The Anatomy of Rest - Radio 4

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07vq2by

Above is a link to BBC's Radio 4 episode called The Anatomy of Rest - Does the Brain Rest? 

In one of my interviews, I was told to listen to this interview.  I had asked the question 'Do you use directed teaching or a more play based approach? and she had told me that the brain is actually more active when we are daydreaming rather than concentrating on something, suggesting that a play-based approach would be a more useful method of teaching to use in my dance classes.  

The podcast says:

'You have areas of the brain that are consistently more active when you are doing nothing.'

'mind wandering shares the same processes as creative thinking.'

'mind wandering involves a lot of the processes that we use for solving problems and for coming up with creative ideas and planning the future.'

I find this so interesting and can definitely relate to this.  Usually my best/most intense ideas or thoughts come to me when I am lying in bed just before I fall asleep.

I can apply this to my professional practice, knowing that giving the children free play at the end of the session is fostering their creative skills.

Receiving Feeback

I had my last classes this week before I begin Pantomime rehearsals.  I have worked really hard on my lesson plans this term taking in everything I have read in literature and I am so happy the hard work has paid off.  Below is some feedback I received from parents.

Musical babies make social kids

Interview process

I have now completed my interviews and have to say I really enjoyed being able to talk professionally to people in a similar job as me.   In all of my interviews the questions were really just a skeleton of what I wanted to ask and most interviews I asked more questions off what they said.  It was great to hear from people who have more experience than me and can definitely say I will be taking all of their ideas into my classes.  I noticed that there is two types of Early Years Dance Teachers:

1. Teachers that teach creatively and there main aim is to allow self expression and have fun.
2. Teachers that teach exam classes and there main aim is to pass dance exams and pass on technique.

I find that there is benefits to both practices, however, for me I would like to go down the first route of teaching with a more creative approach.

I have now started drafting my inquiry as in two weeks I will be starting Pantomime rehearsals which I know will leave me with limited time up until the New Year.  It is a slight worry but I cannot wait to get into rehearsals again.  I will be playing 'Tommy the Cat' in Dick Whittington and feel it will tie in nicely with my professional inquiry as a lot of my audience is going to be young children.  It will be interesting to see what the children find funny and what they enjoyed the most about the show.

Fostering Pre School Childrens social development - Why I will be adding songs to my classes

One of my inquiry questions asks how I can foster social and creative development in my classes.  I found this study through the Starcatchers blog which has encouraged me to include songs and singing in my dance classes.

The full article can be found here.

Over a month, 39 babies attended 12, 15 minute sessions in a lab with their parents. In groups of 2/3 babies sat with their parents. 20 children were assigned to the 'music group' where childrens tunes were played while they tapped out a waltz rhythm.  19 babies attended a session without music.

Both groups experienced active involvement and included body movements.  The key difference was whether the babies were moving to learn a musical rhythm.

After a week, the babies were placed in a brain scanner and the rhythms were played to them with disruptions in the music.

Results:  The babies in the music group has stronger brain responses to the disruption of the music and speech.

“Schools across our nation are decreasing music experiences for our children, saying they are too expensive,” Kuhl says. “This research reminds us that the effects of engaging in music go beyond music itself. Music experience has the potential to boost broader cognitive skills that enhance children’s abilities to detect, expect and react quickly to patterns in the world, which is highly relevant in today’s complex world.”

This study has encouraged me to use songs and rhythm exercises in my classes.

Laban Movement Theory

Whilst reading for my inquiry I came across this theory from 'Developmental Movement for Children' by Veronica Sherborne and found it may be useful to teachers and in particular will help me with my inquiry question 'How can I foster social and creative skills in my classes.'

Laban characterized movement into four parts

• Direction 
• Weight
• Speed
• Flow

With Direction, Laban describes 6 movements:

• High/Low
• Side to Side
• Backwards/Forwards

As a teacher, you can encourage children to move in ways that are normally neglected and thus enrich their awareness of the space.  I am going to try this in my classes and note down in my journal how the children react.  I already include a lot of High and Low movement in my classes so it will be interesting to see how the children react to more side to side movements and backwards movement and if I will see an improvement in these directions over the term.

The book states:

'If children have not developed awareness of their bodies, movement into space becomes meaningless and empty.  With the development of some body awareness, the spatial directions begin to have greater significance.'

Movement Qualities

There are eight movement qualities:

1. Strong
2. Light
3. Bound Flow
4. Free Flow
5. Direct
6. Flexible 
7. Fast 
8. Slow

When teaching or observing young children, 'we are mainly aware of one or perhaps two of these qualities.  It is rare to see as many as four at once.' 

As an Early Years teacher, this will help me with my classes as I can look for qualities that the children are less familiar with and try and try and develop these qualities with them. It will be hard at first but with the help of my journal I think this will help me to become a better teacher.

