Critical Reflection and Summary : Digital Portfolio

Here is my online portfolio, put on my blog since I couldn't master my own wiki page!

My journey during this module has been easy to track, thanks to my Delicious page : 

http://www.delicious.com/eleanor.mattley

All the links I found significant to my inquiry are listed on my Delicious page, however, I have highlighted those that I feel were most beneficial to me this module, in this blog.

I began by creating my delicious account, and then proceeding to reading many and various SIG discussions. One in particular attracted my attention : 

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=145821545478191&topic=79

One of the questions on there, 'Is a three year vocational course enough to prepare graduates for the professional performance industry?' I realised that I didn't think my vocational training prepared me enough, and I immediately knew the reason for it - I came out of my training injured and unsure of my options. I asked myself 'why'? I also found this discussion : http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=145821545478191&topic=75 and reading people's comments, I realised I was not alone in my thoughts.

On the SIG board, I noticed a discussions appear relating to injuries, posted by a girl I actually trained with : http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=145821545478191&topic=99

I found many of the comments on this interesting, and used them to inspire my surveys and interview questions.

The following links are numerous articles that I have come across on my mission to find out about injury rates, health myths and education on safe practice: 

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/24091

http://blogs.voices.com/voxdaily/2009/07/the_dangers_of_whispering_for_your_voice.html

http://www.vocalist.org.uk/things_singers_should_avoid.html

http://www.danceuk.org/news/article/professional-dancers-work-through-injury-because-employment-fears/

The following link, in particular really opened my eyes to the issues surrounding injuries, and has influenced the progression of my inquiry: 

http://www.citraining.com/pdfs/Psychology-of-Injured-Dancer.pdf

When looking into education behind the injury rates, I looked at various specifications for different vocational qualifications : 

http://web.aqa.org.uk/qual/newgcses/art_dan_dra_mus/new/performing_art_overview.php

http://web.aqa.org.uk/qual/newgcses/art_dan_dra_mus/new/dance_overview.php

http://web.aqa.org.uk/qual/gce/arts/dance_overview.php

http://www.trinitycollege.co.uk/site/?id=270

http://www.trinitycollege.co.uk/site/?id=494

The following links are to my preliminary trial surveys:

http://app.zoomerang.com/Home/MySurveys.aspx

http://www.surveymonkey.com/MySurveys.aspx

Here are the links to two of the blogs I posted about the module tasks:
http://eleanormattley.blogspot.com/2011/05/task-5c.html
http://eleanormattley.blogspot.com/2011/05/task-6c.html

Task 6c.

The 4 inquiry tools have given me a real insight into what works and what doesn’t with regard to gathering data for an inquiry.

Initially, I used my pilot survey to pinpoint my target audience, so that I could interview relevant people. The recommended survey website, www.surveymonkey.com was great, although the free trial limits you to only having 10 questions per survey. I suppose you could write a number of surveys and link them together, but this is quite laborious and not entirely practical when thinking large-scale distribution.

I noticed some fellow BAPPers were using www.zoomerang.com for their surveys, and I found that I got on much better with this survey template– there is a higher limit to the question number and, like SurveyMonkey, it automatically compiled the data into percentages, which made it easy at a glance to identify how many people were of use to me in my inquiry. I mean, it would be pointless for me to interview someone who has had no dance training, or any injuries, because they wouldn’t be able to provide information on the subject.

Being an insider in an organisation that offers Performing Arts qualifications is great, because you have the opportunity to observe on a daily basis. You can even subtly question your students as part of the general class, and you find that their answers are often not what you expected. In a less formal setting to an interview, you can often retrieve information that students are only prepared to share when they are relaxed and comfortable. It also helps that they didn’t see me as ‘proper teacher’, in that I didn’t have the power to give them a detention if they said anything inappropriate.

