Ethical framework and codes of practice of EDT

After blogging my thoughts on ethics in my work place, I consulted the Essex Dance Theatre – Staff Handbook and Quality Control to establish the ethical framework and codes of practice.

In the handbook it has a section on teaching methods, offering guidelines on overall aims, physical aims, musical aims, use of voice and how to give teaching points and corrections, as well as division of teacher’s attention. These types of guidelines are put in place to achieve continuity throughout the school; every child is different and will view certain  situations differently I believe by having structured teaching methods a child can start to understand boundaries and how a class situation takes place, once boundaries are formed a child can learn in a creative relaxed environment.

There is a section in the handbook entitled -Serve difficulties between staff and student. This looks at serve difficulties of a working relationship between a member of staff and a student and when attitude and behaviour interfere with the atmosphere and working conditions within the studio. It outlines 6 steps that should be taken in order to resolve these issues the first is to try and ensure the issue is resolved in a private discussion at the end of the class. Although there are 6 clear steps in how the issue should be dealt with it still requires both a personal and professional ethical approach. How you actually deal with the situation is primarily down to you as a teacher to solve the issue in accordance with your personal ethics.

The Handbook notes that ‘there are times during any senior students training when the ‘ups and downs’ of growing up mean some students may have trouble with ETD rules and the expectations of behaviour and attitude.’ I think children will always push boundaries in order to establish, build and understand what is right and wrong; this is part of growing up. It is my job as a teacher to be consistent in order for my students to know where to draw the line.

In the code of professional conduct- Fundamental Principles it notes that ‘A tutor should strive for objectivity in all professional and business judgements.’  The word objective is to not be influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts. (Oxford Dictionary, 2011) I like the use of the word strive for, personality I operate whereby my emotions play a huge part in the making of my decisions. Can this be linked to expression and my comfort zones, as I find it easier expressing myself through movement and dance.

A comment Adesola noted on my developing questions was- why academic and practical seem juxtaposed. Looking into the philosophy of the mind and body- my question is can the body affect the mind? 

Reverting back to objectivity and dealing with the facts rather than personal feelings should we, as teachers try to refrain from asking normative questions when dealing with difficulties. By asking factual questions can we eliminate confrontation, as normative questions fuel many opinions on one subject and all are equal and valid? Asking the right kind of question can prevent the difficulties from escalating further- Did you talk when I was talking? As opposed to why did you talk when I was talking?

I would be interested to know your thoughts on the mind and body philosophy? and if you can see any links? I know the mind, body dualism stems from the French philosoher Rene Descartes, so I might need to start my research with him.

Award Title Rational Revised -

 I have chosen to change my proposed award title after a discussion with Adesola. I think if I were to ask myself what my previous course involved it would be in the training of becoming a dancer and this makes up 2/3 of the degree- in suggesting that my award title be in dance teaching one would expect I had knowledge on pedagogy and teaching techniques, when in fact I do not.

I propose my new award title be less focused and altered to comprise previous training and encompass an array of aspects in my developing career. These may go way beyond teaching methods and I believe be far more engaging. Keeping my award title open will allow my career to take a variety of avenues instead of just teaching.

Therefore I propose my new award title be...  

BA (Hons) Professional Practice (In Dance)

Looking back at the question - What would a pupil benefit more from a highly skilled teacher with little dance experience or a highly skilled dancer with little teaching experience? 

I have to make sure that the question is not just an assumption.  How do I define benefits and how do I define what highly skilled means. Adesola advised I look at the question again as unravelling it will aid me understanding what it is that I actually want to ask or why I assume something.

Reading the ethics reader is assisting me in separating what I am assuming and what it is that I want to find out;  leading me on to other questions. In essence it is less about finalisation and more about the journey in getting to the bare bones of WHAT, WHY you think believe something and then finding evidence to support it.


Assumptions 


Looking back at my question and why I assume there are benefits in a child partaking or having dance available to them in schools. I suppose because I attended The Arts Educational School which as the name suggests was a school specialising in the arts I believe it is beneficial for a child to have access to a variety of education as not all children find it easy to express themselves through conventional education methods. When I was at school I took Expressive Arts GCSE this is rarely an option in main stream schools. This option allowed me to demonstrate a range of issues for example the 1960s  through a variety of different forms presentations, performances, artefact and exhibitions which meant I could demonstrate my skills in a diversity of ways, allowing me to work within a creative environment. A question to propose to parent and pupils could be - Why should dance be part of education?


I recently watched a video on TED where Sir Ken Robinson talks about creativity in schools. I think he made some very interesting points; one was that we are preparing our children for a future we cannot predict. Another was the history behind why the education system seems to value certain subjects against others. He suggests this stems from the industrial revolution which had a profound effect on cultural and economic conditions of the times. The link is below.


