5b - Ethical considerations/ Codes of practice in my workplace



In the previous task I talked about the ethical considerations I believe have to be taken into account when teaching dance in primary or secondary school’s. However I didn’t think about the ethics/ codes of practice that I have to consider as a professional when the company are sending me out for different jobs in schools.

I have to be aware of ethics given to me by the company I work for but also the ethical considerations in the different school’s I teach in.

The codes of practice/ regulations that apply to me by the company in my place of work are:

-          Personal representation and personal health and safety:

Correct uniform – Black leggings/trousers (no jeans, shorts, short skirts), appropriate sensible shoes, minimal jewellery, ID badge worn in all classes.

-          Register:

A register should be taken at the beginning of every lesson on Simms system or paper copy. (No register needed for school time project work)

-          Emergency procedure:

In case of emergency with a pupil i.e. being unruly or displaying behaviours that are a risk to others. You should contact on call member of staff though the Simms system. If the school has no Simms system you should make a member of staff aware of the situation as soon as possible.

-          Managing behaviour:

It is extremely important for the pupils to know how you expect them to behave, therefore on initial meeting with each class, set clear rules and reinforce these rules at the beginning of class or when necessary.

-          Planning lessons:

Planning ahead is essential for each session and schemes of work must be followed in all classes. Aims and Objectives of each lesson must be clearly displayed on board in secondary schools and or verbally in primary schools. Pupils must be made aware of these aims and objectives at the beginning of each lesson.

I understand that a service level agreement is a contract of what the company expects from me, but I feel it relates to ethics and codes of practice for myself whilst working for the company.

Here is a service level agreement that was given to me before I started to work for the company:

SERVICE STANDARDS

The above coach Miss M Cannon will deliver dance instruction to age groups listed above. Proof of CRB check to be provided in relation to any of the above work if requested. Will have regard to its responsibilities under Equal Opportunities, Race Relations, Human Rights legislation. All necessary insurance’s including the appropriate public liability and indemnity insurance will be in place and provided by Kicking Free for the duration of any work carried out on behalf of Kicking Free. Measures will be in place to ensure that the rights of the individuals taking part in activities are Recognized and confidentiality and other factor relating to the individual are respected. 'The Class Constitution' to promote good work habit and gain the best work possible for our students Be punctual. Arrive at each job 10mins before to set up e.g. CD player and check safety issues e.g. room is safe to use. Dress code. Kicking free staff uniform and badge must be worn for all work given. Be prepared. Always be prepared with lesson plan that is appropriate to age and understanding Never leave pupils unsupervised.   Behaviour Management and Health and Safety Do not let pupils run round or climb in dance studio/ hall Any pupil that acts unsafe whilst in your care should be asked to stop the activity immediately and asked to sit in a safe place until their behaviour is appropriate  Clean up any spillages as to avoid accident or injury. Keep noise level down by setting ground rules with the pupils; i.e. tell them when you raise your hand they should also raise their hand and immediately be quiet. If a pupil is being disruptive ask that individual to sit out until they have calmed down (keep the pupil contained in the studio) Inform Kicking Free senior staff of any behaviour issues   Confidentiality and Contact details .It is not permitted to discuss any of Kicking free’s business with third party. Pupils contact details must be kept locked in filing cabernet and remain confidential at all times. Accident or injury. Follow correct first aid procedure, log down incident, and inform other member of staff in the school, parents and Kicking Free management immediately.

The points I discussed in task 4a are similar to what is stated in my service level agreement. For example; risk assessment in a dance studio is an obvious consideration, making sure the studio is safe for practice. However one important point I didn’t think of or discuss in the previous task was: Accident or injury – Follow correct first aid procedure, log down incident, and inform another member of staff in the school, parents and kicking free management immediately. This is very important particularly in a dance class setting were injury is more prone to happen.

