Literature Review: 'Developing an Integrated Dance Curriculum'

Jennifer Smith has more than 12 years experience as a teacher and at the time of this article she was an assistant professor and director of the dance program at Knox College in Illinois, USA.  Within this article Jennifer Smith looks at the idea of a holistic approach to dance to integrate the dance curricula and academic studies.

I found this explanation of what taking a holistic approach might mean:

"A holistic view means that we are interested in engaging and developing the whole person. You can think of this as different levels, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. It’s the concept that the human being is multi-dimensional. We have conscious and unconscious aspects, rational and irrational aspects. We are a bodymind. Not just intellect, but emotion, instinct, intuition, as well. We support people in using all of their ‘multiple intelligence’ that means insight, rationality, logic, emotion, hunches, gut feel, creativity, a sense of harmony and rhythm. We believe there are more than five senses, and we wish people to use the information from all their senses, and assist them in developing ‘uncommon sense’."

Source: http://www.boastl.com/content/what-do-you-mean-holistic-approach  
Accessed 28th April 2015


Drawing Connections: Developing an Integrated Dance Curriculum - Jennifer Smith

"When examining the curricular structure of any dance department it is useful to begin with an analysis of work covered in technique classes, as they are often the backbone of a dance program."

It think it is important to note here that Smith links 'curricular' with Dance. Her views on Dance are that is does have a structure that can be curricular and I think this can sometimes be forgotten about by outsiders.  As Smith writes from a point of view of being within Further Education, the curricular links will be much stronger.  As dance in Primary schools is seen mainly as an active subject, hence its existence within Physical Education, there are no provisions for the theory side of dance.  

Whilst theory could be introduced, my experience tells me that with the limited time given for a Dance session there would not be a place for this addition.  The sessions could be structured to vary from week to week, but again from experience the Physical Education curriculum tends to work on rotation by changing the activity either half-termly or termly. 

Perhaps the idea of introducing more theory into dance could be something for classes within education, especially primary, could consider?

"The truth is that the majority of our students has never read a dance critique and do not possess the vocabulary necessary to discuss a performance, nor do they draw connections between what a dancer may be doing on stage and their own training in the technique being performed." 

The fact that Smith has identified the lack of analysis her students are capable of, questions whether Dance could be too practical.  Could this be diminishing the amount of knowledge the students are retaining?  Perhaps this could be a reason why Dance is looked at in such a way that it is not of the same importance as academic subjects.  These skills that Smith describes could be an important part of a students' learning.

"The focus on technical training that has led to this failure to prepare students to write about dance but such critiques do little to support a student's technical training."

The failure that Smith talks about here is her students' lack of experience to analyse movement.  But what what she points out is that this ability that they could gain, would not necessarily help their technical training and merely improve their skills to be able to critique others.  What I think, is that if you are able to critique others successfully then this could provide a backbone to be able to critique ones self.  And could this skill of analysis applying to other disciplines to look at the work being done to see if it matches the criteria?

"I have started to give my beginning students the following creative projects with the goal of educating them about how the human body works and building their sense of body awareness."

The idea of providing her students with a project, has a clear outcome and an outcome that relates to other subjects.  This may not necessarily be in written form, but there is still a form of learning happening here.  This would provide a link between dance and science.  Smith is forming ideas to develop her students' learning within the discipline of dance.

"Through both these assignments students are building skills in body awareness.  They are learning human anatomy, developing a connection to their own personal structure, and investigating how they can begin to use dance as a tool to re-educate their body by applying this knowledge to correct body use."

Smith is fully aware of what she is trying to achieve from her students.  What I would be interested to know from this is whether the assignments were successful and if the outcomes were achieved.  The skills which her students are being taught are valuable ones and although mainly related to dance, I think some of this can be transferred to other disciplines within education.  

"This project has also pushed them to develop their performance skills, and overall, my students are learning and retaining information more quickly in class and are more focused."

Smith set her students a different assignment which involved videotaping themselves performing on three different occasions.  This is a really useful tool for a performer and if they have the capability to critique themselves fairly it can improve ones form.  Smith identified the improvement made through this project which would then be benefit the students as ongoing skills. 

"I believe that it is my role as an educator to help my students learn how to use the tools of today wisely." 

This is an important statement that Smith makes, and relating education to her teaching is a clear point to note.  The use of tools can be a valuable skill which can aid other areas of everyday life.  Teachers can introduce additional resources into their lessons which can provide additional learning like Smith has done here.