Once I discussed ideas for my inquiry with the head of the department where I worked, she offered me the chance to hold a focus group with Year 11 dance students. I feel that this worked very well, in that the atmosphere was more relaxed than in an interview, and this allowed the students to feel more comfortable. They volunteered information, and fed off each other’s energy, which was great to see. I will definitely be using this tool in my official inquiry, as it made the job enjoyable and quite comical at times, with some of the statements that were flying about.

Two girls in particular gave some really interesting points, and I would like to interview them, once I have permission to collect data formally, and I have sorted out a letter regarding parental consent.

I did most of my interviews over Skype, for the plain reason that many of my peers live miles and miles away, some of them live on a cruise ship on the other side of the world, so a telephone of face-to-face interview just wasn’t practical! Skype works really well, because you can see reactions as well as hear answers to your questions. It was also a good excuse for me to have a catch up with my friends!

I do think that all of the inquiry tools worked well, for me, and I will be using them all during the next module.

Task 5c

In a professional context, many things have to be taken into consideration with regard to ethics, especially in a school environment, working with minors.

In a performing arts situation, such as a dance class, you have to be especially careful with how you treat students; many dance teachers prefer a hands-on approach to teaching, physically putting students’ arms/legs in the correct position, for example. In an upper school environment, you have to be especially tactful with your teaching and critiquing – to students who aren’t used to the sometimes harsh treatment in a dance class, you have to try especially hard with the wording of corrections, so that they don’t feel singled out or victimised in any way. I found that, being a casual member of staff, I could build a relationship on a less formal level with my students, which made teaching much easier, i.e. I could turn corrections into a light hearted situation, since it wasn’t my role to discipline them. I then found that I had more of an impact when I did have to be ‘strict’ with the students, because I was so laid back for most of the time.

In a vocational school, this approach would not really work, and I know from experience that I worked better when receiving the wrath of one of the stricter teachers, and similarly, compliments from them meant much more to me. Although the ethical legislation of each school is pretty standard, the type of student you are dealing with makes the margins slightly less rigid. In a company situation, for example, I have known choreographers to humiliate dancers in front of the entire company using the ‘tough love’ approach. This is simply not suitable in a state school environment.

Safeguarding procedure also became much more apparent at my place of work. At college, taboo subjects such as weight, eating disorders and financial situations were openly talked about, and the students had an understanding of each other that made this possible. In a state school, however, confidentiality legislation is much stricter, and you also feel much more responsibility to inform the appropriate superior, should students share information with you. This happened to me on a couple of occasions, and I had to refer to the safeguarding procedure guidelines for advice, as I never was exposed to this side of things at my own school.

With subjects such as nutrition, fitness and injury, I managed to develop a questioning technique with the students which built up a trusting relationship with them, which allows them to share more honest information with me – this was hugely beneficial during my inquiry process this module. I hope that these methods work in the other organisations I am hoping to work alongside, during the next module.  

Award Rationale

I’ve been thinking long and hard about my qualification title. The path of my inquiry keeps coming back to the root of everything: knowledge and education. I am exploring the issues faced during the transition from training to career, especially regarding injury prevention, care and rehabilitation. I have experience in this area, since I have a long standing back injury, and I also broke my ankle 8 months ago.

My back injury occurred during my training, however I broke my ankle after my training had finished, and I noticed a huge difference in my psychological state with them both. Even though my ankle injury was more serious and more threatening to my career, I have been calm throughout the rehabilitation process, discounting the initial panic when it first happened. I believe this is because I was away from the many pressures to return to full health quickly that I faced whilst at college.

I read into the psyche of injured dancers, and I discovered that many felt the same pressures as I did. I wanted to understand why teachers have certain attitudes towards injuries, and also whether this stems from a lack of education. Why are there so many injured dancers or singers, and why, like me, don’t they know what their options are if they become injured? Why is it just accepted in the world of Performing Arts that the majority of performers are injured? I am exploring this, and my inquiry is pointing towards it being down to the lack of education available to performing arts students, about this subject. Therefore, I am proposing the award title :

BA (Hons) Professional Practice (Health within Performing Arts Education)

ATHENS

Hi everyone,

I'm having real problems logging into Athens - I've been trying and trying without success!
Any help would be appreciated!

