Presentation nerves developing...

So presentation on Monday and I am already starting to feel the nerves. I keep editing and changing my presentation and rehearsing in my head what I want to say. Like many other areas of the course I feel like I need more space to fit everything in I've learned..... I suppose that a good thing?!

To put an end to my re-editing I have uploaded my power-point presentation to slide share in an attempt to make it final (although I have already taken it down and re-edited it once!)

Thought I might as well share it now its on line so here it is... 

http://www.slideshare.net/danniweb86/presentation-d-webber

Any thoughts welcome, because lets face it I will keep reading and editing right up until Monday!!

Hope everyone getting on well with our final task!!

Critical Reflection.

I have written, re written, scrapped and become confused about how I want to go about my critical reflection and what I want to include in the tiny word count!!
I just completed another re-write... I actually found this attempt a really nice process, It was nice to be honest in thinking about some difficulties, but also really nice to consider how much has changed and what I have learned.
Cant decide if this is the final one and I haven't yet added the appendix but I thought I would share anyway. And suggest that just thinking about how you felt at the beginning of this course and how you are feeling now will make all the stress, sleepless nights and considerations of giving it all up worth while!!

Critical Reflection.

In undertaking the BAPP programme, I have developed a professional competency and identity that I previously had not achieved. I have developed critical thinking, practical skills, and knowledge that allow me to have confidence in presenting myself as a professional. I now know I have the ability and understanding to back up my opinions and decisions, whether that is from my own research or the theories and work of other professionals.

This increased confidence has allowed me to forge relationships and develop practices that will allow my professional development to continue beyond the conclusion of the course.

Professionally I have increased my skills set immensely. I am now able to communicate with a vast range of people using web 2.0. I can present my work in a range of formats whether that is academically or for a wider audience. I am able to design and undertake an inquiry to further my professional development. And in creating my artefact I have even increased my practical IT skill in producing a website.

In this module specifically, undertaking a professional inquiry has allowed me to develop research and analysis techniques, giving me skills that I can translate into any area of my practice that I wish to develop. I am able to critically think about my practice, what I am achieving, where I want to move forward and how to go about this.

Initially the inquiry was a difficult task, I felt under qualified to be observing and judging the work of other professionals, making sense of data was a difficult task and at times seemed as though I may not achieve anything from the process.

Eventually I learned to organise and analyse data and undertake a literature review which not only allowed me to frame the importance and context of my inquiry, but to support the conclusions that I was beginning to draw from my own research. Rather than feeling under qualified in the end I found the response of  other professionals encouraging this boosted my confidence further as they respected my opinion and were interested in discussing my results.

The inquiry lead me to understand my practice how to work with a specific client group and how to understand my practice in terms of developing benefit from dance. This is of great importance to me, I have been able to share the results and make changes in my current employment. It is something I am keen to develop further through expanding my practice and undertaking new ventures.

Ideas of ethics touched upon in module 2 were a feature of module 3 as I came up against some concerning issues related to discrimination. I was able to resolve these by making use of the communication skills that have been developed thought out the course, with the help of advisor's, fellow BAPP students on the blog and my professional working network I was able to resolve this. With out the discussion, challenging of ideas and support of my networks this would have been a much more difficult task; again reiterating the importance of developing a professional network a running theme throughout the entire course.

I have found the blogs a great support, particularly in the later stages of the course where I have begun to develop my professional voice and felt more confident in sharing my thoughts and ideas.

In summery when I look back at what I have achieved over the last 15months I would not have thought it possible. From feeling uncomfortable with the title of “professional” opening the first module handbook and feeling out of my depth and being frightened to comment on the blogs for fear of looking foolish…To undertaking my own research, creating my own academic writing, sharing insights into practice with my workplace and truly feeling that I have created a professional identity and voice. I am confident that with the skills and experience that I have gained I will be able to continue to grow and develop as a professional throughout my career.

Artefact. (With a little help from my fellow BAPPERS...Thank you!)

Last time I blogged about my artefact I was thinking about exactly how I should go about it. My two choices being between a website and a booklet.
I got a really good response on the blogs and the general thinking was that I needed to give more thought to my audience and how I would reach them. So I did some brainstorming and came to these conclusions...

My Audience:
 Teachers, dance practitioners, social care managers/ workers providing activities for Adults with learning difficulties.

I am not yet selling a service, I am currently trying to raise awareness of an issue that I think is important and share the information I have gained.

How I would reach them:
The quickest and furthest reaching medium is the internet, we have all learned that from looking web 2.0 and by forging our relationship here on the BAPP blogs, therefore a website seemed the better choice.

The plan being that links to my site can be added to my facebook, twitter, linkedIn, and blog pages. And eventually if it is possible possibly linked to other sites as well, Dance Magazine, LD online and any other relevent connections I might be able to make.

In addition to this on the site there is a button which gives the option to download a booklet, it is printable PDF version of the site.
This fulfils two needs.
1. Some people prefer to read information form a paper copy they find it easier to digest the information this way... I am one of those people and I know there are others out there!
2. Further distribution. In my work place useful and relevent information and articles are pinned to our memo board or distributed at staff meetings. I assume we wont be the only company that does this and so printable version can fulfil this need. Anyone who reads the site and thinks it might be useful to someone they know or to their organisation can print it out and share.

