Artefact

This blog hi-lights some of the significant discussions I had during Wednesdays Group Skype and this evenings Module 3 Skype on how we communicate ideas.

From the first call I took away the idea of staying honest to my practice. I have been worried about where and how I am going to film my choreography for my video, as I don't have the facilities of a theatre or a professional cameraman and was concerned filming it in my dusty old dance hall would look unprofessional. However, on the call, I was reminded that we want to give an honest representation of our practice and give the viewer of our artefact a real view into what we do and to keep our artefact in context with our practice.

Tonight's call also reinforced this idea, with Adesola saying that the length of our artefact should be in line with what we create in our practice. In my practice there's a time limit generally of 4 mins, dancers and choreographers only have that amount of time to capture everything they want to say in their creation.

Adesola added - The artistry is how poignant it can be, not how long. This made me think more about the content of my artefact. I want to tell a story of the journey of my inquiry that will communicate to everyone. On the call, we discussed how the art is telling a story that is understandable and not letting the watcher edit it for themselves.

I want to express the passion I have for dance but also show where the threads start to tie together. I have felt the journey has been quite emotional and I hope my music choices for different sections of my dance hi-light this.

Expectations were also a topic of Wednesday's call, how things very rarely go to plan and how deviating from the plan is part of the process. My artefact has changed shape a number of times now, but I feel it needs to in order to grow and strengthen as an idea. This evening we discussed how we have to be aware of our own creative process in relation to our practice. For me, this is a reminder that I usually play around with ideas, I'll create choreography at home and adjust it as I'm teaching. I'll change it dependant on the space available and pupils abilities and on watching it back. I can't expect anything different from my artefact.

Lastly, one point that was significant to me was the question - Will the process of making the artefact add to my already existing data in my inquiry? I hope it does, while my artefact is about the journey I have been on, not so much the discovery of information I hope I can use this process to add more to my practice.

It may help me concentrate more on portraying a story or working with my students to develop their storytelling skills. Once I have shared my artefact I may have new questions or ideas that I can take further and add to my presentation. I am starting to see how all 3 ways of communicating my inquiry process - Essay, Artefact and Presentation are linked together.

The Shift

I wasn't able to make Tuesdays Module 3 discussion due to work, but so far I have found the blogs on the discussion very helpful.

I can really relate to the idea of a shift happening during the inquiry process. For me, it was the understanding that 'The theoretical world is not composed of a single idea' (S.R Koff, 2003)

My inquiry question is....

What is the relationship between the Multiple Intelligences Theory and Dance Teaching? 

The theory has many different perspectives, and through reading them through literature I learnt that I have to stay reflexive. And not to look at the theory as something to behold but instead as something that can be adjusted, reworked to my ideas and practice.

I went into my inquiry not knowing how I will answer the question... And now I have completed my data collection and am in the final stages of writing my draft (cutting out the fluff and trying to get that word count down)

I still don't have a definitive answer, I do however have lots of new ideas, thoughts and questions.

I'm hoping that's the point!!! Right?

If you were on the call and made any notes, in the spirit of 'Connectivism' (G.Siemens, 2006) please do comment any of your thoughts below.

Bibliography

 Koff, Susan.R (2003) Why the Multiple Intelligences?, Journal of Dance Education, 3:1, 5-6, DOI: 10.1080/15290824.2003.10387223 

Siemens.G (2006) Knowing Knowledge, Milton Keynes

The meme says it all....

                                                   (Pintrest 2019)

This is me today!!! I have literally written this first sentence 10 times trying to find the right words to explain where I'm at. And I think that explains it all.

Right now I feel like I have hit a brick wall. I know what I've got to do but I'm panicking that I don't have time to do it. And that panic is creating a mental block, I feel like my last few study sessions (3 hours of peace, while the mother in law has my 3-year-old and 1-year-old) have been wasted due to me going into brain overload. And I'm starting to overthink and doubt all that I have done so far.

But I'm not going to lose my cool... At our uni session, I advised Laura from Module 1 to just start writing. You might write 100's of paragraphs that don't go into your final essay but its all part of the process. Adesola agreed and explained that the first things we write are how we start to shift through our thoughts and the final draft is the conclusion of our thoughts. If we start putting down our thoughts too late, what we TurnIn is essentially our unfiltered thoughts.

I think I have been concentrating too much on what my literature is saying and not thought enough about what I have to say. 

SO all I need now is a week locked away from the world to start writing. If only!!!!

How's everyone else doing? If you could just leave one word, what would it be?

