6a questionnaire

When I started to read into my 4 tools I could use for my inquiry in Module 3, I was unsure of which to use at first. So when I read my tasks for Part 6 I was glad I could plan and conduct at least one of them for a trial attempt. I choose I would have an attempt at a questionnaire as I was unsure to choose from interviewing or conducting a survey/questionnaire.
I had so many idea's for questions, and wanted to vary which type of questions, I did not want my participants to feel they had to write pages and pages, I wanted something quick and easy and a questionnaire that was not too time consuming. I found constructing my questions very hard and spent a few days re wording, simplifying and cutting them down but making sure they were easy to understand. My first attempt I started printing and then realised there was a silly mistake instead of putting down '12 teaching skills' I had put 10 and you had to rate them from 1-10 so I had to cancel my printing and change a silly mistake. I eventually narrowed my questions down to 12 which had 3 bigger questions, 2 questions rating 1-10, and a few closed questions and selecting answer/s, I then handed them out to a work colleague, and students I went to college with that now teach elsewhere or are touring in a show.
I found questionnaires harder than what I thought, there was a lot of time spent conducting the questionnaire and then analysing it, but I did find the answers helpful I just wish I could of had more in-depth questions. I then asked a couple of my close participants if they found it too short and if I could of made it longer but they both agreed it was the right amount of length and if it had of been longer people would of lost interest and their answers would of been short and not completely answered.

Question 1
Question 1 was easy, I first wanted to know what age group they feel under. I Had no one select under 18 or 31-41 most people were 18-25 then I had one from each group of 26-30 and 41 or older.

Question 2
Was still easy and I wanted to make sure everyone had been train in some way for dance, no one selected 'not ever' and most people started dancing 0-3 and a few older.

Question 3
Most people a gave my survey too, agreed to having some kind of paid employment on stage, varying between choreographing for pantomimes and touring the UK in Top Hat. I still had 3 that had no experience which is what I wanted, I wanted to compare and see if their answer were different to each others.

Question 4

For question 4 I made a pie chart to show the results more clearly, the smaller sections explain these are what people think are more important skills for teachers to have for example 'passion' and 'Hard working' is the smallest section by far. The larger sections such as 'organised' mean people found these less important over all.


Question 5
This question I thought would be very tough for participants, and was unsure weather to select it as one of my questions at first but not one participant complained about it being a hard question, I asked if you had to choose between expressive or technical skills, which would it be? I found the answer to this question was 4 people chose expressive while the remaining 3 chose technical.

Question 6
I was shocked with this question too actually, I thought the majority of people would prefer performing on stage compared to an exam situation. I once again found 4 who preferred performing on stage and 3 preferred exams, I now want to research into this further and see what else I can find out.

Question 7
Here is the chart for the results of question 7:

Question 8
I wanted to find out which type of teacher achieved the best from their students, I gave them 4 choices which were friendly, strict, high expectations and experience/respected. Most people chose experienced/respected but 3 chose high expectations and only one chose friendly which left strict with no options.

Question 9
Most people preferred an older teacher that could not demonstrate but there were still 3 that chose a younger teacher that could demonstrate but was not experienced performing on stage. I need to look at this question deeper as I think it also depends on the age of the students, younger children would prefer a teacher to join in compared to older students prefer the experience and wisdom.

Question 10
Asking people how important it is for your teacher to have knowledge on the dance industry, and being able to say they have had experience in auditioning etc. Most people rated this between 8,9 and 10. But again it would depend on the student so I would need to look deeper into this question.

Question 11
The last two questions were more open and people could write a sentence or two. My first question was asking if teachers that had the experience of performing on stage have a different side of knowledge other teachers do not have even if they are qualified. Everyone agreed having the experience would be an advantage as having more knowledge in anything is always better than none. It can help guide children in the right direction, and being able to admire a teacher who has been out there in the dance industry as such but also people said not every professional performer would be a good teacher it takes a lot more different skills to be a good teacher.