Possible progression. 
The website also gives me options to update the information in the future, I don't yet feel that I am in a place to offer a paid service using the information I have obtained from inquiry, obviously I currently teach but I am employed and at the moment am not looking to expand on this.
 But in the future I think this could be something I grow into, perhaps providing training to other teachers, or offering my owm dance teaching services and a website gives me a changeable medium to use as my practice grows and develops.

So here it is.....

http://danniweb.wix.com/danceopportunity

Let me know what you think!?? And thank you to those people that helped my brainstorm!

Literature Review

I have noticed that on the blogs people have been putting up their literature reviews. I did some research on literature reviews and although I had done mine separately for each book/ article/ journal initially, I saw that most advice said that they should be covered as a whole, this is to enable us to make connections or highlight differences between the opinions of the pieces in order to support or frame our area of investigation. To compare and contrast the information that is already out there in our field of practice or study.

So this is what I have tried to do in this literature review. This is the long version, there is a smaller more concise one that I have used as part of the critical review. Although I am currently re-drafting that section as I am not happy that it covers enough of the valuable information from the literature.... It so difficult though with the word count. We have done so much work and research for this module you just constantly feel like you are leaving things out!

So as everyone seems to be approaching the literature review as separate pieces I though I would include my thoughts and my review to see if anyone else agrees or disagrees with my approach or has any more information!?

D.Webber - Literature Review

Artefact...

Since finishing my first draft for my critical review I have been thinking about and planning and changing my mind about my artefact.

It has been stressful and one of the many times on this course where I have felt out of my depth and like I dont really know what I am meant to be doing.

Through all of this I came up with and started drafting a few options,

1. I started planning a workshop that would bring learning disabled and mainstream dancers together. This was something that came out of conversations on the blog about how to approach inclusivity, whilst maintaining high teaching standards for all students, the thoughts being that with some pre-teaching for each group of dancers to almost set the foundations and then allow them to come together in a more productive and even environment.
Although I thought this was a good idea, I found myself feeling that this was an idea that only looked at one aspect of my finding, it didn't go into detail about the benefits I had seem for learning disabled dancers and how to go about achieving them, and this was the main goal of my inquiry. I really want to take the opportunity to share this. A workshop plan I think may have limited appeal to others and doesnt express enough of my findings.

2. My second idea was a set of 6 lesson plans. This idea came out of the fact that I have been offered the opportunity to create a new dance class specifically for adults with learning disabilities and so this would benefit me professionally and in terms of the course. However again I feel this would have limited appeal in terms of communicating with my professional audience... although lesson plans might be something that another teacher might read, I don't think it would have a huge amount of influence on other teachers thinking, and I don't believe that we would copy a lesson plan point for point and so is it going to appeal to my professional audience?

3. My final idea was some literature in the form of a leaflet/ booklet that tell the reader the things I have discovered from my inquiry into the benefits of dance for adults with learning disabilities and how to go about achieving this. The audience would be other teachers, and the aim would be to get teachers thinking about how to work with this client group in the hope of increasing other dance teacher confidence in perhaps trying to provide classes for learning disabled adults.
My inquiry showed that there are benefits for adults with learning disability, but also highlighted limited opportunities and teacher apprehension, perhaps by sharing my findings in an accessible and condensed format might help people to feel a little more encouraged??
It would cover areas such as...
- Why teachers should consider expanding their practice into this area.
- The class atmosphere they need to provide
- An example of a successful class structure
- How to approach praise and disciplin
- The benefits and how to set goals
- Some example exercises/ lesson plan (maybe even incorporate the workshop idea)

At the moment Option 3 is the one I am working on, it has evolved slightly into a small website (I was struggling to find a way to print the booklet in a professional looking way)

What do people think??
Would having more advice, information and encouragement make you consider teaching a new client group such as learning disability??
Is this a good way to present my finding to my professional audience of other teachers??
Booklet or website??

My thinking on these questions change, I think its a bit of a crisis of confidence.... would be interesting to see what you guys on the bapp blog think?

Hows everyone else getting on with drafting and artefacts??

Tying up some lose ends from previous blogs.

Although I have found that writing up the critical review has been, and still is a difficult challenge I am pleased to say that getting on actually putting pen to paper (or fingers to keys) has helped me to iron out any difficulties I had with my thinking.

I had blogged a couple of times about the issues I was having with my data, how I felt that I wasn't seeing what I expected or that perhaps I wasn't having the revelations that I hoped I would through undertaking the inquiry, I actually felt that once I started putting everything together through the process of writing up that my thinking became much clearer. When it came to writing up the inquiry and being forced to look for and write the relationships between the plan, the actual process, the data collected and the literature I found that I had a lot more to say that I had initially thought, in fact a little too much to say as I am now editing and trying to control my word count. I wonder if anyone else has found that actually the process of being forced to write things up has enabled them to order their thinking and make sense of the data to be able to draw better conclusions?
Still as in my previous blog I am worrying that controlling the word count and re-arranging things will mean that I start taking out things of value, my thinking is more together through the process of writing up but now I need to be able to communicate this effectively.