Image
Pintrest (2019). Forever Panicking. [image] Available at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/373306256598250019/ [Accessed 8 Nov. 2019].

Campus Session - 30.10.19

On Wednesday 30th October I joined Laura Ferrin from Module 1 for a campus session with Adesola. This is my second campus session in the process. On my first session I had hoped it would be a chance to get 'Help' and direction and basically be told how to write my essay, but it is an opportunity to take away so much more.

At first Adesola asked me to talk about what the process had changed in my thinking. I really struggle with 'getting my words out' especially when I am so deep into my inquiry that I have 100 thoughts swimming around at once.

However I managed to string together that...

Previously I would have sort an 'answer, into what I was researching, hoping it would give me knowledge. Now I understand it's about finding information to change my thinking and opening new pathways for learning.

Adesola asked us to think about the 3 words

Knowledge               Information                 Learning

And what the differences are between them. I used to think that information was knowledge if it was on the TV or in the newspaper it was worth remembering to give you knowledge. Through this process, I have discovered that information is there to INFORM your thinking and has to be looked at from different perspectives. What you then take away from that thought process is Knowledge. And in that process, you are learning.

Adesola than asked me to apply this idea to my Inquiry Topic. Throughout my literature review, I have found many articles were the Theory of Multiple Intelligences has been misinterpreted. The theory (Information) has been implemented without a full range of ethical and practical considerations, leaving the method questionable. 

This lead us to talk about where the information is coming from, usually, we look to the centre ( an established organization, notable scholars) and take their word for it, but what would happen if we flipped it and looked at the discourses on the edge. The people asking the questions?

Are we questioning if the Right & Wrong applies to all cultures, societies and within a relevant timeline?

From this conversation, the same themes were emerging for me, and I found significance in the term Information.

We have to find a range of information on our topic and not take the first answer. Just because a theory has been well published it is not always true and right. We have to look at things from a number of perspectives. The right and wrong only applies in certain situations. 

My inquiry is an overview of what I found significant. Someone else may find or take away something different from the same information. Mine is applied to my experiences and where I am in the world culturally, socially and at this time. 

Adesola then asked what themes I had found in my research, saying it out loud really helped me confirm my thoughts.

Educational Perspective - Many of my sources discussed a need for change in education, I am going to apply this educational perspective to my practice alongside its relationship to Multiple Intelligences.

Interpretation of Theory - Not one size fits all is the basis of the Multiple Intelligence Theory, but it's not only Howard Gardner that is saying this. How is this interpreted in my practice?

Application of Theoretical Framework in Dance Practice - The headings above have motivated dance practitioners and scholars to create frameworks using a number of different theories. How are these similar or how do they differ? What are the ethical and practical considerations?

Adesola then tasked us with looking through our learning communities blogs with the idea of themes. Are people saying the same thing? Are they talking about the same topic but from a different perspective? 

And then could we find relevant information in the educational journals in the library through Unihub that linked to our thoughts. I will conclude this task on another blog.

But for now, I would really recommend looking at the blogs to see if someone is thinking the same as you. But did they word it differently or is their practice different from yours? Get involved and start leaving comments, a conversation is sometimes the best way to help unpick what is significant to you.

Light Bulb!!!

I am currently reviewing my literature from Module 2 and searching for new literature to fill in the gaps. A few weeks ago I felt like I was in a fog, I had been given feedback to look more into what Learning and Education are in order to add more depth to the question ' What is the relationship between The Multiple Intelligences and Dance Teaching?' This is a big field with many different theories and I worried that I would disappear down the rabbit hole.

I have been collecting papers and journal articles on a computer folder that I have started systematically working my way through. Filtering out anything that was too far outside the net I had cast. George Siemens talks of Exclusion as a vital learning process.

'We cannot possibly consider every facet of a new idea. We exclude in order to move to the point of active cognition on, or interaction with, an idea.' (Siemens, 2006 pg 36)

Although I am not yet at the analysis phase as I have not finished my practice reflection journal I am starting to see links and threads appearing in my literature. 

(Pintrest, 2019)

And Eureka! I feel like I am starting to get somewhere.... 

I still have a long way to go, unpicking the ethical considerations, viewing my findings from different perspectives, but for that brief moment the sun shone through the fog and I feel I have my Inquiry VIP guest list complete.

Now to get this party started.... 

Bibliography
Pintrest (2019). Lightbulb. [image] Available at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/677510337667509037/?nic=1a [Accessed 24 Oct. 2019].
Siemens, G. (2006). Knowing knowledge. [Milton Keynes]: [s.n.].