‘Any code of professional ethics for teachers should be valid for all teachers regardless of their position in the hierarchy of the organisation, the school or education service. It may be, however, that certain aspects will apply to head teachers or heads of department more than others because of the nature of the responsibilities they carry and their management function within the school’

I found this quote on http://www.teachers.org.uk/files/active/0/NUT-Code-of-Professional-Ethics.pdf whilst I was researching ethics in a school setting. I very much agree with this and I also believe ethics apply to a school and teachers as a whole but they can slightly change within different subjects. Taking my subject dance for an example; dance is a very ‘hands on approach’ way of working and requires a lot more contact than academic subjects so the ethics of this subject may slightly change to say the ethics of an English class. I believe a form of non-sexual, personal physical contact between teacher and student is important for purpose of growth, correction or improvement.

                I talked about respect being an ethical consideration and believe it is an important code of practice within a school.

Respecting the teacher and other classmates

-          It is as important for a teacher to respect the student as much as it is for the student to respect the teacher.  The teacher has to be a model of respect; if you want a child to do it then you have to do it.

-          Reminding children of their good decisions so they remember how it felt is reinforcing the experience of being respectful.

-          Encouraging students to treat others as they would like to be treated creates a respectful environment

-         

            Explaining the rules to the children and the importance of listening and watching others helps promote respect. For example if a child is dancing across the space, the other dancers should show respect by watching and being quiet until it is their turn. Not only are the learning respect but they are learning to observe other dancers and hopefully learn from them.

Above are my views on respecting the teacher and other classmates which I stated in my previous task. Below is a statement I found on the teachers.org site about respect and what a teacher should not do.

‘The growth of a friendly relationship between teacher and pupil which is based on mutual respect and recognition of the role that each plays in the learning situation is desirable. It is, however, an abuse of this professional relationship for a teacher to:

-          Enter into an improper association with a student.

-          Show undue personal favour or disfavour towards a pupil.

-          Commit such acts against a child which are illegal.

-          Endeavour to exert an undue influence with regard to personal attitudes, opinions or behaviour which is in no way connected with the work of the school.

This to me outlines the importance of a teacher respecting a student as much as a student should respect the teacher.

Looking at other people’s blogs on ethics in their workplace I found a few interesting sites that they had posted links to. Chiara Vainella had posted a link to the institute for learning and their codes of practice. IFL’s site states 6 main obvious codes of practice:

-Integrity

-Respect

-Care

-Practice

-Disclosure

-Responsibility

To me these 6 codes of practice are obvious within the workplace and I believe I have developed an understanding of these through my past experience of working part time and training at a professional dance college. However in the last 6 months of teaching I have gained a lot more knowledge on the different ethics that apply to different professions and how I should apply them to my workplace.

Another site I took interest in was the RAD – Royal Academy of Dance. www.rad.org.uk/.../code-of-prof-practice-for-teachers-en-web.pdf

  From a child to growing up I took many RAD exams and the teachers I was taught by gave me everything I needed to achieve the results I wanted. Taking a look at the RAD’s codes of practice and ethics gave me an insight to what should be expected of professional teachers:

‘Teachers will make students learning their primary objective and are as such accountable for achieving the highest possible standards in their teaching, work and conduct’

I have picked out some important points in bold below which I feel are a great guideline to teaching. However the site goes into a lot more detail on ethics and codes of practice which are very useful for teachers. It talks about the:

1)      Expected values and behaviour

2)      Personal and professional conduct

3)      Unacceptable professional conduct and miss conduct

4)      Breaches of the code of professional practice

5)      Disciplinary procedure

 Teachers must at all times:

-          Act with honesty and integrity

-          Have secure subject knowledge

-          Keep their knowledge and skills as teachers up to date

-          Engage in self-evaluation

-          Forge positive professional relationships, and

-          Work with parents and guardians in the best interests of their students

Teachers must:

Set expectations that inspire, challenge and motivate students.

            Understand that dance teaching is a holistic practice that engages both students and teachers in a complex interaction of mind and body.

            Demonstrate comprehensive subject and syllabus/curriculum knowledge.

            Plan and teach well- structured lessons.

            Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of individual students.

            Manage behaviour effectively to ensure a positive and safe learning environment.

 ‘Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of individual students’. This particularly stands out to me as it links to my most recent literature review about how important it is for teachers to have different strategies to help with the continuous growth and improvement of children in the dance class and the importance of a teacher recognising the variation in the way a child learns.

