Tools of Inquiry - At a glance

So after having a quick glance at Reader 6 - and I mean quick!!! I was interested to see how I reacted to each method and how instantly I could pick out the ones that I feel would be useful to help me along the way with my inquiry. However, I can see the benefit to all these tools of inquiry and I do think I  may find it quite hard to choose and I will want to try EVERYTHING! (does anyone else have this issue??) but I must be good and despite seeing the benefits to all the tools.

Below under the headings are my initial thoughts to each too and how they may help me in my Inquiry.

Observation

I always think observation is a fantastic learning tool anyway. Not just in the concept of what we are doing now, but it is sometimes good to take a step back and have a look at what and how others do things. Taking away both the positive that you can include in your own practice and the not so positive that you think doesn't work, however you may find that a different approach works because what you have seen does't.

For me observation will be really intriguing - As I only ever see students in a creative environment it the dance studio. It would be great to see how teachers approach teaching the age group I am interested in (Early years/KS1) academically and what techniques they use to keep the children engage and focused

Participant Observation 

Now the first this that came into my head when reading about this was YES this would be amazing experiencing it first hand. However to do both kinds of observation will be very time consuming, so you have to be realistic and I do think even though this tool would also be extremely helpful it is also very time consuming - So I would probably either pick this or just observation.

Interviews 

I think this will be a brilliant way of gathering different peoples thoughts and feelings. Despite being formal I think that this can sometimes be taken as a positive and asking a range of people the same/similar questions to see how they respond I think will be a great way of gathering data for analysis. So for example I could interview teachers with an academic background teachers with and arts back ground and maybe parents to get thoughts and ideas from across a wide range and variety of people.

Focus Groups 

This could be quite a nice idea as it enable discussion to happen in an organised setting. However as it says in the reader "be aware that strong personalities can "also influence, and in some cases actually take over a group and make it difficult for the less assertive members to speak" (Bell, 2005 p 163)

I think that this is something that you have to be really careful of when doing a focus group, but when run in the correct manner and making sure a gatekeeper is present that I think it could be a fantastic way of collecting to analyse.

Surveys and Questionnaires 

Again something that is could be extremely time consuming and ensuring that you get the right balance of questions and that they are worded correctly is key as you don't want to fall into the trap of influencing a persons answer.


So all in all a LOT to think about!!! has anyone else had a think about what tools they may use?? I would love to hear and also views and opinions on what you think will work and what won't.

 

Learning Through Play

Throughout scanning through literature and scanning through articles, I have been looking at "Learning through play" Below are the 12 features of play.


12 Features of play

•  Using first - hand experiences 
• Making up rules 
• Making props
• choosing to play
• Rehearsing the future
• Pretending 
• Playing alone
• Playing together
• Having a personal agenda
• Being deeply involved
• Trying out recent learning 
• Coordinating ideas, feelings and relationships for free flow play 

(Adapted from Bruce 1991,1996) 

I have found this all very interesting to read about and is something I definatly want to look further into. I have been specifically looking into Early years and KS1 (ages 3 - 6 ) and it has got me thinking even more about my own practice. 

Now I know I have mentioned this many times before about my teaching, however today I have been thinking, is the syllabus too structured and too set for this younger age group? should all lessons be imagination creative and taking them away to a "magical world" rather then learning how to do a demi plie at aged 4? is this too structured for them and are we getting too bogged down about the "technical" side of dance too young? Yes I am all for safe dance practice and that it must be done correctly and safely but maybe it should be a little more free. 

For anyone who is familiar with the RAD syllabus they offer a pre school exam, and I LOVE this. it is set by the teacher so you can do any scenario so for example I sometimes do a trip to the zoo or to a treasure island. Throughout this time they have to show that they are able to do certain movements. 

I am now thinking that this is something that should maybe go beyond pre school years. Having certain movements that they have to be able to do and learn, but learning them in a way that is fun through play and safely. 

I would love to hear others thoughts and feelings on this. 

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Something to maybe brighten your day!

For anyone who is interested and is maybe looking into Early Years/KS1 as part of their inquiry.

On Tuesday Chanel 4's new series of "The secret Life of 4 year old's" began.

Now it hasn't necessarily got much to do with "The Arts" as such, but it is fascinating to see how the children reacted to certain situation, and its really interesting how they use resources that they are given and what they decide to do with them.

Something I found particularly interesting was watching how creative they all were in different ways through playing and what ideas that they have and indeed the vivid imagination that you have at the age of 4!  I don't want to give too much away as I would really recommend that you watch it if it is something that is of interest to you.

Other than that it is also hilarious!! - So if you have had a bad day and indeed of a pick me up and a giggle I would suggest this! (me and my partner were in stitches the whole way through!)

Link to replay is posted below.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-secret-life-of-4-5-and-6-year-olds/on-demand/63592-001

We don't always have to look for a problem.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been looking at literature and reading articles to look and delve deeper into my potential line of inquiry ( Something along the lines of dance and child development/dance in education)

From doing this and reading articles etc, it has sent my brain and thoughts into over drive!! has anyone else found that this has happened?. All that I have been reading and researching is so so interesting but has just "upset the apple cart" in terms of thinking that I knew exactly what direction I was going in.

So it was time to have a chat with Paula as I really did not know where to go or what to do! (yes I know this sounds very dramatic, but this course takes you on some kind of roller coaster in terms of where your thoughts go does anyone else agree?)

After ranting to Paula about what I had been looking at and reading and thinking about where to go. Paula asked me to think; "What in your practice are you already good at?" Now this question did throw me a little and it did take me a couple of minutes to actually take in what she had said to me.
Now my response was teaching the younger students as I am quite good at setting the scene and making things magical and a creative fun environment so that they have a positive experience in the dance class.

We then went on to discuss various other aspects about how important it is for children to have a positive experience in dance and exercise as this can have such an effect on people later on in life. I have also now feel a little more "anchored" as Paula put as to where I am going as I have narrowed down my literature to look for things more specific e.g. narrowed down my age bracket to Early years and Ks1 and looking into dance movement and play, creativity and imagination/magical world.

As Paula said to me earlier today, we don't always have to look for a problem with our practice or something that is indeed missing, but we can look at how to improve and work on what we are already good at and why it is working. Be careful - to not look at things that we already know or  try to prove something, which I feel is a trap I could have potentially found myself getting into.

I would love to hear if anyone else has decided to take this route and look at something that you are already doing well and how it is working for you and maybe looking into why this is working.

Any thoughts or opinions much appreciated.