Performance and Education Inquiry

I have thought long and hard about inquiry ideas, and I came to the conclusion that my passion lies within the area of injury and education right now, as I am recovering from injury currently.

I found myself looking through articles on the internet, and reading blog entries of peers who are also going through the recovery period at the moment. I found that the same issues kept cropping up - 'what am I going to do next?' 'Why, after so many years training don't I know what options are open to me?' and many felt resentment at the general college attitude towards injuries - 'it's your own fault, and you need to get back dancing/singing as quickly as possible'. Having experienced this myself, I wanted to look into why this has become the general attitude towards injuries.

This is the link to my Delicious page - http://www.delicious.com/eleanor.mattley/?page=1 - there are some very interesting links on there including vocal and physical injury articles, and also qualification specifications for National Diplomas and GCSE/A-Level performing arts subjects, which I have used to see where this lapse in education is happening. It has been very insightful so far, and I cannot wait to get started on my professional inquiry during the next module.

I have 3 surveys which I need just a handful more participants for to get a proper statistical sample, so if you could spare 5 minutes to take them, that would be great. The links are :
<a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2Z8GQQF">Click here to take survey</a>
http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22C7QQ9LL8K
http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22C7QS6LMDT

Thank you in advance!

Campus Session - 21/02/11

The focus of this session was 'Ethics', referencing Course Reader 5.
We began by discussing our interpretations of the word 'ethics' :


- good and bad
- fair and just
- rules
- protection
- core values
- regulations
- virtues
- right and wrong
- morals
- code of conduct


Ethics ----->>> 'Ethos' - Greek for 'Character'.
We established that it can be a fine line between an ethos and a purpose/mission. E.g. in a school, the purpose/mission is WHAT is done, the ethos is HOW.


Virtues - values, good-bad qualities. E.g. kindness, patience, honesty.


Once we had established the terminology, we put it all into practice, firstly by exploring our own personal values -


Personal Values
* Determination/drive
*Optimism (see the good in everyone and everything)
*Honesty
*Respectful - treat others as you want to be treated.


Professional Values
*Determination/drive
*Motivation
*Respectful
*Always give 100% effort, no matter what


From comparing eachothers' professional ethos, we could determine that a 'good professional' in any career field requires qualities such as:
*Determination
*Reliability
*Ruthlessness, where necessary


Conflicts with Personal Ethics
*Salesmen often find themselves facing a moral dilemma, having to push-sell items they don't necessarily believe in, as a way of paying their bills. Mark gave a brilliant example of  this, from his own experience.
Doctors also face ethical issues on a daily basis - they take the Hippocratic Oath, and yet personally, their compassion must urge them to put terminally ill patients out of pain and misery.
I am also no stranger to brushing certain morals under the carpet, if it means I can pay my bills or afford to go to an audition that week. It has made me think how many personal ethics we have to forfeit, in order to be a successful professional.
The reader highlights a thought provoking example of this. For those of you who haven't got around to reading this, here's a short extract:
'In 1993, Kevin Carter, a documentary photographer, came across an impoverished girl in Sudan struggling to crawl towards water where everyone else had headed. As he was observing her, a vulture landed near the girl. Carter waited for nearly 20 minutes for the bird to spread its wings in order for a good photograph, but it never did. After taking some photos anyway, he did not help the girl reach the feed station and instead left her to die. The controversy continued when in 1994 Carter won a Pulitzer Prize for the photograph. Sadly, he committed suicide on July 27th, 1994 due to the extreme guilt that he felt for letting the Sudanese girl die when he knew he could have prevented it. His suicide note read, "The pain of life overrides
the joy to the point that joy does not exist."
There have been many arguments that Carter’s lack of intervention on the girl’s
behalf was fully justified. Before leaving on the assignment, he and the other
photographers were instructed not to touch anyone for fear of epidemics.
Furthermore, the ethical role and duty of a photographer is to observe and not
interfere.' (BA Professional Practice Course Reader 5, Professional Ethics, 2010/11).


