Sunday, 4 December 2016
The Anatomy of Rest - Radio 4
Thursday, 17 November 2016
Receiving Feeback
Wednesday, 9 November 2016
Monday, 7 November 2016
Interview process
- Teachers that teach creatively and there main aim is to allow self expression and have fun.
- Teachers that teach exam classes and there main aim is to pass dance exams and pass on technique.
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.
Wednesday, 26 October 2016
Fostering Pre School Childrens social development - Why I will be adding songs to my 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.
Thursday, 6 October 2016
Laban Movement Theory
Laban characterized movement into four parts
- Direction
- Weight
- Speed
- Flow
- High/Low
- Side to Side
- Backwards/Forwards
- Strong
- Light
- Bound Flow
- Free Flow
- Direct
- Flexible
- Fast
- Slow
Wednesday, 28 September 2016
Article I found interesting
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.
Monday, 26 September 2016
Starcatchers workshop
“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!
Tuesday, 12 April 2016
Award Specialism Title and rationale
BA(Hons)Professional Practice in Arts (Dance)
Monday, 4 April 2016
Arts from the Start - interesting literature
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.
A busy and productive week!
Monday, 21 March 2016
Helpful Skype with Paula
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?
Friday, 18 March 2016
Interesting Literature
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.
Wednesday, 9 March 2016
Should dance be a compulsory part of school curriculum?
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
Thursday, 3 March 2016
Getting into Module 2
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.