Dance Artefact - Dance Your PhD

After last nights group discussion, I planned to write a post on Ethics.

I started with revisiting my Module 1 blog on Ethics which reminded me of a scholar 'Sho Botham' that is working to raise the awareness of understanding of Ethics in Dance Teaching. I re-read some of her work. Which is definitely worth a read, no matter what Module you are in.- http://www.ethicsdance.co.uk/downloads.html

And then I had a look through her bibliographies for sources of further reading and then  I discovered this TedTalk Video at https://allworlddance.com/Style/education/  and I instantly had to share it.

Last night we also discussed our Artefacts and our ideas on how we can present our reflections on our practice using other than words. Eduardo said that he has been thinking on how HE IS the artefact as he is a product of his practice and this resonated with many of us on the call. 

My practice is Dance, so I am currently thinking of ways to express the Module 3 process. Adesola recently reminded me that my body and dance performance can show my knowledge, my practice experience and my history. And I feel this video helps hi-light how dance can build more of a picture than writing in many cases.

I also wanted to share my journey to this video find as a reminder that we often find things when we are not looking, and that following a thread can lead to the most wonderful discoveries.

How does this video resonate with you and your practice?

Have you found any nuggets of wisdom when you weren't looking for them?


Bibliography 

Botham, S. (2018). download articles. [online] Ethicsdance.co.uk. Available at: http://www.ethicsdance.co.uk/downloads.html [Accessed 17 Oct. 2019].

Smith, C. (2011). TEDx Brussels: John Bohannon & Black Label Movement in Dance Your Ph.D. [Blog] All World Dance. Available at: https://allworlddance.com/2011/12/06/tedx-brussels-john-bohannon-black-label-movement-in-dance-your-phd/ [Accessed 17 Oct. 2019].

Knowing Knowledge Revisited..

As suggested in the Module 3 handbook, I am revisiting Knowing Knowledge by George Siemans. I feel like I am reading it with new eyes, now in Module 3 I have a greater understanding of the message the book is sending.

In particular, the idea that the many different parts of ourselves holds different perspective - points for perceiving and (filtering) knowledge (Siemans, 2006) 

This made me think of the above meme, not only do we have our own perspectives of our practice but those in our networks and communities have their own perspectives too. My data collection tools are literature review and a reflection journal. I am feeling very anxious that am not holding interviews or surveys as my research outcome depends solely on me working reflexively and being able the critically reflect on my own thoughts.

However my re-reading of Siemans Knowledge flow cycle has reminded me that the process of the inquiry is to further my own ideas and knowledge and not to solve a problem. 

The following stages;

 'Personalization... at this stage, we bring new knowledge to ourselves through the experience of internalization, dialogue or reflection.

Implementation... is the final stage, where action occurs and feeds back into the personalization stage. Our understanding of a concept changes when we are acting on it, versus only theorizing or learning about it.'
(Siemans, 2006 pg 6)


This is where I feel I am at the moment. The literature I am reading is giving me new information to incorporate into my practice, it is giving me new things to think about as I teach and bringing new processes to my reflections.

Where are you at?  Is there anything you are reading at the moment that is helping clarify your process so far? Or anything that has thrown you off into a new direction?


Bibliography

I am a dance teacher. (2019). [image] Available at: https://www.memesmonkey.com/topic/dance [Accessed 8 Oct. 2019].
Siemens, G. (2006). Knowing knowledge. [Milton Keynes]: [s.n.].

Some light bedtime reading...

I am now officially into the first week of my literature review, and I have found the best way to concentrate is to go to bed at 8pm with my post-it notes and I am currently Frames of Mind - The Theory of Multiple Intelligences by Howard Gardner.

I familiarised myself with his work in my Module 2 literature review but now I am reading his work with more focus on the Ethical considerations of his theory and applying this to my practice as a dance teacher.

I have enjoyed how reflexive Gardner's writing is, at no point does he portray his theory as 'The be-all and end-all' and for every intelligence, he highlights the cultural perspectives and considerations of disabilities and different cognitive abilities.

His introduction hi-lights that there is no definitive explanation for intelligence and probably will never be one. And in fact, we need to think critically about our attachment to the word 'Intelligence' and also apply this thought to many things that we label.