The biggest things that writing up and completing more literature reviews, along with talking to other practitioners both on the blogs and within my working environment, helped me to clear up were my concerns relating to discrimination. I was concerned that undermining the aim of my inquiry by drawing the conclusion that fully inclusive classes were not necessarily the best way to go, meant that I was coming to conclusions that would in fact lead to discrimination.
I have spend a lot of time looking at my data and reading around this subject and found that my thinking is mirrored by other practitioners out there, and in fact by disabled dancers themselves who acknowledge that often although teacher think they are providing an inclusive approach they are not, and that we need to be honest about whether we can achieve equal results for all students in the class, and if not then maybe we should look again at our approach and what is realistically achievable.
Students should be able to learn where they feel comfortable, it may be that appropriate adaptations can be made for some students with learning disabilities to be able to attend mainstream classes without effecting the overall content of the lesson, some LD students may thrive in this environment, if this is the case then this can and should be done. But it also may be the fact that the level is too high, that the student doesn't enjoy this and that by trying to adjust the teaching all students are disadvantaged by trying to accommodate too many differing needs.  
There is nothing discriminatory about offering classes that fill a specific need, and there is a need for classes that are designed for particular groups of people to enable them to enjoy and learn at their own pace. Discrimination is about excluding people, offering more is not excluding people, it is just giving them more options. And inclusion can always be achievable within this, coming together of groups for workshops and performances and in appreciating dance. Inclusion is important and possible but of equal importance is knowing and teaching the people in-front of you. Being mindful of their needs and meeting these in the most appropriate way for them to enjoy and achieve.

It is the process of undertaking the inquiry, reading literature reviews, looking at data, talking to people and finally trying to put all of this together into a written piece that has allowed me to develop my thinking, panic that I am wrong, be determined that I am write, be challenged, think again, and to draw conclusions that I am not 100% sure are correct but that give me a platform to move forward with my practice and discover a bit more....
 

The Writing Up Bubble.

I have read a couple of blog posts lately that have started with, "I haven't blogged much lately" I think that we are all in that stage where we are glued to laptops and books and are just trying to get things done and that leave us little time for checking back in with how things are going. I know that how it has been for me, I have been reading blogs but not finding time to write anything myself!

I am currently re-drafting my critical review and putting things together for my Artefact. I feel that my review is coming along, however I am constantly nervous that it inst enough, that I have missed the point somewhere along the line and that there is more I could be doing to make things better, with that comes the fear that with re-drafting I am actually taking out things that were valuable and making things worse, it is a terrifying process!! even with feedback from my advisor I still feel like there must be more I should be doing to improve my work. I wonder if it is the mentality of being a dancer/ performer that leads me to feel this way, as a dancer you are never perfect, there is always more to do, more to work on, ways to get better, I find it hard to let go of this and say actually... this is the best I've got! Anyone else feeling the pressure??

A little help with literature anyone??

Hi Guys,

I have been looking for some more literature, I have realised I need a little more to back up/ challenge my thinking as I write up my critical review.
I have this piece, but I'm not sure if I can include it as it is not an article or an academic piece of writing, Its a personal account of taking dance classes by a person with LD.
I think it is quite valuable for illustrating a point in my enquiry, but am unsure about whether it is an appropriate piece of literature??

I have included a brief review and the article is below if you wanted to have a read.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!



Brief Review.
This piece of writing is rare as it is from the point of view of a learning disabled person. Often we aren’t able to get this perspective as it is not always possible for our learning disabled students to express their emotions or points of view in such an articulate way.
I think this is a particularly valuable piece as it gives us the alternative perspective, it is not looking at what we think we can achieve for someone, or the external impact that we as teachers think we can see but the personal view of someone living the experiences I am trying to analyse.  
To me this highlight the debate about inclusive dance classes. This student was put in an environment where they were compared to others who were fundamentally different from herself, and this left her feeling inadequate. This person obviously has a fairly high functioning disability, and perhaps a class specifically for learning disabled student may have been too far the other way, but it doesn't seem as though any adaptation in teacher were attempted by her teacher.
The class for her was pitched at the wrong level, moving too quickly. Corrections were not clear to her as they were not explained in a way that she was able to comprehend. The class was appropriate to meet the needs of one specific group of people and this student wasn’t part of this group. Worst of all massive achievements were undermined as people don’t understand how much often has to be overcome by someone with an LD to achieve the same goals as someone without.
But still at the end of all this that student was glad that she had taken dance classes as it helped her to develop some of the skills that she struggled with as a result of her learning disability, so this to me highlights the potential that dance classes have, but that they need to be appropriately designed to build on the positives and improve confidence rather than undermining it by highlighting someone’s personal difficulties. 