"Dance History provides a context that a dance professor can use to discuss the ideas of politics, cultural identity, and technological progress, among other topics."

Here, Smith incorporates history into her sessions.  History is a vast subject and with that comes the great knowledge of how things has evolved.  Dance in particular is regularly used to demonstrate the changes through the decades and the links within cultures.  This now links dance to other subjects within the curriculum.

"They will be confident individuals in their own bodies because they will understand what role their everyday choices play in how they present themselves physically to other people.  Through the connections that they have made between what they are learning in dance and its relationship to their world as a whole, we will have provided them with life skills that enable them to become well-rounded, intellectually minded, and verbally articulate professionals in dance, or in any field they choose to pursue."

A vast list of skills sums up Smith's article to show the learning which can absorbed through dance.

Conclusion

Smiths article has opened my eyes to the learning created through dance.  Rather than looking at what skills can be directly taken from dance and transferred into other disciplines, as a teacher I can enforce the skills that I apply to my students to broaden their learning.  Although a teacher is bound by the curriculum, there is always room to be creative.  These creative ideas that Smith has used within her teaching has given her students a wider spectrum to learn from.

Smith, J (2007) Drawing Connections: Developing an Integrated Dance Curriculum, Teaching Artist Journal, 5:3, p200-204, London: Routledge                                                     

Literature Review: 'Dance in Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning'

Looking further into literature to help me to understand my inquiry more, is enabling me to see why Performing Arts is not necessarily present within primary education.  I am still on the look out for literature relating directly to Primary education rather than Secondary, but the majority of text appears to relate to education in general.  I think this will still be a source of information which will help develop my inquiry.

This piece of literature discusses dance as an interdisciplinary learning tool within schools.  I also saw this discussed in another piece of literature which I have looked at, where it was said that 'teachers can use dance as a unique vehicle for integrating teaching and learning across curricula'. (Hanna, p65, 1999).  As my inquiry is currently looking into the basis of performing arts providing disciplinary skills within education, I think that it is beneficial to also look at why dance specifically can be seen more as a tool, to incorporate learning within other subjects.  

Dance in Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning- Alison M Rhodes

'Dance if often positioned in contrast to more "academic" disciplines.'

Rhodes immediately begins by making a comparison of dance with other disciplines which are seen as 'academic' within schools.  I agree that this is very often the case, and by contrast is not a discipline in itself and used within Physical Education and therefore not as common as other subjects, as Rhodes says "dance is not valued as a discipline in its own right". (Rhodes, 2006). So this poses the question of: Why is dance not seen in its own right and therefore made compulsory within primary schools?

'When taught at all, it is often used for the purpose of increasing student engagement or advancing understanding in another subject'

I think it would be a good source of research to ask current primary school teachers whether they use dance for student engagement?  I would't make an argument that dance should be used to increase student engagement as Rhodes suspects is sometimes the case here.  From my own experience I would say that yes, dance and performing arts can engage students, and therefore they can learn from these disciplines, however, it depends on many factors.  These factors include: gender, confidence and previous experience.  I also think that if a student already has an interest in Performing Arts then they are more likely to put in the effort and achieve learning successfully.  In contrast I think that if a student does not have an interest then the effort is not there and therefore neither is the learning.

For dance to be used to advance understanding in another subject, I can imagine would be a suitable reason for teachers to introduce dance.  Although I have used cross-curricular links within my dance sessions in primary schools, I wouldn't necessarily agree that this has always developed the understanding of the linked subject.  For example, I recently used the solar system as a stimulus to create a dance piece within a Year 5 class.  I wasn't aiming to make this educational as such, but more to help the students develop ideas and creativity from a subject that they were already familiar with.  This was a really effective tool to use and enabled the students to stay focused on the task I had set.

Discussing interdisciplinary education: 'provides unique opportunities for learning about dance as well as through dance'

These unique opportunities are ones that I have seen myself.  As a professional dancer I feel that I have provided 'unique' sessions that students may not have had the experience of previously.  Whilst most Primary School 'dance' lessons are taught by their class teacher, the students that I have had the pleasure of teaching have been taught by someone who has had intense and professional training and has been lucky enough to gain professional experience within the industry.

