MA Professional Practice Dance Technique Pedagogy

Response to Skype Discussion 8pm 02/12/2018 Experience speaks for itself, so it is important to write from the “I” perspective to demonstrate the ability to reflect and give voice to the research enquiry. As kinaesthetic learners it is sometimes difficult to transform experience into a written form of communication. As dance teachers, we use a particular tone and choice of words that we would not necessarily use in written communications with our students or with academics. We work with visualisation and mapping movement using creative description not in depth analysis and reflection.   Thus, expressing using academic form and language can sometimes feel trivia to us. Constantly questioning our own opinions and views is not something we are used to doing as part of our everyday teaching.   I actually feel that through the process of this MA, I have become more reflective and intuitive in my everyday teaching activities.  

  Response to Skype Discussion, Sunday 18 th  November 2018, 8pm It was interesting to learn about the interdisciplinary approach to training and how practice in other countries differs from our own. Often, we can get absorbed in our own environment and forget about what happens on a global scale. In a number of cultures there still seems to be a hierarchy with styles of dance, with ballet as for the elite and contemporary dance for the masses. The idea of dance being a divider or classifier of social status resonated with thoughts from the history of contemporary dance in Britain and how the public opinion was ballet as high art and contemporary as popular culture.  The versatility of students was also discussed and whether students who study more dance styles have better skills and make better dancers. The focus on the holistic well-rounded dance student, draws parallels with my own research, suggesting that better skills equal better teaching. We also disc...

Interesting thoughts were discussed about how knowledge is embodied at a practical and theoretical level. As dancers we have different ways of communicating knowledge on an emotional and kinaesthetic level, which are equally valid in the same way as verbal or written communication. From a teaching perspective there needs to be a deep level of understanding and choices provided by the teacher so our students can build up their own way of expressing themselves. Embodiment should not be about conforming to another person’s perspective it is about finding individual enlightenment.  Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory was mentioned with regards to how different people learn and how experience relates to learning. This is an example of a framework, we do not necessarily have to agree with, but it is useful nonetheless to help us find answers or make conclusions.  Whilst literature is not conclusive, it does offer a framework for discussion. For example, I ...

During the discussion we spoke about student assessment and tracking progress effectively. Often assessment causes anxiety and is not fully embraced, however if it were viewed simply as a point of reflection, feedback and evaluation would it be viewed more positively. Thus, the way we approach assessment, as a milestone rather than an end result is important. Carrying out my research observations, has led to me question not only the effectiveness of my teaching practice, but how we “measure” or “know” that our teaching is effective. We may seek re-assurance when we observe similar teaching methods to our own, but I wonder if this this purely a re-action to us being in our comfort zone and unconsciously registering them as correct?

Over the past 2 weeks I have been engrossed in background reading of my chosen topic and also contemplating the research methods and methodologies surrounding my research proposal. Through the literature search, I discovered that values were embedded in a number of disciplines. including educational philosophy, sociology, dance education and pedagogy, psychology and child development. I noticed similarities in the Grounded Theory approach discussed by Margaret Wilson (2009) and my research project. For example, using pedagogy as a source of analysis and ‘observing how the approach to teaching shaped the dancer’s experiences as well as how the student’s experiences…’ (Wilson, 2009, p5).  However, the nature of the research also lends itself well to ethnography, because it is based on the views and experiences of the students and parents in my dance school. There is a sense that all social researchers are participant observers (Hammersley and Atkinson, 1995), thus my pre-fie...

As my professional practice, is based around teaching and running my dance school, I choose this as the focus of my research project. When I set up my own dance school, I did it because I wanted to build a legacy and something that reflected my beliefs and values. I had taught in a variety of settings including salsa clubs, community groups, schools, fitness, private dance schools, primary and secondary schools and FE colleges. 10 years on, starting this MA course, I found myself questioning how my school was set up, the ethos I wanted to embrace and also how I filtered this into my teaching. On reflection, I noticed that prior experience had a lot to do with my beliefs and my priorities as the owner of a school as well as personality traits. For example, as a child I struggled socially in school to be part of a group as I felt my “difference” was not understood. As a result, when I set up my school I made a point of creating an environment in which “difference” was accepted and e...

Something that resonated from our group discussion on Sunday was how our experiences as dancers filters through into our teaching. We agreed that to an extent the way we judge ourselves and critique as dancers, can add both a positive and negative aspect to our teaching and ultimately impact our students. If I consider my training and experience as a dancer, the areas of technique, which I struggled with are reinforced and over compensated in my teaching to ensure that the students I train do not have the same problems. The process of finding a topic for my research project was more difficult then I thought. Initially I thought about the impact of competitive dance on my students as this was something I introduced to my school 18 months ago and wanted to look at how this had changed the students attitudes, perceptions and others around them. The problem, was that indirectly, I already knew the answer, thus proving something I already knew or thought I knew. Instead I went back to ...