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
Tuesday 14 April 2015
Sunday 29 March 2015
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.
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.
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.
Sunday 22 February 2015
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?
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?
Sunday 1 February 2015
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.
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.
Tuesday 9 December 2014
Where I (possibly) stand
Thinking about non-positivist as opposed to positivist thought, Embodiment versus Dualism is complex.
I believe that dance is associated with a non-posistivist stance and I feel that I clearly 'know' this through my experience dancing and teaching. I know that there is an interaction between many elements or factors that affect people moving so that there can't be total certainty, or a single version of truth about it, out there.
My emotions, what has happened before I come into the studio, what I ate before class what I learnt in a class last week, last year, 10 years ago, where I am in the room, tension somewhere in my body, the teachers mood, an old injury, will all affect how I experience a tendu today and how I am able to learn or work on that particular skill. Because of all these things it will also be a totally different experience for each individual. And all this applies to my viewpoint if I'm the teacher and not the participant. Through a non-positivist lens (Im trying to see it as a spectrum though) as a teacher I would hope to attend to some of these factors in teaching skills, or movements that will help a student to understand things more fully and have more tools to use develop their own knowledge, of doing a tendu for example. I want my students to work with principles of movement rather then then idea of "this is how it's done".
I'm not sure how my understanding of these concepts today chimes with others understanding, yours and the theorists, but it helps to write about it. The blog is a bit of a testing ground which is great but also a bit scary as others might make comments that reveal to me that my thinking is superficial, narrow or off-base on this.
There are lots of versions of the truth out there including mine. This seems obvious, knowledge is always from an individual perspective, it's how each individual understands something, but I realise it's not so obvious and often raises conflict when my thinking sometimes reveals how I'm looking at certain things in quite a positivist way, especially in terms of this MA study if not perhaps so much in the dance studio.
So in my research, I'm trying to put my idea/s, on the subject out there to share, alongside other people's. And to articulate more clarity for myself about the field of research I'm inquiring into.
The module 2 research proposal is helping me challenge the way I think about research. I'm thinking about ways to match the subject I'm exploring with the methods I choose to explore it and gather data. The methods are hugely important and reflect my stance on everything mentioned above. Its starting to sink in much more, how the way we choose to do things says much about our beliefs and politics. There are so many choices to make about which qualitative frameworks and methods fit best with my stance and the ideas I'm discussing.
I was talking with a friend who has also been studying for an MA, in Psychology, about learning and emotion. It often seems to come up through Skype chats too, and I often leave the conversation with these kinds of thoughts. How new learning, perhaps especially as an adult, often challenges the identities we have constructed for ourselves. The identity of the knowledgable teacher, the pride in our position at work, the way people often link doing a good job with being a good person and the emotions of fear and uncertainty that can result from the struggles and conflicts of new learning.
I believe that dance is associated with a non-posistivist stance and I feel that I clearly 'know' this through my experience dancing and teaching. I know that there is an interaction between many elements or factors that affect people moving so that there can't be total certainty, or a single version of truth about it, out there.
My emotions, what has happened before I come into the studio, what I ate before class what I learnt in a class last week, last year, 10 years ago, where I am in the room, tension somewhere in my body, the teachers mood, an old injury, will all affect how I experience a tendu today and how I am able to learn or work on that particular skill. Because of all these things it will also be a totally different experience for each individual. And all this applies to my viewpoint if I'm the teacher and not the participant. Through a non-positivist lens (Im trying to see it as a spectrum though) as a teacher I would hope to attend to some of these factors in teaching skills, or movements that will help a student to understand things more fully and have more tools to use develop their own knowledge, of doing a tendu for example. I want my students to work with principles of movement rather then then idea of "this is how it's done".
I'm not sure how my understanding of these concepts today chimes with others understanding, yours and the theorists, but it helps to write about it. The blog is a bit of a testing ground which is great but also a bit scary as others might make comments that reveal to me that my thinking is superficial, narrow or off-base on this.
There are lots of versions of the truth out there including mine. This seems obvious, knowledge is always from an individual perspective, it's how each individual understands something, but I realise it's not so obvious and often raises conflict when my thinking sometimes reveals how I'm looking at certain things in quite a positivist way, especially in terms of this MA study if not perhaps so much in the dance studio.
So in my research, I'm trying to put my idea/s, on the subject out there to share, alongside other people's. And to articulate more clarity for myself about the field of research I'm inquiring into.
The module 2 research proposal is helping me challenge the way I think about research. I'm thinking about ways to match the subject I'm exploring with the methods I choose to explore it and gather data. The methods are hugely important and reflect my stance on everything mentioned above. Its starting to sink in much more, how the way we choose to do things says much about our beliefs and politics. There are so many choices to make about which qualitative frameworks and methods fit best with my stance and the ideas I'm discussing.
I was talking with a friend who has also been studying for an MA, in Psychology, about learning and emotion. It often seems to come up through Skype chats too, and I often leave the conversation with these kinds of thoughts. How new learning, perhaps especially as an adult, often challenges the identities we have constructed for ourselves. The identity of the knowledgable teacher, the pride in our position at work, the way people often link doing a good job with being a good person and the emotions of fear and uncertainty that can result from the struggles and conflicts of new learning.
