Module 2: Task 6c - Award Title

Since embarking on the BAPP course, I have been mulling the award title over, back and fourth in my mind, as I am aware of how influential the title of the BA qualification I hope to hold upon completion will be, especially in respect of where I want to take the next steps within my career.

I initially thought that due to how many years I have training in the 'Arts', I should choose between either;

BA Hons Professional Practice (Dance)

BA Hons Professional Practice (Drama)

BA Hons Professional Practice (Performing Arts) 

BA Hons Professional Practice (Musical Theatre)

In order to help establish what my award title should be, I found it beneficial to find definitions of the above ideas;

(These definitions are the ones I consider to be most applicable for my use.  All definitions found at www.oxforddictionaries.com)

Dance:

... Dance steps and movements considered as an activity or art form:

the rules of classical dance
Drama:
...The activity of acting:teachers who use drama are working inpartnership with pupils
Performing Arts:
...Forms of creative activity that are performed in front of an audience, such as drama, music, and dance:a centre for the performing arts
Musical Theatre:
...A genre of drama in which singing and dancing play an essential part:a successful professional career in musical theatre

I then considered including 'education' or 'teaching' alongside one of these options, for example;
BA Hons. Professional Practice (Dance Teaching)
BA Hons. Professional Practice (Drama Education)
However on further reflection upon the years spent training within dance, drama and musical theatre as a performer, I felt that I should not restrict myself at this point in my career by emphasising that I am  just a teacher rather than both a teacher and performer.  
Another exploratory path I took, was to use my professional network to assess what my colleagues Degree studies had involved.  This made me rule out 'Performing Arts' as this had apparently been mostly exploratory of Physical Theatre, something in which I have had little experience and therefore, awarding myself this title, I would feel like a fraud! Again, with a 'Musical Theatre' title, there would instantly been implied singing aspects, which although I have worked as a singer in the past, I would not want to become a music teacher at any point.  
As I already have accredited qualifications in Dance (through the ISTD) which are well recognised when applying for dance teaching positions, coupled with the fact that I would like to progress on to a PGCE in Secondary Drama (an area in which I have a great deal of experience professionally, as both a performer and teacher, but no official accreditation of this as yet), upon completion of the BAPP I have decided that the most suitable award title would be;
BA Hons. Professional Practice (Drama)
Rationale:

Training at the prestigious 'Italia Conti' School on the 'Performing Arts and Musical Theatre' (three year programme) course, before working professionally as an actress, presenter and dancer, I feel I have lots of knowledge and expertise within this area.  Throughout my training and professional career, I have always had a passion for teaching.  I am currently teaching drama and dance to pupils ranging between three and eighteen years as well as adults.  The professional knowledge I have gained throughout my performing career plays a huge role within my daily teaching, both in practical and theoretical elements of lessons.  Alongside my wealth of performing experience, I have worked as a teaching assistant in a variety of educational settings (mainstream primary, secondary and SEN) working with pupils aged three to eighteen years. Within this practice I have found my true passion lies within Secondary Education - Key Stages three to five.  Following my BA Hons. Professional Practice Degree, I wish to pursue a PGCE with QTS course to enable me to become a fully qualified teacher within this chosen field.  Although I do want to go into teaching, this title could also be used within further performance roles training (such as an MA in Drama), if this is a route I choose to follow at a later stage.  My chosen line of inquiry reflects this award title, as emotional literacy is of great relevance within the current National Curriculum and exploring ways to link this within drama lessons, I feel will definitely benefit my future work and my students education.  

Module 2: Task 6a & b - Tools of Inquiry Research

Looking at reader 6 and considering the various options explored, I feel a qualitative approach to research will work best for my proposed chosen line of inquiry;

'Drama to inform emotional literacy and learning to learn'

I have concluded that qualitative research would be more informative as I intend to base a lot of my research around interviews from a small but diverse group of key stage 3,4 and 5 hierarchy - Head teachers, Deputy Heads and Heads of Key Stages - from schools across the Country in both Mainstream and SEN settings.  I also intend to try and vary these with somewhat of an equal balance between Independent, Academies and State funded schools to keep my research open and fair.  As I know a great deal of teachers across the Country already, this should be straight forward enough to arrange as long as I plan times/dates well in advance of when I need to begin analysing my research.

