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?