Learning to Dance - By: Dale S. Brown

I was a learning disabled child who had difficulty in visual and auditory perception, knowing left from right, and motor coordination. This story describes how it felt to learn to dance. I took the classes between the ages of seven and eleven, before my coping skills were well-developed. Hopefully, readers will gain a better understanding of what it’s like to have this handicap, and how it affects the emotions and relationships with other people.
What was dance class like? My father drove me to the studio. I’d enter the cool dressing room and change into my leotard. I loved its smooth feeling against my skin.
Then the class lined up. I stayed in the back to follow another student. The teacher led us in warm-up exercises. Music played. We sat down and spread our legs apart and bounced up and down. We knelt down and brought our arms around in a circle, like a windmill. We stood up and did a routine of kicks and bends and steps. It moved too fast for me, but I tried to do it.
Then we stood at the bar with our heels together and our toes out (first position). Then we’d "plee-ay," bending our knees as far as they’d go. We learned the other four ballet positions.
Sometimes, we’d sit in a circle and the teacher would beat a drum with random beats. We listened and tried to repeat the beats the way he did them. When the class did it together, I’d watch the student in front of me. When it was my turn, it was hard. I couldn’t remember as many of the beats as the other students.
We did lots of exercises. The teacher didn’t yell at me as often as most of my other teachers. He often said "very good". The problem was that he said "very good" to the other students more often than he said "very good" to me.
Sometimes, I talked back to the teacher. Once he told us to get into a ball and uncurl gracefully as if we were butterflies coming out of a cocoon. When he said I wasn’t graceful, I told him that my science teacher said that butterflies came out of cocoons very slowly and sloppily and could hardly fly at first. Actually, I didn’t really know what "graceful" meant.
My body didn’t do what it was supposed to do. It felt far away and I’d reach and concentrate to get my heavy, awkward arms and legs to move correctly.
Sometimes, the teacher would say "Dale, don’t do that. Do this instead". He’d show me what I was doing wrong and then show me how to do it right. Why did he do the same thing both times? I couldn’t understand it. Now, I know that I couldn’t visually perceive the difference. But back then, I thought he was fooling me.
I took the beginner’s class two years in a row. Then, in the intermediate class, I couldn’t keep up. We learned a dance called "Greensleeves". I couldn’t memorize the steps. I did fine while he taught us each step, but they wouldn’t stay in my mind. We weren’t learning in rows anymore, so I had to dance without anyone in front of me. I couldn’t remember well enough to practice at home.
As a child, I had learned not to show emotion. I never cried, but always felt tears behind my eyes. Sometimes, in class, a few tears would squeeze out of the corners of my eyes. It released the pressure and felt very good, especial the coolness of the tears on my cheek. But I didn’t want anyone to notice. Nobody said anything about it.
I was embarrassed so often, I was numb to the feeling.
When I couldn’t keep up with the intermediate class, they let me take the beginner’s class again. I enjoyed it, because the routine was comforting and finally, I could do many of the steps. But, I felt ashamed of having taken it so many times and of being in class with younger children.
Later, I took both the beginning and intermediate class at the same time. I didn’t know how to practice. I just concentrated in class, doing my best to follow the teacher and the other students. It seemed as if I did everything wrong, but I knew that if I worked enough, I’d occasionally do it right. The third time I took the class, I was allowed to perform in "Greensleeves" for a recital. I was excited.
I remember wearing my costume and waiting my turn, afraid that I’d make a mistake. Finally, we went to do our steps. Carefully, I walked out on tip toes, following the student in front of me. Then, all of us had to jump three times while "scissoring" our legs. Then we had to meet the other students and touch their hands across from them. Was I relieved when I met the right student! Then we went back to our original places and did more steps. Finally, the dance was over. I had not made any errors! I wanted to jump up and down and shout with joy, but I knew better.
I went behind the curtain of the dressing room to change my clothes.
"Dale did well," I heard someone say, "But she wasn’t in rhythm to the music."
The happiness turned off, and again, I felt tears pressing hard against the corners of my eyes. I blinked hard to be sure they didn’t creep out. I hadn’t done it right after all.
How I needed a shoulder to cry on at that moment. I deserved to feel pride for overcoming a handicap that nobody knew I had. But the reality was that my performance was still significantly poorer than the other students. So, as usual, I was made to feel ashamed at a time which should have been one of triumph.
Behind the shame, there was anger. At that time, I couldn’t feel it. But unconsciously, I knew that I should have been respected.
It is these strong emotions that lead many learning disabled boys to act out. However, as a little girl, this was not an option for me.
I’m glad that I took modern dance, though. The perceptual-motor training helped me. My dance teacher was more helpful than many of my other teachers. I’m not sure why or how, but I think he cared for me and tried to help me learn.
And caring helps learning disabled people most of all.

Available From -

http://www.ldonline.org/firstperson/Learning_to_Dance

 

Undermining the original aim...?

After taking quite some time avoiding my plan of starting to write things up, being not too sure where to start, I forced myself to sit at the computer, I have now been starting blankly at the screen for some more time.

I have come to the conclusion that I am not clear what to write as I cant quite make sense of my findings and feel to a certain extent that my emerging thinking is undermining part of the basis for my inquiry… and how do you recover from that?!