The reasoning behind interviewing school hierarchy is to avoid a biased opinion, for example opinions on how beneficial drama is in teaching emotional literacy through the eyes of the drama/performing arts teacher.  I am however also aware, after speaking with Paula, that Head teachers may be dubious about consenting to give written feedback as this could have negative repercussions, as I previously blogged about;

http://emmacorboz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/module-2-task-5c-ethics.html

Using the approach in the above blog, I hope to gain the trust and confidence of those I contact when I begin conducting research. 

When conducting these interviews, I plan to use semi-structured questions as I feel this will give a fair balance across my research as all of the questions asked will have been the same from my perspective.  However, by using semi-structured questioning, there is also room for interviewees to share other thoughts without being 'led' into specific answers, something that I am very aware of due to the fact that I am an advocate of the value of drama within educational settings.  Again, as previously discussed in my blog (see link above), being an insider-researcher, I did have a tend to ask 'leading questions' without realising when I began exploring inquiry tools.  This idea ties in well with reflexivity;

'Reflexivity is a term used in social science to signify that the researcher needs to try and be 'as objective as possible' about the inevitability subjective practice of research.  In this sense the issue of bias for the work-based learning researcher becomes less of a question of eliminating it, than acknowledging the part it plays in the research process.'

BAPP Reader 6; Principles of Professional Inquiry (2013-14)

I have also begun looking into extending my professional network to help guide my research.  I found a book entitled 'Creative Shakespeare' which is part of the Globe Education literature.  It has a great many ideas of how to use drama for creative learning and the last chapter gives quotes from former students of the programmes that the Globe run.  I am currently trying to contact someone who may have some positive/negative feedback on drama and the teaching of emotional literacy.  Again, to this point, I currently work with a lady who is an 'ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant), who may have some other interesting experiences/insights to share with me.

Although I need to research deeper into exactly how to approach it, due to the nature and approach to research, I feel that a simple form of 'coding' for analysis may be applicable.  This is something to look into however as I am unsure of how many people would need to be included during interview for this to give a true reflection of ideas. 

As with any research, analysis of selected literature will play an important role within my research to see how the ideas explored within text correlate with the feedback from my interviews.

A tool that may also be good to use, would be observation.  If I could put together a simple lesson plan (one that consisted of exercises and strategies to teach emotional literacy) that a drama teacher could follow whilst I observe the lesson, I may discover new thoughts/opinions for my research.  This would take a great deal of liaising with schools which may be difficult to arrange, especially as most schools work to such a tight schedule already.  Something to look into... 

When discussing how to approach this task with Sinead, we felt it would be most beneficial to conduct our informal trials on each other as we both have subject knowledge of one another's lines of inquiry and will therefore notice, with greater ease, where our inquiry techniques need adjustment, as opposed to speaking to a friend who has no subject knowledge.  This will be helpful to rectify at this stage than when conducting 'real' research in Module 3.  Once we have conducted our informal trials, I will share my thoughts on the processes and my discoveries to go alongside this one, which I can then reflect on at a later date.

Tools that I feel are too limited for my inquiry;

• Surveys & Questionnaires

A survey would have too many restrictions due to the possible negative repercussions (as discussed in the blog link above) for my inquiry and therefore it would be highly likely that I would get only a small number of survey forms back and those would probably be 'in line' with the government ideals on education at the time of survey.  

I could however consider using a questionnaire form over the phone (that I would check answers for) to give a more direct line of inquiry.  Again with this, comes some extremely careful planning to avoid leading questions and I am unsure of whether this would give me any deeper understanding of my questions than an interview would anyway…? 