We also discussed the affects law has on ethics, i.e. enforcing ethics. Comparative ethics can be seen between countries with different laws and different cultures. Examples of this include polygamy and homosexuality.


We were then given the following passage -
" The film 'Billy Elliot' tells the story of a boy in a mining town in the North of England during the miner's strike and his fight to study ballet. One scene showed 'Billy' practicing pirouettes over and over again in his quest to get them right. The delight on his face was obvious when he showed his dance teacher his achievement but the delight instantly turned to disappointment when no praise was offered. Instead his arm placing was criticised."
We were given three theoretical approaches to ethics, with which to 'make sense' of this passage, so to speak. They were :


*CONSEQUENCIALISM - e.g. an approach used by Utilitarians - 'The greater good'. e.g. killing one person to save nine lives.


*DEONTOLOGIST APPROACH - There is no 'grey' area, where morals can be reasoned, depending on circumstances. Something is either right or wrong, black or white. e.g. All lying is wrong, no matter how small or big the lie.


* VIRTUE ETHICS - Assessing the situation and the character of the person, before making a moral judgement. e.g. Crimes of passion.


Looking at these three approaches, my group came to this conclusion:
Consequencialism - small disappointment for Billy, but correction makes him a better technical dancer
Deontologistical - No positivity about the pirouettes, just negative about the arm lines.
Virtue Ethics - The teacher was doing what she believed to be ethically right, in her role as Billy's teacher, and she knew he would respond well to this method of teaching - 'Body Centered Approach', as opposed to a 'Person Centered Approach'.
Leading on from this task, we briefly discussed our own experiences with these two main teaching techniques,  which worked best for us, and why.




Case Study


Once we had explored these examples, we were given case studies of our own. My group was given an Internet article dating June 2009, about an alternative outreach dance project, organised by a team from the Royal Opera House. A team flew out to China, to teach an intensive creative dance course for a week. The course included students of all ages and abilities, some disabilities, and students suffering the affects of the recent earthquakes. The issues being dealt with included:
- language barriers
- cultural/religious differences
- the approach needed to teach a variety of ages and standards
- the handling of delicate subjects, including disability and the earthquake
- the consequence that their visit would have on the students
Therefore, a good Ethos for this particular project would include the following virtues:
- Appropriateness, and an ability to cater for all needs
- Sensitivity
- Good communication
- Patience


Final Task


Our final task of the day was to re-group, and come up with an appropriate code of conduct for our profession. My fellow 'performers' and I came up with this:


CODE OF PROFESSIONAL ETHICS - PERFORMER.


1. Performers must have consideration and respect for the Ethos of those they work for/alongside.
2. Performers must be dedicated throughout, including during the preparation, rehearsal and product stages.
3. Performers must conscientiously use sheet music and choreography, in an appropriate way, during teaching and audition processes.
4. Performers must have a responsibility to deliver to the best of your ability at all times.
5. Performers are obligated to fulfill contract requirements.
6. Performers must strive to not deliberately endanger oneself. e.g. reckless/avoidable accidents.
7. Performers must have a responsibility for the safety of themselves and others in the work place.
8. Performers are obligated to take care of all legalities involving self-employment, i.e. taxes, national insurance.


Conclusion


I found this session extremely helpful on so many levels. I began the lecture at a complete loose end with regard to my inquiry, but this has really whetted my appetite for going down the routes of ethical links and how far people would be prepared to go, to become 'successful'. That also raises the question, 'by which standards are we measuring success?' I left this session feeling that I have gained a lot of tips and aids for my teaching job too, which I will definitely try out next week. Overall, an extremely useful campus session, once again. Now I need to organise my thoughts enough to establish my inquiry.