Task 5b: Codes of practice/ conduct

Working on this task made read through various 'Codes of Conduct' from different companies and organisations. Without research, I came up with the more obvious points: no stealing, no racism, no bullying, etc. Researching further into the subject made me realise that there is so much more to consider as a teacher. After having a look on the internet about work regulations, I read through a couple of blogs. One I found very interesting and helpful was Melanie Brown's blog about 'Codes of Practice'.

http://melaniebrown10.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/5b-codes-of-practiceregulations-in-work.html

She posted a link from the RAD (Royal Academy of Dance) on their 'Code of Conduct'
(http://www.rad.org.uk/files/ART255_Code%20of%20Conduct%20English.pdf) which is very similar to the 'code of Conduct' from the 'Council for Dance Education and Training':

http://cdet.org.uk/teaching-and-qualifications/code-of-conduct/


Looking at my previous blog and my thoughts on workplace ethics I realised that I mainly focused on rules that apply to students and not so much on my own behaviour as a dance teacher.
Looking at both 'Codes of Conduct' there are a couple of points that stood out to me the most:

• Integrity

Behave fair and honest in all business and professional relationships, f.i. don't misrepresent qualifications or experience. Furthermore, it is vital to respect the confidantiality withni a working environment.

• Competency

Continuing Professional Development ... This is the key to this point. I think it's a teachers duty and part of his/her profession to keep up-to-date on any changes there are in the dance industry. For instance, if there's a new syllabus for RAD exams, the teacher has to make sure that he knows what is required. Ultimately, dance is constantly changing and students come to classes to learn and if teachers don't know what they are teaching and don't know anything about it, how should to students learn from them?

• Health and Safety

Teachers always have to make sure that the teaching facilities are adequately maintained and provide a safe environment for learning. Only with the right tools is it able to achieve successful teaching and learning.

• Courtesy and Consideration

I think this the most important point and should be the top priority for any teacher: alawys promote and safeguard the interests and well-being of students and justify student trust and confidence. As teachers it is our goal to teach students and we can't do that without their trust and their confidence in us. I remember it being harder to teach students when I first started because I hadn't gained their trust yet and they didn't know me but now it is much easier to work together.


Both the RAD aswell as the CDET 'Code of Conduct' have helped me very much in my teaching and are a great guide for anyone starting out as a teacher.

Task 5a: Workplace ethics

For this task we have to think about ethics that apply to our workplace and the dance community. This turned out to be harder than expected because most of it is common sense, therefore it took longer to consider that aswell. Here are a few points I came up with so far:

• No stealing

• No racism - everybody no matter what religion/ethnicity he or she is has to be treated equally

• Copyright - make sure you have the right to use music, film material, sheet music

• No bullying - both from teachers aswell as children

• Professional conduct - in college that would be f.i. No student - teacher relationships;                  - within a workplace it would mean to behave professionally and like an employee/student towards choreographers/teachers even though you're friends outside the dance studio

I think most of these are common sense so when it actually comes to writing down paper what we should actually be thinking about ethically, it's hard forus to do so. Those are only a few of many ethics that have to be considered in a workplace.

Ideas, ideas!!

I just can't seem to decide on my final inquiry question/topic!!

Everytime I think I've got it I seem to come up with different ideas and questions. 

BUT I think I (finally) found my topic for ma inquiry:

What defines a good dance teacher?

What do you guys think about that? I would hugely appreciate any feedback because, to be honest, I am freaking out a bit here because everybody seems to be working ontheir inquiries!

PLEASE, if you've got some spare time, let me know what you' re thinking, I'll definitely return. The favour ;)! 

X

Task 4d: Award Title

I've been thinking about this for while since I think this will identify my professional practice.

At the moment I have a couple of 'options' for an award title:

• BA Hons Professional Practice Performing Arts

-> To be honest I do feel like this particular title is pretty general and broad which was also the reason for chosing it. I'm not sure whether i would like a more specific award title which shows deeper knowledge in one specific area.

• BA Hons Professional Practice Dance

-> This was the first one I came up with because that was were my professional training was in. I think this one would probably be the most accurate one in regards to my previous training. Although thinking about my future and the possibility of me becoming a full-time teacher I would probably have to reconsider it.

• BA Hons Professional Practice Dance Education

-> Thinking about a career as a dance teacher this one would definitely be the best suited title. The reason I'm not entirely sure about chosing this is award title is that I still want to dance before actually getting my hands on teaching. 

A the moment, this are the 3 award titles I'm toying with. I'll definitely have to think about my definte award title for a while. I would appraciate any comments, suggestions, etc. :) 

Task 4a: Decisions, Decisions!!

