Helpful blogs

I wanted to share some blogs that had really helped me with this inquiry process:

Unfortunately I am unable to make campus sessions due to my location and therefore Natalie Martin’s updates on these sessions over the course of my BAPP study have been really helpful in allowing me to keep on top of what’s been discussed, and in a way stopped some of the loneliness of studying from China. One blog I found particularly useful was her blog on the Module 3 campus session 10th November the ‘cake method’. As a dancer imagery is so important to me, and the cake method of writing the inquiry made perfect sense to me. Anesole's and Paula's blogs on the sessions were also a great help. 

Another person who has stopped me feeling alone is Jo Craven.  Jo is also a dance teacher, and so many of her experience I can relate to.  I remember last semester reading some of her posts and thinking "Yes! YES! YEEEESSSS!" This week I have read about her show and it was so nice to see some pictures and know I'm not the only one trying to juggle a full school production, the BAPP inquiry and China this semester!  My theatre rehearsals start this weekend, and continue until the shows, finishing next weekend (I'll post some photos!) I couldn't believe it when I realised the biggest week for the studio this semester coincided with the final draft submission. Luckily I knew this before the summer, and although I have liaised with Paula regarding possible issues I think I'm going to make the deadline-ish, however it's reassuring to know that should I not be able to I have a few more days.

Kimberley Gallacher posted a great slideshare link about the differences between qualitative and quantitative data which were unbelievably useful not only in helping me understand but actually remember which is which!

Rosemary McGuinness's post on how to conduct a literature review was also extremely helpful.

I hope these are able to help someone else in the same way they've helped me.

Take care, guys

Moving forwards

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the next stage of my life, the BAPP is nearly over and I don’t know how I want to move forwards next. I hate standing still.

What I really wanted to do was move forward with my ISTD teaching qualifications and study the ISTD DDP from a distance. In fact I applied to do this, and they took it to the board for deliberation.  It took two months to get an answer, and unfortunately at this time it is unavailable to study via distance learning which I’m really disappointed about. As I already have already completed two of the 6 modules (Advanced 1 and Licentiate) I was hoping this would go in my favour.  I am also wondering if the Health and Safety and Lifespan development units are those that moved from CDE, meaning they in fact used to be delivered via distance learning.  Anyway, a no is a no, and I must find other avenues for Continued Professional Development whilst I am in China.

So what other further study options are available to me?

• A Masters degree
• The RAD CBTS
• DDE/Advanced 1 Ballet
• Licentiate in Tap Dancing 
• Fellowship in Modern Theatre

Whilst I know I’d like to do a Masters, the experience of academic study from China has not always been an easy one.  I have committed myself to China for another 2.5 years at least and I have grappled with myself over the pro et contra of continuing on with my academic study whilst I am in the academic mind frame (it was so hard to start studying again at this level after so many years!) versus the relative ease of waiting until I am back in England with a large and easily accessible professional circle, a university campus and libraries . Whilst there is the possibility I could change my mind about this next semester (and I don’t know that I ever intend to come back to the UK) I am looking forward to an academic stress-free 6 months whilst we await our graduation!

The RAD CBTS would be really useful to the school I teach in, and to my future career overseas.  However, I am not a ‘ballet bod’.  I am firmly in the Jazz and Tap camp.  Although I have ISTD teaching qualifications in Ballet, 95% of my current work is Tap and Jazz and I am very happy with that.  However I know if I applied for another job, this qualification would be of benefit, even if it was only for 5% of my work. The principal of my current studio would be able to tutor me, however it is very expensive, and I’m currently unsure if I can afford it. That said I love teaching dance and know I will not be able to teach Jazz in the way I would like forever (throwing yourself across the floor in time with the music really does have a age limit!) and I’d like to explore avenues that could improve my longevity as a dance teacher. Additionally, the RAD has an APL/RoL application process, and so I may apply and pay for that to see how much of my current learning is taken into consideration before deciding on this option.

ISTD ballet isn't widely recognised in Asia, despite their current liaison with Beijing Dance Academy, and therefore if I want to stay in Asia I would be better served taking the RAD option above. 

The ISTD Licentiate Tap is definitely something I am going to work towards, but this will be in the way of independent study in China, and private lessons when in the UK.  The majority of the learning will self regulated due to my location, although I will be able to liaise with my old college principal (my tutor) via email, Skype and videoed choreography.  I am hoping to take this examination in the summer 2015, or failing that at Christmas 2015.

I am in the fortunate position of already holding all the qualification requirements to move forwards and take the Fellowship Modern examination, however do not yet feel ready to even start thinking about actively studying for my Fellowship. I feel my Licentiate Tap is currently a more achievable goal.