'There is a universal human temptation to give credence to a word to which we have become attached, perhaps because it has helped us to understand a situation better.... Intelligence is such a word; we use it so often that we have come to believe in its existence, as a genuine tangible, measurable entity, rather than as a convenient way of labelling some phenomena that may (but may well not) exist.' (Gardner, 1993 pg 69)

My reading also reminded me why I found interest in this topic, I hate the idea that we are all measured by the same system when our talents and intelligence are different.

'There must be more to intelligence than short answers to short questions- answers that predict academic success; and yet, in the absence of a better way of thinking about intelligence, and of better ways to assess an individual's capabilities, this scenario is destined to be repeated' (Gardner, 1993 pg 3)

This has made me think about how we measure dance ability. Is it only those with the highest kicks, best technique and performance that are the best dancers? 

Gardner places his theory of intelligence across lots of different cultures from the Anang of Nigeria who by the age of five sing hundreds of songs, play several percussion instruments and perform dozens of intricate dance movements (Gardner, 1993) and how skills that to the western world may seem primitive actually require a high level of intelligence. Such as in Kikuyu in Kenya, a young child is taught how to recognize every head of livestock in his family's herd from its colour, markings and size and type of its horns. (Gardner, 1993)


How would these children fair in an audition? They clearly have remarkable talents but these would not necessarily be tested if they were just mirroring a choreographer. Or their talents would not be realised if they were just judged on a dance they had presented by themselves.

Instead of looking at the aesthetic of a performer and that being the marker of their talent, could we look further into their intelligence so that they can develop from a deeper place?



Bibliography
Gardner, H (1993) Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Fontana Press.

Through The Fog

(Symmetry Magazine, 2009)

Wednesday was the first group discussion shared with all modules for me this term. I think a lot of us joined the call with the hope that the discussion would help create some clarity through the fog that is the first few weeks of the term.

I am familiar with THE FOG! It's been present at the beginning of all 3 modules for me. Like the beginning of a new day, it's early and dark and a haze lingers across your line of sight.

However I now take comfort in the fog, it means that I am in the process of adding more to my learning. I'm aware there shouldn't be a clear answer and as was mentioned on the call, I need to trust in my ability to think critically and reflect on my journey so far.

In using the processes I have learnt, I can visually map where my thoughts are and start looking for themes. I can record my thoughts in my journal so that they marinade and develop substance.

I have taken time re-reading my Module 2 inquiry and although it's a bit daunting that I am now changing my data collection methods, it reminded me WHY I choose this subject.

I am looking into the relationship between Dance Teaching and Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences. This idea first came to me in Module 1 when I reflected on one of my classes where a pupil asked "How many steps they needed to take?" It made me think that I use music counts and descriptions of left, right, left but very rarely do I say " Take 3 steps!"

I am not a numbers person but looking at Howards Gardner's theory made me think that maybe some of my pupils are, and they would have a better chance understanding my teaching if I used techniques that spoke to their Mathematical - Logical Intelligence.

In Module 2, my literature review comprised mainly of Gardner's work through books and interviews, scholars that supported Gardner's theory and have applied it to dance teaching and scholars that stated the Theory was often misused and may narrow pupils learning.

In Module 3, I now plan to explore further literature of Intelligence Theories (without getting lost down a rabbit hole) and to find what other Theories are being used in education.

I would love to discuss anyone's experiences that made you question past or current teaching methods whether you were the teacher or pupil. Or if anyone currently in education has had experiance in theories or methods that may be transferable into dance or teaching in the arts.

If you would like to know more about Howard Gardners Theory and test your Intelligence there is more on one of my previous blog - Multiple Intelligences - Where do you fit in?

It will be great to hear your thoughts.

Photo CreditSymmetry Magazine (2009). Dancing with Physicists. [image] Available at: https://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/august-2009/dancing-with-physicists [Accessed 27 Sep. 2019].

What I wish I knew last year....

I can't believe how much has changed in a year. I remember my first Skype call this time last year, and I was sat there thinking 'What have I got myself into?' I had already read through the module handbook and was totally clueless.

I can honestly say, I had no need to worry. Through discussion, reflection and a trust that it will all become clear as you start to work through the Module Handbook, I am looking forward to starting Module 3.

Today's Skype call was more about the administration of the course. Where to find information on Uni Hub and how to best utilize the learning community. Here are a few of the things I have found helpful through my last 2 Modules.

Blogs - Reading List
To ensure I stay up to date with the newest blogs in our learning community I made a Reading List on Blogger. This then appears like a news feed, enabling me to leave comments and engage more.

Don't be afraid to just say Hello - 
As Adesola said on today's call even if you are still processing your thoughts on a blogs content, its nice to just comment. Hi, Great Blog or I enjoyed reading this. It's nice to know that there are people reading your work.

