A Critical Reflection on Professional Inquiry
Working through the 3 parts of this module has provided me with sufficient knowledge and tools needed to conduct my inquiry.
Developing lines of professional inquiry
‘inquiry based learning requires students to learn for themselves bringing a real research-orientated approach to the subject’ (Dr Bill Hutchings, What is inquiry based learning? Centre for excellence in inquiry based learning).This quote inspired me to find a topic related to my practice that would excite, motivate and challenge me for present and future research. (Appendix A) shows my initial lines of inquiry. Connecting with my SIG’S enabled me to develop my lines of inquiry and understand my topic from another professional’s point of view which was valuable for my practice. To start I connected with three experienced dance teacher’s and asked them to answer some of my questions to allow me to delve deeper into my inquiry and hopefully find a main line of inquiry. (Appendix B) shows feedback from my initial questions.
Reviewing literature was valuable for me during this module as it gave me insight into research that had already been conducted which related to my inquiry interests. I decided to look deeper into the strategies and methods teachers have to help with the continuous improvement of students:
Discovering boundaries?
Motivational strategies?
Creating an enabling environment?
Creating positive relationships?
(Appendix C) and (Appendix D) shows literature I reviewed and how it was important for not only my inquiry but also how I could link it to my professional practice.
After further research the scope of my inquiry then seemed too broad. I discussed this with my SIGS and the feedback provided allowed me to narrow my thoughts and ideas down which brought me to focus on motivational strategies teachers use in a dance class within education. In which I felt I could look more into depth with this proposed line of inquiry.
Ethical Considerations
I chose 4 ethical considerations based on my experience of working in a school and what I felt should be considered as ethics in my workplace (Appendix E). However I knew there were many more considerations in the workplace which I hadn’t researched and didn’t have much knowledge on. (Appendix F) is where I researched and engaged with my professional codes of practice in my workplace which I should always adhere to. Reader 5 provided me with the theoretical approaches to ethics which made me question my own ethical decisions (Appendix G). I absorbed this new found knowledge on ethics and decided how I would plan my inquiry making sure I was ethical in the process. (Appendix H) shows my outlined plan.
Inquiry Tools
The final stage enabled me to decide on the most appropriate tools for data collection. (Appendix I). Piloting these tools allowed me to evaluate their merits and limits. This was necessary in order to find the most appropriate ways of research to conduct an effective inquiry.
(Appendix J) talks about my pilot Observation, interview and survey. I evaluated the effectiveness of each and came to the conclusion that interviewing and observations would be the most appropriate to my inquiry.
Module two has allowed me to explore ethics at a deeper level, research the most useful tools of inquiry and analyse literature relating to my inquiry interests. This has enabled me to connect all tasks to my practice preparing me to emerge at my final proposed line of inquiry.
Appendices
Appendix D - http://melaniecannon.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/literature-review-2-motor-learning-and.html
References
B.E.R.A. (2011) – Ethical guidelines for educational research
Carritt (1947), Foot (1966), McCloskey (1965) and Thomson (1976) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consequentialism/
C.D.E.T . (2008/2009) – Code of professional conduct and practice (Council for dance education training)
Dr Bill Hutchings, What is inquiry based learning? Centre for excellence in inquiry based learning) - http://www.ceebl.manchester.ac.uk/ebl/ (pg. 1)
Lynda M. Mainwaring and Donna H. Krasnow ’Teaching the dance class: strategies to enhance skill acquisition, mastery and positive self-image’’ (Journal of dance education, Volume 10, number 1, 2010)
Motor Learning and Teaching Dance – International Association for dance Medicine and Science - http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.iadms.org/resource/resmgr/imported/info/motor_learning.pdf (pg 1-6)
Professional Ethics Reader - Reader 5 – pg 7
RAD – Royal Academy of Dance – Code of Professional Practice - www.rad.org.uk/.../code-of-prof-practice-for-teachers-en-web.pdf
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