Question 12
My last question was asking people in their own experience how did they prepare for an audition or exam etc. Most of them said researching on the internet, practicing dance moves constantly, but I believe everyone said teachers guidance or friends that had done it before etc.

Although I did learn a lot from my questionnaire, I now think I will choose observing and interviewing as I will get more in-depth answers and be able to have a conversation about why and what if in my interviews instead. I may not be able to have as many participants while interviewing but at least I will be happier with the more in depth answers, I would prefer a few good answers than lots of vague answers. I am glad I had an opportunity  to try out a questionnaire and the research has helped a lot, I now know what I need to look into deeper, from looking at my results I was surprised with a couple but now want to know why.

5b

It is important for dance teachers to understand the code of conduct, this means knowing the true values of dance teaching standards, this is built upon ethical reasons and being responsible for the practice of dance in a professional manner. Being clear on how they go about their classes, for instance most dance schools have a hands on policy as to many teachers would find it impossible to teach a class without touching a student, in our own minds our intention is clear, however, in the mind of a pupil it is less clear and in a certain situation it could be misinterpreted. We use our touch to guide and correct their posture, turning out a leg in ballet, stretching behind the knee etc. Also for the parents to have expectations for the teacher such as professional behaviour, actions and a good work attitude. The code should cover all five areas:

1. Professional competence
2. Responsibility
3. Safety
4. Working with people
5. Commitment to the code of conduct

When I first started assisting at the dance school I teach at now, the first thing I applied for was a chaperone license. This also includes a CRB check which is a now known as a background check that is performed by the Criminal Records Bureau. It is essential and that all people working with children or vulnerable adults can produce a clear and up to date record so all teachers need a CRB check. 

Industry standard for Dance Teachers

• First you need to understand a dancer's body (for example anatomy) and what type of nutrition to apply to dance practice and performing.
• Secondly it is essential you have knowledge on how to prevent injuries, making sure your class cools down to stop lactic acid pooling.
• For you and your students to understand growth spurts, growing pains etc... And for your students to know it is normal.
• For your students safety you all need to understand the requirements for a safe dance practice, is there anything on the floor that is sharp, split liquids, or anything that should not be there? Are there any hazards or risks in the room? Is there too many students for the amount of space you have? Also everyone needs to understand spatial awareness and being aware of each other dancing especially when travelling across or around the room. 
• All teachers need to complete at least a basic first aid course and need to make sure they have a first aid kit with them at all times teaching. I am currently trying to organise a group trip for us teachers to go again just so we can refresh on the course again.
• Continuing Professional Development (CPD) on the above subjects and have practiced OR played a part in a role play in a make believe situation that could happen in real life.
• Being a part of a group or being a member of an organization, so you are always updated on information in the dance field.

Teaching students and helping them obtain a certain level of knowledge or completing a task is an important job. Having the correct requirements to be a teacher is essential, weather you want to be an elementary teacher, secondary school teacher or special education teacher of all levels.
A primary school teacher has to have knowledge and be trained in all subjects but may specialise on one topic more such as physical education which could include dance.
Teaching at a secondary school level you have the option to focus on one subject which could just be dance or you could combined it with drama or musical theatre as they all interlink with the performing arts.
If you wanted to go further and teach at college or a different special education teacher you would need at least a level 3 qualification in that specific subject. You would also need to obtain a teaching qualification to a relevant level depending on the job you are aiming towards.
Most dance teachers in the private sector have been trained in most genres of dance but teach their strongest genre as they have more passion and normally more knowledge on it, for example when I was younger I went to a local dance school that just taught ballet.

5a

Ethics
I have never really used or understood the term ethics until now but I now realise it is surprising as it is apart of all our lives, personal, professional, religion etc... For the decisions we make or our actions in life, ethics is apart of. Before making a decision we systematize, defend and think about the concept of right and wrong. Also understanding our ethics are different compared to other cultures, countries, religion, and we have developed and moulded our ethics to the way we live today but sometimes tension and conflict can occur.