Where dance is used within interdisciplinary learning, it exposes this discipline to students in a way they may have not experienced before.  This is providing the 'unique opportunity' which I think Rhodes talks about here.  And whilst this can create an interesting way for students to learn, I think it could sometimes take away certain aspects of Dance that may only come from a specific lesson dedicated to the learning of the Performing Arts.  At the same time we could look into the skills that are being learnt here; could these skills be seen a transferable skills from one subject to another?       

Source: http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/43242_1.pdf (Repko, 2012)

This quote above, helped me to understand the definition of interdisciplinary studies.

'To validate its place within schooling, dance is often asked the play the role of supporting what are viewed as more "academic" disciplines'

Why is dance sometimes used as the supporting study?  Why can we not use dance simply in its own right?  I think this could be a useful question to place in one of my inquiry tools to find out what others think of this statement.  Surely dance provides students with some important skills which enable them to learn effectively and subsequently showing that dance can provide transferable skills?

'interdisciplinary understanding involves the "integration of knowledge and modes of thinking from two or more disciplines in order to create products, solve problems, and offer explanations of the world in ways that would not have been possible through single disciplinary means." (Boix Mansilla, Gardner, 2000)'.

As dance is classed as part of the Performing Arts, it has made me consider whether those who teach within the Performing Arts in education believe that this statement applies within this broad discipline.  Can two or more disciplines of Performing Arts; for example, Dance and Drama, 'create products, solve problems and offer explanations'?  From my point of view I would say yes, however this may be a bias view from someone who has intensely worked within performing arts.  

Conclusion

As dance isn't seen as a compulsory subject (National Curriculum, 2013), it does make sense to me that it is sometimes introduced as a subject to perhaps enhance learning of other subjects.  Currently the National Curriculum for KS1 and KS2, only has reference to dance under the 'Physical Education Programme of Study', where it states that 'pupils should be taught to perform dances using a range of simple/range of movement patterns'.  To me this comes across as very vague and doesn't seem to enforce the idea of dance.  

What I do find interesting is that the rest of the criteria for this subject content, refers to what should be achieved by use of other sports.  When in fact, dance can teach students balance, agility and co-ordination, which are mainly seen as fundamental skills learnt in common sports activities.  It is clear that Rhodes believes in Dance as an interdisciplinary subject and so it seems that this is how Dance, if used at all, is sometimes explored within education.  And so I question whether the idea of transferable skills is not really explored within Dance but the use of interdisciplinary learning appears to be supported.

References:

Boix Mansilla V, Gardner H (2000) On Disciplinary Lenses and Interdisciplinary Work, In: Wineburg S, Grossman P (eds): Interdisciplinary Curriculum: Challenges to Implementation. New York: Teachers College Press

Hanna, J. (1999) Partnering Dance and Education: Intelligent Moves for Changing, Interdisciplinary Learning, United States: Human Kinetics

National Curriculum KS1 & KS2 (2013):

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/239040/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_Physical_education.pdf Accessed: 26th April 2015

Repko AF (2012) Chapter 1: Defining Interdisciplinary Studies, Interdisciplinary Research: Process and Theory (2nd ed).  p16. United States: Sage Publications Ltd.

Rhodes. A.M (2006) Journal of Dance Education: Dance in Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning, Volume 6 Issue 2, p48, London:Routledge

Task 6d: Inquiry Plan

After drafting up my inquiry plan, I have changed my inquiry question back to what I was originally looking at.  These two questions are still very much linked with transferable skills but what I want to make sure is that my intended inquiry will benefit my future prospects as much as possible.  As I do not know where my inquiry will take me and where my career will take me I have decided to continue to look into the transferable skills that can be applied to learning within primary education.

Inquiry Question: Are there any transferable skills which can be learnt from a Performing Arts class and be applied to enhance learning within primary education?

I would be interested to here your views and opinions on this inquiry question!

Task 6c: Award Title

This is not something I have particularly considered before now, and is not something that requires too much thought due to my background and my future goals.  The two areas I think my award title should relate to would either be Dance or Performing Arts.  I have used both terms throughout the modules so far, not intentionally but due to the environments I have been working in.  As I am still currently in and out of multiple jobs, I think it is important to remember what experience I have and what my future career goals are.  Therefore I have chosen as my award title:

BA (Hons) Professional Practice (Performing Arts)

Rationale:

My performing training began in Performing Arts and although predominantly has been Dance, I have always explored and enjoyed all aspects of performing.  My professional training was made up of all genres within the Performing Arts bracket and has continued to be part of my experiences within my professional practice.

