Trying to organise the messy stage

My Title: 

The Importance of Safeguarding Children and How It Has Affected Dance Teaching

The term 'safeguarding' needs to be defined. 

Safeguarding legislation and government guidance says that safeguarding means:

Protecting children from maltreatment

preventing impairment of children's health or development 

ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care

taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcomes

http://www.safenetwork.org.uk/getting_started/pages/why_does_safeguarding_matter.aspx

The ISTD who i work under have their own child protection policy:

file:///C:/Users/Woo/Downloads/istd-child-protection-policy.pdf

After completing my field research and making my own assumptions i need to compare this to what is available in my literature, how it differs, if comparisons can be made etc. I also need to look at other points of view and perhaps speak to someone from a more 'creative' background/working environment. 

Is there anyone on the course from this kind of background or who teaches in this way who would be able to speak with me about this topic? 

After discussions/interviews with my practitioners and through literature i have had my eyes opened to safeguarding being not just a physical protection of children but an emotional/mental protection too. How you speak to and direct children needs to be thought about in more detail as well as how you refer to dance when teaching. Thinking about why the children come to dance class and what sort of experience i can offer them is what i want to find out; i would like to be able to offer them a more well rounded view from what i will learn through more literature, other peoples points of views.

I will think about the 'routine' of my own classes and perhaps re structure slightly in order to see how this might benefit students - will they prefer routine or enjoy this more well rounded approach - i will write in my journal about this to record what i learn.

Exploring this subject will be valuable to myself and other practitioners as its a hot topic that isnt always talked about due to its vastness. 

Looking beyond my own practice

I have been doing some research on community dance, something i have never taught or worked in, having always worked within the western codified environment, often working towards examinations and making progress on paper and in technique, rather than the creative aspect of dance.

Having grown up in the kind of dance school that i now work for, other teaching techniques are something i have little knowledge in. I trained in ISTD syllabus and was told ultimately what was right or wrong in order to pass my teaching exams. I have never taught much 'creativity' as i am normally focusing on helping children through their dance exams and correcting them in order to help them receive their desired grade by getting the syllabus right. Then when it comes to choreographing show pieces i am frustrated when children don't understand how to dance the emotion or feeling behind the music and movement. Does anyone on the course work or teach wihin a community dance school or work mainly on creativity and understanding?

I have found some interesting articles online which i will blog further about later on in the week. This one in particular mentions the coming together of technical and creative.

 http://www.communitydance.org.uk/DB/animated-library/in-its-purest-form.html?ed=14067

starting back

On Friday i joined a skype chat with Paula, Adelosa and a few others on the BAPP course. It was really good to talk and get back into the right mindset for uni - i felt quite overwhelmed after coming off the call but in a positive way!

We talked about assumptions, questioning our question and looking further than our own field of practice something that had been mentioned in my feedback at the end of module 2. I had become consumed with what i already knew about my question (how safeguarding of children has effected dance teaching) rather than exploring teaching outside a western codified dance technique/environment, in which i live, work and teach in.

Ultimately what i want to get out of my question is what kind of teacher do i want to be and what is going to benefit me and my students in my practice with the teaching methods i use. The biggest point that was made on Friday was looking outside my own practice and after talking about this i need to explore the following:

• How dance syllabus has changed and whether or not that has affected how teaching methods have changed 
• Looking at a more creative based dance school, rather than one that concentrates on further education and examinations
• Looking at safeguarding and the protection of children as a whole not just a physical point

This last point is something i had stumbled upon when looking at literature last term. I read a report of eating disorders within dance schools and how the mental and psychological effect of how a dance should look can take hold of students. Dance has been accused of being 'abusive' due to certain dance teaching techniques, looking at the discipline involved in dance, I plan to research some literature on these points before blogging again and perhaps adjusting my question slightly. any suggestions/comments greatly received !

“Critical Reflection on Professional Practitioner Inquiry”.

Initially I found it hard to find my line of inquiry as I had a number of different questions and ideas that I was interested in.(appendix A) I took part in an online skype session and was comforted to hear a lot of others on the course were also struggling to find direction. I knew once I had a focus I would find it easier to continue so sent out my different questions to work colleagues and employers to see what their opinion on the subjects were. After some further reading and discussions with those in my community of practice and on the course I decided to continue to explore the safeguarding of children and whether or not it has affected dance teaching. It was an issue that I was dealing with on a daily basis as a dance teacher and found when talking to my peers that it was something they too were becoming more aware of (Appendix B). Continued research led me to learn that the topic was currently being discussed in higher education (Appendix C)) and realised this could be a very interesting focus.