Labels

I have found labels helpful to reference my work enabling to look back at specific subjects that I have blogged about or to find key words or themes that have carried across the different modules.

I have also found them invaluable when I have felt a bit lost or stuck. I have often used the labels on a supervisors blog to get a better idea of a subject. For example - Literature Reviews, Adesola has 16 blog posts on Literature Reviews, so I will have a look through and its likely that there will be information that will give me more insight or comments from past students sharing there ideas.

Blogs can be short and sweet, and don't always have to be written. Think about alternate ways to share your thoughts or ideas. Images, Videos, and Photos of your brainstorming sessions. Your blog will become another form of diary in which you can reflect on throughout the modules.




Long Distance Library 
Today we discussed taking time to navigate Unihub and see whats available. I regret fully doing this early on. There were books on the reading list that are not available online and I feel I didn't take full advantage of the resources available to me as a long distance student.

There is a guide on the Librarians Introduction on Unihub on how to register to order books to your home address. (Please note - Email removed for security) 

Dear Diary....

Start keeping a diary of your practice from today. It took me a while to pick apart my practice in order to see it in new ways and keeping a diary definitely helped. At first I just wrote what I had done that day and then started breaking it down into lens as I moved through the course. 

I hope these tips have been helpful. I look forward to hearing what your tips may be, after all we are always learning. 

Back To School

Wow! Where did the summer go? It feels like only a few weeks ago I nervously hit send on Turn It In to officially send off my Module 2 Inquiry Plan and in just a few short weeks I will be embarking on that plan.

After over 4 months off uni, its time to mentally and physically prepare myself for the intense 12 week period ahead. One thing that I have learnt so far from the previous 2 modules is to bring the task at hand back to my practice. Yes, I may be a bit rusty to start, like taking a dance class after some time off, my muscles will be tight, my movements not as fluid and natural. Certain terminology may elude me, but with practice, my muscle memory will kick in and by reflecting on my journey so far I will begin to reimagine my plan and hopefully after some time off be able to bring new thought to it.

I plan to re-read my blogs and those of my fellow students to remind myself of the journey I have taken so far. I will look through my plan with fresh eyes and look forward to discussing my feedback. 

This term discipline is key, I have pre-arranged childcare and have set times and days to ensure that my work stays consistent and on plan. As much as I am nervous about the module ahead, I am also very excited to get started knowing that with hard work and commitment I will have a degree.

It will be great to network with our BAPP community again and listen to new voices starting the course. Please feel free to comment if anyone has any questions, I would love to receive a few words to sum up how you are all feeling right now.

Let the journey recommence.........

Image credits

getty images/iStockphoto (2019). Back to school. [image] Available at: https://www.istockphoto.com/gb/photos/back-to-school?assettype=image&sort=mostpopular&mediatype=photography&phrase=back%20to%20school [Accessed 28 Aug. 2019].

Keeping it simple

I plan to create a visual map for my literature review, I have been collecting literature throughout my inquiry planning that I will use for examples of different perspectives and discourses but I wanted to make it more visual and wanted to include images of the key scholars and theorist I have been researching. One of these is Howard Gardner, I have read through some (not all he has over 30 books) of his key books, articles on google scholar and watched interviews on youtube.

It was only when I realised I needed an image of him that I simply googled 'Howard Gardner' this is when I had a total OMG moment and slapped my own forehead, why hadn't I done this before???? 

Image - Pinterest  - https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/769482286304388853/

Howard Gardner has 2 dedicated websites, with questions and answer pages, I can even follow him on twitter and he has over 5000 hashtags on Instagram! I had been so wrapped up in finding literature through 'reputable sources' that I hadn't done a basic google search. 
This realisation has helped me find new literature to add to my research and reminded me to sometimes Keep It Simple. 

The Practicalities of Practice Based Inquiry

As we are nearing the end of Module 2  it was really helpful to have a Skype Discussion with the focus on the Practicalities of doing an inquiry. 

I had already drafted my inquiry plan and sent it for feedback, but the call reminded me that discussion can help you see things from different angles. As we were discussing how we are going to consider Data Protection of our Data Collection we discussed password protecting computer documents this helped me re-consider how I am going to keep my notes for my observations. Instead of a notebook to store my thoughts and observations, I can keep them securely on my laptop. 