The RAD site has been great to gain deeper knowledge on the ethics/codes of practice a dance teacher in specific should adhere to.

In the previous task I talked more about ethics I feel I should consider in my place of work (school).

What I have discovered in this task is the importance of respecting my organisational/company ethics and the responsibility I have to my employer which I have shown above in my service level agreement.

Literature review 2 - Motor Learning And Teaching Dance



http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.iadms.org/resource/resmgr/imported/info/motor_learning.pdf

This piece of literature explores the various stages and processes in motor learning helping teachers become familiar with the variety of possible teaching and learning strategies to increase effectiveness in their practice.

VARIOUS STAGES IN THE MOTOR LEARNING PROCESS:

-          Attention and observation (perception) of a demonstrated skill

-          Replication (execution) of what has been observed

-          Feedback  (knowledge of results/performance and additional explanation)

-          Repetition (Further practice)

All four of these stages prove to be essential in the motor learning process when teaching dance. In a typical dance class of mine, I will demonstrate and explain a dance combination or step providing the initial information to the dancer (attention and observation for the dancer). The dancer will then execute the movement I have demonstrated after observing me (replication). I will give feedback to my students (positive and negative) allowing them to make changes to what they are doing allowing the dancers to repeat the combination (repetition) taking onboard my feedback. With repetition the movement becomes a part of the dancer’s long-term memory. (Muscle memory)

When challenging my dancers with a completely different combination I tend to add movements we have worked on before into the piece which allows the dancer to recall the movement mentally, the literature refers to this as COVERT RECALL. After recalling the movement mentally the dancers then have to transfer the movement to physical execution referred to as OVERT RECALL. The final goal of the motor learning process is an image or concept of the task that is recalled at this level of execution, rather than a complicated series of details, multiple body parts or individual muscle activation, the motor skill is now imbedded in the long-term memory.

PERCEPTION

Perception has two components:

1)      Students observes and organises his/her present experience

2)      Meaning is attached to that observation based on past experience

Perception is dependant on the senses (Sight, touch, smell, hearing, tasting)

The literature suggests that when a teacher demonstrates a movement, a child may relate to any number of childhood games which relates to the movement. It uses an example of demonstrating a shift in weight (two feet on the floor to one foot on the floor). The child may relate to a childhood game where he/she tried to balance on one leg.

The literature talks about proprioceptive information and how it is integrated with input from the vestibular mechanism of the inner ear and vision accorded by the eyes. Proprioception is when  the nerve cells (the bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints and skin all have specialised tissues – nerve cells) receive information during stance and movement and transmits this information to the brain allowing it to process,. Balance, and the ability to transfer weight through space, are major components of dance and highly dependence on well developed and well integrated proprioceptive, vestibular and visual systems. A point that stood out to me in this paragraph was that ‘teachers should realise that these three systems do not integrate until after 7 years old, and are not fully mature until much later, probably late teens or early adulthood’ Therefore I have to realise what movement is suitable for a child under the age of 7 realising that it is not going to be a smooth transition if I give them a shift of weight/balance.

Perceptual skills include hand-eye co-ordination, rhythm, visual discrimination, special discrimination, body control, and balance. These perceptual skills are inherited rather than learned but can be enhanced by training. ‘The goal of the teacher is to take the innate skills that students bring to the class and fine-tune these abilities’ Every student has different skills and abilities, it is then up to me to recognise the skills of each individual and work on developing and expanding  their skills allowing them to become stronger, more able dancers. ‘Each child brings to class a specific set of learning tools. The child’s ability to ‘stay on task’ (known as task persistence) the Childs personal sense of rhythm and musicality, preferred speed of moving and spatial preferences all must be taken into account when teaching’ The literature talks about how it is impossible for a teacher to design a class that addresses each individual learning variation and suggests that the teacher should have an awareness of the range of tools the student brings, the teacher can then provide a better range of material and presentational approaches.