Tuesday 25 November 2014
Focusing and refocusing
Just an update from the middle of term on module 2.
I'm feeling a bit lonely being the only one working on module 2, I think I am? I'm coming across so many interesting ideas through my reading which is great but I'm also struggling to keep focused on what I'm trying to create for my research proposal. What stumbling blocks did people who have completed it find?
I'm aware that I'm not tackling tasks from the handbook in a consecutive order, I've been working on the things that I feel most able to tackle first in order to feel able to start other tasks. I'm trying to read a lot but am not getting much down in writing apart from lots of notes. I've know that reading of the literature of all kinds, needs to happen throughout the whole process of research; focusing, framing, planning, refocusing, data collection, analysis and report writing.
I keep coming back to, or coming across ideas about language and it's meaning and importance. The words we choose to represent are thoughts and beliefs, reveal and contain so much meaning, although sometimes I know I use words that aren't right but I can't find better ones! An example of this in relation to my research is the use of the word 'correction'. Do I want to use it in my teaching? Is it appropriate for dance students at university? It says right and wrong to me, "you must do it this way" and I'm not sure that's always the case in my classes. The students I teach might/should be able to find their own way, their own solution to a movement or skill, after all, no two bodies or individuals are the same. Perhaps there's not a one size fits all solution in technique classes.I certainly don't want students to dance like me, I want them to dance like themselves. What does this all mean for codified techniques such as Limon? Or perhaps it's simply the word itself, "correction" that I don't seem to like using (why do I feel a bit uncomfortable about it?) What does it mean if I replace it with "feedback" but teach in exactly the same way?
Some final thoughts on a different note. I'm not teaching dance at the moment, back to work in January, but I have been taking a few classes, mostly Pilates, but also a couple of Contemporary classes and I enjoyed dancing again so much! It's been 10 months. It felt like my body was waking up again, things felt so familiar (I was worried they wouldn't) the endorphins flowed, the knowledge was still there although I was a bit wobbly, and I REALLY enjoyed the class. It made me think about the importance of trying to find the pleasure in dance ( I was looking around at a few miserable looking students, admittedly it was 9am) that sounds obvious and I know enjoying a class depends on a multitude of different factors but I also remember the teachers at a professional gaga workshop I went to, talking again and again about pleasure, not worrying about what we look like, whether we're doing it right, it won't be right unless you can enjoy it!
I'm feeling a bit lonely being the only one working on module 2, I think I am? I'm coming across so many interesting ideas through my reading which is great but I'm also struggling to keep focused on what I'm trying to create for my research proposal. What stumbling blocks did people who have completed it find?
I'm aware that I'm not tackling tasks from the handbook in a consecutive order, I've been working on the things that I feel most able to tackle first in order to feel able to start other tasks. I'm trying to read a lot but am not getting much down in writing apart from lots of notes. I've know that reading of the literature of all kinds, needs to happen throughout the whole process of research; focusing, framing, planning, refocusing, data collection, analysis and report writing.
I keep coming back to, or coming across ideas about language and it's meaning and importance. The words we choose to represent are thoughts and beliefs, reveal and contain so much meaning, although sometimes I know I use words that aren't right but I can't find better ones! An example of this in relation to my research is the use of the word 'correction'. Do I want to use it in my teaching? Is it appropriate for dance students at university? It says right and wrong to me, "you must do it this way" and I'm not sure that's always the case in my classes. The students I teach might/should be able to find their own way, their own solution to a movement or skill, after all, no two bodies or individuals are the same. Perhaps there's not a one size fits all solution in technique classes.I certainly don't want students to dance like me, I want them to dance like themselves. What does this all mean for codified techniques such as Limon? Or perhaps it's simply the word itself, "correction" that I don't seem to like using (why do I feel a bit uncomfortable about it?) What does it mean if I replace it with "feedback" but teach in exactly the same way?
Some final thoughts on a different note. I'm not teaching dance at the moment, back to work in January, but I have been taking a few classes, mostly Pilates, but also a couple of Contemporary classes and I enjoyed dancing again so much! It's been 10 months. It felt like my body was waking up again, things felt so familiar (I was worried they wouldn't) the endorphins flowed, the knowledge was still there although I was a bit wobbly, and I REALLY enjoyed the class. It made me think about the importance of trying to find the pleasure in dance ( I was looking around at a few miserable looking students, admittedly it was 9am) that sounds obvious and I know enjoying a class depends on a multitude of different factors but I also remember the teachers at a professional gaga workshop I went to, talking again and again about pleasure, not worrying about what we look like, whether we're doing it right, it won't be right unless you can enjoy it!
Thursday 20 November 2014
The embodied mind, the heart of movement
Have a look at this link if you have a moment. Beautiful written expression about Siobhan Davies' realisation of her physical expression through the working process on Two Quartets.
http://www.siobhandaviesreplay.com/media2/UserType/00000000/00002000/00002679.pdf
I'm exploring epistemological and ontological ideas in relation to her work at the moment. More coming soon........
http://www.siobhandaviesreplay.com/media2/UserType/00000000/00002000/00002679.pdf
I'm exploring epistemological and ontological ideas in relation to her work at the moment. More coming soon........
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