We then moved on to discussing how the benefits of studying dance from a technical point of view are often unknown by parents of students, or overlooked and thought of as not important.
With this topic in mind, we came up with a potential line of inquiry:
"What are the benefits of dance within secondary school education?"This is a question which I think would produce a lot of very valuable information which would aid my transition into public education. There is plenty of Literature on the subject giving me plenty to research...
This is by no means the final draft of my question, and I plan now to discuss the question with another friend of mine, Dr Jonathan Rees. Jon has a PHD in music and works as Course Co-ordinator and Head of Singing at Stella Mann College. As you can guess from his title, he is very academic and will hopefully be able to help me in fine tuning my question.
What do you all think? Is the question too vague, too broad? Is it too obvious? Does a better way of wording the question immediately jump out at you? Any feedback would be much appreciated!
7 comments:
Hi Liam,
I think you have come to a really interesting line of inquiry- question. Dance (technique) is often overlooked by parents/ friends/ teachers that don't know a lot about it, and just see it as 'prancing' around.
The hours of technique training are extremely important, they are necessary to make dance look easy (I think that's why people disregard it as not very difficult or demanding.)
But I would also say, that watching a technically perfect dancer without any artistry at all, can be extremely irritating as a member of the audience. Feeling an artistic connection, or just seeing that the performer is enjoying dancing, can make the difference from a 'good' to a 'great' performance.
I think talking to a variety of sources is really rewarding, and provides a varied scope of ideas, rather than all 'dancers' or all 'students.'
Another aspect which I want to bring up- musicality is also very important and another benefit of dance education! You would be surprised how many professional dancers find it hard to count music, or cannot locate a 'middle c' on the piano! It's shocking!
Hi Liam
I completely agree with your employer that you can only progress to a limited level of dance with out solid technique. It really frustrates me when I see children performing movements or routines that are way too advanced for them with awful technique and little control. How can their teachers watch that and feel it's acceptable???
I think your inquiry question is a really solid one and like you said will be really beneficial for you and other secondary school dance teachers. Maybe within your inquiry you could also look at how including or introducing more technique based dance may benefit secondary education? Or would it not be possible? Just a thought as it kind of relates to some of the feedback you have had so far!
Hi Liam
I like to think this way:
The research project in Module Three is quite small (some research covers years). So I would not ask a question that looks for a specific answer ... "what are the benefits of ...?' seems to ask for you to come up with some benefits by the end the research period. In fact I think you are more at a stage (and the research period being short too) of finding out the terrain of the question. Therefore I encourage questions that are more about gathering information - "what do teachers and dancers feel are the benefits...?" or "What benefits do parents expect to gain from...?". The wording means that you can explore. For instance taking the last question you can explore the literature - what people think parents are looking for, you can explore your own experience with parents and what you think they are looking for and you can interview some parents and see what they think. Then you can compare these three sources. You might find that some parents have been influenced by the literature without knowing it. You might find a mismatch etc.... Then at the end you will know more about the world of benefits and dance and schools.
See what I mean? What do you think?
Adesola
Liam yes a bit broad but one that can take up more focus - "What are the benefits of dance within secondary school education?" - what are you really hoping to find out? e.g. aims and objectives for you own professional development? What have you seen in the work that you do that interests you about the different approaches. Who will you wish to talk to? (Adesola's point from above). It sounds like you have access to a good source for information on one side, what about the other? I think looking at literature will help you focus on a topic area and inquiry questions. It does sound like an area others in BAPP are interested in - a good sign. Alecia and Lizzie seem to say that aspects of professional training, i.e. musicality and technique - are ones that other professionals need to have to perform. These areas of focus might be ones that you could investigate more during this module with BAPP network friends while you try out your survey and interview tools.
Liam I am back again.... talking about your inquiry questions and sub questions.
In this blog you simplified your question to:
"What are the benefits of dance within secondary school education?"
But I am looking at this and your slogging away blog with your thinking through. It is complicated but has a lot of aspects that might need more practitioner inquiry. So maybe think about both of these blogs together...
Brinson sounds like a good source for your literature in this module.
and your earlier points
i.e what is dances value within education?
Is dance utilised enough within schools at present? If not, why not?
Is dance still being stuck under the umbrella of P.E rather than being regarded as an independent subject like music or art?
If it is, why is it not valued as much as music or art, both of which are similarly creative disciplines?
P. Brinson talks about the need for the gap between private and public dance education to be bridged...it seems like such a logical step forward to ensure that children nationally experience dance as part of their education, and yet it still hasn't happened! Why!?
FYI Coleen O'Keeffe also explored the differences between dance education and sports science education
Liam, if you could, please will you take a look at my blog titled 'academic subjects are favoured'. I would really like your feedback but i also think it would be interesting for you in terms of 'public education' information.
Thank you
Sarah
After taking on board Adesolas and Paulas advice, further discussing via phone call with Paula and discussions with a professional contact, I have refined my enquiry to
“What do dance teachers and dance students feel the benefits of studying dance are?"
I believe this leaves enough freedom to really explore my topic while still keeping focused on the goal of enhancing my professional practice. There are many options regarding the analysis of the data collected. For example, I could compare the data collected from teachers and students, analysing the differences and exploring what this could mean and how it could aid the development of my practice. I could then go even further and consider implementing an intervention based on the data I have gathered, observing the effects.
Post a Comment