PERCEPTION TO MOVEMENT

 ‘ The teacher must make the most critical aspects of the movement apparent, and a  variety of strategies can be employed to help the dancer succeed’ It is best if the teacher focuses initially on specific points – arms, or the rhythm, or the spatial pattern – and progress to more complexity over time. The teacher may want to emphasize only the shape of the legs for the first attempts. Another teacher may chose to emphasize the quick dynamics of the movement.

‘Learning a dance or movement skill is, in part dependent upon how the information is presented’ I believe as a teacher that I should always demonstrate what I what the dancers to do with 100% energy and commitment to the movement. They are going to be reflection of what and how I demonstrate so I need to think carefully of how I present information to my students.

VISUAL – The teacher can demonstrate the movement to the students, allowing them to carefully observe

VERBAL – The teacher can communicate with the students and verbally explain the process and proper execution to the students, and use hands on approach to assist in achieving the task. For example, correcting the dancer’s alignment by slightly moving their body.

The literature suggests that verbal instruction tends to be the most often used strategy in a dance class, although it might not be the most effective when used alone. Research has stressed the importance of visual model (i.e. having a more advanced dancer to observe) for students to imitate. In one of my dance classes I was talking about the dynamics of movements and how important they are in a dance piece. The dancers didn’t seem to be picking up on dynamic, so I sat them down and performed the combination full out allowing them to observe me and pick up on my dynamics. I then asked the students where I used the different dynamics in the piece and how they related to the music. The outcome was that the children had visually seen how the dynamics should look allowing them to implement the dynamics into their own performance. However the teacher needs to emphasize that the desired result is not to try to look exactly like the demonstration, but to take that visual model and apply it to the students own physique and attributes.

The literature describes how it can be beneficial for dancers to observe their peers attempting the material, and working through problems and errors. By seeing others correct and improve the attempted skill, the dancers can see what constitutes a successful strategy, and try applying it to their own experiences. Making mistakes is a natural part of the process, a necessary component of learning to dance so this process has the benefits of encouraging the idea of making mistakes is natural. ‘When students develop an overwhelming fear of making mistakes, it can limit their progresses’.

FEEDBACK AND REPETITION

‘Watching and doing should be the pre-dominant strategy in teaching, and verbal instruction should be secondary, especially when the dancers are seeing and learning a task for the first time’ The literature suggests that at the stage of considerable repetition, verbal input can be an important factor in the learning process. Knowledge of results is the term used in motor learning when the learner is given information relating to what the execution of the movement has actually achieved. This might mean telling the dancer that he/she did not do something to achieve the movement or position. The piece tells me how feedback is an important component of the motor learning process. Repetition without feedback does not necessarily result in improvement and that the challenge for the teacher is to give sufficient feedback without overloading the student with too much information.

The literature points out that there are many theories about the amount of repetition needed before movement patterns become part of the long-term or ‘habitual’ memory, which is probably dependant in part of the individual student’s innate abilities, focus, and concentration and kinaesthetic awareness. Research in motor learning has revealed an understanding of repetition and that research on dance skill acquisition indicates that continuing practice can improve a motor skill. Once the movement is being executed correctly and efficiently, repetition will then ingrain the skill into the body. There is also a negative aspect of this effect which teachers need to be aware of, if students practice incorrectly, these too will become ingrained, and retraining can be difficult, frustrating and time consuming. It is down to me as the teacher to recognize a student practicing a movement incorrectly in the early stages, allowing me to correct the student before it gets too late. The piece states how younger dancers will reach attention overload sooner than older dancers. An advanced dancer might be able to receive feedback that corrects the alignment, changes the position of the arms, alters the speed and dynamic of the movement and think about performance, whereas the younger dancer may only be able to execute one of these corrections. ‘Employing a range of feedback mechanisms is the most effective method of enhancing motor learning’.

It has been demonstrated that mental practice (seeing oneself doing the movement before execution) can enhance skill development beyond what can be accomplished through physical practice alone. It should also be noted that mental practice of a skill is not effective if the student has never actually executes the skill, so this strategy is more useful for more skilled dancers than untrained ones.