We also discussed, how we are planning to note take and how this can affect our interviewee or participant. I plan to observe my fellow dance teachers at my place of employment over the course of a few weeks and plan to make my observations as unobtrusive as possible. For this reason, I feel typing will be off-putting in a lesson setting plus I will find it difficult to type and observe at the same time, so I have planned to take notes on paper, which I will be able to shred once I have typed them into a word document that I can then password protect. It was also suggested that we consider back-ups of our information, such as an external hard drive or pen drive, that can also be password protected. 

It did take a while for us all to get in the right mindset of thinking of practicalities, Adesola suggested we start thinking like we have hired an assistant to help carry out our Inquiry Plan, this is to remind us that we have to consider how we are planning to carry out each step and how we are going to explain the reasoning behind these steps.

We also briefly discussed analysis and how we can be prepared for many different outcomes, it was thought-provoking to consider that sometimes if there are gaps in literature or you do not get the co-operation from participants that you were hoping for that this is all information for analysis. For example, if you are contacting someone to interview about Support in the Arts or Guidance in Career choices and they do not get back to you, Could this be considered as a lack of support or guidance??

I will be applying these thoughts and discussions to my final draft, I have also received my feedback and I am pleased that I have made many good points, and only need to re-word a few paragraphs.
I do however have a lot of work to do putting together my Literature Review, I am planning to create a Map similar to my Module 1 Diagram. 

Good Luck to everyone finalising your drafts, if anyone wants to share how you are getting on or any thoughts you have had after recent Skype Calls it will be great to hear from you.  

Trans-Adams, M. (2013). Research Paradigm - Interpretivist. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbLbEexQrwI [Accessed 16 Mar. 2019].

AS I am currently exploring the realms of Howard Gardners Multiple Intelligences, I found this musical example of an Interpretive Paradigm very interesting. 

I find that I can only read so much literature before it stops sinking in, and have been struggling to resonate with the ideas of paradigms and make the understanding my own. Yet this 2-minute video with no words or literature helped me clarify how I am going to explain my current thoughts within my inquiry plan.

I could say it spoke to my Musical-Rhythmic Intelligence!!

 In Qualitative research, you are in a position to hear, read, watch information and existing research in your chosen field, it is then your role to find a new meaning for that information while staying within the realms of its original meaning.

The pianist used the same melody and timing, yet gave the music more texture and depth. I hope this makes sense to someone.

 Please share your thoughts on any findings you have that are not purely literature based. 

Striving For Perfection

On our last Skype call, there were a few fellow Module 2 Students who were discussing, body image, mental health and general well being in dance. I came across this blog, which has a nice narrative.

http://ambrymehr.com/2018/10/25/dancers-the-mirror-the-ugly-truth-behind-striving-for-perfection/

I hope everyone is doing well with thier drafts, I am literally having a cram it all in a day kind of day. And questioning my whole inquiry question.

I'm hoping its just all part of the process....... 

Module 2 Skype Call - 7th March

On Thursday 7th March we had a Skype call with a Module 2 focus entitled - What if you can't interview someone?

However, I feel that the call was more about the value of an interview to a qualitative research project. The bottom line is, What new information can an interview bring to your inquiry if you are asking questions that you have devised from purely your own thought processes? Will you be asking questions that inform you or are you encouraging your interviewee to say yes or no in order to agree with your existing thoughts?

The Skype call helped me and most of us on the call to realise that there may be a more fitting form of data collection to suit our inquiry that doesn't include an interview.

I had initially thought that I would use Observations of classes/internet tutorials and focus groups to discuss what my fellow teachers understanding of multiple intelligences were and if they felt they applied this knowledge to teaching. But the call introduced more appropriate data collection forms.

Reflective Observations - A reflective essay can be used as a form of data collection, in a narrative inquiry your personal experiences count as knowledge within your practice. It was a reflection on a past teaching experience that first piqued my interest in my inquiry topic, so I now plan you include my own experiences past and present into my inquiry plan. 

Existing Literature/Reviewing Documents  - When I first started looking into my inquiry topic, I knew that there was lots of available literature from many different perspectives, and while I was aware I had to do a literature review I hadn't realised that I could source existing literature to directly apply as data collection. On the call, Adesola implied that I could probably complete my whole inquiry based on existing literature. While I have found some great pieces of information I feel I would add more depth to my inquiry if I looked outside the literature and made it real to me. 

We also discussed what our current inquiry ideas were and how we are making them non-biased and not focusing on what we already think the answer is. This led me to look more into Ethnography and I found a few useful explanations.

