Over the past few days I had been struggling with what line of inquiry to focus on, as I have various territories that I could research further into, working with SEN, community dance projects, and after school performing arts schools. I also felt as though my previous questions were very general, and needed adapting to help with with a more specific inquiry relevant to my current practice of teaching. Paula helped me to come up with a different line of inquiry which involves all of my teaching jobs, into one, as we spoke about the comparisons of teaching methods, pedagogy (ideas used), and the delivery.
I also learnt that my questions are not to prove a bias opinion, but more so to understand differences in perspectives, internal and external beliefs in the arts industry, or more specific, dance as a subject field. Disproving statements and assumptions such as 'dance is not beneficial enough for students to be a subject in the national curriculum', requires involvement with practitioners and research into literature, as well as case studies and experiments.
The topic of education is so broad and expansive, with theoretic knowledge changing and developing constantly, that my inquiry needs specific focus. In addition to this, education and arts delivery as a professional field, is also so broad, as there are subjects as music, drama, the endless genres of dance, and then of course the vast amount of techniques within dance (Graham technique, ballet bare, floor bare), that it is of course a wonderful matter that the arts offers so much, however due to such an expansive vocabulary of knowledge and skill, I have decided to focus upon four main elements for my inquiry;
Comparison: in terms of what is being taught, how, and why? In my recent experience of teaching, I understand the clear difference of methods used between a community dance project, where we focus upon social aspects and the benefits for the individual such as self-esteem, confidence, and unity whereas a performing arts school still thrives off those qualities too but plays an additional emphasis on a curriculum such as IDTA and BDTA, where technique and development of performance practice and competition plays an important role.
Pedagogy: the ideas of teaching in terms of theory and practice, alongside the methods and activities used in delivery.
Teaching: what is being taught, and the comparisons between a curriculum and a community dance project for example the Bronze Arts Award. What is being offered, why and how? Are the differences broad, and if so why? Are there fundamental changes that need to be made, and how are practitioners doing so?
Delivery: How is the pedagogy being delivered, and what skills are needed to do so? What attributes from the practitioner makes the ideas 'successful'? What is success in teaching, and how is it measured?
As my future plan is to teach in either primary education, or in the arts department in secondary education, I feel as though what I currently know in terms of teaching needs to be further explored to not only improve myself, but to improve the teacher status of whom I am employed by. The one to one which I have currently received has excited me for the inquiry as there is so much to explore and research, which will in turn allow me to hopefully improve as a teacher and freelance practitioner as well as build upon what was currently learnt in module one, for example my networking relations, through finding out what practitioners in this field know.
I now have trails of thought on methods to explore, and topics of particular interest from reader 4, such as professional knowledge, research, transdiciplinary and inter-disciplinary approaches, and constructivism as a paradigm for teaching and learning. Please feel free to comment on your thoughts and ideas, and be involved in my soon to be created special interest group.
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