SETTING GOALS AND MOTIVATING DANCERS

The literature states that goal setting and motivation belong in the dance psychology realm; they also play a role in motor learning by enhancing and focusing attention, and by increasing ones willingness to participate in repetition. Setting goals for the dance class allows the teacher to provide a positive atmosphere that will be conducive to learning and achieving. Establishing goals set and explained by the dance teacher for the short term (class) or long term (month) is an effective and efficient teaching tool in the motor learning process. Even before the dancers are attempting a movement, they may be more inclined to practice the easier version of the movement if they see and know the overall goal. The literature suggests that this forward looking strategy creates excitement and anticipation, and motivation is key in skill acquisition.

Additional factors effecting motor learning:

Learning styles:

The literature puts emphasis on how important it is for teachers to understand how much variation exists in the way that dance students learn and process information enabling the teacher’s strategies to broaden. Some children may learn more easily if the teacher emphasizes rhythm and musical context. Other children might have more success if they are informed with a sense of the shape design of the movement. Others might do well working in pairs and assisting each other. ‘Teachers can be more effective if they recognise these learning styles and accommodate them, providing a broad spectrum of methods to perceive and attempt the same skill. The literature talks about the educational considerations by Howard Gardner and that the wide variety of learning strategies is referred to as multiple intelligences. These intelligences include:

-          Linguistic: the use of words, by they written or spoken.

-          Logical/Mathematical: ability to reason, consider abstractions, use numerical skills.

-          Spatial: awareness of space and how objects (and the self) occupy space.

-          Musical: a sense of rhythm, pitch and musical composition.

-          Kinaesthetic: a sense of the body and movement ability.

-          Interpersonal: interactions with others.

-          Intrapersonal: awareness of self and personal goals and standards.

Each child will bring to class a specific set of learning tools and cognitive behaviours, as spoken about previously, the teacher will have to help all students learn using different methods suited to the individual.

Finally the literature suggests that using mirrors enhances learning, but there is evidence that visual information from the mirror is distorted (two-dimensional), which may diminish kinaesthetic awareness and learning. Additionally there is evidence in the psychology field suggesting that constant use of the mirror may negatively affect self-esteem in young dancers.

Overall this piece of literature has broadened my knowledge on my main line of inquiry:

Question -      What are the different strategies and methods teachers should have to help with the             continuous improvement of students in a dance class setting?

Discovering boundaries?

Motivational strategies?

Creating an enabling environment?

Creating positive relationships?

This piece of literature has gone into detail about the different strategies in teaching dance, and how important it is for teachers to have a broad range of strategies to help with the continuous growth and improvement of children in the dance class. It is based mainly on the motor learning process and goes into detail about how the 4 various stages of the motor-learning process prove to be essential when teaching dance. By reading this I have learnt the importance of a teacher recognising the variation in the way a child learns. This will allow me to add different elements of methods into my practice allowing each individual to learn their preferred way. The two pieces of literature I have now reviewed are both based on the subject of ‘strategies and methods of teaching a dance class’ however both the pieces of literature provide me with completely different information and knowledge, allowing me to look at the broader spectrum of the subject. Although they intertwine in some ways, they suggest different strategies for a dance teacher, both being neither right nor wrong but giving me different angles to look at my inquiry from.

5a - Ethics in the workplace



Deciding on appropriate ethical responses to given situations is purely down to awareness, being aware of the situation and experience, the outcomes and ways in which you can decide and deal with appropriate ethical responses in certain situations. We have no choice but to make decisions with possible ethical consequences at some point in our careers, the decision could be about our own conduct or about that of another. How we react in given situations could have significant implications for our reputation and career. Recognising risks can prevent many potential ethical problems from escalating to the point of causing harm. Being aware of what is/isn't ethical, aware of the situation you are dealing with and aware of the consequences that lie by your response is noticing how you should react or respond in a given situation. Recent writings stress how factors such as emotions, personal vulnerabilities, personality, and even the context of situations influence how we make decisions, including ethical ones. An effective response requires developed skills, planned resources, the right information, and a pre-established ethical and self awareness.