I’ll start from the beginning in the hope that explaining things in writing and perhaps some thoughts from fellow BAPPers may help me to make sense of it all.

My Proposal and Questions.  

“An inquiry into different teaching approaches of dance and the benefits produced for adult student with learning difficulties…”

·         Can positive changes in behaviour be seen in adults with learning disabilities when taking part in dance classes?

·         Do incidences of changed behaviour vary between the different types of dance classes? (creative improvisation, dance exercise, dance performance, syllabus)

·         Are there obvious causes within each type of class that produce benefits or behaviour changes?

·         Are teachers able to maximise benefits by their approach?

Brief Findings.

Through conducting the inquiry it would seem to me that benefits are able to be produced for adults with learning disabilities from taking part in dance classes. Things such as improved confidence, communication, team work, turn taking, expression, practicing emotional understanding and social awareness.

These are produced in differing measures in each of the types of class that I observed. The key factors being that well structured, planned, repetitive classes with plenty of breaks and clear positive aims seem to produce greater benefit. And those teachers aware of these things are able to maximise the benefit for their students.

My Dilemma.

This may all seem positive, this information is something that I am pleased to have discovered and I feel will inform my personal practice in the future. However I feel that it undermines part of my enquiry aim somewhat….

“The overall aim of the enquiry is to discover if there is a best practice approach to teaching adults with learning disabilities dance to produce the maximum amount of benefit for the maximum amount of students. And in doing so improve the ability of teachers to provide inclusive classes, with the hope that it is possible to tailor classes so they are aimed at achieving social, emotional, and educational goals that make the experience of learning to dance more valuable.”.

Part of my thinking behind the inquiry was being able to inform my practice, and perhaps that of those I work with, in being able to provide integrated and inclusive classes. This is a point of view that is very much shared by social care providers, there is currently a push in the company that I work for adults with LD to seek their hobbies and activities in the wider community, increasing integration, giving our clients more opportunity and reducing discrimination. This in theory I totally understand, and when initially planning my inquiry something I agreed with and wanted my inquiry to support.

Looking at my finding I am now concerned that this is not the best way.

The way in which I have seen classes run that provides the greatest benefits for my clients with learning disabilities would not be suitable for the wider community, I am beginning to believe that it would not be possible to create a fully integrated and inclusive class even with the greatest planning.

This thinking is something that is supported within education generally; setted classes in schools are the norm these days in order to cater to the individual needs of students. General dance and hobby classes are often provided at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. Perhaps classes for people with LD should be separate in order to cater for their needs and to gain them the greatest benefits in a similar way?

This idea goes against my original aim, and I find it an uncomfortable thought to be batting around, the idea of inclusivity and inclusion are valuable and positive so it is difficult to be leaning the other way. I also feel it bringing me back to ethical concerns around discrimination within my inquiry.

So what do you do when your conclusions and analysis make you feel uncomfortable, hold the potential to be discriminatory and also go against your original aim?  

Working Backwards...

After what has been an incredibly hectic week at work with little time to think about studying I have just come back to looking at my inquiry analysis and came to a point this morning where I didn’t really know what to do! I think from having a week off of studying that I lost my flow and direction so decided to take another tack.

I have read through the blogs related to the 2^nd campus sessions, I read the side share on Paula's blog, I also found Simone's explanation on her blog really good as it included some really useful quotes from Adesola and Jo's blog was also great for prompting me to think about the process of beginning to draft and write things up. Thank you to everyone who posts about campus sessions it is so valuable when you aren’t able to get there yourself.  

So although I’m not sure I am ready to be drafting as I feel that there is more I should be doing in relation to looking at and analysing data, and seeking more from literature I have decided that I am going to start anyway as I feel like I have lost direction and that this may help.

I guess that I will be working backwards in a way. By starting the draft I will be able to see if there is any content missing, and I will have the time to go back and look for more information, literature or review data again.  I also think that perhaps by starting to put everything together rather than analysing each thing, literature, interviews and observations separately I may see more in my findings. I know from past experience that when I start to write thing up and put things together that I get to grips with things, and often I have left this to the last minute and wish I had more time to work back and fill in some gaps….

How is everyone else getting on with things, I feel like I have done a lot of different things up until this point but that really as yet I don’t have much to show for it!?

Analysing Data... Is there more beneath the surface?

I have written things up, started trying to organise things, listened and transcribed important aspects of interviews that seem to be the most important and have starting thinking about all the things I have seen, and heard and I’m beginning to analyse what I have.

I don’t know whether it is the data that I have collected or whether I am looking at things with a closed mind but I am struggling to find anything other than the glaringly obvious, I have had no great revelations, or sat there and thought… “this is amazing this is exactly what I hoped to achieve with this inquiry”!

Honestly I am feeling a little bit flat, searching literature is going better than it had but again I haven’t found anything where I have though…“wow this is fascinating”. More digging is required here, and I have a plan to expand my search criteria and think “outside the box” I am hoping that this will help me to feel more encouraged and motivated again. But I am starting to worry that maybe there isn’t enough depth to my inquiry, maybe I chose the wrong topic or I need to adjust the plan, but I am also aware that time is, as always on this course, marching on!