Article I found interesting

The article is called 'Why Preschool Shouldn't be like School' and below is a link to the full article:

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2011/03/why_preschool_shouldnt_be_like_school.html

It talks about 'direct teaching' vs 'the playful approach'  and describes a controlled experiment to measure the two.

In one experiement, they gave two groups of 4 year olds a toy with four different tubes coming out of it.  Each tube did something different.  The only variable in each group was the way that the adults taught the children in the group about the toy.  In one group, the experimenter pretended she had just found the toy acted surprised at what the toy could do.  In the other group the experimenter acted more like a teacher and said things like 'Im going to show you how my toy works.'  They then left the children alone with the toy.

The children from the first group discovered more about the toys hidden features than those in the second group.

So, I put this into my own practice and thought about the way I teach young children.  I try and use props of different colours and base my class around a theme to make it fun.  However, I do enjoy structure to my class and a bit of direction.  For example, I was employed to teach in a nursery today and feel that if my class did not involve a bit of directed teaching then the other teachers observing the class may have questioned what I was doing and it may have looked like I was not in control of the class by letting them play on their own for too long.

I have decided to include this is a question in my interviews to other practitioners as I am interested to know what the best way of teaching is to ensure young children are learning as creatively as possible in my classes.

Starcatchers workshop

Throughout Summer I have been trying to find opportunities to learn more about Early Years Education. I took part in a free workshop with Starcatchers, an Early Years organisation based in Scotland that specialise in creativity and performances for children aged 0-5. This was a perfect chance for me to network with other professionals who are interested in enriching the lives of Early Years children. 

Everyone came from different backgrounds and this was great. Some were singing teachers, some studying like me and some were just genuinely interested in the subject. 

It started with a discussion based workshop about why the Arts and Creativity are so important in the Early Years. We were told that 90% of synapses are developed in the brain in the first three years.  This statistic made me feel excited that I have chosen to look at social development in Early Years Dance classes and it is clearly the most crucial age in development. It is also makes me think as teachers we are responsible for nurturing a child's development. 

We also looked at Article 31 of the UN Convention of the Rights of the child that Scotland has signed up to: 

“That every child has the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.

That member governments shall respect and promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic life and shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity.”

It is hugely relevant right now that we make sure all children are having positive arts experiences. 

In the afternoon, we were shown various techniques, games, songs that we could use in our classes to encourage creative development. I find this hugely useful as a teacher and gave me lots of new inspiration for my classes. I have been asked to do two workshops for a nursery this week and will be using a mixture of my ideas with ideas I learnt from the workshop. In the past I have jus taught dance to the the Early Years students however, after taking part in the workshop I am going to add singing to the movement as I think this this will capture their attention and encourage a positive social and creative development. 

This workshop helped me a lot and gave me great resources to research. 

Getting back to work!

Here we go, final module!! Having read over Reader 3 and the Module 3 Handbook I have to say the nerves are kicking in for the final part of this Degree.  All I am trying to think of is the feeling of satisfaction I will feel when I've handed in my professional inquiry completed! 

In the handbook it says to keep in contact with everyone else on the course and to regularly blog. So, tonight myself and two others in the course will have a Skype call as we have similar inquiries. I am hoping this will clear a few things up for me and will give me a sense of motivation to get started! 

On Friday I will join the group Skype session with Paula which I also hope will help to clarify things I have read in the handbook. 

Finally, I am planning to blog ALOT more. This will keep me focused on what I am doing. 

Would be good to hear from anyone else who has just read the handbook as well to know I'm not alone! :) 

Award Specialism Title and rationale

BA(Hons)Professional Practice in Arts (Dance)

Since graduating last year with a Diploma in Dance it has always been my intention to further my training and knowledge in Dance with a focus on Early Years Dance Education.   I still hold a great passion for performing and continuing my own personal Dance training, however when I think of my future career development, I know my strengths lie in contributing to the physical, social and creative development of an Early Years child through Dance and Movement classes.  In the past year, I have been offered six new dance classes specifically for 3-5 year olds, and I would like to continue to expand on this.  With waiting lists on all of these classes it has become apparent to me that there is a lack of provision for Early Years classes in the Highlands of Scotland.

Furthermore, I have developed an in depth knowledge of a Pre-school childs physical development through movement classes by attending courses in Pre-school Gymnastics and Dance teaching.  What I would like to research further, is the social and creative development a child benefits from by taking these classes.

At the moment, I lead Pre-school classes through different companies during the week.  It is my intention, in the next few years, to open my own Pre-School Dance and Movement company, with my own syllabus, therefore this inquiry will be of direct value to my Professional Practice as it foresees what I wish to pursue for my future career. 