Relevant to Dance
Bringing this into the dance world and personally my professional community at work I have been thinking how ethics comes into my job.
Firstly talking about how tension occurs, I had one example that sprung to mind. The week before Christmas holidays we tend to let the students have a fun lesson if they have worked hard and know their pantomime dance and promise to practice over the holiday. As the teacher I also need to check all of my students in that class celebrate Christmas festivities with their family, certain religions such as Jehovah witnesses do not celebrate this holiday so it would be unkind of me to play Christmas music or play Christmas games etc...
Another example I know is when I was a child dancing, some parents complaining about costumes being too raunchy. Personal ethics on how children should dress and what is acceptable as ones parents' opinion is different to another. We teach Irish at my dance school and the difference between the lengths of their Irish skirts can be very different, I know one parent that makes sure her child's skirt hem is below the knee.
Professional codes of practice are there to make sure we keep the high standard of our profession, the dance world is very competitive and I know other schools from my local area have different ethics compared to the one I teach at. One local dance school around here has a bad reputation for 'stealing' other dance schools choreography, copying designs of costumes etc...Whereas my dance school I teach at and others in the area find this not in our ethics.
At our dance school have a uniform which most dance schools do as well. We try and remain strict on this rule as it keeps the class looking smart, well organised and everyone is the same. You always have one child in the class that has the newest dance wear and other students that do not really own any dance wear.
As most dance schools we always make sure the students warm up and cool down at the beginning and the end of class to prevent injuries. Also knowing if children have allergies or different dietary needs, as a new student joins our dance school we have special membership forms for their parents to fill in, we now have a new app on our phones (for teachers) which we can do the register off of, an emergency contact number and any other special information that we need to know.
When I first started reading reader 5 I thought it was all very deep and meaningful and only happened in big decisions but when you start breaking it down and I linked it to my professional community, ethics is in everything! Ethics keeps the high standard of teaching, morals and what my boss believes her teachers should do obviously keeps her school popular and that's why students go there. The lady I work for also thinks students should be loyal and dedicated to one dance school but we do not restrict or insist students to do so. I understand it is hard when extra rehearsals clash with a different dance schools timetable and choosing between them can often cause tension but I personally believe this is unfair as some dance schools just teach ballet so they need to go elsewhere to be taught other genres of dance. Ethics is something I always knew was there but did not think too deeply about, but now understanding the importance of ethics and the differences between personal, professional and organizational and knowing I always have and always will use it on a daily basis, meaning you always think about what is the 'good' decision to make? Who will benefit from it more? I use it when planning my classes, weather I break down and spend time on one exercises for a new student or if I run through everything quickly as I have students working towards an exam? You do not want to put off the new student by letting her drown in a lot of syllabus work she does not know yet, but at the same time I have students working towards an exam and I need to make sure they know everything in that grade. This is always a hard balance to find and keeping everyone happy and enjoying the class at the same time.

4d

I have recently been reading 'The Concept of Dance Education' by Graham McFee (Published by Routledge 25 November 1993.) At first I found this book very deep in the legal system which did not help me much at first, but I'm so glad I carried on reading as it is completely a different side of teaching I had not thought about before. I want to focus on one part of the book specifically in chapter 14 (p158-165.)

At the beginning of this section it talks about making sure your students enjoyment, interest, confidence and their sense of personal worth is happening in class this all comes down to active learning. If passive learning and inappropriate styles are being 'taught' this will lead to irritation and maybe even failure. Your students need to enjoy their class, if you want to enhance your students learning you need to work together, and having their full attention is crucial! I believe this all comes down to the teachers passion of their subject, they need to make it interesting for their pupils.

