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....