Interviews, ethics and non-positivism

Really interesting discussion on Skype on Sunday. It's great how it refocuses or sheds light on things from different perspectives which really helps in understanding some of the big ideas we are working with.
For example, we talked of  positivism and non-positivism again (many books talk also of post-positivism?). Testing views of this approach by looking at any aspect of what we're doing and seeing what information it gives helps to clarify what I think and how I understand non-positivism. The example we discussed was the interview process. We talked about how several of us were unexpectedly nervous in the role of interviewer and that it was a much more complex and changeable process then first thought.  I believe that everything about my demeanour, the environment we were in for the interview, the questions I asked and how I worded them, and the practicalities that affected how I could do things that day, all of this will have had an affect on how the interviewee responded to me, how they felt, and how this affected me in turn.  If someone else had asked my questions for me I think there would have been different outcomes. 

The interview process can also help us reflect on ethics. What position did I put that person in? Were my expectations of them unreasonable? Would they ever want to participate in research again! Maybe I'm being dramatic there, but I can also think back to when I was a subject for someone's PhD research and took part in a one to one interview. Inter-personal relations certainly came into play and I went away feeling that I had shaped my answers in some way to represent myself in a certain light. Not being dishonest but perhaps speaking from a slightly defended position. 

That's my take on out chat, there was a lot more besides but that's what remained with me after we hung up.

Good to talk to everyone again

Teacher and student perceptions of feedback in dance technique class

Hi everyone, 
I'd like to kick off this conversation again that I started on Linked in a few months ago. 

https://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=4276460&type=member&item=5932981799532658691&commentID=-1&trk=groups_item_detail-b-jump_last#lastComment

Here are a few questions that are framing my research and that I'm pondering on now as I collect data. 
What is feedback? What does it encompass? 
What influences the way teachers teach and give feedback? 
What do you think students expect from feedback in dance technique classes? 
How do you respond to feedback in technique class? Either thinking back to when you were a dance student, or in the present. 

    How would you describe your identity, values and role as a dance technique teacher?

    How did you learn to teach dance technique?

    What is your approach to feedback in dance technique learning? How would you describe the way you embody and facilitate this approach?

    What or who do you consider your main influences as a dance teacher?

    How do you see your experiences as a dance student impacting on your teaching practice?

      

      What kind of teacher-student relationship do you hope to build in dance technique classes?

My setting is Contemporary technique teaching in higher education courses but am happy to hear all thoughts from other dance education settings and styles etc. 

I've moved quite a long way now from my original thoughts about confidence and self esteem towards questions around learning and teaching in relation to feedback. I'm still interested in the impact that feedback has on emotional and mental well being and I've read some accessible and insightful literature on the subject but when it comes down to including psychological aspects of dance training in my own research I feel I don't have the necessary skills and knowledge. I don't have any background in psychology.  Plus I felt I really had to narrow my focus in order to make the research more manageable and realistic in terms of it's scope.

Looking forward to hearing from you about any of the above and hope all is going well.

Opening up to students

So I thought I'd share a few thoughts from my reflective journal with you as I've not quite started my field work (although I am trying to have my research questions constantly on my radar at work).

I'm starting to get into Module 3 and realised that it would have really helped me with designing my research inquiry if I'd read the Module 3 handbook much earlier, like four months ago!  I didn't want to overwhelm myself but it would have been good to get an idea of where I was heading, even if I didn't understand all of it.  I sometimes say to students when I demonstrate a long phrase in real time (not a slower speed) not to worry, take in what they can but that it can be useful to get a view of the whole picture and then go back and build it up. Funny that I don't apply this to my own academic study!
I'm also coming across books and articles that would have been really useful for writing my proposal but I'm sure they will still inform my research to come.

So, from my journal this week..... It's not edited so apologies if it meanders a bit.
I realised today that I reveal my thought process to my students quite a lot in class. It might be talking about what I've decided id like to do next as I try to create a good progression within the session, or a music change, or or part of an exercise that doesn't flow very well in terms of my choreography. This can leave me as teacher feeling a bit vulnerable and perhaps open to the critism of lacking authority but I think the reason I teach like this, for this particular group is that they are a fairly mature group of 1st year undergraduates, a very small cohort so I am getting to know them quite well, and I think/hope we have built up some mutual  trust.  I hope revealing my thought process to them about what and how I'm teaching as I go along, might lessen the gap they might feel between themselves and me as teacher, and also, to help them learn as student dance teachers.  I am older and more experienced in the technique I teach  then my students are  but perhaps it's about trying to create a feeling of working together, and perhaps being honest with them about the fact that I'm learning all the time as well and am human, not some kind of dance teaching machine.

What do you think?

Observation, and a few other thoughts on the Skype conversations today

Quite a few things stayed with me from today's discussions and it was good to get into some big questions straight away.
Teacher identity is really important to my research. Who am I?  (back to Module 1) How do I see myself in the teaching role? and how does this interrelate to all the other factors that have influenced and built my dance teaching knowledge? How have I learnt the assumptions I make?

We talked about the privileging of professional performance, however we define 'professional' and, I suggested, the possible lower status of teaching and other roles/jobs within dance. Where does this perception come from? Society, parents and the media were all mentioned by Cathy (I think it was Cathy, apologies if it was someone else) 
I feel that I value teachers as highly as any other role in dance, of course, being one, but I can hear voices (whose?) saying, 'well, many teachers were dancers themselves'. True to some extent but what if they weren't?   Teachers need a deep understanding of the subject they teach, but if we think of a science teacher, does she have to have been a successful scientist in the field, getting paid to develop new ideas, to be a good science teacher?  I don't think so but I'm just thinking out loud. Is dance, or the Arts a different case? It's always interesting to compare dance with completely different disciplines or industries to test out ideas about dance.

I seem to struggle to articulate and express myself verbally, interesting for a teacher, but maybe not so weird if you're in the realm of movement? Anyway, just to shed a bit more light on my area of research. I'm interested in the giving and receiving of feedback, both non-verbal and verbal, that happens during the dance learning experience itself. Feedback comes at different times for different purposes (often accompanying a mark at the end of term for example) but I'm interested in the interplay between the teacher and learner during the physicality of learning dance technique in the studio.

One method I'll be using to explore this is observation of my teaching, through video and reflection, and other teachers in action.  So how will I observe? Today people made many suggestions such as letting observations sit with you for a while and avoiding dismissing things that don't seem to fit neatly anywhere. They may fit or link to something later or they may become important as the research continues or they may not.  Adesola talked about the need to find a balance between not knowing what you're looking for (a good thing!) and knowing what you would like to do in the analysis, which will guide the research. The importance of thinking about the method of recording observations was also mentioned. How to best capture things, in what form?

That's it for now. Thanks for an interesting and helpful talk this morning and nice to hear familiar, and new voices.