I ordered a book earlier in the week that Rosemary had suggested on her blog it s called “Freakonomics” and I began to have a read of it this morning, it is as she suggested, a really interesting read about how when you analyse data and trends things aren’t always as they first seem, and that further investigation, and again the all important “thinking outside the box” can lead you to discover more than you first thought, well this is what I think its about I have only read the first chapter or so. But I am hoping that perhaps this is what I need to get moving again with the inquiry, perhaps there is more beneath the surface of my data that I have yet to discover….

Anyone else having similar problems of feeling a little bit in limbo, feeling like the data isn’t enough or struggling to see the answers in the information they have got? Would love to hear from you, maybe we can share some thoughts or have some discussions that might help?  

Battling with issues of Discrimination.

When talking to Paula about my inquiry she pointed out that I should be aware of issues of discrimination in small scale studies. As I am working with people with learning disability, and this is a protected characteristic, meaning it is protected by discrimination laws, this is something that I need to be very conscious of.

Although I am not obviously going to treat the adults with learning disability in my study badly, it is important that I am aware of how my actions are interpreted within my inquiry and within my wider professional practice. Discrimination can take two forms, direct; where the cause is obvious, for example not giving someone a job based on their race or religion. Or indirect where the discrimination isn’t always intentional but puts a certain group at a disadvantage for example having steps at a main entrance and expecting wheelchair users to use a back trade entrance.  

When Paula brought this issue up with me I was instantly concerned. The last thing I want is for my inquiry to come across as discriminatory. I thought about how it might be coming across this way and decided that as I am trying to look at the benefits of dance for people with learning then it may seem that I am trying to put this whole group of people together in one category, which of course could come across as discriminatory.

This is not the case, I am obviously aware that people with learning disabilities are all individual, as is everyone, what one person likes another may not regardless of whether they share a learning disability or not. There is an unfortunate culture within social care and the provision of recreational services that assume that interest will be common within this group, and often there is limited opportunity to do much other than arts and crafts, drawing pictures or making things, while it may be true that many of the people that I personally work with enjoy this type of activity, it is also true that an equal number do not, just as in society as a whole.

I in no way wish to suggest through my inquiry that all people with learning disabilities should be taking part in dance because the benefits are A, B and C. This is simply not true, for some it will be something that they never want to do and therefore there would be no benefit to them. But I do feel that if we are going to provide any service to anyone then it should be done in the best possible way, and there should be the greatest opportunity to learn, develop and enjoy. I also know from personal experiences and hearing of the experiences of those I have interviewed as part of my inquiry that this is not always possible as teachers are not equipped to teach the wide range of abilities that may come up against in their current classroom or that there are a lack of classes provided that are adapted to be able to teach those with learning disability, is this a form of indirect discrimination, no one is saying no I wont teach you as you are disabled but they are saying I can teach you because I don’t know how.

This is something that I would like to be able to address with my inquiry, by looking at the benefits of dance for my client group I may be able to see what works best for the majority what benefits are seen, and how this is being achieved by their teachers, or what isn’t working. By doing this I don’t hope to find a one size fits all “this is how you teach adults with learning disabilities” teacher will always need to adapt to the students they have in front of them, as we are each individual and learn and develop in different ways but what I do hope to find are some tools, and tips and method that teachers can have in their armoury. A kind of best practice approach if you like, tried and tested methods that have been seen to provide benefits and maximise enjoyment for a large range of people that will allow us to be more inclusive where appropriate or offer our skills and services more widely.

If anyone has any thoughts on these issues, or perhaps still thinks that this sounds at all discriminatory or narrow minded I would love to hear them. I’m finding as in other areas of the BAPP course it is when you are challenged and start to panic that your thoughts become clearer....

Holding on to clarity. (Module 3, slide share)

I have yet to attend a campus session as I often work shifts that are over a 24 hour period and it always difficult to cover, add to this a colleague who is off on maternity leave, a colleague who is travelling for 3 months, and a colleague who is off long term sick and this becomes even more difficult.

But I have just been reading the slide share from the module three session for the second time, and decided that giving the exercises and discussions a go might be a helpful exercise, and it was, a rare moment of calm and clarity that helped me to focus my thoughts for moving forward.

So the initial task I looked at was defining a professional inquiry, I used key words to sum up my thinking on this;

·         Planning

·         Asking

·         Searching

·         Observing

·         Reviewing

·         Critically thinking

·         Analysing

·         Drawing conclusion

·         Testing in practice

Just jotting these words down and reading through Paula’s definition has allowed me to stop for a moment and think about what I am trying to do, not as a huge, important, degree defining project, but in its more simplified elements. It makes it a lot less frightening, as each aspect on there own are things that I am fairly sure I am capable of doing.

Next was reviewing the plan.

1. Topic; Different teaching methods, benefits for adults with learning disabilities

Questions; Any Positive changes in behaviour?