This inquiry area will give me the confidence to start up my own classes and give Early Years the opportunity to take part in something that will develop them physically, socially and creatively.  It will increase provision for Arts classes in the Highlands and provide parents with a professional teacher that has extensive knowledge. 

Arts from the Start 💜

Arts from the Start - interesting literature

I'm getting closer and closer to pin pointing my inquiry!! This morning was filled with a lot of searching and reading and these are some articles I have found of interest.

I have been researching the effects of dance and movement classes for early years in their social and creative development. In one article by Julie Vickers on livestrong.com it says :

~Young children learn through full physical involvement. Dance sessions require mental concentration and active participation. 

~Spatial awareness skills are essential for successful social encounters.

~Children begin to acquire social confidence by taking turns to lead others. Dance practitioners may also develop skills of miming, of body language and facial expressions to suggest emotions. 

~Taking turns  and co operating with each other. Circle games and dances help children learn co operation and sharing.

 

This case study from 'EYFS best practice' talks about a young boy named Stefan who did not speak English as a first language and struggled to be social with his classmates. As soon as a movement game was introduced as a way of communicating his confidence and well being increased. 

A busy and productive week!

Last week, I was on my Level 1 Pre school Gymnastics course.  I really enjoyed this course and really feel that Pre School teaching is where my heart lies. 

On the first day we covered ethics which definitely consolidated my knowledge and gave me a few new points I hadn't thought of before. 

Creating positive and appropriate relationships. 

You have to gain the respect of your students. No matter how old they are. If I am teaching pre school children I will be actively involved in their class. There is no point just telling them what to do as to them you are their idol and they look up to you. With older children, you need their trust, especially as I am an Acro teacher I will be supporting these children to do new moves so they need to know they are safe in your hands. 

Good personal behaviour.

I think this covers everything from the way you dress to the way you act. I remember one dance session I decided not to wear any make up and a few kids commented how I looked really tired and 'have you just got out of bed?!' My point is kids don't miss anything! Try to be consistent! 

I think that when it comes to teaching ethics is just a way of life. You need to be setting an example all the time. 

Helpful Skype with Paula

I am at a point now where I know what areas I am interested in but I haven't focussed in on what exactly I want my inquiry to be about.  Anybody else at this point?!

I spoke to Paula about my interests in Early Years Dance and Teaching Dance in schools.  We then spoke about the area I live in (The Highlands) and how this could make my inquiry personal to me.  Paula asked me what I would like to find out about and what would be helpful for me to focus on.  My passion is teaching Early Years Dance and Movement.  For me to progress further in this field I need to look at Child Development and how Dance benefits a young child.

After a lot of googling today I think I have made a bit more progress into my inquiry.  I started off with a quick mind map.

Of course, we know that Dance for Early Years is beneficial for a child in many areas of development.  The most obvious would be their physical development.

What I would like to research further is a child's Creative and Cognitive development.  

In an online article I read, it says:

'Babies brains are born with 100 billion neurons but only about 1/4 of the connections.'

'Creative activities that encourage positive relationships can support the rapid blooming of synapses leading to the formation of well rounded personalities, good attachment, self-esteem and better mental health.'

Since taking my own Pre-School Dance classes last year I have found that the class is not so much about teaching the child how to dance but teaching them skills such as having respect for everyone else that is in the class, to share, to take turns, to listen, to co-operate etc etc.

I now plan to look at opportunities for Early Years in my area.  Are there enough classes for little ones to go to in the Highlands? Is it affordable? Are parents aware of the benefits of taking their child to a creative class?

Interesting Literature

By using Summon and the internet I have found some articles that have really interested me and may be taking me closer to my inquiry questions.  Tuesday nights session with Paula was great to voice questions and opinions.  She answered my question that we can use more than one question in our inquiry.

I have expressed my interest in previous blogs about the benefits of creative teaching in schools and most recently became interested in the quality of dance lessons in the school curriculum.

The first piece of literature I found is an article by Mandy Fouracre and is titled:

'Dance for young children can provide so much more than physical exercise.  Could Early Years Practitioners be the key to extending this learning opportunity to more children?'

Of course, Dance is a fantastic way to keep fit and exercise.  Tom Fry from Child Growth Foundation says 'Half an hour of physical activity should be a daily event for pre-school children.'

The article then goes on to talk about the benefits of dance on a child's learning development.  For example, teaching the child a simple and fun dance sequence about a caterpillar can teach the children about the life cycle of a butterfly.  And they are having fun and keeping fit in the process!

Then what interested me most was this:

'Parental choice and affordability are two main factors in deciding whether children are able to attend an extra curricular dance class.'

'Many Early Years children from low socio-economic groups are excluded and the benefits a dance programme can bring are denied to them.'

