Task 4A

This time last year I asked the question,

 

·In order to sustain a successful dance company, do I need to offer more than just dance?

 

In life you continue to learn, (The reflective practioner, Dec 2010) and since asking this question I’ve concluded that, No, I don’t need to offer more than just dance, I need to discover a teaching method that engages my students, understand how each individual absorbs information so they can take away the best experience which in effect will keep them coming back.

http://aliciaandrewa3dance.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=9

 

Last year, I stated that I found it hard to hold onto my older students and I asked if it reflected my teaching methods or was it just the age group. I think both. You need a different teaching approach for children of different ages once again this leads back to what methods of teaching are best.

 

In my close knit circle of friends I am lucky enough to have two who are now teachers although both took different routes to get there and both work with different ages, one in secondary education and one in primary.

I asked friend “a” who started out as a teaching assistant, what she felt the best methods of teaching were. She told me that because she had started out as a teaching assistant, she had the opportunity to observe. She was able to look in on many different lessons taught by a variety of different teachers with different teaching methods. Friend “a” came to the conclusion that the best teaching method was being able to manage behaviour.“The key to most effective teaching is being able to manage behaviour and gain the respect of your students.”

 

·Do different age groups need different methods of teaching?

·How do I make myself a better teacher?

·What teaching methods are best?

·Does the way you teach determine the longevity of a dance company?

·How do I discover my own unique style of teaching?

 

Every Thursday I teach a programme called Steps Together at Irie! Dance theatre, before my class last week, I had the privilege of watching Connecting Vibes, Irie's resident dance company rehearse for the upcoming Re-Generations conference 2012.http://www.adad.org.uk/metadot/index.pl?id=24157&isa=Category&op=show I found myself unconsciously watching Beverley Glean, the artistic Director. What stuck in my mind was the fact the she didn't have such a "hands on "approach as it were, to her teaching technique. Don't get me wrong, she moved but it was like she didn't need to. Her words carried through the studio and her directions were so clear, the dancers didn't need her up front going through every movement, the jumps the undulations and the leaps. Her direction and the odd wave of the arm to clarify were enough.

Earlier this week I damaged my leg badly, after days of agony I decided to take myself to a&e to get it sorted. The funniest thing was, instead of worrying about what was wrong with my leg i was more worried about how I was going to teach come the weekend. I panicked to the point of tears, if my leg didn't get better, how would i teach and how would i get the best out of my students?

I thought back to Beverley’s teaching method and decided that maybe the “hands off” approach to teaching is a technique I could try. I will be using this week’s class as a trial and I will blog my findings!

 

Back to Module 2....Communication is the key!

I can't progress without communicating, without sharing my thoughts...without blogging. For the past two weeks i've been checking out my fellow bloggers, reading your thoughts, lines of inquiry trying to figure out who may have similar questions to my own, ive joined Linkedin but i haven't commented or expressed my interest. Ive even been reading through my own blog looking at what my thought process was this time last year...and that's where i get confused. I had so many questions, i even made it to having thoughts of my own line of inquiry but now i have more questions more thoughts and i wonder if the route i was trying to go down really was the right one.

I want module 2 to be a journey one that is really focused on me and will pave the way for my future and the future of A3 dance company. In the past i've looked at dance exams, if they are needed to be a better dancer and i've looked at weather Street dance should conform to formal exams due to containing self-expression and creativity. This is all good and well but maybe i went to far to quickly. I can get to these questions but first i have to start by questioning myself,and how i am as a teacher and manager of a childrens dance company. What do i need to do to make myself better to keep the students i already have and to attract more. How do i teach and is it the best way? Are there other methods i could you that would engage my students better? Do i need to take a " hands off" approach? What makes me different from the other dance schools and as a Teacher, what can i offer? (I think this last question will be the one to lead me onto the questions i asked last time round)

All of these questions are what i really need to answer this is where i need to start. I need to use the resources close to me the teachers i see on a regular basis, the parents who keep bringing there children to me, my students, students of other teachers. There's just so much i could do!