'The true skills of the ethnographer are learning to observe, ask the right questions and at the right time to cause minimal influence on the actions of your subjects' (The Interaction Design Foundation, 2016)

'You go in search of truth rather than taking truths with you' (The Interaction Design Foundation, 2016)

I am hoping a combination of my inside view and theory of others found in my literature review will make my inquiry balanced while ensuring I have reflexivity in my own data capture and a range of thoughts from notable scholars in my literature.

  
I have now tasked myself with rewriting my inquiry topic question/heading so that it isn't a right or wrong I am trying to prove but instead an open query that will add knowledge to my own current practice and the professional transitions in my future. 



Bibliography 

The Interaction Design Foundation. (2016). What Does an Ethnographer Do?. [online] Available at: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/what-does-an-ethnographer-do [Accessed 11 Mar. 2019].

Sharing Is Caring - Group Discussion 26th Feb 2019

I always enter into the group discussions with apprehension, it's not until everyone starts sharing that I feel at ease. It is reassuring to hear that we are at similar stages and once the conversation starts flowing, it's easy to share ideas and give and take advice. It's also nice that I now recognise most of the voices and now have an understanding of what the practices are behind those voices. Last night we discussed the following.

What to do with our research?

By the time we reach Module 3, we will have accumulated a lot of research, those currently on Module 3 suggested creating something visual with it to see what was relevant and how to arrange it. 

Lists of For or Against/High or Low Importance

Create a mindmap 

Hi-Light Keywords to see the themes.

Diagrams and Artifacts 

We then discussed our Diagrams from Module 1 and how the ideas behind them continue to develop through all the modules. Here is my diagram from Module 1.

I found it helpful, to consider building on this original idea and improving it for my literature review for module 2.

Method & Methodology 

I was thankful for Helen clarifying that method and methodology have 2 different meanings. While I understood that we are using Qualitative Research there are other considerations that will help determine our methods. 

Do we want to capture real thoughts, processes and emotions? 

Are we looking for people to share their experiences instead of just giving YES/NO answers?

Are our methods relevant to our practice?

Will we learn something new instead of angling our research towards our own thoughts?

This part of the conversation has reminded me that I need to concentrate on researching how to research and reading the recommended module list as well as looking into the inquiry topic.

The conversation continued into the method of Observation and how we are encouraged to Observe as much as we can. However, we must keep an open mind and not have preconceptions of what we are looking for. 

I was concerned that my participants may feel that I may be critical of their work, but I was reminded by Andrew, that as professionals we are used to feedback and it can come from a positive place. Sharing is how we learn. 

If you have anything to share or any questions on our Group Discussion please do comment

Multiple Intelligences - Where Do You Fit In?

My search for an inquiry subject has so far lead me from discussing how dance has become more about tricks than technique, to dance in competitions, to the changing of dance in the private sector, and now onto the acknowledgement of Multiple Intelligences (Gardner, H. 1983) in Dance Teaching, or something along those lines.

I touched on Howard Gardner's work while studying for my ISTD DDI Teaching Qualification and have always been interested in how we all fall under different categories and often used the excuse that I'm a 'Kinesthetic Learner ' so, therefore, rubbish at Math. (which is not necessarily true).

We touched on the subject again in Module 1 but I was concentrating more on the big ethical questions within dance teaching, so did not explore it further at that time. It is only now when I am looking for a subject that is relevant to my practice, will benefit myself and my students and also increase my knowledge for a future in Primary Education outside of Dance, I feel I can fully indulge my 'Wonders' and delve deeper into the theories and ideas behind Multiple Intelligencies.

Below are the 8 Intelligencies proposed by Howard Gardner, it's most likely that we all come under 2 or more intelligence, which compliments our transdisciplinary practices, but which Intelligence powers your practice?

Image (Study & Succeed, 2017)[online]

This diagram labels me as - Bodily-Kinesthetic quite clearly saying that a potential occupation for me is a dancer. But I also have Musical Rhythmic Intelligence, I can't play an instrument but I can Tap Dance (manipulating patterns in sound with my feet)  Spatial Intelligence is vital as a dancer and choreographer using the ability to read your own space and create a piece of work in a set space.

I also took an Online Test at - https://personalitymax.com/multiple-intelligences-test/

At this point, I am still reviewing the literature, and WOW there's a lot to look into, so I am not taking the above results as Gospel, but I find it interesting that my Kinesthetic traits are not as strong as I thought.

