:)

So starting module 3 again I very lost and unfocused! However after meeting with Paula and a few other students in module 3 it helped me find my focus again.

So what am I looking to find out through my inquiry?

My question " What techniques do Dance Teachers use to get the best response from their class? "

By response I mean how do the teachers make the students progress well with technique , how to make the students feel confident about themselves, which is very important for a performer. Also just to make sure that the students are happy and enjoying the class!

I was doing my inquiry to help me become the best dance teacher I can be, however I don't know where exactly I want to teach yet, be it high school, vocational school or technique dance classes/clubs. I point I made in the session with Paula, is that I think if you combined all the different techniques the different types of dance teachers used I feel that would be the perfect dance class. 

I am interviewing one dance teacher from each of these different types of dance schools and hopefully I will see some similarities and some differences in their teaching methods.

After one of my interviews I actually got myself a job in a High School so I am looking forward to putting all that I learn during my inquiry into practice. 

If any of you are dance teachers and want to share anything with me it would be much appreciated :)

Lee

Critical reflection- Module 2

I have found that I have been a lot more engaged in the tasks in module 2. I feel this is because I have been able to link them to my own professional life a lot better than I could in module 1 and again I found them more useful in my own professional work. I have also seen a big link through doing these tasks how they were going to help me carry out my Inquiry Proposal.

Developing lines Of professional inquiry

When thinking about my initial questions in task four I knew that my goal is to become a full time teacher so I knew my question should be focused in that area. It was great to get so many comments on my blog, they really helped me see that I was going in the right direction with my inquiry . I really wanted a question that was going to get me searching for answers which I believe I have now found. (Appendix A)

I found that creating our own "sig" has been a very useful tool for this course and I also believe that it will be for the future as well. I think it's a good reference to go to for information on my professional practice as I have a variety of dancers and dance teachers as part of my group, so it is a quick way of putting questions out to my professional network. I have also found that the "sig's" have been good for interaction between BAPP students in module 2. It has been a way of helping each other along with the tasks and asking each other questions on our inquiries. (Appendix B) (Appendix C)

Professional Ethics

Ethics was something that I have never really thought about in great detail until this module, when I attended the campus session on ethics we were asked " what is ethics?" We all struggled to come up with a simple definition without giving examples but by the end of the session I felt I came away with a good understanding of what Ethics is.

Bobbie Pingram's post on the Ethics campus session really captured everything we learnt from the session. (Appendix D )

During the first tasks in part 5, I found it interesting how big companies have so many ethical rules and regulations in place to make sure everything is run correctly. There are obviously things that everyone is aware of i.e. you can't come in to work under the influence of alcohol, however I didn't realise the there would be pages of rules and regulations about this one subject. (Appendix E)

In my professional inquiry I am now aware that there will be a lot of ethical concern as I will be involving children under the age of 16. However I am already planning on getting written consent from the child's parents.

Tools of professional inquiry

The last task in this module has guided me through the inquiry tools that I will be using in my professional inquiry. I have carried out some pilot inquiries which proved to be very useful in helping me decide what inquiry tools to use in my own inquiry and also the results helped me decide on my final question. (Appendix F)

The following quote was one from reader 6 that I really agreed with. It is talking about what you get from interviews, I believe this to be true as I feel you get a more honest answer from actually interviewing somebody and not just asking them to fill in a questionnaire.

“can follow up on ideas, probe responses and investigate motives and feelings” (Bell, 2005, p.157)

Summary

This module has made me learn knowledge that will help me throughout my career. Coming from a purely dance background I have never really sat down and thought about ethics, however this is a very important topic as no matter what job you are in there will always be ethics to consider and I am now trying to implement more rules in my dance classes. I also feel that this module has made me explore tools which I can already see are going to be very beneficial to me in my professional inquiry.

Bibliography

Bell, J. (2005) Doing Your Research Project (4th ed), Milton Keynes: Open University Press.

5b

I spoke to my manager in the theatre about the ethics and rules and regulations of the theatre. He informed me that the company has a new HR department and many of our policy's will shortly be changing. He also informed me that the head of the HR department isn't from a theatre background so the policy's will be becoming more strict as for some reason you can get away with a lot in the performing industry.

He showed me the many files that they have in the office such as the whistle blowing policy, alcohol and drug misuse and general health and safety.

The points I spoke about in my previous blog did arise and all my thoughts were correct obviously the actual policy's go into a lot more detail. I wouldn't like to be in charge of all of these policy's as there as so many. Below I have taken a few photos of some of the policy's that my manager gave me copy's of.