Now looking ahead at where I would like to progress to, I want to keep the broad subject of Performing Arts as a particular area to focus on.  I would like to develop my knowledge of Performing Arts within the private and public sector to broaden my opportunities for the future.

I feel that my award title relates to my inquiry question to look at the teaching within Performing Arts.

Task 6b: Inquiry Tools

Inquiry Question: Are there any transferable skills which can be applied between a Performing Arts teacher and a teacher within Primary Education?

To make sure I make the most of the tools available to use for my inquiry, it is important to look at the benefits and limits these tools.  I have selected possible tools to look at which would be most suitable towards researching into the questions relating to my inquiry.  Using Reader 6 I have thought about these tools within my current area of practice and other environments I may like to explore.

Insider- Researcher

Benefits:

• Easily accessible
• Familiar with the environment
• Knowledge of the environment
• Personal relationships already established 

Limits:

• Opportunities to collect the research
• Pre-conceptions about issues.

As I will be an insider-researcher within my current workplace's, it is vital to consider the benefits this will bring me as well as the limits this may incur.  The majority of my practitioner research will come from this tool, which will provide me with access to employers and colleagues from a familiar sector.  As this will be within my current workplace, the ethical issues should be considered carefully and with respect to those participating.  

I plan on interviewing two of my colleagues who work have similar backgrounds to myself, and although they are already both aware of my current studies, I will ensure that I provide them with an explanation of what I am looking into.  What I will need to be careful of is the relationship I already have established and therefore ensuring I stick to the area in question without letting my personal thoughts come into play.

Observations

Benefits:

• Allows you to record events as they happen.
• Allows you to pick the environment relevant to your inquiry.
• Kinaesthetic and behavioral information source.

Limits:

• Time-consuming.
• Can require permissions from the 'Gatekeeper' of the workplace.
• Ensuring all ethical guidelines are followed.

Conclusion:

I think I could use observation within a variety of performing arts sessions to see if there are elements which could be transferred to an educational scene.  In the same way I think it could also be beneficial to observe an educational setting to firstly see if there are similarities in the teaching methods and secondly to see if there are any transferable skills the students are learning which could be enforced within a performing arts class.  

Ethical Considerations:

Within this tool of research I would be putting myself in an environment of children and therefore I would need to gain consent from the Gatekeeper and the teacher of the class to ensure that they are happy for me to carry out my research.  I would also ensure that the identity of both the children and adults involved within this observation would remain anonymous as well as any other information disclosed.

Interviews

Benefits:

• Follow up ideas.
• Probe responses- adaptability.
• Investigate motives and feelings.
• Data can be collected in multiple ways.
• Can focus your interview towards particularly useful individuals.

Limits:

• Danger of using leading questions.
• Can be difficult to arrange a suitable time based around yours and their schedules.
• Finding a suitable location.
• Interpersonal variables affecting the responses.
• Considering ethics for the purpose of the interview.

Conclusion:

I could use interviews to direct questions towards individuals from both a performing arts and primary education teaching role to find out their opinions and thoughts on topics relating to my inquiry questions.  

Ethical Considerations:

I would need to ensure that the questions remain sensitive to the participant's whilst keeping their identity confidential.  I would also ensure that the participant was informed of the purposes of the interview and for what reasons I would be collecting the information.

Focus Groups

Benefits:

• Choosing relevant participants to gain varied answers.
• Can give an insight and spark ideas for others to apply within their practice.
• Provide "trigger" questions as the facilitator to direct the discussion.

Limits:

• Hard to manage.
• May involve consent from a Gatekeeper.
• Recording the data from multiple participants.

Conclusion:

I could use this tool by arranging a small group of practitioners together to discuss the topics relating to my inquiry questions.  This would also involve finding a suitable time and location to hold the discussion.  This tool would allow for varied answers from varied sources.

Ethical Considerations:

Firstly I would need to check that the location in which this would take place was suitable and confidential to discuss our opinions.  And secondly I may need to gain permission from a Gatekeeper of the location and consent from all participants whilst informing them of my purpose of the research.

Surveys and Questionnaires

Benefits:

• Gather data from a wide range of respondents.
• Direct the survey towards particular areas of participants.
• Analyse the data gathered

Limits:

• Depth of the answers.
• Gathering enough data to provide enough research.
• Web-based surveys not available to everyone.