For the past week I was trying to get my head around, what to do for my inquiry.
I came up with a couple of topics that I find very interesting:

• health and nutrition
• influence of teachers
• injuries
• transition from performer to teacher
• different learning styles

I find it hard to decide purely because we'll have to stick to the theme/ topic we use for quite a while. Therefore it has be chosen wisely!!!

The two topics that interest me the most are injuries and teachers and their influence on students.
After talking to co-workers, students, etc. I came up with a couple of questions:

1. How important is a good student/teacher relationship in regards to the learning success of the student?
2. What needs to be improved on and how can teachers help students in order for them to pursue dance as their professional practice?
3. How important is good technique in order to prevent injuries at a later stage?
4. What are the key elements for injury prevention?

Personally, at the moment I feel most interested in question 2.) because the dance school I teach, a couple of girls are toying with the idea of going abroad and studying dance or musical theatre.

Please let me know any thoughts any ideas you have. I promise I'll try to help out and reply to the best of my abilities ;)!

Task 3c: Sources of information

1. FRIENDS:

To me, friends are the easiest and most natural way of gathering information. I agree with Melanie Brown in her blog when she says meeting for a coffee or or having a quick chat over the phone is the perfect and most enjoyable combination. What it makes so enyable is the fact that it's not forced upon us, we choose to meet up with our friends and we like socialising with them. By talking to your friends you can not only find out about parties, films, music but in a more professional way also about auditions and jobs. At the same time, friends are always there to support you to the best of their ability. Of course, friendship is a balance between giving and taking, which brings me back to the previous task and Cooperation and Axelrod (1984). Personally, I think friends are probably my most important source of information and knowledge.

2. FACEBOOK:

Honestly, I can't imagine a world without Web 2.0 anymore. I've grown so used to it that I'd probably be lost if I couldn't rely on it. For me, I would say Facebook is the one Web 2.0 tool I use the most. The good thing about it is that it's so easy. You are basically just a mouse click away from any information you need. Just 'like' the group you are interested in and you get all the information there is on it. I find it very helpful when it comes to audition websites because it gives details to various auditions and vacancies. The amazing thing about Facebook is that it's used by so many people all around the world and is therefore being constantly updated. There is so much information on it that there is no way we are able to access all of it but it's always good to know that if you need anything or have questions, there is a platform for everything.

3. PHONE:

I just recently got a Blackberry and I have to say it's amazing. To be completely honest, I never used to care much about my phone. Previously, I had an old Nokia which could only do what a mobile was to: send texts and ring people. Don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with that, I was completely happy. But now, a completely new world has opened up for me. I can go on the internet, send e-mails, go on facebook, download apps, etc. with my phone. It's awesome. Not only get I get information by calling people or texting them but I can also use Web 2.0 on the go. That's always helpful when you go to an audition and what to check the time, place or date again. Whereas before I didn't miss my phone when I left it somewhere, now I'd probably feel pretty lost without it.

4. DIARY:

For somebody who hasn't kept a diary before starting out on BAPP, it's amazing important it is to me now. I feel like it helps me lot when I read through my older diary entries and to see how various situations have effected me then and now. Getting me thoughts and feelings out on paper helps focus again on the important things and to stop worrying and over-thinking about the unnecessary. To me, my diary is like a self-learning manual. I learn from my actions my reflecting on them.

5. BAPP BLOGS:

Without the blogs of the other students on this course, we wouldn't be able to discuss, talk about and be inspired be our work. I find always very interesting to read through people's blogs on certain topics because you see a different view of things which also helps me in my professional practice. Many of us have similar ideas on certain topics, f.i. reading through blogs on 'Theories relating to networking' I realised that Emily Hunt aswell as Clare Orlandi both also wrote about the 'Survival of the fittest' in regard to Cooperation. What I find very surprising is that although we are at different stages in out career, we still quite a lot in common regarding our ideas and views on certain subjects. In regard to my professional practice, I would say the BAPP blogs from all the students are definitely the most helpful and important ones when it comes to gaining and exchanging information.

Task 3b: Theories relating to Networking

WOW ... that's what I call information overload! Reading "Reader 3" for the first time was like reading something in a foreign language I've never heard before. I literally didn't understand at all what it was actually about! But after reading through it again and again, I feel like I understand it much better and therefore, I'm giving it a go to discuss the different concepts and what ways I am using them in my own professional practice.

Cooperation

Thinking about Cooperation, a group of people that works together, all of them giving and taking, discussing ideas, etc. to achieve a certain goal comes to my mind. This is very much related to the 'Game theory'. Here, people work together strategically so that one player succeeds but always at another's expense. Axelrod (1984) explains this with the 'Prisoner's Dilemma'. He states that it's important to 'cooperate fully until maximum benefit and then to defect' and that there are always bigger results achieved if you consider patterns in all our interactions and networks.
 