Performing and teaching dance is a very ‘hands on’ approach of working; dance is very physical and requires a lot of contact more than academic subjects. I believe a form of non-sexual, personal physical contact between teacher and student is important for purpose of growth, correction or improvement. In many academic subjects teachers would almost never have physical contact with a student unless an emergency arose however there are many professions where physical contact is vital in the workplace for example: Physiotherapists, yoga teachers, physical trainer, acupuncture, Pilate’s instructor, makeup-artists, tattoo artists, hairstylist, dentistry and nail technicians. All of these professions require a certain level of appropriate physical contact.                                                            

Many ways of thinking about ethics focus on whether specific actions are good or bad, or right or wrong. They help one decide what he or she should do in a particular case or class of cases, or evaluate after the fact actions that someone else has done. Ethical considerations can be framed in terms of good and bad, beneficial; and harmful, or effective and ineffective, than in terms of right and wrong, proper and improper or correct and incorrect. When asking any ethical question- what should I do in a given situation? What kind of person should I strive to be? How do I resolve conflict among persons or nations? – I feel the question should be framed in terms of goodness and badness, what is beneficial or harmful, to myself and those around me.

Taking my place of work (Dance teaching) I believe there are many ethical considerations to take into account allowing the class to not only be a safe and secure environment but ensuring my actions influence the learning development of the children.

DBS checks/ Safeguarding

DBS checks are compulsory when working with children in schools or colleges, ensuring the safeguarding is in tact. Teachers are responsible for keeping children and learners safe. There is no greater importance than parents sending their children to school knowing that they are in a safe environment.

My personal responsibility to ensure safe practice for the students and the schools reputation.

1)      Ensure High quality leadership and management skills in a class environment

2)      Make sure policies and procedures are in place

3)      Engaging students in how to stay safe in an active dance class

4)      Risk assessment – Making sure the studio is safe to dance in (correct flooring/clear space/clean) and all electrical equipment has been checked and meets the required standard for use.

5)      Enforce rules and boundaries enabling everyone to feel secure and well protected

Communication

I believe communicating with the children should always be in a style appropriate to:

-          The students age

-          Physical or cultural factors

-          Preferred method of communication

-          Sensory or intellectual impairment e.g. sight loss or hearing loss

Student confidentiality

Not passing on information regarding student status or well being to other individuals without permission

Respecting the teacher and other classmates

-          It is as important for a teacher to respect the student as much as it is for the student to respect the teacher.  The teacher has to be a model of respect; if you want a child to do it then you have to do it.

-          Reminding children of their good decisions so they remember how it felt is reinforcing the experience of being respectful.

-          Encouraging students to treat others as they would like to be treated creates a respectful environment

-          Explaining the rules to the children and the importance of listening and watching others helps promote respect. For example if a child is dancing across the space, the other dancers should show respect by watching and being quiet until it is their turn. Not only are the learning respect but they are learning to observe other dancers and hopefully learn from them.

I have chosen these 4 ethical considerations based on my experience of working in a school and what I feel should be considered as ethics in my workplace. I am aware that there are codes of practice/regulations which steer the ethical framework in the place of work. I am going to look into detail at the codes and regulations in my workplace and discuss in my next blog.

4d - Literature - Teaching the dance class: Strategies to enhance skill acquisition, mastery and positive self image

http://www.citraining.com/Teaching-the-Dance-Class-Strategies.html

This piece of literature links into almost every potential line of inquiry I have. Within these sub titles I picked out 3 points which I feel with more research will help with my inquiry.

 It talks about:

-Process and goals within a class setting.

Optimizing the self within community: Recognize individual differences and optimize individual potential; encourage students to work in collaboration with peers.

        Question - How would you teach a class of students/children at different levels with different capabilities and skills? Without holding the more capable students back but also not making the class too difficult and advanced for the less capable students?

       Here I would need to recognize individual differences and optimize individual potential to allow all students to make sufficient progress and reach their own individual potential.

 -Influences affecting the dancer

Empowering the self: Recognize and positively reinforce the dancer for personal qualities and contributions to the class; empower students to feel good about their bodies and their self development.

       Question - How would you get the best out of every student without focusing all your attention on the students with more potential than others?