The bare minium i will do is complete all the tasks set for module 2. I know i need to do so much more than this to acahieve my award title. Stay with me!!  If  you have any comments or thoughts that could help i'd love to hear them and i'll definately try to comment as much as possible on your blogs.


Ive asked to join a few SIG groups on Linkedin so if your one of them please add me!! I aim to start my own shortly so keep an eye out.

Change in circumstances and staying motivated throughout.

I haven't disappeared! I've been finding it difficault to blog as i've recently started full time work and i dont have internet access at home. I'm wondering if many of you have this problem? Not so much the internet access, but empolyment. How do you get a good balance? I had so many good intentions once i started my new job. I could pay my bills, rent, save up and live, whilst still having time to get myself to either my mums house or a library to blog. Since i've started, i realized my expectations may have been to high? I work long hours and by the time i get home im so tired i only have enough energy to eat and sleep, then to do it all again the next day. I admit my motivation was lacking. I think the real issue is my mindset or perhaps organisation. I've spoken of this before and i have seen the results! FORWARD PLANNING! I have to set aside a time and dedicate it to my blog. I've also decided to carry a notebook with me, so even if i have no internet connection i can create a written account, transfer it to my blog and even use it for my final inquiry. Do any of you have ways in which you stay motivated? It's good to share :)

It's good to talk

Recently i had a conversation with a neighbor i'd never spoken to before. We got talking as we both arrived home and realized that we both attended Middlesex University, which was a great start so the conversation begun to flow. I told him i was on the Bapp course and he is working towards a degree in IT. We questioned weather the courses we were both on were so different and came to the conclusion that although his main focus was IT, it was also how it could be used as a tool and therefore linked to the Bapp.

He also told me that whilst doing the course they were able to use IT as a method to research. He wants to be an entrepreneur, so frequently scours the internet for people such as Ken Robinson, who gives inspirational talks one of which being,  'Do schools kill creativity.' I found this so interesting as he again linked education, to dance, to development, to his IT course and how this subject could perhaps help me on the Bapp.

 I explained as best as i could, how the course worked and what i was trying to achieve for myself and also for my company. When i spoke of how i was going to present my inquiry he immediately came up with an idea. He suggested a video diary would be a good way to show the progress i was making, developing my company. What trials and hardships i was to face and how i generally coped with the information gathered through research and putting it into practice. It would also be a really good technique to use for the interviews i intend to hold with those who have created and developed community dance companies before me. It was then that i thought back to module 1 and the You Tube channel that i never created. I think now is the time to get that started, even if i don't go through with the video diary idea, i still feel that a visual representation of how A3 dance company is developing would be more informative.

Lessons Learned. A3 Dance Company..what does the future hold?

Attending the last campus session really made me think about what I've been doing the past year. When i first started this course, i did say that i wanted to start my own community dance company and i guess that's what i have been doing although it's only now i'm beginning to think i'm working backwards. I should have been using the blogs to let you know how it was going and most importantly to seek advice and answers to so many difficult questions I've faced along the way. Truthfully, i feel that a lot of mistakes have been made but what better to do with mistakes? than learn from them. Lack of knowledge, experience and guidance were all contributors.

Today, i went round to see the vicar at my local church. They have a massive hall space that is currently being renovated and i think it will be a perfect space to uproot 'A3 dance company' to. Right now, my company is based in an amazing studio, within a local secondary school. It's everything i want, a massive space, full mirrored walls, a full length ballet bar, sprung floors and even a white board to write on when i feel like giving the kids some theory practice. Sounds perfect doesn't it? So why would i want to move?

It is just to expensive! Had i really thought about it back in march 2011 when i decided to launch A3, i would have seriously reconsidered. I just don't have enough children to pay the full studio price every week so i'm having to use my own finances (which are pretty low, considering i'm in between jobs) to fund the classes, to be honest, i can see this not turning out so well and then what will become of A3, it's only just begun!!
So now 11 months down the line, i know i have to sacrifice my "perfect" studio for a church hall. On the other hand, is it really a sacrifice? I mean, i learnt to dance in a community hall, most of the best classes i attended growing up were in halls without mirrors, you don't become so reliant on them. Is it about the space, or what is created within the space? If pioneers of community dance companies didn't have a "perfect" space, would it mean they would never be? Just something I've given myself to think about.