                  Do incidences of positive behaviour very between types of class?

                  Obvious causes of changes in behaviour. Eg. Teacher approach?

                  Can teachers maximise positive benefits/ changes?

2. Ethics; Discrimination, not treating people with learning disabilities as one whole. Respecting the individual and being careful to conduct inquiry and look at results in this way. Not assuming one solution will be correct for all LD adults as obviously each and every person is individual. How ever still looking for a best practice approach, that will benefit most people, perhaps looking at people as individuals may be an important part of this approach?

3. Literature; I have a selection of literature that I am reviewing at the moment, want to start looking outside the box slightly, looking for education and learning disability as well as dance education and learning disability to see if there is any common ground or evidence to be considered.

4. Gathering data. I have completed 9/16 observation. And 3/4 interviews, and one small unplanned bonus interview. I am now transcribing interviews and looking at analysing the observations and relating this information back to literature.

Breaking things down and looking back at my original questions, what I have achieved so far and putting the thinking in my head down in some concise words (rather than the ramblings if my journal) has again helped me to clarify. I think that because this module isn’t full of tasks that have to be completed and blogged about in the same way as module one and two it can feel like you aren’t achieving as much. I don’t know about everyone else but there is a lot going on in my head, and although there isn’t an end product as yet I have achieved quite a lot just by completing observations, reading and thinking.

So next on the slide share was “Updating your planning”

Action 1: Thinking about issues around discrimination. A conversation with Paula made me panic about this and feel the need to defend myself, and to clarify my inquiry aim to ensure that it is not misunderstood to be discriminatory. I don’t think I am being discriminatory but it is something that needs to be looked at carefully with this type of inquiry and would like to get a new aim on paper to make sure my intentions are clear and ethical.

Action 2: Thinking outside the box with my literature. To look at my inquiry from a different angle and see if there are any related sources, including looking at general education and LD, and looking at specific LDs and behaviours, such as autism and Downs syndrome and see if this has relevance to my inquiry.

Action 3: Continuing to gather my data. Analysing and relating anything of interest to literature to see if there are links and supporting evidence.

For someone who is not great at time management, this is a brilliant tool, I have now transferred these actions into my diary, so I have specific time slots to work on each thing, this should help me to get them done. And when they are I fully intend to set up another list of actions….. watch this space to see if it works!

Finally I looked at my emerging findings and what my participants had said so far. In one interview a service leader told me

“I had been looking for a dance teacher for 2 years, but they all worked

too quickly for our guys and couldn’t adapt their teaching from mainstream”

(Interviewee 3, service manager)

So the first thing emerging is the need for more teachers to be able to teach a wide range of abilities, this is something that I included in my inquiry aim. The need for teachers to be better educated to teach a wide range of abilities, what benefits are produced and how to achieve this, allowing the teacher to teach at the correct level and the student to have more options. (and potentially teachers more work!)

I have found support for my inquiry aim, and a need that requires fulfilling (hopefully by my inquiry). This is something I found from one comment in one interview. I am excited to continue, and see what else I get from my inquiry once I start analysing data. And now from going through the slide share and having a go at the tasks I have a short term plan within the big plan to help me achieve this.

If you didn’t get to attend the campus session, I would recommend this as a useful exercise.  

           

Every Cloud....

So it’s the beginning of week three of the study period, I can not believe that time is marching on so quickly again.

I have had a successful start to the term however, getting a good majority of my observations moving, and have completed most of my interviews, along with a bonus one with another professional which I wasn’t expecting, but which highlights and supports my enquiry perfectly…. Now I need to start writing up my evidence and analysing my findings, surprisingly I am looking forward to this process although I know its not going to be a quick task!

Today however I stalled, the observation that I had for today had to be cancelled as the performing art instructor leading the session was not able to attend. Although this has put me back slightly with my observations it did however give me some more things to think about and in fact I think provided support for my enquiry by not taking place.

The fact that due to the instructor being unable to attend the whole sessions was cancelled to me is a fairly poor situation to be in. Was there no one else who was qualified or able to take the class? Apparently not! This is not something that is uncommon in the world of learning disability and performing arts provision. I was speaking to another colleague yesterday who provides sports and recreation for people with learning disabilities and he told me that he had been looking for a dance instructor for 2 years before he found one. His experience is that mainstream teachers either weren’t interested in leading this type of class or that they were unable to teach at an appropriate level and he had to let them go as it wasn’t benefiting his clients. This is something that I highlighted as a need in my enquiry, the fact that mainstream teachers are not used to, informed or confident in teaching people with a range of abilities, and it shows a greater need for education and support in this area to give those adults with learning disabilities who want to take part in such activities the opportunities they require.

Additionally what I found disappointing today is that although the class was not running the student who were expecting to take part in their performance class were not informed until they reached the lesson, they were not turned away but were given another class in its place, this however was not performance based, it was arts and crafts. How would you feel if you turned up to your adult dance/ drama class and were told, “Its not running today but here is a piece of paper, draw me a picture.”?