5A

At the moment I am working front of house in a West End theatre as a supervisor so as every work place, I think there will be many ethical rules and regulations in place   To guide us through the working day at the theatre from plagiarism to staff hygiene .

I know that when every employe starts they are given a handbook with the general rules and regulations and what is expected from them.

Some ethics that I think apply are

PLAGIARISM

As we work in a theatre obviously we have shows in which are all copyrighted including the set. Also the design of the theatre is copyrighted so I would presume that no photography is allowed to be taken by staff or patrons. Also posting any information about the show/theatre on social networking sites won't be allowed

GENERAL CODE OF CONDUCT

I think this covers everything about your performance whilst in work including timekeeping , make sure that all staff are in work at the correct time and leave at the correct time. Uniform, we must be in the correct uniform durning working hours and make sure we are presented well. These are just two points however I think under the general code of conduct it will cover points like disciplinary's, what to do in certain circumstances such as sickness or holidays and how to carry out various aspects of the job.

 PROTECTING DATA

This is not something that I deal with in work however I know when you start working at the theatre the managers need personal details such as a copy of your passport, NI number and current address. I presume all of this information will be kept so that only the managers can access it. 

CPD 

I have recently been asked to attend a manual handling course this is something that I need to do to make sure I am carrying out my job properly and I know throughout the year there are various courses that we need to take part in.

4D

Ok so after spending a lot of time thinking about what award title I would like to propose I have come up with

BA Honours Professional Practice in Dance

The reason I came up with this is dance has always been my life and although I see my future in mainly dance teaching, I will still always dance and choreograph so I think "dance" fits all of these things and doesn't restrict me to just dance teaching, choreography or performing.

Survey

If you get a spare few minutes if you could answer my survey to help me focus my questions

Thank you ;)

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XDWR32B

4B

Sooooo I have got my sig on Facebook , please visit and comment if you want me to add you let me know :) http://www.facebook.com/groups/171353579680356/  :)

4a

Initial questions

I am at a new point in my career so I have many questions going through my head. I am going thought the transition from performer to teacher. I have taught Saturday school dance classes for many years now and my classes have always been successful  but obviously I still have things to learn and want me and my classes to be. The best they can be.

My overall general question I am thinking of looking at is:

What makes a successful/good dance teacher?

It is quite a generic question however I feel it opens lots of windows such as student teacher relationships, standard of choreography, previous professional performance experience my list could go on and on!

Thoughts please

:)

Task 3c

Top 5 ways I network....

Friends 

To me this is my favorite way of networking as I tend to be having a good time whilst networking with my friends. As you can be networking whilst having a coffee or a drink! Because I will be feeling happy being with my friends I will have a brighter outlook on my career! I think it is a very efficient way also because you are sharing your knowledge with each other so together you will come up with lots of information from different sauces! Word of mouth is very good in this industry as you can hear something from someone and then get in touch with your agent to maybe get you an audition or more information. Having friends in the same industry is amazing as you learn so much from each other. 

iPhone  

What did I ever do without this! I think I would be lost without it now. I literally manage myself from my iPhone. I can email or call my agent to get updates or castings from them and they can also get in touch with me ASAP if they need to. Times have evolved take The Stage for example in started out as a newspaper for performers and it contained information about auditions, then they get a website and now they have an iPhone app! This means I can look for auditions at the touch of a button ( touch of my touch screen, there's no buttons) . I can input reminders about castings so I don't forget. If I choreograph I can film myself and upload it to YouTube as a sauce of information for myself or whoever needs to learn the choreography ! It literally does everything I would be lost without it! I think as the years go on and the iPhones develop there will be even more that you can do on them! 

Agent

I think this is the most professional way of networking that I use! I have a good relationship with my agent so I am in touch with them a few times a week . I call the office twice a week and speak with my agent to see if there are any castings in for me and anything that we need to discuss I.e new head shots. This type of networking works well for me as I have a good relationship with my agent, however I know it doesn't work well for some people, they might not get on with their agent as well so don't like getting in touch with them. As well as getting in touch with them on the phone and email I also have meetings with them when I can this way it is easier to discuss certain things.

