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
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
Well, snap to the awards title here Nicole! Im finding it really interesting reading your thoughs on clarifying and separating your assumptions to fact. Could you be proved wrong in any way do you think, in that could someone produce a valid argument as to why dance does not benefit someone? I am considering this factor too, aswell as thinking about why people dance, why or what might stop them from dancing.
ReplyDeleteI found Ken Robinsons talk really very interesting too, he has a fantastic way of sharing his thoughts in a light hearted way don't you think. I was particularly interesting in his notion on how societys view on Education is possibly becoming outdated, and needs to be less rigid. I hadn't considered linking the role of dance in society stemming right back to the industrial revolution to be honest. I suppose we could mention the renaissance here too, that lead to an intellectual transform based on a huge cultural movement too. That introduced a boom in the Arts and growth in popularity of literature, science, art, religion, and politics.
I think you are sharing your thinking really clearly. Ken Robinson is a really interesting guy. I did a research project over seen by him. It was really great talking to him about my ideas.
ReplyDeleteHere is the beginning of an abstract for a paper I gave at BERA. Maybe it will spark some more ideas for you and Sophie:
'According to Robinson (2001), “(The) education system has become obsessed with particular forms of academic ability…many people leave education never realizing their intellectual capacities”. It could be argued that a focus on ‘the mind’ alone marginalizes many pupils and ignores vital senses and aspects of the physical body which are also essential to learning. Government strategies, such as All Our Futures, Building Schools for the Future and The Children’s Plan, highlight the on-going debate around relationship between physical knowledge, environment and learning. Although the moving body has “warranted relatively little attention in academia” (Thomas 2003), there remains an ongoing debate within sociology (Connell 2005) and physical education /dance (McFee 1994) about the role of the body in engagement with learning.'
Adesola