Therefore, should dance not be in the school curriculum at least once a week so that every child can experience these benefits on their development?  Personally, I think it should.  However, another area that needs to be addressed is that we need teachers confident enough to teach dance to children in schools.

Mandy Fouracre says:

'The confidence to teach dance is often lacking amongst those working in an early years setting because dance is considered to be a specialist subject and one which (incorrectly in my opinion) can only be taught by professionally trained and qualified dance teachers.'

As mentioned in my previous blog it seems to be an overall attitude that teachers will pass on teaching dance as their is a lack of confidence or knowledge in the subject.  Should it be that more workshops and teaching are provided to teachers in training or should a dance specialist be appointed to schools?

 Let me know your thoughts.

Should dance be a compulsory part of school curriculum?

Earlier this week, I was speaking with one of my friends who is also a PE Teacher about delivering dance in schools. She told me that her, along with her fellow teachers would skip out on dance lessons as they feel they lack the skills and confidence to teach to their students. I also have another PE teacher friend who is currently in training who will regularly come to me and ask what she should do as she has to teach a dance class.

Following on from my interest in creative teaching and Early Years Dance I read an article online which really interested me. It said:

'Less curriculum time is spent on dance than any other art form in primary schools.'

Which made me think. Should it be compulsory for teachers to learn how to teach dance? We know the benefits that dance has in education:

'Schools recognise the potential for dance as a tool for fitness, creativity and social skills, and as a vehicle to interpret other subjects like maths.'

As a freelance Dance Teacher I would love to get into schools and pass on my passion for dance to the kids. So today, I have written to every primary school in my hometown to suggest that I come in and give a taster session to the children. I am really interested to see if I get any replies and what their opinions are of dance being taught in schools.

For my inquiry, I feel I am getting closer to a focused subject. I already know that dance and creative teaching has benefits from a young age but I would like to know if schools realise this and if it should be compulsory to have more teachers learning about dance education or if a dance specialist should be appointed to schools. I also realise there is a lack of funding given to arts projects in schools. Does this need to change? Would love to hear your thoughts and opinions.

Here is the link to the full article:
http://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/magazine/267/article/more-dancing

Getting into Module 2

As I said in previous blogs, I am interested in the importance of teaching creativity through the Arts to Early Years and what affect this will have on them in their learning throughout school.  I can start by using my own example.

When studying in Secondary School, I decided to take up Higher Dance as one of my subjects (Highers are the equivalent of an A Level)  I also did History.  Looking back, I could sit in History lesson and not take one thing in. Not one thing.  Like I could leave the classroom and not have a clue what just happened.  I sat at a table and stared at a screen with writing on it for an hour.  When it came to Higher Dance, I was wholly involved in my learning.  It was physical as I used my body, but mental as I was taking in every correction and learning point I was given.  I received an A in both Dance and History.  Could I tell you anything about what I learnt in that History lesson. Nothing.  Could I hear a piece of music and remember every step I did in my Higher Dance lessons? YES! I experienced creative learning, and five years later I can still remember what I learnt!

This week, I was asked into nursery schools to deliver dance sessions.  What surprised me the most was that this was such a novelty for the kids and the teachers and they were just so grateful for me being there.  Should it not be the case that they are getting a Dance class every week?

I read some great articles today and one from 'Unlocking creativity' by Robert Fisher said:

'Promoting creative thinking is a powerful way of engaging children with their learning.'

Even in my short 45 minute session I feel that the kids had actually come away with something they had learnt.  For some this is even just learning how to stand in a circle.

It amazes me that there is not more dance,drama,music in Early Years Education.  Our local theatre has just been faced with a 17% cut to funding meaning that they may not be able to provide the Higher Dance and Drama courses anymore.  This brings me to another quote I read from Fishers article:

'Employers want people who are adaptable, innovative, can solve problems and communicate with others.'

I would love everyone to realise how important it is for these young children to learn creatively through Dance, Drama and Music.

Module 2 Reader 4 initial thoughts

Having just read over the Module 2 Handbook and Reader 4 I am looking forward to exploring a topic that will benefit my Professional work. I have known from the start of this course that I want to focus in on Early Years Dance and Creative work as this is where I currently have experience in but want to really improve on. 

Has anyone else on Module 2 decided what they want to focus on yet for their inquiry? I am interested to hear the different subjects we all want to explore. 

I jotted down some questions that I would be interested in researching. Just a quick brainstorm to get me started. They are:

~The benefits of creativity play and dance in a child's physical and social development? 

~What is the perfect class plan for a pre school child to improve movement and physical development as well as social development.  

~The benefits of using imagery/photos and pictures in a dance and movement class for children.

In the last module I focused in on younger years dance and creative play so this is something I would now like to expand on. This week I plan to do some reading on this subject. 

How is everyone else getting on with the start of Module 2. Would be good to hear some thoughts :)