Yet this inquiry has made me look sideways at my qualifications and made me ask the question “are there holes in my current knowledge?” Do I need to further expand my qualifications of should I look at ‘filling out’ the ones I’ve got.  Here are a few areas I’ve already done something about, and a few I feel I could use the next semester addressing before I make any further decisions on my future:

Gaps in knowledge I have already addressed

1. Qualifications - I spent most of 2012/2013 getting my qualifications as both a dancer and a teacher to where I felt they needed to be for a teacher of my experience. Teaching/finances had got in the way of further study and as a result I hadn't moved up the qualification ladder quite as I would have hoped or as might be expected. I went back to college and gained my revised advanced 1 and 2 modern, my advanced 2 tap, completed my DDE in Tap and Modern, my Licentiate Modern and started the BAPP the RoL module with the points gained from these qualifications. In addition I took non-syllabus jazz and tap classes and studied Ballet at Advanced 1 level. I'd hoped to complete my DDE and Advanced 1 in Ballet, but that wasn't to be - I'd spread myself too thinly. 
2. Performance skills - Whilst studying for these qualifications I started performing again. Reigniting the sparks of my own performance skills help me hugely when trying to make my students understand what was required from them, and allowed me to more understand their feeling and anxieties regarding performance.  Whilst this was not a skill I’d lost, if was beneficial to re-experience performing again in order to refresh myself and my thoughts.
3. Technique – I’ve always been big on analysis, correct execution of steps, the use of breath, extension, dynamics and floor pressure, however this year I know I have worked harder on my students posture than ever before, talking about the requirements and reminding them to stand correctly multiple times a lesson.  My reflection on this started during the ‘chat’ you have after the Licentiate exam.  The examiner said “you’ve got two children who quite clearly have postural issues” in a way that made me feel I hadn’t done enough to try to correct them – they’d worked so hard, I wanted to counteract with  “you should have seen them when I took them on 6 months ago” but it made me wonder if I had worked them hard enough on it? Had I put enough emphasis on its importance? Had I done everything in my power as a teacher?   Thinking back, I don’t remember any of my teachers talking about or reminding me about posture. However, when I came to my new studio I noticed the principal does not stop talking about posture during her classes.  I have implemented this in my teaching, and as a result of this I have seen a huge change of posture both throughout the jazz and tap programme and in myself.

Gaps in knowledge I would like to address

1. Anatomical Knowledge – I would like to find a dance specific anatomy and physiology examination to study.  Does anyone know of anything?
2. Dance ‘History’ – view more performance on Youtube, at the Theatre, on DVD just remind myself of what’s out there – who is out there and what they were/are doing and how it relates to what I’m teaching the students.

I’m sure over the course of the next semester I will address these, and no doubt in the process discover more that I don’t know. I look forward to continuing with my learning journey, wherever it might take me!

Starbucks

The Christmas cups are back! 

Starbucks has been my saviour over the last few weeks (but not because of the coffee - I reluctantly gave that up earlier this year). Starbucks has been my saviour because it has become my office away from home. My partner works from home a lot, and whilst when I'm alone I work best from home I find it really hard to focus with him in the house.


Luckily we can't move for coffee shops here and so we've become regular visitors to Starbucks with long daily trips (both before and after teaching, if I finish early enough) and although my bank balance is suffering greatly (It seems it's not okay to sit in Starbucks for 8 hours solid, use their internet and not buy anything!) I find it so much easier to focus.  I'd even go as far as saying at Starbucks my partner is a help to my studies, and not a hindrance.

In Starbucks I am able to talk things through with him.  I say "I am able to talk things through with him" and not "we are able to discuss" because my talking far outweighs his responding but talking aloud to another person has really helped.  My partner can't give any insight into my inquiry as he has no knowledge of the dance industry (although I asked him to complete my questionnaire 'just for fun' and his answers weren't bad for someone with no dance knowledge) but by speaking out loud I am able to re-focus my thoughts and ideas and see additional facets I was yet to notice.

These thoughts and ideas have move forward into meaningful research and discussions with my professional circle.

So my advice to anyone who is struggling with their project is twofold:

1. Talk it out. With anyone.  Sometimes someone who has no idea is the best person.  They can't confuse you.
2. Go to Starbucks - or another coffee shop!  (I also love Maan Coffee in Beijing or Coffee #1 in Bristol (Although the latter has no internet. I once asked why via social media and got the following response "Hi I'm afraid we don't have wifi in our stores.  We wrote this to explain why")

Action Planning...

A friend once told me "Use a Postit note for your 'to do' and only have three things on it each day"  She actually had it published in a magazine that interviewed her for something I don't remember, and, I'd imagine the advice came from her Father. 

My mother always suggests having a back up list, so if by some amazing chance you finish everything on your list for that day, you have somewhere else to go - you can be even more productive!

One of my old mentors swears by always starting the list with 'make a list' meaning you feel immediately efficient. 

And they're all correct! I try my best to only have three major things on my to do list each day. Less time consuming 'don't forgets' go up, but they're things like 'remember to edit so-and-so's music' or 'Check blogs' (although the latter can be pretty time consuming if you don't keep up with it!)

At the start of the week I usually make lists everyday using 'Reminders' on my laptop (which also shows on my phone).  If I finish Monday's list before Monday's out, I move onto Tuesday and I leave Friday to finish up anything that has taken longer than I thought, I work all day Saturday and spend Sunday making up for ignoring everyone during the week. 