• Focus Groups

I am considering the role of drama for emotional literacy and learning to learn so my focus group would either have to be students or teachers - people who are involved from both ends during the process of learning.  To use students would be difficult as most KS3/4/5 students will be on individual timetables and therefore trying to get a group into one room at the same time would be virtually impossible.  Again, it would also be next to impossible to arrange  for a group of teachers to take part in a focus group as their time is even more limited than that of students.  In principle, a focus group would be fantastic, especially as I am focussing on qualitative research.  However, the practicalities outweigh the positives within my research.

This task has certainly made me asses where, how and with whom my research would be most beneficial and how to best use the allotted time frame of Module 3. It has also allowed me the opportunity to explore the ethical ideals considered in Part 5, alongside the practical elements of research and showed me the need to gel the two together when researching. 

Module 2: Task 5c - Ethics

As a teacher, I already have a secure knowledge of the day to day practical ethical practices of working within schools and with children as I previously blogged about.  I have however found that my knowledge of ethics in response to researching is rather limited and with my inquiry in mind, this is clearly an area I will need to research further to ensure professional ethical practice throughout.

Through discussion with colleagues and my BAPP tutor, I have begun to further identify where specifically I may run into difficulty when researching;

I planned to send out a paper/digital survey asking for opinions from head teachers within different schools of their professional views on whether we should be focussing attention on a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) or STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Maths) curriculum.  After discussion, I have come to realise that this would not be ethical as, due to their professional position, head teachers may feel compelled to say STEM so as not to go against the ideals of the current National Curriculum as put in place by the Government.  Another concern by researching this way would be that head teachers may not respond for fear of their professional answers  being used against them or falling into the hands of the wrong person i.e. a parent, as this would be proof of them going against the Government's ideas on education and would possibly (worst case scenario) compromise their career.

A way around this would be to conduct face to face interviews and take field notes or use an audio recording device when conducting research.  Along with this, to ensure that their opinions could never be held against them, I could create a form that I sign and leave with each participant stating that the conversation was merely for my own university research purposes and no names/school names would be included in the inquiry essay.

Another ethical consideration is that due to the nature of my inquiry being a topic I am an advocate of, I must be very aware of not using leading questions within my research.  On this point, I also need to ensure that I am taking on board arguments on both sides, in particular arguments against as I will find it relatively easier to find viewpoints of those who are for my inquiry.

Something I did take from the reader was that I have to be aware of not using 'shock value' (see quote A below) when selecting which information to use.  For example, if an article is mainly opposition to my argument but one line is advocative, it is important to consider the whole article as evidence, rather than the line that 'suits' my research.

Quote A - BAPP Reader 5; Principle of Professional Inquirye researcher.  Sometimes there is the urge to include a quote for its shock value but if it is going against the general trend, then this should be reported as well.'

Quote A - BAPP Reader 5; Principle of Professional Inquiry (2013-14)

Overall, I feel that ethics in workplace practice is something I am well educated in, however, I am going to have to proceed with caution when delving into the realm of research at such a high level for the first time. 

Image Source: http://frumpgirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/OneStepAtATime.png

Ideas, Ideas, Ideas

I began looking at some of the extra reading today (as recommended by Paula) as I was really beginning to get confused about what interested me and what simply fulfilled the requirements of the task and my own needs -

1) Not a circular argument

2) Something original

3) Incorporating subject/skills knowledge to back up my proposed award title BAPP (Arts) Performing Arts Teaching

4) Developing my current knowledge in a professional manner

5) Something current 

Some of the key pointers that stood out for me (below) in helping develop my ideas were in the book 'How to Research' by Loraine Blaxter, Christina Hughes and Malcolm Tight.  

1. Create a personal development plan:

Image Source; Screenshot from reading (above)

2. Consider the research spiral:

Image Source: Screenshot from reading (above)

3. What is originality?

Image Source: Screenshot from reading (above)

4. Too many ideas…

Image Source: Screenshot from reading (above)

5. Where do I want my inquiry to lead me?

Image Source: Screenshot from reading (above)

At work today I spoke with a colleague who asked me if my research was to be qualitative or quantitative to which I was unsure.  When I spoke with Paula, she informed me that for the most part the piece will be qualitative, however some data - using typically smaller focus groups that quantitative research would usually use - should also be used to add weight to arguments, where applicable.  To ensure that I correctly and fully understood the differences between these two types of research, I found this link:

http://www.snapsurveys.com/qualitative-quantitative-research/

I also spoke with the head of an academy, mainstream secondary school in Derby today to try and further develop where my thoughts are going and these are some avenues which I now think would lead to a more relevant line of inquiry, taking into consideration my aspirations to complete a PGCE in dance/drama.

