Importance of literature

http://www.communitydance.org.uk/DB/animated-library/hands-on-hands-off.html?ed=14068

This particular article has been incredibly helpful to my line of inquiry. As a whole I would say evidence in this article states that yes, the importance of safeguarding of children has affected a hands on approach to dance teaching. It's being discussed by leading bodies within the dance world, it talks of the different society that we now live in and the fact that dance does not have its own explicit code of conduct. One of the main points this article makes is that the dance industry does not have a specific code of conduct as a whole that we as teachers should follow. Many other organisations do, there are of course obvious ones in terms of medical practice but this article comments on the fact that other sporting subjects have their own codes of conduct such as gymnastics and football: 'these sporting organisations are well ahead of the dance world. Yet the whole issue of touching is an important one for the dance industry. It is time that we discussed these issues openly and with professional objectivity.'
'The first is that major sports are already well ahead of the dance industry in producing booklets outlining what is appropriate'
Is this what we need in the dance world? It is of course so important that children are protected and this article stated many of the different child protection laws that are in place. These are incredibly important when sadly there are teachers or other professionals out there who do not follow good practice (as mentioned in the article)  'Like it or not, society is now changing in a way which means that even totally harmless actions can result in lawsuits' This is perhaps why the safeguarding of children has affected the hands on approach; society has changed and we, dance teachers, do not have a specific code that we all follow. 
This article also supported some previous research about making parents and students aware that in some cases physical touch will be used to enhance the childs learning and understanding. During a conversation about the subject with a friend of mine she mentioned that ' Parents are made aware of a "hands on" correcting technique when they join the schools I work for' The article states:
'these are the professional standards that we would naturally expect to uphold, but it is useful to he reminded of them and to communicate them to the parents who pay our salaries. It can only be good practice to be seen to have considered these matters and then to have done something about them in a professional manner.'
If all parents and students were made aware of this then would this resolve the matter? It does at least cover a dance teachers back should a complaint be made against them.
' We do need to be aware that other professions are ahead of us in making codes of practice explicit, and that there are real issues of legality, duty of care and child protection that we cannot ignore.'

part 5. Continuing to think about ethics

I was unable to make the online session regarding ethics but after reading Adesolas blog http://adesolaa.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/step-gently-on-line-campus-session-with.html and reading other students blogs about the session i have been able to take a step back from my inquiry and look at it differently.

Finding the answer

Firstly i was panicking about finding an 'answer' and now realize that this is not the object of my inquiry. But i can find out more. Learn and research and hopefully be able to offer people advice and some knowledge and understanding on the subject. It may sound cliche but this can better my teaching skills and therefore benefit my students. for example why they need to be physically corrected in a dance class.

Assumptions

Thinking about assumptions really sent me off on one! I realized that my opinion on my inquiry (that the safeguarding of children has all got a bit mad!) was perhaps effecting my research; i wanted to find that other dance teachers felt the same as me and had picked out quotes that agreed with my feeling. I was glad that Adesola had mentioned that your own assumptions are a good place to start but now i need to take a step back and look at my inquiry again. I think that perhaps my question needs to be adapted slightly; should teachers be educated on the best way to physically correct students? Should teachers working in the dance industry take a course in safeguarding children? Should all students/pupils receive some sort of document when they join a dance class that a 'hands on' approach will be used to benefit their learning? ALL OPINIONS WELCOME HERE AS I'M STRUGGLING ON HOW TO WORD THIS! Will put this question in my SIG later.

Task 5a/b - Ethics

To me ethics is about knowing the difference in whats right and whats wrong; obviously it's not always as black and white as that. At my work place and within my professional community ethics that i feel apply are the safeguarding of children and child protection. Children are left in our care and its our duty as the teacher to provide that child with a safe environment. At all the dance schools that i currently work for there is a code of conduct and a policy on safeguarding children. I assume that these policies are written by my bosses with some guidance from legal frame work or legislature applied to the UK. Outside my workplace i try to maintain professional persona by ensuring high privacy settings on my social media sites.