This works pretty well for me.  There's always something burning, and the mundane things allow you to feel like you've achieved something and give you the push to carry on. 

The thing is, right now I'm struggling to prioritise. I've read the 'Planning strategies during your Professional Inquiry', I've even tried a few out.  But I like a Postit note, and my reminders, and fooling myself into thinking I'm being productive. 

I know what I've got to do, the plan is in place, just all the strands seem to entwine and finding the starting point each seems to take forever. I know my strengths and weaknesses, I know the opportunities this degrees will allow me and I know the threats I face by not achieving it. 

Anyway, I'm not really procrastinating (although if you need a break, you could read the link) by writing this post. I'm hoping that either I can inspire someone else who feels overwhelmed with the 'words of wisdom' others have given me.  Or they can inspire me.  Either way, I hope we all make it through...

Take care, Guys

Megan 

Update on inquiry process - Questionnaire (week 5)

Over the course of the last two weeks I have been preparing a questionnaire to send out to dance teachers. Here is a copy of the questionnaire if there are any other dancers/dance teachers out there on the course.  Please send responses to megan.bapp@gmail.com.

The preparation of the questionnaire, cover letter and gaining email addresses for the participants has been a time consuming but relatively easy process.

I started by brainstorming a list of questions I was interested in asking, and looking at the common areas of these questions, finally deciding on 6 categories:

1. Training
2. Anatomical Knowledge
3. Imagery
4. Execution of an extension line (developpé) above 90 degrees
5. Teaching
6. Students

Once I had decided on these categories and assigned the relevant questions to each category I worked on defining the questions, ensuring they were concise but not leading.  I also didn't want each category to be too long as I was concerned participants would not be keen to give up too much of their time. I decided on 4 questions per category.

During this process my VPN stopped working meaning I was unable to access any social media etc, and shortly after my laptop had to be restored to factory settings meaning progress was stalled for a week.  

After finalising the questionnaire (and getting my laptop and VPN fixed) I contacted a group of teacher and dancer friends via group private message on Facebook, sending a very brief explanation of how I needed their help and asked them to send me their email addresses if they were willing to partake and to add anyone else to the group I had forgotten or who they thought might be able to help.

Whilst waiting for a list of email addresses I sent the questionnaire to a colleague to answer in order to see if there were any flaws with my questions i.e. were the questions clear?  On receiving her responses I realised that I had not been clear enough in section 4 and had not specified that I required information on an extension line OVER 90 degrees. 

On waking this morning I had an inbox of email addresses and a lot of "joe blogs left the group" notifications - I would suggest to anyone who is sending a group message on Facebook writes in their message something along the lines of "once you have sent your email address, please feel free to leave the group as there is the potential for all these messages to be really annoying"  I think it's nice for people to know you've thought about it.

I wrote a cover letter for the questionnaire, with the following sections:

• About me
• About you
• About the inquiry

And sent it to my partner to see if he would understand it if he were to receive it. He suggested one edit for clarification, which I agreed with and made. 

Finally, I added everyone who has replied to the Facebook message so far to a BCC field, wrote a very brief email, added the attachment and sent...

Following on, I wondered if the questionnaire would translate into the fitness world - would a Personal Trainer be able to offer further insights?  Ones the dance world might not think of?  And so I sent it on to a Personal Trainer and look forward to preliminary discussions with him. 

Flexibility quote

Whilst researching my subject area I find myself flying about all over the place, one text leads me to another and before I know it I've added another 10 sources to my (already bulging) bibliography...but are they all specifically relevant to my inquiry?  And just how big is this going to get?

That said, I found the following in one of the books I've been reading and I hope it might make people feel better about their lack of (dancer) flexibility.  If 47% of one's hip stiffness, for example, is something they can safely do little about then maybe they will change their focus on the way they approach the issue.  Michael J Alter says in his book 'Sport Stretch':

"A question of great interest to all athletes is the relative importance of various tissues in joint stiffness. The joint capsule (i.e., the saclike structure that encloses the ends of bones) and ligaments are the most important factors, accounting for 47 percent of the stiffness, followed by the muscle's fascia (41 percent), the tendons (10 percent), and skin (2 percent). However, most efforts to increase flexibility through stretching should be directed to the muscle fascia. The reasons for this are twofold. First, muscle and its fascia have more elastic tissue, so they are more modifiable in terms of reducing resistance to elongation. Second, because ligaments and tendons have less elasticity than fascia, it is undesirable to produce too much slack in them. Overstretching these structures may weaken the integrity of joints. As a result, an excessive amount of flexibility may destabilize the joints and increase an athlete's risk of injury."

Sports Stretch

Alter, Michael J (1998). Sports Stretch. 2nd ed. USA: Human Kinetics . Part 1. Pg 8

Blog post find

I found this blog yesterday, which I think relates well to my blog regarding students not understanding your cues.