After reading Adelosa’s blog regarding ethics and making ‘assumptions’ I found that my own feelings and opinions on the subject due to my style of teaching were affecting my reviews initially of literature and swaying questions and conversations toward certain points (Appendix D). I have now focused on keeping my research neutral rather than trying to find an ‘answer’ that I agree with before conducting and completing my research. I have learnt that my topic is one with many ethical considerations due to children being involved; there is much literature on dance teaching and its ethics (appendix F) and I am very aware of handling this subject sensitively.

The literature available on safeguarding policies online was extensive as the safeguarding of children has become a great focus over the past 15 years but I soon found there was a lack of 'rules' for those in dance education. There is set legislature for those in the medical profession and other sports such as gymnastics and football but nothing for dancing (Appendix E) I felt this was where the problem lay as dance teachers as a group have nothing official to follow and wanted to explore this further and to question teachers on this. I developed a few practice questions and dry ran a few of these with colleagues and friends to see how this worked and supported my research.(Appendix G) I also observed a friends dance class taking place and took notes on how she taught in regards to physical corrections.(Appendix G) By conducting these ‘dry runs’ I was able to plan how to continue my inquiry best and learn what questions and techniques would be best suitable.

I hope that my learning over the course of this module has allowed me to develop a significant and important subject to study in my practice. I hope that the plan I have formulated from my learning is successful and allows me to come to a conclusion that will benefit myself and others in dance and dance education. 

Appendices:

(A)   http://www.lianneclootholt.blogspot.co.uk/2015_02_01_archive.html

(B)   http://www.lianneclootholt.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/task-4ac-research_5.html

(C)   http://www.lianneclootholt.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/task-4-finalizing-my-line-of-inquiry.html

(F) http://lianneclootholt.blogspot.co.uk/2015_04_01_archive.html

(D)http://lianneclootholt.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/part-5-continuing-to-think-about-ethics.html

(E)   http://www.lianneclootholt.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/importance-of-literature.html

(G) http://lianneclootholt.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/part-6-using-tools.html

Part 6: using the tools

Over the past month i have tried out a number of the tools suggested to develop my inquiry and aid my research. Here are some examples of practice interviews, conversations and questions i have tried and tested via email and my SIG. I wasn't entirely sure how to go about my questioning as i have never conducted an 'interview' before so i kept very casual and spoke to a family member and a close friend and colleague of mine.

Consent has been given by all participants for these conversations to be posted, viewed and used as data.

Notes taken whilst observing a dance class

More literature

http://www.ethicsdance.co.uk/resources/downloads/ethics-in-dance---a-debate-yet-to-be-held.pdf

http://www.ethicsdance.co.uk/resources/downloads/Sho-Botham-IADMS--presentation-2010.pdf

http://www.ethicsdance.co.uk/resources/downloads/Sho-Botham-PhD-Thesis---Ethical-Issues....pdf

My Inquiry

I have begun to write up my plan for my inquiry and am hoping desperately that i'm heading in the right direction! I have tried out various tools by informal chats with colleagues, practice interviews with friends and families and by observing a friends dance class in a very casual setting. I have found all these tools to be useful in different ways and am looking forward to planning my schedule.

Here is a little bit of what my inquiry is about - i'm really struggling with the title so if anyone has any ideas/feedback please do let me know!

My inquiry will be exploring the safeguarding of children and whether or  not it has affected dance teaching. As a group those in the dance profession tend to be very tactile due to the nature of the art form and its need for contact but when teaching children it is hard to know now what is appropriate or deemed right or wrong. Within my inquiry i will be observing other teachers, finding out what dance schools policies are on safeguarding. I will be conducting interviews with teachers at 3 different schools regarding their teaching techniques and whether they feel comfortable physically correcting children or if there is a code of conduct they follow in their workplace. I would also like to talk to teachers of different ages, who taught before safeguarding acts and laws were passed (in 2004 first in the UK) and look for differing techniques and question if there is a difference, was the quality of teaching more or less beneficial. This brings me on to ethical issues and what is the right ot wrong way to treat a child who is attending a dance class.
I hope to take a safeguarding course myself over the summer.