Graham McFee believed you had to plan your classes and put them into effect under 8 different headings;

1. the objectives of the style- what are you aiming towards?

2. the anatomy of the style- understanding the body in this specific style of dance.

3. the implementation- to plan your class and to make sure that this happens.

4. the implication of the style- the conclusion that can be drawn from something or an exercise in class.

5. selecting and designing the subject matter- distinguishing this style from others, make sure they completely understand, where did this style come from?

6. style-specific comments- understanding how to correct your students in this style, you need to have a lot of knowledge on the style before you teach a class.

7. the development channels- Being able to develop the steps, breaking it down at first and making it harder each week or each time you have a class. The class needs to feel like they are improving.

8. examples of subject-matter- Make sure your students have seen examples of performances or classes of this style, they can see how the body moves, certain positions or motif that happen regularly in this specific style.

Before teaching a certain element of a style it is important that you have thought about what your students will be learning and have broke down the material before teaching so much so that your students can observe and pick it up with pace. You need to make sure they find it challenging but not so much so they are put off or you spend too much time that they lose their concentration. Another side of teaching that is sometimes forgotten is the ability for students to work on their communication skills, skills of observing, analysing steps or routines; what is good about what they have watched? What can be improved? And the awareness of others. Some of these seem like common sense and can easily be forgotten about but for example when teaching leaps from the corner telling your students to walk around the room to the next corner instead of running across the studio in front of someone else who is attempting leaps, this comes down to being aware of others in the studio.

I found a certain section of this book fascinating it was about free expression and how every child can dance, the sharpness of their senses and the speed their reaction constantly, proves all children can dance. It is just turning their movement into dance which means it becomes clearly defined.

This got me thinking if anyone can dance surely that means anyone can teach? But does it mean everyone could be a good teacher, because I do not think that is the case. Apart of me is still unsure if everyone can dance or at least dance to a high standard. I know grown adults that find it hard to clap in time with music, I have recently started teaching an adult ballet class and yes they move to the music but there is no technique behind it yet, and some even look stiff or awkward, I'm sure they will improve greatly over time but Graham McFee specifically implies only children can dance? Is dancing something you need to start at a young age?

 After reading Graham McFee's book and how he believes all children can dance, I do agree to a certain extent. I think we all have the ability to express our feeling in dance, and most of us have the ability of movement which is an amazing feeling, but when it comes to technique and performing on stage I do not think everyone has what it takes. This has got me thinking a lot about my personal inquiry, I am starting to believe having a professional career before going into teaching does not help as much as I thought it would, I have read many articles, books etc... on teaching and they all have different bullet points to what makes you a good teacher but none have mentioned experience which I find shocking. I think you can be a good teacher if you have not had any professional experience on stage but I think it must still help slightly, even having the knowledge of what happens behind stage, having the chance to perform at different theatres and how each venue is different. Actually knowing how it feels to perform most days and nights, or touring and living out of a suitcase surely you can past that experience on to students.

4d

At the beginning of this module I researched many different ideas to get me started, I found myself researching 'What makes a good teacher?' I then found an article published by The Telegraph (15 January 2015) by Barnaby Lenon apart from the fact this article was very broad, as it was aimed at all teachers of any subject I found it interesting. Although this was one of the first articles I came across I found it most useful, he came to the conclusion there are 4 main points of being a good teacher;

1. Being passionate about their subject! This came down to if you love your subject you will have lots of knowledge about it, if you personally find your subject interesting so will your students. I think this is one thing us dancers are good at, I find dance is like marmite, you either really love it or you hate it. Even if you go out on a Saturday night you have the people who never leave the dance floor (like me) or the people that stand around talking all night. (30% subject knowledge)

2. Having the right personality, to be a good teacher you need to have control over your students, this all comes down to discipline (discipline= achievement.) As a teacher you need to  be respected and even slightly feared sometimes. You need to be well organised and have the ability to manage stress well, also making time for students who need extra time or help. (30% personality)