Conclusion:

This tool has already proved to be a great source for a wide variety of information.  My pilot survey which I only created yesterday has already had over 30 responses.  The results were interesting and have given some information which can be used but has also allowed me to see what needs to be changed and adapted to avoid flaws in the answers and gaining the best possible outcomes.

Ethical Considerations:

My pilot survey remained anonymous and gave a description of the purposes of my research.

CONCLUSION

Considering these tools and how they will best apply to gaining research towards my inquiry, I think the most beneficial would be Interviews, Observations and Surveys.

Task 6a: Informal Trial Tool

Interview Feedback

After attending an interview for a Primary School placement on Friday, I was surprised to find this affecting the ideas and thoughts towards my inquiry plan.  Although I was not successful- as expected as I require a degree and only hold the "equivalent" - the most interesting part of this was the interaction session.

During this session I was required to plan an interactive session with a small group of Year 2 children using a book.  As I have no direct classroom experience and all my school experience has only ever been within the PE environment in primary education, this was not necessarily a familiar situation for me to take on.  What I did find however, was that my varied teaching experience from not only public school sessions but also private dance school classes, gave me a good grounding for the tools needed as a teacher.

After my session, it was revealed that the panel observing felt that my teaching potential was very high.  This did surprise me as I am not used to being put in a classroom situation, but the skills I have obtained from my Performing Arts teaching background seem to have provided me with some great skills. 

Previously I was looking into the 'transferable skills' that can be used from performing arts to education.  However, my interview experience has engaged me into wanting to find out whether teachers from a performing arts background can transfer their skills within education.  This has taken my viewpoint to a more personal level, and I think that this will benefit not only myself but others who would like to transition into the education sector.

Informal Trial

My interview has actually already provided me with a different type of tool that has developed my inquiry.  I decided to use a survey as my first informal trial, taking inspiration from Sinead McMenemy's  survey which conveys a similar field to my proposed inquiry.

I would appreciate anyone's participation of my survey if you are from a performing arts teaching background...

Teaching From a Performing Arts Background

Literature Review: 'Partnering Dance and Education'

At the moment I want to base my inquiry around the benefits performing can have within education.  As I have studied dance within Secondary School, for my AS Levels, as a BTEC and then into my National Diploma as well as extra-curricular class since a child, it has always been a part of me.  Now I am on the other end of the scale after performing and now teach within private performing arts academies and within primary education, it is an area in which I am familiar with and would ideally like to progress into as a future career.

I have looked into the area of Secondary Education however, Primary education is what I know and where my current employment lies.  So to help define what I would like to know: 'Are there skills within performing arts that students can use to develop skills within education?'  I have found this piece of literature which can help me develop my questions and lines of inquiry. 

Partnering Dance and Education- Judith Lynne Hanna

THE BODY IN SPACE, IN TIME, AND WITH EFFORT- p13

'Because the body is the instrument of dance, students learn how the body works.  They learn the names of body parts, kinesiology, physics, and nutrition'

Within this piece of literature, Hanna mentions how Howard Gardner's concept of multiple intelligence's has broadened the view of dance from educators in the US to show that dance does not have to be considered just 'physical and emotional'.  Instead, looking back at Task 2c, I looked into the idea that Gardner believed in these different forms of intelligence, and so relating to that it doesn't mean that dance has to be seen as an unintelligent subject.  

Hanna discusses dance and intelligence more...

DANCE AND OTHER TYPES OF INTELLIGENCE - p24

'Not only is dance a form of kinesthetic intelligence, but it also draws upon other kinds of intelligence.'

'Vernacular and literary writers, for example, use dance metaphors to illuminate aspects of their work (Hanna 1983)'

Could the information we learn from dance have a positive effect upon our literary skills within English?  I wonder if the language we learn through dance would help develop the language we could use to describe within our language?

I have also considered the wording of the transfer of skills between performing arts and other subjects we study within education.

Hanna talks about this, with reference to other practitioners.

POTENTIAL TRANSFER OF DANCE LEARNING - p27

'The world-famous dancer Rudolf Nureyev recognized the transfer of dance learning to other situations; this transfer is one of the greatest potentials of dance education.  Dance education gives students experiential and other knowledge in dance, enhances learning in other subjects, and can be applied to other areas of life.'

'Nureyev explained, "If you know one subject very well, you know structure, syntax, grammar.  With all that, you can quickly assimilate another language" (Lemay 1990:35-36)'.

