Literature review 2

I have found this article about classroom culture, which although aimed at school class rooms has a lot of relevance within the dance http://gallery.carnegiefoundation.org/collections/castl_k12/ewojcicki2/outcomes/characteristics_culture.htm
The majority of the article is very positive and are points that I would agree with. For example,
                     The teacher should exhibit passion for the subject or passion for teaching or both. Passion makes the students interested in and excited about the subject. Who wants to learn from a deadbeat?
 This statement, to my mind, is extremely relevant to a dance class environment and  is also one of the theories that I feel relevant to back up my research about practical demonstrations from older teachers with less physical ability.
However, the article also states
                    Students should not be criticized for their interests or their attire. If they want to wear pants that look like they are falling off, respect their right to do so. When they are twenty, they won't want to do it.


I am not sure how many teachers would agree with this statement, even in a school with a uniform code, I am certain that this type of attire is frowned upon. In a dance class, there are many rules relating to attire and I do not think many dance teachers would respect the right of the student to turn up dressed however they like? Of course this does depend on the dance class as a freestyle jazz or street type class may well be more acceptable of this freedom of attire.

Adesola's Skype coffee morning!

Well it actually turned out to be a very  good session for me as I was the only participant! I suddenly realised that this was my chance, I could ask the questions that have been bubbling away in the back of my mind without the fear of sounding stupid as no-one else was there! So Adesola, sorry if I sounded stupid but it really helped me to clarify the whirlpool in my head. We discussed my inquiry and how I was struggling to decide how to analyse the data that I was collecting, and Adesola pointed out that I had nothing to "rub it against". We talked this through and we talked about our days at Arts Educational school in London and how the school created its own classroom culture and how I needed to start from those memories.

This has inspired me to change  the title of my inquiry, although ultimately it all boils down to the same point about our expectations of the behaviour of children.

Thank you Adesola! A good Skype coffee morning yet again!

Literature review

I have found an article on a website aimed at new teachers, which I thought was relevant to my inquiry although it is not specifically aimed at dance teachers. http://www.newteacheruniversity.com/resources/teacher-articles/continued/teachers-must-earn-respect/
This article describes how new teachers must expect to earn the respect of their students by being the person that the students wish to become. Whilst I agree that this is one of the thoughts behind my research, I also think that as a teacher, you should also expect a certain level of respect from your students by the very fact that you are a person in authority. A person whom the parents have entrusted their children with. The article states

 

                                            "Today, in a society where good morals are on the decline, while self-                                            centredness is on the incline, we can't afford to educate students                                               like our teachers once did "back in the day"."

 

In my opinion this is talking about declining good morals creating a lack of deference in general to older people and to people in authority. This, to me, is different to the type of respect that needs to be earned by the teacher!

I have used this article as a source for my research, reading sections of it to my participants and recording their comments. I am looking forward to seeing how this progresses once I have all my information recorded.



Campus session, Wednesday 12th February

Well and eventful session this turned out to be!! Firstly, I had used the website to access the Uni library and found that I could have books posted to me, but as I was going there anyway, I put a request in for a couple of books that Alan had recommended. This meant that I just had to go to the first floor of the library with my reservation number and collect the books. I can also post them back when I have finished with them! I intend on using the postal service for a couple of other books as well to aid with my search for literature.
Secondly, the session was very informal with only three of us there and we spent the first half talking about "Love" which had come from a survey that the Uni are holding with reference to the "Love of Learning". We wrote the word "Love" in the centre of the page and came up with all sorts of ideas that the word could mean. So, lust, desire, passion or even its misuse instead of the word "like". We also added the fact that companies take advantage of the fact that "Love" is something that people would like to be on the receiving end of, so internet dating agencies. We chose this as our main focus from the many topics that came up from the initial word.
We were then talking about what we would want to discover about dating agencies and how that information would benefit ourselves and others.
So in summary we looked at something that was a massive topic, provoking many thoughts and ideas and eventually narrowed it right down to one topic.
This exercise was to help us to understand how to find our enquiry topic, starting with a broad topic which produced many questions and ideas and then hone in on the one that we found the most beneficial to research.
After this, we talked individually about our enquiries and any questions or issues that we had. We could have done with a another hour or so, but I did come away feeling enlightened and focused again!
Apart from not being able to get home afterwards because of the weather causing the trains to be cancelled it was a good day.
Points - Use the moodle for "Summon" to find literature. Use the library to find books that you cannot find e-editions of.
Above all - COMMUNICATE!!!

Campus session

Well, I was determined to reach the Uni tomorrow for the campus session despite the threatened tube strike. I had it all planned out, my train to Euston then forego my quick shopping visit to head straight to Hendon on the overground train. However, not needed now as the threatened strike has been suspended. Yipppeee!! London Oxford Street here I come albeit for two hours!! See you there!

Britains First medal on Snow!

Well here I am starting Module 3. I have been reading other people's Blogs over the last day or two and it appears that I am not alone with all my feelings at this point. As usual, at the beginning of the module it seems like I have a huge mountain to climb to achieve my goal. Just like Jenny Jones must have felt a few weeks ago when she was injured with a severe concussion it must have seemed like she had a huge mountain to climb to get to the Olympics. However she reached the peak yesterday as she took to her snowboard to win a medal for Great Britain at the Winter Olympics.

Now I am not expecting an Olympic medal, but this is my medal, a reward for my professional practice and my highly improved skill of reflective practice.

I am determined to use my inquiry to help me improve my understanding of teachers thoughts on the children that they teach and the changes in the reactions of children to people in authority. Hopefully, my research will help other teachers understanding and improve their teaching practice.

As I said in my Youtube presentation in Module 1 "Its not where you start it's where you finish!" so here's hoping that the next 12 weeks see me progress smoothly up the mountain!!

Moving on!

Well today I thought I would sit down and spend a couple of hours reading through the Handbook for Module 3 and reader 7 to give me some sort of insight into what we are expected to produce and the timescales to work at. However, although I am able to read through, until I get the feedback from my module 2 submissions, I cannot start the work required for Module 3, so instead I am going to continue trying to find the most relevant pieces of literature for my inquiry. Onwards and upwards!!