1) Key Stage 3 curriculum - currently one sentence for drama under the 'English' subject curriculum whereby children create, perform and rehearse work - means that it is dependent on the teacher to create a strong drama curriculum.  Research could consist of questionnaires to teachers in varying schools asking whether they feel it would be beneficial to have a set curriculum in its own right for drama of if they like this freedom and do they feel that students across the country are getting fair and equally good teaching currently, when drama is a subsidiary subject stemming from English. 

2) Benefits of BTEC over GCSE - Which has more real world potential for students/should students choose differently depending on whether they want to become performers or teachers ultimately?

3) Should Performing Arts been viewed as second rate (easy subjects) next to STEM subjects?  What about problems with absence? - catching up on a maths lesson can be done with a text book and a Youtube video vs. A missed performing arts lesson often means missed rehearsal time affecting the absent child's personal progress as well as that of other members of a performance groups.  This also helps teach the value of teamwork in a 'work' setting.  

4) Differences in exam boards - AQA 20% written 80% practical vs. EDEXCEL all controlled assessment.  Is this fair for gifted and talented actors who may struggle with written work.

5) This is also something I feel could be used within my research and something that may be of great interest to anyone looking at Performing Arts and Education;
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/feb/23/ed-miliband-pledge-universal-entitlement-arts-education

All in all I feel that one of the above lines (probably number 3. as I feel most excited about this one) will ultimately be the route I choose to develop as these tie in better with where I want to go in the future, but in the meantime my head will be buried in literature! 

Crossroads - Wording my Inquiry Title

After a lengthy discussion with Paula tonight I am now very confused as to where I want to go with my inquiry title.  I have so many avenues of interest and such little time to explore them all in depth enough to decide which one will;

a) be most useful to my future career

b) draw on the strengths and areas of knowledge I have already 

c) be most topical

d) be of interest/purpose to others

My original idea was the question 'is there a core educational need for Performing Arts based subjects within the National Curriculum Framework?' but after discussion I now realise that this could become a very circular inquiry. 

Whilst discussing this, I then proposed the question 'Do we have an obligation to future cultural society to educate school children in Performing/Creative Arts?'.  In my mind, this question seems to make sense but I am not sure how I would explore this fully and conclusively with evidence…

Another possible line of inquiry that would tie in perfectly with my SEN teaching would be the 'The use/value of Performing Arts within an SEN setting'.  However, this has already been argued (and won!) - several times over - by teachers, therapists and education specialists, therefore becoming a void inquiry as we already know that Performing Arts has huge weight and value in these settings.  It may also affect my possibilities for a secondary PGCE after the BAPP, as it could be seen as specialising in SEN, which is not something I am 100% decided on at this point.

There are many arguments that I want to cover within my inquiry;

1) Will children be gaining a well rounded education (possible lack of culture/self expression/creativity/confidence/life skills - public speaking etc) without an education in Performing Arts and how will this affect their future career prospects, if at all?

2) Performing Arts has a valid place within all school settings without specific relevance in SEN schools, for example.

3) What are the likely economical and cultural repercussions, for future generations, when children are not educated in the Performing Arts.  For example, how will the (currently growing) creative industries roles be filled?

In other words, I know what I want to explore, I just don't know how to word the title of my inquiry to touch base with these areas of interest.

HELP…!!!

Image Source: 

http://www.tulsacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/crossroads-sign.jpg

Module 2: Task 4d

Although I have not finished my reading for this task, I thought it would be useful to leave a short blog stating which books I have chosen for this task and the synopsis, as some of this reading may come in useful for others on the BAPP, especially those looking at Performing Arts and Education.