Although a lot of what Hanna has mentioned so far in this book is very positive to the effects of dance on the learning towards other subjects within education, I wonder if dance could impair learning in any way?  

One area which may be of use to use for future research is Hanna's identification of evidence which can be used to show 'the benefits of dance education'.

ANECDOTAL REPORTS - p32

'Often anecdotal material is the best evidence we have of the benefits of dance education.  Over the past half century, observational and experimential assessments of the benefits of dance education by teachers, administrators, parents, and students include the following:'

I have picked out Hanna's main points from the list she has used.

'Dance education teaches the values and skills of creativity, problem solving, risk taking, making judgments in the absence of rules, and higher-order thinking skills.'

I can see how dance can teach these things but for example, risk taking, is this a good thing?  I would consider myself to be the opposite of this and I very often choose to play it safe in situations.  But if dance can teach us about risk taking, maybe it can teach is whether risk taking is good and in what circumstances this can be used to make a decision.  From a performing point of view a risk taking situation may be one where during a performance you have missed your queue to come onto stage, so do you risk taking the first opportunity to come back on to the stage or do you wait and consider another time further down the line when it would prove to be an easier moment?

How could this benefit us within education?

'The study of dance fosters an individual's ability to better interpret interpersonal nonverbal communication.'

I relate this to myself by considering how dance has made me aware of my body and subsequently my body language when around others.  This particularly applies to certain environments and being around certain people, for example, in an interview situation.

'Dance education provides a strong base from which to analyze and make informed judgments about corporeal images.'

'Learning the dances of other cultures helps students to develop an understanding and respect for them.'

I certainly believe that dance can teach us a lot about different cultures.  I think that if dance can be introduced from a young age, with the idea of teaching different styles from different cultures, we could develop a respect of those cultures before thinking otherwise.

'Dance enhances an individual's lifelong quality of life.'

I think if dance is taken on a regular basis then the positive effects from increased fitness come into play.  However I don't think that with a short lesson of dance once a week would have much of an impact.  For dance to enhance the the quality of life, surely it would have to include an intense amount of training within a week?

INTERDISCIPLINARY LEARNING - p65

'Teachers can use dance as a unique vehicle for integrating teaching and learning across curricula.  Dance teachers can work with their colleagues in other arts and other subjects when a concept or theme can be well taught through dance.'

I have done this myself by using a cross-curricular approach to teaching dance within primary schools.  In this way I have communicated with the class teacher to ask if there is anything I can link with the dance lessons as another dimension to their learning.  I am not sure if this actually does enhance their learning so maybe I could use this a a future tool to come back to.

In another way I found this article which shows this in the opposite way to myself.  Here, a science teacher is using dance within his lessons to teach them a concept.

Combining Dance and Science

PROMOTING COGNITIVE LEARNING THROUGH DANCE - p91

'Included in the area of cognitive learning are dance education practices designed to stimulate mental alertness, modeling, sequencing, attention to detail, and memorization skills; to teach an understanding of symbols; to develop critical thinking; to extend reasoning; to foster analysis of images; to organize knowledge; and to promote learning in core curricula.'

Hanna goes on to discuss these areas of cognitive learning further, and other areas of interdisciplinary learning, for example, 'Many subjects, including architecture, are the focus of interdisciplinary learning with dance (Taylor, Vlastos, and Marshall 1991).  In Lincoln County schools in North Carolina, dance teachers fostered learning of geography by asking students to visualize a classroom as a map.  Youngsters planned a trip to four cities and danced from one place to another using different kinds of movement for different modes of transportation such as car and rail'.

Conclusion

This piece of literature by Judith Lynne Hanna, has given some support in my knowledge that there is a link between transferable skills from dance to education.  But what I am unsure of is whether I want to look at how dance could be used to aid teaching in subjects or whether to look at the skills in which dance enhances.  Hanna uses both these thoughts but it has given me lots of research to use for my inquiry.

Hanna, J. (1999) Partnering Dance and Education: Intelligent Moves for Changing, United States: Human Kinetics

Hanna, J. (1983) The Performer-Audience Connection: Emotion to Metaphor in Dance and Society. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Gardner, H. (1992) Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice. New York: Basic Books.

Lemay, P. (1990). Rudolf Nureyev. Dance Magazine, 64(5):35-36.

Taylor, A. Vlastos, G. and Marshall, A. (1991). Architecture and Children: Teacher's Guide, Interdisciplinary Learning Activities of the Architecture and Children Curriculum. Seattle: Architecture and Children Institute.