3. I also found this article interesting as it said not all good teachers are qualified which I found surprising if I'm completely honest. But later on in the article it did say all teachers need some training which I agree with, having experience with classroom or studio skills. You need to be able to teach a class with pace and interest and making sure your students understand tricky concepts, breaking something down so they comprehend. (10% classroom skills)

4. My last bullet point is having high expectations for your students, you need to push them and make them aim for higher goals. The teacher sets the scene in the classroom or studio, if you are determined so will your students hopefully. After all a 'pupils effort + teaching quality = how well a child acheives!' (30% expectations) 

After reading this article I completely agree with all the facts, you need passion, the correct personality, classroom skills and high expectations. I think I knew this before reading this article but it actually made me put it in perspective. If a teacher is relaxed then so will his or hers students, I now teach all my classes as if they have an exam or a performance next week, and it does set the scene for the whole class, I now get so much more done within 45 minutes. I also now spend more time before class on how to break down a certain step so they will understand. For example I still need to find a better way of describing how to do a contraction but it is such a hard concept for children to understand.

I read this article at the beginning of Module 2 and wrote down a few bullet points in my journal, I recently read back in my journal and remembered this article and re read it but this time I connected it to my idea for my personal inquiry. I think it is hard to connect having dance experience or a professional career in dance before teaching to such a broad article like this one, but on the other hand thinking about other teachers if you are good at maths you become an accountant, banker or maths teacher, but being a good accountant does not make you a good math teacher I guess? You still need to have good classroom skills and the right personality which therefore goes for dancing as well. Not all professional dancers would make good teachers necessary. Also another way to look at it is a professional dancer is normally use to being told what to do, where to stand, what steps, and being a teacher you are much more in control, you have to tell your students what to do which is completely different to being a professional dancer. You need to take control of your students and make them respect you and listen to you.

I really enjoyed this article as it is very broad so I could bring my own interpretation into it as well, it also connects all teaching together, apart from the subject it focuses on the main elements you need to be a good teacher. I think it is correct in saying as long as you have passion for your subject and you also have good classroom skills, high expectations and the right personality you will be a good teacher and push your students to their highest ability.  

Literature 4d

Finally my books were sent to my local Library and I picked them up yesterday. Need to start reading!!

The difference between technical and expressive skills in performing

Last week I spent hours in the Library trying to find some more books to help with my research on different ideas I have been looking into. Eventually I found a AQA Dance written by Maggie Cluine, Liz Dale, Lyn Paine, it was not what I had in mind but it had many different sections on technical and expressive skills in performing which I have been comparing, I also researched into choreographing as this is a big section of being a teacher and I remembered a lot from dance A level and college.

But going back to technical and expressive skills in performing, technical skills are very import\ant this is why professional dancers train several hours each day for many years, they need to improve in many different elements such as; good posture, focus, dynamics, flexibility, strength, balance, coordination, stamina and good alignment etc...  All these things helps a dancers technique which makes their dance quality of movement look easy and effortless which is impressive from an audience perspective. Good technique only comes from hard work, training and it is developed through the focus of the mind.

Great technicians are incredible to watch but sometimes when watching a performances we are drawn to one specific dancer that will stand out compared to the rest, we call this expression or artistry. Expression is what gives a certain performance piece its own energy, it is enjoyable to watch and makes you respond to the piece in an emotional manner. Expression performing skills are made up of musicality, communication of choreographic intent, sense of style, relationships, projection and focus. It is very difficult to acquire and improve your expressive skills, but it comes with a lot of practice, maturing, understanding the piece you are performing, and making the audience feel like they are apart of the piece and share your emotions.

I think it is very hard to choose between which is more important, technical or expressive? You need technique to execute the steps involved in the routine you are performing, but to make the audience connect to the piece and feel involved you need artistry. To be the best dancer you can be you need to practice both equally as they both work hand in hand together.