1. Dance as Education - Peter Brinson

Image Source: 

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41suFKbGoIL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

Image Source - Photo uploaded from personal camera

2. The Art of Dance in Education - Jacqueline M.Smith-Autard

Image Source: 

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41aI8Vyqc4L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

Image Source - Photo uploaded from personal camera

3. Drama as Education - Gavin Bolton

Image Source - Photo uploaded from personal camera

Image Source - Photo uploaded from personal camera

I have also begun collating resources that should be of great use in Module three on www.delicious.com (under the username @ejcorboz88).

Module 2: Task 4c - Professional Backing and Developing Questions

Who and Why?

I wanted my professional backing to come from someone who fits the following criteria;

a) Someone with experience of working in state schools

b) Someone who I trust and value the opinions of

c) Someone with many years of expertise and knowledge in practice

d) Someone who's professional career I aspire to achieve for myself one day

I found this person in the form of the Head of Key Stage three (the age group I want to work with upon completion of the BAPP and a PGCE) at the school in which I currently work as a TA.  Although this is a SEN school, she worked in a mainstream secondary setting for many years before undertaking a role within a Special Needs setting. 

Developing Questions:

I have also taken my original list of questions to the head of performing arts at the same school to see how he felt would be best to develop them.  I did this in the form of email (as being the head of department, his time within the school day is precious and I did not want to create additional work for him during his already long days) and here is the response I got:

Hi Emma,

I have had a look at your blog, and had a look at the questions. I have a few pointers below just to keep the questions as open as possible and so as not to lead your participant in the direction that you want them to go. this way you are keeping your research as loose as possible and giving participants freedom to express what they really feel rather than feeling they should be conforming to what they should be saying. If you want any help closer to the time when you are writing up your research then let me know and we can have a chat. Below are your questions and a few suggestions.

Questions:

Would you say performing arts has a valid place within an SEN setting?  If so, why?
How do you feel about the performing arts in an SEN setting?

Can you think of an instance where a child has responded particularly positively in SEN setting?

Can you think of an instance where a child has responded particularly negatively in SEN setting?

Make these two separate questions

Would you say groups of children respond differently to performing arts depending on their SEN (i.e. Do autistic children have a more positive response than downs syndrome children or is it always a completely individual result?(maybe don't give an example unless you feel it is essential, otherwise you may already unwittingly have got them thinking about downs and autism as opposed to the whole range).

What skills, if any, does performing arts give SEN children?
What do you believe the performing arts offers pupils with SEN? Unless you specifically want the participant to talk about 'skills' (eg ability to use voice to represent a character) as opposed to qualities such as confidence/self esteem

Do you have any further information on the performing arts and SEN children that I could use for further research purposes?

Is there anything else you want to add? (might be worth including this as they may give you a pearls of wisdom that otherwise might have been lost!!)

Conclusion:

Task '4c' has really opened my eyes to how easy it is to be unintentionally biased/leading when plotting questions and this is something that I feel I will need to be overly aware of when conducting research in Module three.  I am also glad that I have been made aware of my own personal potential ethical vices now, rather than going into my research blind to them, as to keep research ethical, it has to be fair and non leading.

Image Source:

https://njcprinting.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/survey_design_faux_pas_leading_the_witness-copy.jpg

Module 2: Task 4b - Special Interest Group

I have created a Special Interest Group (SIG) - 'Performing Arts in Education' - using the google+ community builder tool.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/115388313863291261435

(Link to SIG)

I decided to use google+ as all my peers from the course are already there and I also enjoy how easy the platform is to use and link with other platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc).

So far there have been a number of good questions raised around the readers as well as outside points of view and ideas for lines of inquiry.  I am finding the SIG already has huge value as it is a great way to connect with others and share information along with resources (links to articles, websites etc) and is constantly evolving, throwing out new questions that I had not previously considered.  Just like teaching, I am discovering that by giving my thoughts to someone else's questions, I am often in turn answering some of my own, which then sparks more ideas and questions in my mind!

I know that this SIG will be worth its weight in gold going forward, especially in module three, so here is to sharing to learn and learning to share!

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