If you have 4 minutes to take the test I would love to hear your results in the comments along with what your practice is. [Link Above]

As a dance teacher in the private sector, the students that come to me will also fall under a number of intelligences. How can I acknowledge that while they have chosen to come to dance lessons, they may not have a natural Bodily-kinesthetic or Musical Rhythmic Intelligence? Is there a way to develop their skills using different techniques that will appeal to their personal intelligences? 

This is where my inquiry is taking me, I am finding some great scholars that I really resonate with, within the Dance Pedagogy Field and I'm looking forward to piecing it all together. 

Reference 

Image -Study & Succeed (2017). Multiple Intelligence. [image] Available at: https://studyandsucceed.com/howard-gardner-multiple-intelligences/ [Accessed 21 Feb. 2019].

Image - Personality Max. (2019). Multiple Intelligences Test (Free) - Personality Max. [online] Available at: https://personalitymax.com/multiple-intelligences-test/ [Accessed 21 Feb. 2019].

Gardner, H. 1983 - Frames of Mind The Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Research as Chreography - A little gem of wisdom

This little gem has made my Saturday night. The essay found in the link below has backed up what we have learnt in Module 1 about applying our practice to different things and helped bring relevance to what I am doing now in Module 2.

The essay was written by a dance scholar so resonated with me immediately but no matter what your practice is, is there a formula that you use that you can transpose into the idea research?

 After listening to most of us in Module 2 question if we are on the right path or how do we know if we are doing the right thing, I felt that I had to share this with you all.

"It seems important at this point to speak more about the kind of research I do and its relationship to other kinds of research. Some researchers are interested in pursuing questions of ‘Truth,’ or as close as they can get to it. For example, what kinds of dances were done by 15th century Italians? What are the effects of certain traditional dance warm‐up exercises? Other researchers, including myself, pursue questions of ‘Meaning,’ such as, how do different individuals perceive different kinds of dance? How do they perceive its value in their lives? The answers to this second set of questions do not exist as facts to be uncovered by diligent researchers, but are constantly in the process of being created. What we learned about reliability in 8th grade science does not apply, because the answers change over time. As different as these types of research are, all researchers, even those seeking objective truths, are involved in interpretation. We pay attention to things, select from our observations those which appear to be significant, perceive relationships between/among them, think about what these might mean, and make something out of the whole process. And what we as researchers, and thus interpreters, bring to our work is different because of who we are. One difference is that we as artist/researchers often choose to investigate phenomena of little interest to those outside the field. Despite desires for objectivity, we bring our passions, which determine what parts of the world we look at and the lenses we use to look at them. Both are shaped by our experiences as dancers." (Stinson, S.W, 2007)

The full essay can be found at https://doi.org/10.1080/14647890601029618

Bibliography - 

Stinson, S.W (2007) Research as Choreography [online] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14647890601029618 (accessed Feb 2018)

Skype Call Catch Up

Today's blog is a summary of the 2 Skype calls I have had this week. Tuesdays discussion group led by Helen, was mainly us Module Two students discussing our Inquiry Topics, and how to sort through our ideas. Our discussion led me to be inspired to put my ideas through different lenses. Different questions will help me refine the subject of my interest. Such as:

Who are you asking? - Different subjects will lead me to discuss my ideas with different people

Look at relevance and value - Does my subject have relevance to what I'm doing now? Will it add value to my practice?

Are you making a contribution? - Where can I fill in the gaps in the discourses in my practice?

We also discussed Artefacts briefly for those on Module 3 and I found it really helpful to think of an artefact as a Mode of Sharing from your practice. So to step away from the idea of it being an object and it being something in a less static form. 

Today was the Module 2 Skype call based on Mapping To Build Understanding. The conversation really helped create a mental image of how we can add layers to our inquiry ideas by ensuring we go down every route in search for different angles.

One thing that gave me a 'LightBulb' moment was the discussion that this is a Research Project and that there should be as much emphasis on the research as the inquiry discussion.

It's recommended that we look into different ways that we can research. 

How do people research in my practice? 

How can I push the boundaries of what I understand as research? 

What other methods can I find outside of the main routes, such as surveys and interviews?

We were reminded that we are looking for qualitative research and I have been concerned that some are my topics of thought maybe a bit mainstream and literature is only on newspaper or discussion groups online but Adesola reminded us to consider the Ethical Considerations in order to find what the scholars are saying.

For Example, ask - "Should Dance Be Judged" as opposed to "Have Dance Competitions Become About Tricks?

This week's Skype Sessions have given me lots of clarification on where to go next and I'm looking forward to mapping my research ideas and topic ideas and putting them through the handbook cycle, to see what direction I take.