       Realising and recognising that students have potential in different areas. Some may have more potential technically but that will not stop me from recognizing a student who lacks in technique but has a personality that shines when he/she dances. I am sometimes drawn to dancers who I see have a huge amount of potential and that is why I asked the above question. However giving positive feedback to students based on their own individual potential will ‘empower students to feel good about their bodies and their self development’.

-Structure and content of the class.

Mixing and matching: Provide opportunities to learn or process information in various ways across learning tasks and situations, including somatic and analytic strategies, and contextual variety.

       Question -      What strategies and methods does an experiences teacher have to help with the continuous improvement of students?

                 Discovering boundaries?

                 Motivational strategies?

                 Creating an enabling environment?

                 Creating positive relationships?

If students aren’t processing information as much as I would like them to then providing opportunities to learn in various ways could prove to be successful. Every student is different with varied skills and capabilities, so if one student picks up a skill or processes information with a certain method of teaching it is not to say every student will learn this way. The piece of literature states that ‘one day a combination might be approached analytically, that is, breaking down the material and examining it’s detail and components. The next day the teacher might use a somatic practice to address the material from a kinaesthetic perspective. To deepen the experience, the material can be explored through various states: feeling, sensory, and physical.’ Expanding learning styles would help the teacher to recognize the students preferred method of learning such as visual (seeing a demonstration), aural analytic (hearing an explanation of how to do a phrase or execute a skill), or kinaesthetic (learning through touch or sensation). Teachers can encourage the use of a variety of strategies to learn material, and to increase the speed and accuracy of learning strategies.

The literature is broken down into sections:

Process and goals of the dance class:

SMART planning:

One point within this paragraph that I highlighted was ‘The teacher needs to understand what is age-appropriate in designing the class, and establish a process over time that acknowledges both physical and motor development for that age group. By stating the daily and long-term goals, the teacher provides a context that determines how students can realistically succeed and observe their improvement’. Teaching all ages means I have to plan an appropriate lesson suited to the age group I am teaching. What I spoke about in a previous post on my blog was that I was struggling with the year 2 and 3 class that I teach. I think it was down to me making the class too hard and maybe the atmosphere being too strict. Students who also teach on the course left comments on my post with some pointers of how to structure a class for this age group, making me realise that it is so important to understand what is age appropriate. For example using the routine with my year 6 class is never going to work on my year 3’s.

Decision- Making by objective:

‘Identifying specific objectives encourages students to express their personal goals for individual progress in conjunction with the goals and tasks established for the groups’ This process of establishing personal goals can be self-empowering as well as motivating. The piece talks about how teachers can provide opportunities for individual and group decision making. For example, when learning new material the class can be given a choice of whether they wish to review the material presented or whether they wish to add complexibility. ‘Even if the class wishes to add complexibility, an individual student can be given the choice to continue working on the simpler phrase’. This teaching style is consistent with the student-directed approach described in Mosston and Ashworth’s spectrum of teaching styles. I was given feedback to one of my questions from an experienced teacher - ‘How would you teach a class of students/children at different levels with different capabilities and skills? Without holding the more capable students back but also not making the class too difficult and advanced for the less capable students?’

‘It’s actually very common for me to find myself in front of this type of class, as street dance/commercial is not a ‘Core’ subject on the time table such as ballet/jazz etc, therefore I do not have the privilege of splitting the classes into A and B groups. This often means that I can be teaching up to 30 students all with varying dance backgrounds. My first year students are typical of this mixed level grouping, with the majority having never experienced commercial street before and a handful of advanced street dancers who are at vocational college mainly for the more technical side of their training. In light of this, it can be difficult to meet all students’ needs in one class.
How I work to overcome this is to teach a block of commercial choreography, one that challenges musicality, dynamics, levels etc and break it down so that all students have a better understanding of how each move should feel (kinaesthetically). There will always be some students who are slower to pick up the routine therefore once choreography is broken down; I put them into smaller groups to go over it. What I’ve done in previous sessions is to give my more advanced group the challenge of choreographing a further 16 counts whilst I work with those that are struggling with the style/dynamics/weight placement etc. I have then sometimes challenged advanced students further by then asking them to teach their choreography to rest of the students. This way, those struggling to pick up the choreography get the chance to work in a more intimate group under my guidance until they are more confident, and those who appear to be flying through class then have to think about putting together their own choreography whist also paying attention to the musicality, flow etc.’