Video Link

Ethics 5a

The codes of practice and regulations that define my work place

• insure all dance studios are save to teach in and have had a risk assessment  prior to carrying out the class.
• suitable flooring, adequate temperature and changing/ toilet facilities.
• keep a register of all students in case of emergency evacuation, understand  fire procedures.
• As a teacher I must attempt physical corrections in a careful sensible manner to prevent injury.
• To understand that each pupils physic is different.
• To be aware of any dance injuries prior to starting the class.
• Have a structured lesson with targets and teaching aims.
• Have public liability insurance or covered by employer.
• To be punctual and professional.
• Confidentiality between pupil and parents.
• To have health and safety certificate.
• Apply corrects in a constructive manner.
• Insure their are rules and  boundaries between teacher and pupils.
• To teach in a creative, positive atmosphere where their is discipline and guidelines on how a pupil should behave. (Student Handbook)
•  Approachable and communicate with both pupils and parents.
• Understand procedures for disciplinary.
• Lesson plans are of the correct level for the pupils participating.
• Understand what the regulations are for conflicts of interest.
• Attend all staff meetings and training days.
• Make sure pupils are wearing correct uniform and footwear.
• Make sure you fill in an accident report form if anything happens during class.

I have noted all codes of practice and regulations without research. 

I often strive for just one correct answer to a question and ethics completely goes against this, there is never one set way to behave but their is a correct way to behave but how do we define what correct behaviour is?  Who ultimately decides what is the right way or the wrong way to behave? What I find acceptable from pupils in both their level of input and the way they behave maybe considerably different from another teacher- Fundamentally there are guidelines that are put in place by your employer for you to follow. 

Award Title

With help from the SIG on Facebook and talking to other practitioners, employers and friends. I propose my final question.

What would a pupil benefit more from a highly skilled teacher with little dance experience or a highly skilled dancer with little teaching experience? 

This has been the source of much debate and seems to tie in all ideas and previous questions I proposed.  Eventually I want to move into teaching dance within the curriculum. At present I teach dance in various dance schools based around the ISTD syllabus and I am completing all major teaching examinations with the ISTD.

 My Knowledge is primarily from a dancers point of view and I am using more than one discipline to contextualise the knowledge- inter-disciplinary. With this in mind and the path I seem to be following, I propose my award title. 

BA (Hons) Professional Practice (in dance teaching)

I have used the word education within my questions and discussions, I could propose my award title as BAPP (in dance education) I think the line is fine between these. Wikipedia defines the term teacher/teaching and education as

• A teacher is a person who provides education for pupils (children) and students (adults)

• Teaching is the imparting of knowledge by a teacher or other knowledgeable person.

• Education in the general sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character, or physical ability of an individual. In its technical sense, education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, and values from one generation to another.

Both are the imparting of knowledge but I want to understand the knowledge a teacher must have in order to be able teach dance and the benefits this has on a child's development. I believe my award title sums up my previous experience and acquired knowledge, this will enrich my current knowledge and deepen the understanding of my profession even further to enable me to be more competent teacher.

ISTD and Education

I have just spoken to a friend of mine whom I trained with; I put forward my questions and asked her thoughts on the term education. This is something that she finds really interesting and she informed me that they are converting the ISTD (The ISTD is a leading dance teaching and examination board offering training courses for people wishing to become certified dance teachers) syllabus and grading it with the national curriculum guidelines, she also informed me they are an awarding body recognised by the qualifications and curriculum agency.

I think these findings have made me feel more secure in using the word education in my award title as I teach the ISTD syllabus in both classical ballet and modern theatre dance. 

Developing my Question, with my Professional Community

I seem to be going around in circles with my questions at the moment, I know the direction I want to go in but I cannot seem to decide what angle to approach it from. I took my questions to another very talented teacher whom I work alongside. He has years of experience within the industry and as a teacher. David has also completed this BA, very small world.

I put to him the question what kind of education is dance? His reply to this question was how would I obtain research if I did not work within a state school? This module is about researching and gathering information to support your inquiry. It is better to be able to access an array of information and inquire about something you are actively involved in.

My question is -Does Education have to be based on state schools? The Wikipedia definition for Education is

‘Education in the general sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character, or physical ability of an individual. In its technical sense, education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, and values from one generation to another.’

I believe both professional and vocational dance education can be provided by both public and private sector institutions. Knowledge is acquired through education regardless of institution.

I asked David- Where is dances place within the education system?

David reminded me not to ask a question that I already know the answer to or have a firm opinion on as this will close my research and further development. Ask questions that open doors and lead on to other questions. Just because you decide on a question it does not mean it will be the only one. I think it is important that my inquiry is not taking place to defend my profession but to deepen my understanding of it.

David- How will this topic help you in what you do? For me it is about deepening the understanding of my professional to become a better practitioner. I want to understand the benefits dance has on a child’s overall development. 