Axelrod questions: "Should a friend keep providing favours to another friend who never reciprocates?" This question was one my mind for when I first read it. Looking at it objectively I would say no. A relationship shouldn't be based one person just giving and the other one taking all the time. But then again, I'm somebody who tries to help as much as I can even if that means not getting anything back. I do believe that at some point in my life I will getting something back for what I've given that one person .... Personally, I think 'Tit For Tat' is a safe way to get through life.
I do believe that living life under the principles of 'Game theory' would make many things much easier. Last week I went to an audition with a couple of my friends. While we were still learning the choreography, we all help each other and made sure we all know the routine. But when it came to performing infront of the panel, it was everybody 'against' each other. Obviously, each and everyone in that room wanted the job, so you can't think of your friends in there but you have to contrate  and focus on yourself. I think cooperating with others is necessary, healthy and needed in a certain dosage but when it comes to essential events in life you have to think of youreself first. Just like Charles Darwin said "Survival of the fittest".

Affiliation

Affiliation is a concept in the field of social psychology. Crisp & Turner (2007 pp266) explain it as a social process that provides us 'with a network of support that will help us when we are in need'. It's human nature to want to connect, bond, network and build relationships with other people. Each and everyone of us affiliates in all areas of our life, professional and personal. As we are all different, we all decide on the preferred level of social stimulation and on the balance of social interaction ourselves (O'Connor & Rosenblood 1996 pp267).

Affiliations in both your personal and professional life are essential! Personally, I think they are what keeps me focused on what I try to achieve aswell as putting everything into perspective. For instance, whenever I'm cut from an audition my friends and family help me see it from a different angle and get me to feel positive about auditioning again and they help me to keep going. Personal affiliations are like a bouncy castle. Whenever I fall there is always somebody there I can bounce off and start again. After reading about affiliation in greater detail, I realised how important all the relationships we have are and I came to realise that they are the base of our society.

Social Constructionism

According to Reader 3 Social Constructionism is a set of related explanations about how meanings about the world are made. One of the key principles is that we construct meanings of the world through social interaction.
Crotty states that all knowledge is contingent upon human practices and is, therefore, based on interactioin between humans.
We need to network and communicate in order to be able to construct meaning and to be able to develop new networks for the future. I find it very interesting that Crotty says that "...meaning is not discovered but constructed". You have to think about and discuss everything new in order to be able to find meaning in it. Through socialising, discussing and developing new theories, we give meaning to things and that's how we learn.

Before reading about Constructionism I didn't even know it existed let alone that I 'use' it but now, I am aware that most things I've learned and the experiences I had where through Social Constructionism.

Connectivism:

Reading about Connectivism, I'm not sure I entirely agree with it. In relation to Professional networks, Connectivism explains how networks both learn and provide the means for individuals to connect and learn. It is also very closely connected to 'network theory' and Web 2.0.
I don't agree with the idea that the traditional way of learning should be modified or rejected. Of course, thanks to the BAPP course I learned a lot about Web 2.0 and how to use it and it gives us the opportunity to stay in touch via blogs, facebook, etc. But I don't think we should rejected the traditional way of learning. Even though Gonzalez states that the "half-life of knowledge" is shrinking and that the amount of knowledge in the world has doubled in the past 10 years I still think that we have to keep the traditional way of learning in mind. Generally, it's never good to just forget about the traditional/original way of doing things. I would say a mix of both, traditional and modern (in this case virtual technology) is the way to go.

Communities of Practice:

This is a topic I have discussed in previous blogs and tasks and I have to say it's the one theory I can relate the most to.
All of us are part of different communities, privately and professionally. Being part of social groups is essential nowadays because you meet people that share the same interests or profession as youwhich helps you in hugelyin your professional life. It's a great base to communicate with people that are in the same industry which helps you with auditions, jobs, vacancies. Socially, we can stay in touch with friends and share are thoughts and ideas on f.i. films, music, food, etc. In my point of view, we learn through the social groups. Chatting to other people or reading through other people's blogs helps us see thnigs in a different way and teaches us new ways of thinking. Lave and Wenger state that the communities of practice define possibilities of learning. I find thought that once we learn from other people, we can deepen that knowledge by combining it with our own thoughts and ideas and therefore broden our professional practice very intriguing. Being part of a 'community of practice' such as the BAPP group is amazing because it gives me the opportunity to learn from my peers and to share my interests, thoughts and ideas with them.


I was never aware of how important networking is in our industry and how many ways of networking there are. Reading the theory has made me much more aware of it and helped me see some things in a different light. Even though I don't agree with all of the theories, I did find it very interesting to read and it has helped me to learn from others.