Task 4 - finalizing my line of inquiry, SIGs and literature

After further research and conversations within SIGs and my work practitioners i have decided to take my question 'has the safeguarding of children affected the hands on approach to dance teaching?' as my line on inquiry. It interests me as there are many different thoughts and feelings on this subject and is also currently being discussed in higher education as Helen Kindred pointed out (http://helenkindred.blogspot.co.uk/)

Here's my SIG group - please feel free to join https://www.facebook.com/groups/1659347854293196/

I have an existing SIG via facebook with a group of dance teacher friends who i went to collage with. We use it to keep in touch etc. I have used my line of inquiry to start a new conversation and gain others thoughts. The general feeling is that often physical correction is the 'only way' to help a student achieve something but that parents are always made aware of a 'hands on' approach when joining the school.

This question has also opened up many others within my SIG; what is the correct way to teach? Should dance teachers have sort of rule regarding us being 'allowed' to physically correct children? Why has this become such an issue? Why/when did this start? Should we all attend a safeguardung course or just be aware of the governments policy in the UK?

I therefore began researching 'how' to teach; whether or not actual physical touch is mentioned as a tool that dance teachers must use as well as description and demonstration. Here are a few links i found when looking into physical correction and my line of inquiry:

http://movingoncenter.org/DynamicSMTT/Files/AbriefhistoryofSomaticanddance.pdf

(11/3/15)

'Participants were also invited to experience increased responsiveness as they received skilled touch and/or verbal input as ‘fresh stimuli’ from a somatic educator or therapist.

http://www.communitydance.org.uk/DB/animated-library/hands-on-hands-off.html?ed=14068

 '

http://atimetodancecolorado.com/giving-corrections

 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.mdx.ac.uk/doi/10.1002/car.2228/full

http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.mdx.ac.uk/docview/208443641?pq-origsite=summon


Books:

Managing Dance: current issues and future strategies. By Linda Jasper and Jeanette Siddall



I will blog on the importance of the literature i have found most useful soon after a little more 

Task 4a/c research

I am really enjoying this module, having taken part in a skype discussion and questioning my peers and work collegues in relation to my possible lines of enquiry. I am still unsure of exactly which direction i will be taking but hoping to firm up this weekend after some further reading.

My findings so far:

Facebook conversation with a friend who used to work with me at Popdance and now works for NCT:
I know I was always much more aware of not touching children to correct their posture etc - or being aware of only touching hands, shoulders and arms let's say rather than the torso. I also was told that the palm of the hand is more acceptable to touch kids than using the fingers or fingertips. I was also aware that I always wanted to have an assistant or someone else present rather than just myself as it can put you in a vulnerable situation to be alone with the kids. Now at our school the peripatetic teachers coming in have to be chaperoned by another teacher for safeguarding, plus we are much more aware of being sued these days over nothing and it's just the kids words against ours!

This got me thinking how lucky i am as during most of my classes with younger children i have an assistant or a parent present in the room covering myself.

After raising some of my questions with my boss at Popdance she sent me a few links to her blog and website that explained her thoughts and feelings on the issues:

http://popdance.co.uk/physicalandmentalaspectsofdance/

http://popdance.co.uk/important-business-within-dance/

I have also been reading a great deal about safeguarding children, reading policies that other companys follow as well as those that i work under. All major organisations such as RAD, EMDP ISTD etc have their own safe guarding policies in order to be covered. In most 'code of conduct' documents there is nothing that says you cannot physically touch or move a child but that it should be explained fully which i feel i do.

'avoid unneccsary physical contact with children. When physical touch is required during dance teaching the involved adult should explain to the child exactly what he or she is doing but only with the consent of the child and in full view of as many parents as possible.'

Often in my younger classes children become distressed when sepearted from their parents or take a tumble when running around; i never think twice about going to that childs aid and often pick up the smaller children to give them a cuddle and comfort them. They don't need an explanation!

 I have become much more aware of how often i do physically move children in order for them to achieve a correct alignment or posture since looking at this line of enquiry and whilst demonstration and explanation are key a child needs to feel how they need to be to fully understand a movement or position.

'teachers and assistants use a hands on approach that is vital to teaching young dancers as they develop their skill'

This quote is from the Texas ballet theater (www,texasballettheater.org) on their lower school programme.


I will be updating this continually throughout course and be adding my literature soon.