I think talking to David has helped me to rethink the direction of my questions and the overall inquiry into them.

I would be interested to know your thoughts on the term Education.

Dance Education

After reading Sonal's initial questions and Alan's comments I started to think about the transition from performer to dance teacher, as this questions seems to fit in with my initial question on private dance schools or more so dance teachers having to undertake a degree or even a course on 'teaching'. If Dance is to have a place within the education sector surly we need to take steps in order to assure teachers are not just inflicting good toes and naughty toes on teenage ballerinas.

I personally think the transition between performing and teaching is huge, I know other would disagree. Even though I have studied dance from the age of 6 and have been to a full time dance school and college, have studied anatomy and dance history, along side nutrition and music. I am still completing a course with the imperial teachers of dance to maintain and improve my level of teaching. Most importantly as a dancer to transfer the tatic knowledge into learning, to explain why or how you change a move and transfer it into another dancers knowledge or learning. In the reader it states that a dancer who is also a teacher has inter-disciplinary knowledge because more than one disipline is being used to contextualise the knowledge. I do believe this type of knowledge is invaluable because you have a varied view and a wider outlook of knowledge to form your teaching on, because like teaching there is no limit to learning and this means we never know what might arise within an teaching situation.

However I do believe if it were compulsory to undertake a course, that was recognised throughtout the education sector, we would start eliminating the views of dance being a softer subject. MPs are now defending these comments Nick Gibb states some interesting facts in his talk about the role of dance within the education system. The link may be of interest to any one looking at dance education.

Reverting back to my professional inquiry and developing questions and the thoughts of Judi Marshall describing her process as 'self reflective inquiry' (Marshall, 2001) Every time I walk into a class I have questions when I leave a class I have even more questions, I like the idea that she suggests in questioning we are always inquiring. I might start writing my questions down as not to lose them in my days events and these may help expand and finalise my initial questions.

Going back to knowledge and the idea of university or college knowledge being disciplinary knowledge because there are boundaries and transdisciplinary when we cannot pigeon hole the knowledge. I would say that I work within a disciplinary situation but my knowledge is inter-disciplinary because it is characterised and formed from more than one discipline. I have started reading 'The Art of Dance in Education' as this looks at the relationship between these two types of knowledge.

From this mass of thoughts I have re asked myself what I want from this course and what I need to deepen and enhance the understanding of my profession. From reading Adesola's blog 'First Tasks' I have come the conclusion that it is not an answer I require but a deeper understand of a subject that plays a huge part in my professional practice and is of great interest to me.


What kind of Education is dance? and how can it be beneficial in a child's education development?

Developing my Questions...

Adosola directed me to an article that has proved to be immensely valuable in taking my initial questions further. The telegraph published an article in which dance was quoted as being a ‘softer subject .’ Mr Willetts believes that core subjects like mathematics, English, languages and science should be seen and noted as being somewhat higher or more valuable within the education system.

My current thought process has led me to explore the question ‘where is dances place within the education system’?  

If we continue to listen to the views of Mr Willetts back in the 20^th century. A comment was made on the article that took me back to Howard Gardener and the theory of multiple intelligence; I note bodily kinaesthetic intelligence is noted as INTELLIGENCE is it not?  An A level is an A Level regardless of whether you part take in it actively or practically and it is the thinking of people like Mr Willetts that brings me to keep asking this question. What does he base his thinking on? The arts and the media sector are surging, so it cannot be employment.

On the contrary I have had several discussions with practitioners, lecturers and friends about whether subjects like Surfing being studied at degree level are just pointless and have no real place within society, I believe that we have now introduced degrees and A levels in all manner of subjects and to me these seem to be rather ridiculous.

Recently I had the pleasure of working with a lady who had a PHD in strip tease.  I completely underestimated this art form and thought I could learn a burlesque dance in an hour, not only did I listen to an hour’s history lesson on burlesque but learnt the most intricate of movements that for even a dancer were very difficult. I do not think anyone has the right to label a subject as ‘soft’ unless they have actively tried it themselves.  What are your thought on this subject?   

What would I be achieving if I researched this question? And whom would benefit from my research? are questions I need to look into.

If we understood the benefits dance has on a child’s development would this shift the way dance is was viewed by others? 

Initial Questions

As I move further into my career as a dance teacher I have found that questions have started arising quite naturally, here are my initial thoughts.

• How can dance aid in the learning of other more practical subjects?

• What effects can dance have on a child's educational development?

• How can we insure that private dance schools maintain a high and safe level of teaching, if it is not compulsory to be part of a teaching body or have some sort of teaching degree?

•  Where is dances place within the education system? 

At the moment some of my questions are to personal, I do not want to start an enquiry with a rant. I also believe the questions are a little to vague but all interlinking. I am going to start a SIG on facebook titled 'Dance Education'.