This to me identifies that the performing arts classes when provided for adults with learning disabilities are not afforded the same respect as those provided for the rest of us, they are simply an amusement, and provided as a weak alternative to sitting around and therefore can be replaced by almost any other activity.

This client group should attend because they enjoy dancing and drama specifically, and this is what they should be provided with, they may enjoy arts and crafts, they may not, is it not a little discriminatory to assume that all people with LD enjoy arts and crafts and so they can do that instead? (that’s an argument for a different day and a different post!) In this case the students were more than happy with the change in activity and were happy to join in.

To me this just highlights the need to better educate teachers and activity providers of the benefits of performing arts classes for those with LD who enjoy this kind of activity, even if these benefits are simply participating in a hobby they enjoy, a little exercise and putting a smile on their face it is of much value as it is to us when we attend our recreational activities and should be afforded the same respect.

Critical Reflection on professional practitioner inquiry.

Module two has provided me great opportunity for professional growth, both in understanding and practical skills. I now feel more professionally confident, and secure, providing me with direction for further development.

Developing lines of professional enquiry.

When searching for my line of inquiry, I struggled with finding the right questions to ask. Many topics really interested me. (Appendix 1). My initial questions were too broad and couldn’t pinpoint a direction. This prompted me to develop further questions related to a particular career transition (Appendix 2). These questions were answered immediately from by BAPP peers and therefore I realised this topic was too narrow. After further thought, setting up SIG, (Appendix 3) conversing with my peers and advisor and a particularly relevant work experience (Appendix 4) I settled on a theme of the benefits of dance. It was only after networking, relating my ideas to my practice, reflecting and considering the impact of this new knowledge was I able to discover what I really wanted to know. Asking the questions and developing them with support from others allowed me to discover in myself what is important and how I move forward. I feel more confident and secure as a professional having gained this insight and in developing a line of inquiry that I see as valuable for my continuing professional development.

Professional Ethics.

I had considered ethics a fairly simple topic; how I choose to live, work and behave are determined by my ethical code, I would not be willing to align myself with anything that does not parallel this. (Appendix 5).

In looking at the ethical codes of practice provided by my employers I found that I agreed with the guidance, and came to realise that if I did not then it wouldn’t be my professional field. I do what I do as I consider it valuable and important, not simply for my self but for others and therefore feel that ethics directly informs my employment.

The reader explained ethical frameworks, I was able to apply some of these more easily to my employment that others (Appendix 6) and realised that ways of viewing ethics can be complicated, there are different motivations, implication and even legislation plays can play a role but the overall message for me was to work in a way that causes least harm. This is what I will be constantly in mind of professionally and during inquiry. (Appendix 7)

Professional inquiry tools.

I developed a whole new set of skills in piloting inquiry tools. It allowed me to develop my line of professional inquiry further by ascertaining through trial and reflection which methods would best suit to gain the data that I required.

It also allowed me to gain professional confidence by trailing ideas with professional colleagues and creating new dialogues around my topic of interest. (Appendix 8)

I found further support in my literature reviews, (Appendix (9), (10) & (11) showing that there are publicly accepted ideas around my topic but also showing a niche for my specific area.

It will allow me to move forward not only with confidence in my methodology but also in the validity of my ideas.

 References.

Middlesex University, (2012) (e) Reader 4 Developing Lines of Professional Inquiry, BA (Hons) Professional Practice in Arts WBS 3630.

Middlesex University, (2012) (f) Reader 5 Professional Ethics, BA (Hons) Professional Practice in Arts WBS 3630.

Middlesex University, (2012) (g) Reader 6 Tools of Professional Inquiry, BA (Hons) Professional Practice in Arts WBS 3630.

Oliver, P (2010) The Students Guide to research ethics. 2.ed Maidenhead: Open university press

Skoning, S. N. (2008). Movement in dance in the inclusive classroom. Teaching Exceptional Children Plus, [online] Wisconsin. Available from: http://journals.cec.sped.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1512&context=tecplus  [Accessed 05/12/12]

Webber, D (2012) BA (Hons) Professional Practice Blog. [online] available from

http://danniwebber.blogspot.co.uk/

Appendix.

(1) http://danniwebber.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/module-2-task-4a-questions.html

 

(2) http://danniwebber.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/am-i-asking-right-questions.html
 
(3) http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=4693406&type=member&item=180063198&commentID=105682591&qid=345fe57b-e07b-4b33-9b7b-cc74c203b7fa&goback=.gmp_4693406#commentID_105682591
 
(4) http://danniwebber.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/teaching-children-with-learning.html
  
(5) http://danniwebber.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/5a-my-first-thoughts-on-my-own-ethics.html
 
(6) http://danniwebber.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/5c-my-employment-related-to-ethical.html
 
(7) http://danniwebber.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/5d-my-enquiry-and-ethical-considerations.html
 

(8) http://danniwebber.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/6b-critical-reflection-on-research.html

(9) http://danniwebber.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/6c-literature-review-1.html

(10) http://danniwebber.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/normal-0-false-false-false_7.html

(11) http://danniwebber.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/6c-literature-review-3.html