Critical Reflection on Professional Practitioner Inquiry

My initial  thoughts on Module 2 were not very positive. I read the Handbook and read through the first reader and was stumped. I had to take a step back and think about a set of questions that were relevant to my practice. I started looking at other people's Blogs and commenting on their questions (Appendix 1). We also started a Facebook group for all the Module 2 students to chat with each other and talk about any issues, which was a nice tool just for a little moral support! (Appendix 2).

Once I had taken some time to think about an inquiry that would be of some benefit to my professional development, I came up with some initial questions which I posted on my Blog to see what people thought of them (Appendix 3). I was quite pleased with the comments that were posted in response to my initial questions as it made me realise that this could be quite a relevant line of inquiry to all dance teachers regardless of which sector they worked in. However they were quite broad and I had think about how to direct the questions so that I was able to come to a final question for my inquiry.

I created a SIG on Facebook which was a closed group to which I invited friends who are dance teachers of all different ages and also based in different countries to  post some responses to some questions  to see what sort of response I would get. (Appendix 4). Unfortunately, this did not produce much response from anyone, so I thought that I would look at a different line of inquiry (Appendix 5), but after some consideration, I felt that I was probably thinking of changing direction to make it easier for me as there are many inquiries about boys in dance as well as pieces of literature. Having researched into literature relative to my topic I have found several articles relating to females and ageing in the workplace as well as ageing dancers(Appendix 6) My feelings were that my initial inquiry was more relevant to my and my development. My approach to task 6a  was to conduct in informal trial by conducting a survey through www.surveymonkey.com which would require straight forward answers. (Appendix 7). This did produce some responses and although my choice of answers was quite limited, the respondent's answers did vary and I found some of the data quite interesting.

Once I had decided on my path of inquiry, I made the decision to think about using observations and a focus group for my research tools for the actual inquiry.(Appendix 8) Although data collection of any type involves a set of ethical considerations, observations need to be approached very carefully. I anticipate using observations overtly with the teachers taking the classes and covertly with the students that are participating in the lessons as I did not want to force any behaviour that would not naturally occur. My initial thoughts on ethical considerations were based on what I know as a teacher is the ethical way to carry out my responsibilities,(Appendix 9) however, it is evident once you start to research your ethical considerations there are many things that you have to ensure are covered in order to protect your participants and the data that you collect.

Bibliography :-

Middlesex University, Reader 4, 2013. BA(Hons) Professional Practice Module 2 Developing Lines of Professional Inquiry (Online) Link to Reader

Middlesex University, Reader 5, 2013 BA(Hons) Professional Practice Module 2 Principles of Professional Inquiry (Online)Link to Reader

Middlesex University, Reader 6, 2013. BA(Hons)Professional Practice Module 2 Principles of Professional Inquiry (Online)Link to Reader

Walton, Kym (2013), Kym Walton's Blog (online) Link to Blog

Task 6C - my award title

I have looked at the list of proposed award titles and also thought about whether or not there was a need for me to create my own title. As I am a dance teacher and my intention is to continue teaching for the foreseeable future I have chosen the title BA (Hons) Professional Practice (Dance teaching).
My inquiry for module 2 is directly linked to dance teaching and I am anticipating that once I have completed my research that I will be able to produce  a piece of work which will help teachers as they progress through their careers.

Campus session

In November I was able to attend my first campus session. I found this day useful, not just for my work but also to be able to vocalise my thoughts about my progress as well as hearing others thoughts on their progress. It was also good to meet our tutors in person as I find that it becomes easier to communicate electronically to someone you have met. The session started with us looking at words and thinking about how they related to us as individuals, to our direct contacts and then externally. It was interesting to think about these words and how relevant they were to us.
We then worked with the Module one students and talked about their and our progress and also discussed our thoughts at that stage on our Module 2 inquiries. It was interesting again to see people's immediate reactions and responses to our proposed inquiries and how relevant people thought they were to us as individuals as well as to our working community.

All in all, although it is difficult for me to attend the sessions, I am pleased that I have been able to attend one at this stage and I am hopeful that I shall be able to attend one next term for Module 3 as I think they help just to settle any doubts that you may have.