I now have 14 dedicated children in my class i hold on a Saturday. I call them my 'A3 juniorz' and they are doing amazingly they make me so happy. Last summer i managed to book them into their first 4 shows, mainly community festivals and  their confidence as a class or company should i say has been on the up ever since. Sometimes thinking about A3 makes me anxious and i question weather it could really turn out to be the company I've imagined having for years. There's so much to do! How will i bring it forward and give it a solid place within the community and how do i get people in and most importantly, will i keep them interested? Not to mention keeping a float on the financial side of things. Maybe i tried to think big to fast. I need to chill, not take a back seat but let things develop naturally with a little push.
I'm working with a graphic designer at the moment to develop brand new flyers, a blurb and a website for A3 dance company, just some of the tools i will need to market my business. Hopefully i'll be able to upload drafts soon.
If anyone has any advice or guidance that you think i could use, i am very willing to try suggestions.
Also if you get a chance, check out the page i have already set up on Facebook for A3 dance Company and like it! Keep up to date with classes and whats going on in general at A3. Thanks in advance ;)

Here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/A3-Dance-Company/199781026715600

First Campus session of the New spring term.

Considering i have been on the Bapp course for some time now, i'm ashamed to say this was only the 3rd campus session i have managed to attend. After gaining an insight into the ideas of others, listening to other students talk of the way they are shaping ideas for their line of inquiry, questioning my own thoughts of inquiry and most importantly receiving feedback from our tutors, i know this is just the first of many more campus sessions to come this year. The fact that i'm back to blogging within a few days of this session, is surely evidence to the benefits of it.
I think all those that attended can safely say they were motivated when leaving that day. We were shown the work of some of the third year finalist, the products of their final lines of inquiry, they were definitely an eye-opener. As well as showing what greatness could come out of this course they also gave me a sense of wanting. I want to complete this course, i want to learn and gain knowledge from investigating my lines of inquiry and most importantly, i want to give something back. All of the finalists work was giving something back, i could read through every one of those final products and come back with  information that i hadn't known before, information i could actually use.

I started to think further on my own thoughts of inquiry, occasionally wondering off on a tangent and thinking about what my final product would be, on reflection, I've learnt that i can't jump ahead of myself. I need to start with the here and now..the present. I have such a broad idea and it needs to be honed in, i can only do that by research. Start discovering what i really want and need to know and who already knows what about my topic.

Rosemary had a key question to make me realize just how broad a topic Community dance could be. She asked about the Community dance Company i worked for, Irie! Dance theater. Her question was; Who are Irie!'s stakeholders. To be honest i wasn't to sure what a stakeholder was until someone stated it was people or a person who were interested in the organisation. Taking time out to find out the true meaning of a stakeholder i now know that it is a person, group, organization, or system who affects or can be affected by an organization's actions.  

Rosemary then coaxed me into listing who i thought were Irie!'s stakeholders:

• Children -Caribbean Bugs
• Young People-Steps Together
• Adults- African &Caribbean fitness
• Funding organisations-Local council, Arts council, etc.
• Schools- Education outreach workshops
• Universities- London Metropolitan
• Teachers- Classes and FD Degree
• Office workers- Development officer, finance, marketing.

I could see where she was going with this. Exactly what part of community dance gets me excited? What part do i want to delve deeper into?

                                   


My topic is Community Dance...but what about it?
-Whats already known about it?

What can i do?
-Hook up with others with this interest or a similar one
-Talk to a wider professional audience
-Talk to my teachers


Adesola Akinleye gave some advice-
"Don't look for arguments and answers straight away. Just research for fun, research information for your own knowledge and take the inquiry from there."

I think this is exactly where i will start.