Campus Session: Discussing Part 6- Tools

Timeline

We began the session by creating a timeline from our teens to present day.  This timeline could include any significant events that may have stood out, positive or negative.  This actually proved more difficult than I expected and took me a good five minutes to actually get something down on paper.  However, once I got started this task became easier.

I was glad to see that the majority of my entries were positive, not sure that was because of the frame of mind i was in or whether the positives overtook the negatives as Id like to think I am more of a positive person.  As my written timeline finished as a complete mess of notes I have recreated my timeline below.

My timeline to represent significant events in my life

I am sure that on a different day I may have come up with different events, but these are the ones which stood out at the time.  What we did find is that each others events spurred our thoughts to think of ones we may have not thought about.  Most of mine are related to my career in one way or another and have on the majority had an effect on where I am now.

I have added in certain keywords to some of these entries which related to a feeling or thought about how I relate those events to my life.

What this timeline represents is what got me to where I am now, what is relevant to where I am going and where am I going to go from here.  The next stage of this timeline is essentially the final part of Module 2 and the planning which will take me into Module 3.  I do like to plan but I know that to be successful within this course, the planning will play a major role.  

As my current career situation is very unpredictable, this may very well effect the process of my planning.  But with a basic plan in place I can use it as a guide to ensure I am sticking to the right tracks.  We discussed how there may be shifts within the planning stage but to visualise a beginning, middle and end.

So from this, the important questions to ask are:

Where do I want to be? (Planning)

How am I going to get there? (Tools)

What do I want to know? (Inquiry Questions)

How am I going to find this out? (Research)

Tools for Planning

We briefly discussed the tools which can be used for the planning stages for the final part of this Module.  The important part of this is to remember that not all these tools need to be used and to select the ones which will benefit what you want to find out.

At this stage I think it is vital to know what type of environment the inquiry needs to be based in and what ethical approaches to take within these.  Using literature relating to my inquiry, articles and journals, the next stage for me is to select some concept words that I can use to create a set of questions relating to what I want to know.

At this stage in Module 2, my next step is to really look at the literature which I have collected.  As I know the area in which I want to look at, I know need to collate some of my research to define my area of interest before planning into the next stages.

Task 5c: Professional Ethics

I looked a Adesola's post relating to ethics and the impact you may have on others as the planning of research begins into my chosen inquiry.  What this firstly helped me to do was to look at my initial thought for my inquiry which is looking into the transferable skills which could be available through Performing Arts. 

I decided which area I would like to look into but what I have struggled with is the specifics of what I want to know and how this could benefit me.  I really want to aim my question in a way that it will not only benefit myself in creating career opportunities but that it will inform others of my thoughts and findings.

In this way I looked at my question which was, as Adesola discussed, more towards an assumption and therefore limiting my answers and research.  I have now taken my question and split this into other wordings to give a more specific area but to open my mind to exactly what I want to know.  Although this is still not clear, it has given me a better idea of where my research will lay and what ethics i need to consider for this.

                                                                                                                             

What I have learnt...

The main thing I discovered about ethics within my practice and area of inquiry is the areas of context to consider.  The three main areas of personal, professional and organisational will all be important parts of my inquiry and each one will need to be thought about in different ways when continuing on with my research.

I considered the illustration from Reader 5 showing the ripple effect of these forms of context.  I also came across Stephanie Vezmar's interpretation of this which enabled me to see the questions to consider within each of these areas.

I have taken the same idea to help to put into perspective the ethical framework for my area of inquiry:

Contexts of Ethics

This has given me a visual aid to see exactly what I need to be considering for my lines of inquiry.  At the moment this is still quite broad and so would be a good tool to refer back to a create more specific thoughts when my lines of inquiry are clearer.

Literature

I have decided to continue to work on task 4d as I continue through Module 2.  I have found three books which I am currently browsing through to give some more ideas and support for my possible inquiry topic but in the meantime I have also collected lots of links using Delicious.

Delicious has proved to be a really useful tool to search, collect and store links to articles and research which I can use as literature for my inquiry.  

Please feel free to follow me on my Delicious account and take a look at the links I have saved which may be of use for similar lines of inquiry relating to performing arts in education. 

Useful Site...

I came across this site which maybe be a useful resource- I especially found the 'dance etiquette' an interesting read.

http://www.danceadvantage.net/