogger:
http://claireradford1987.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/task-4a-developing-lines-of.html
Radford, C. (2014). Ethics for Teaching in a Secondary
School. Retrieved from Blogger: http://claireradford1987.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/task-5a-ethics-for-teaching-in-high.html
Radford, C. (2014). Google Plus Communities.
Retrieved from Teachers Of Performing Arts:
https://plus.google.com/communities/114130618054157730705
Radford, C. (2014). Inquiry Plan. Retrieved from
Blogger:
http://claireradford1987.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/task-6d-inquiry-plan.html
Radford, C. (2014). Literature. Retrieved from
Blogger:
http://claireradford1987.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/task-4d-literature.html
Radford, C. (2014). Professional Ethics. Retrieved
from Blogger:
http://claireradford1987.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/task-5c-professional-ethics-reader-5.html
Radford, C. (2014). Questionnaire. Retrieved from
Blogger: http://claireradford1987.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/task-6a-questionnaire.html
Radford, C. (2014). Rationale. Retrieved from
Blogger:
http://claireradford1987.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/task-6c-rationale.html
Radford, C. (2014). Tools For Professional Inquiry.
Retrieved from Blogger: http://claireradford1987.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/tools-for-professional-inquiry-before.html
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