The piece of literature talks about how ‘The teacher can provide information that allows students to understand and embrace individual differences in both anatomical physique and dynamic movement qualities’ The feedback above shows how the teacher does exactly this by allowing the slower students to be broken down into smaller groups under the teachers guidance to go over the material, whilst also giving the more advanced students the challenge of choreographing their own material. This is allowing each student to understand their individual needs and embrace their differences.

Ritualizing respect

       ‘Observing an atmosphere of quiet encourages dancers to support and respect others’ learning processes; it is not so the teacher can control their behaviour. An atmosphere of concentration and focus promotes optimal learning, and creates a sense of community rather than competition’. I am forever encouraging my students to be quiet whilst others are dancing across the room, allowing them to learn to respect their classmates.

        It states in the statement above ‘An atmosphere of concentration and focus promotes optimal learning, and creates a sense of community rather than competition’ this raises a question to me whether it is always healthy to create just a sense of community or whether there should also be elements of healthy competition?

The piece of literature goes into detail about influences that affect the dancer’s progress:

-Mentoring

 ‘Regardless of teaching style, the teacher is perceived as a role model’

-Nurturing the learner

‘Taking time in class to explore principles of good alignment is more beneficial than simply adjusting a student’s pelvis during a particular exercise’

‘Another goal of a dance class is expanding learning styles and strategies’

‘Dancers need encouragement to nurture self-esteem and to instill self belief’

‘The teacher can provide praise when improvement is demonstrated and constructive criticism when changes and corrections are needed’

-Creating fun and challenges for all  

‘The teacher’s task is to find a balance and promote an atmosphere of joy and stimulation’ (This links into one of my above questions ‘How would you teach a class of students/children at different levels with different capabilities and skills? Without holding the more capable students back but also not making the class too difficult and advanced for the less capable students?’

-          Empowering the self

‘ While it is the nature of dance training to develop self critical skills, constant negative thoughts and belief systems interfere with concentration and the willingness to take risks. It is also essential to allow discussion of external influences that affect internal dialogue, such as media, dance culture expectations, and previous learning experiences. For example, some dancers have experienced insulting corrections and public humiliation in previous learning environments and these events can leave lasting inhibitory impact on future progresses

-          Focusing on the task

‘Teachers can encourage students to focus on the task through a variety of strategies. For example, by acknowledging and respecting the attributes and accomplishments of each individual, teachers can reduce the compulsion for students to compare themselves with others and encourage each dancer to remain focused on personal development’

-          Thinking about learning

‘It can be useful to assist each dancer in understanding the benefits of the various learning styles and how the individual can broaden one’s approach to learning new material. The teacher can pose questions that encourage dancers to observe how they learn: Do I hear music through rhythm or melody? Do I learn material through shape design or spatial information? Am I visual or Kinaesthetic in how I absorb new information? How do I learn best? It is empowering for students to learn about their own learning styles.

 I have picked out some main points above that I feel will not only develop my teaching practice but will allow me to look deeper into my chosen inquiry. Structure and content of the class is one of the most important aspects for teaching, ‘A good dance class builds progressively from the basic knowledge and skills to a wide array of abilities that support the complexity of the art form. In each aspect of dance training, the teacher needs to identify the basic foundation, and then build upon that knowledge base’ The literature talks about developing body awareness, enhancing body image, embracing the safe and sound and creating enlightened practice. This piece has gone into detail of strategies and methods that will help with dance teaching; it also brushes on aspects of psychology which all links into my initial lines of inquiry. It concludes that students essentially want to progress, work at their optimal level, and be their best. In an environment of mutual respect, open discussion and self-motivation can be encourages. The results are rewarding to both the teacher and dancers. The teacher acting as a guide in providing an environment that challenges and stimulates dancers to achieve their highest level of mastery and at the same time inspires the dancers to honor the body and elevate the spirit.