I have had a busy week networking with fellow practitioners this week, I have been lucky enough to speak to many dance teachers across the IDTA board at an event organised to promote all forms on Dance in the North West. There were a series of workshops from Theatrecraft, to Jazz via Street Jazz and a taster performance from a fantastic dance troupe who most recently performed at Glastonbury!
The subject of Dance in Education cropped up numerous occasions throughout the day, and hearing different views and opinions has widened my perspective on how I would like to widen and develop my inquiry further. I consider the progression of my inquiry is a reflection based process, it is ever changing and as pointed out by Sonal and Adesola, I am not coming across answers so to speak, just more and more questions, each ever slightly more specific than the last.
I have been reading literature suggested by our advisors and have become conscious about ensuring I maintain a professional approach to my research and that my ethical standards are adhered too. Throughout the discussions at the IDTA event, I became a wear that by informing colleagues of potential research I may wish to undertake, there may be a sense that they feel obliged to help by sharing views and opinions. Carol Costly describes this as an ‘Specific Insider – research issue’, in that where one may be gathering views and opinions in a data format, we need to consider on what ethical grounds we approach doing this. Quoting Griffiths literature, ‘to the extent that being a researcher means using these grounds for research purposes, there is a risk of exploitation and betrayal’, my understanding of this is that when we are dance teachers researching dance, we are insiders to that research. We need to ensure we obtain objectivity. Being an insider may have negative repercussions as I know I already have fairly detailed knowledge of the context in which I am exploring. This begs the question, should I look to develop my inquiry in such a way that I definitely do not already know the answers too, that way I cannot predict the outcome nor unintentionally attain biased answers? To keep my knowledge being represented subjectively, I will need to think like any other researcher would. Meaning, I will need to decide what is to be observed, and what on the other hand is to be ignored, and then how it will be presented.
In conclusion to these thoughts, my inquiry questions have developed further, it feels a little like stepping into the unknown but as addressed earlier in this blog perhaps this is a good thing and may prevent me from hitting ethnical issues when doing insider research. Regarding my question on the physical health benefits of Dance, I plan to discuss outcomes of this with my employers and other professional associates outside of the BAPP community and gather information from their experiences. I have ensured I have followed the correct ethical protocol by addressing the power dynamics involved when requesting colleagues or subordinates to be involved. For example, asking permission for the Artistic Director of the company a fellow teacher colleague of mine works for regarding my degree work, and explaining the research I am hoping to collect will only be shared for purposes of work, whether or not I may ask their employee to complete questionnaires or take an active part in my project and general maintaining of their and the organisations they work for’s confidentiality.
Please find my updated questions below:
Do the skills and experience we have acquired as professional performers help us to relay information to pupils as their teacher? Is performance experience essential to becoming a successful teacher?
What is the role of Dance In Education in today’s society?
Could the creativity we encourage through the dance practise medium be potentially beneficial for other subjects in Education?
If we understood the benefits of Dance may have on a child’s future development, would society’s view of its importance in Education shift?
No comments:
Post a Comment