Facebook/ Twitter (social networking

This also covers networking with friends as both of these social networking sites allow me to get in touch with friends all over the world which is good. For example when I worked on a cruise ship just before I came home I was getting in touch with friends to get info on upcoming auditions, this gave me time to prepare and I had an audition the day after I was home which was great. There is so much information posted on these types of sites now to help me along with me career. This has literally happened in the past couple of years so I hope more and more casting directors start using it as I think most performers ( and none performers) have access to Facebook/ Twitter and it is a quick and easy way to gain vital information! These types of social networking sites also help us forward our career in the way that we can advertise anything that we have got going on for example a dance class or a performance. Again this is another way of networking professionally that I think will grow and grow over the next few years.

Professional websites

As well as social networking websites I also network using other websites such as Spotlight, The Stage and Dancers Pro. These sites are similar but each have their different uses . Spotlight is one of the best ways to find out about auditions and castings my agent will also use this to submit me for certain jobs. I do think they aren't always very easy and straight forward and easy to use but they are still helpful. A lot of these sites will provide you with the contact details of casting directors or choreographs that you need to get in touch with regarding certain jobs. Some of these sites now link me to my agent so I can print my agent over the site if I am interested in a specific job! 

task 3a

Networking.... This was something I was told about at college! My teachers told me was very important. One of my teachers used to say
you never know who you are talking to, it could be a choreographer or a casting director etc. They told me to be very aware of networking
in a theaters surrounding areas such as coffee shop's and bar's, as they are close to a theater, its very likely that people in the performing 
industry will be in there! 

Different ways I Network. 

Work

I work front of house in The London Palladium, most of the front of house staff there are also performers so I always hear about auditions or other performing opportunities from my colleagues. Obviously this is a really easy way to network as professional things get brought up in conversation on a day to day basis! Also we are in contact with the people involved in the show (performers, choreographers, directors etc) 
so sometimes we may find out about a casting before its officially announced. When I am not in a dancing job I purposefully get a job in a theatre for this reason as you stay "in the loop" and don't loose contact with the performing world.

Facebook/Twitter.

I have always used these social networking sites but they growing more and more useful to the performing industry. It used to be that it was just a way to stay in contact with fellow performers but now many Agents/ Casting Directors have their own Facebook pages / Twitter accounts and post information about auditions on them. I think this is great as it is so easy to use and most people now have smart phones so it is easily accessed wherever you are. It is also slightly 
more informal so you don't feel as much pressure. I think this will keep growing and more Agents/Casting directors will start putting information on there, I like this as I think it gives more performers a chance to audition for things even if they don't have an agent.

Agents

Most performers now will have an agent, again this is an easy way to network. I call my agent twice a week to see if they have any auditions/castings for me, I also try to have regular meetings with them to make sure we are both working together. This is important to me as I feel the better my relationship with my agent the more they will help me with my career as they will know me well and see my passion and drive! Some people may not want to get an agent because they take commission from your earnings but I think it is very beneficial to have one as they do help you a lot with your career and they also do a lot of networking for you as they will be the ones who first speak to the casting directer etc on your behalf. 

 I am intrigued to find out new ways of networking, I think it is a very important key in our careers, there is that famous saying "It's not what you know, It's who know " and obviously the more we can network the more people we will be in touch with and hopefully then this will help us develop our careers further and further! I think this course is a great way to open our eyes to things that are right in front of us but we just don't realise!

task 2c

I think that everyday we are learning without realising it! For me it was very interesting to see Kolbs learning cycle I think that this is something that we all do naturally but to see the process down on paper was interesting. I think If I actually wrote down all of my experiences that I learnt from every single day, my room would be full of pieces of paper!

In day to day life I have interactions with different types of people in different types of situations and I think I end up reflecting on them all at some point, whether it was a disagreement with some or a good interaction, from reflecting on these situations this helps you learn how to deal with them if a similar situation rises in the future!

A recent example where I feel I used Kolb.s learning cycle is last year i attended a “We Will Rock You” audition (Concrete Experience). I didn’t do very well in the audition and I came away thinking of things that I could of done better in my audition as I would of really loved the job (Reflective Observation) which then links the next process (Abstract Conceptualisation) as I had figured out what I thought I could do better. Then this year I went for the audition again and I did really well (didn’t get the job however L) but I put into use what I had learnt from the previous audition and it benefited me (Active Experimentation).

Reading Donald Schon’s concept of “reflection-in-action” I feel this is the same thing as Kolb’s learning cycle. Your brain is extremely cleaver and fast, so I think your brain goes through all of the learning steps in these situations just really fast. I feel that these experiences might not benefit you as much because they are happening at the same time as the situation you are in you may not remember them as well!
I think developing your reflecting skills is really important and interesting its amazing how much you are actually learning without realising it.