Task 2d: Inquiry

I revisited the Reflective Journal that I have been keeping, and one consistent theme kept reoccurring – the students. These ranged from extremely positive events to frustrating and stressful events. Yet, I realised that teaching the students and reflecting on what I thought, felt, what sense of achievement I had or what I had planned to solve a problem, forms the main body of my journal to date.

What in your daily practice gets you really enthusiastic to find out more about? Who do you admire who also works with what makes you enthusiastic?

I get really enthusiastic about secondary school boys becoming involved in dance, drama and performing arts, either as part of their curriculum or as an extra curricular activity. In the performing arts, and particularly dance, industry there are still fewer male performers compared to women. I have noticed in my work that there are still fewer boys who take GCSE dance as an option and there are often more girls in the class. However, in our current school production there are more male leads than female leads.

I think in our school young male students have a really passion for the arts and it is a big part of our school ethos. There is a stigma attached to performing arts that is created by students in many schools, which results in many boys feeling that they can’t take part in any performing arts for fear they will be isolated or even bullied. From my perspective, I do not feel this is the case in my school and I find this really inspiring.

I admire the Head of Dance at the school I work in. I think a lot of the enthusiasm these young boys have for performing arts is a result of her creativity and passion for her subject. It is compulsory for all boys to have dance as part of their timetable every week. I believe she creates an atmosphere in the lessons where boys feel comfortable and do not feel like dance is a feminine subject. I have noticed that there have been specialised boy dance groups in the past where they have competed outside of the Academy. I have also observed how the older male students use site-specific work as part of their coursework. I think both of these things contribute to the boys wanting to take part in dance because they enjoy experimenting with props and places. They enjoy the freedom and strength it involves, therefore they become interested in it. In this way, dance is still ‘manly’ and ‘strong’.

I researched into this topic and found the website Boys Dancing, who are an organisation who are passionate about getting young boys involved in dance in the Midlands. The project started in 2009 as part of the 2019 Olympic Bid. One of the company’s aims is, ‘to prove to boys that dance is exciting, engaging, fun and challenging... dance is a great mix of spontaneous physical and mental activity - it requires physical strength like in sport' (Boys Dancing, Warwick Arts Centre, 2015). I find this inspiring as it is an organisation that is local to me and it shares my passion to show young boys that dance is not just for girls. They also have a set or short video episodes aimed at teachers who want to encourage boys to dance; I thought tat their concept of creating an environment where boys are not pressured to create movement was an interesting avenue to explore because it could be one of the reasons why boys are encouraged to dance.

Boys Dancing, Warwick Arts Centre (2015) Episode 1: From Playing to Dancing [Internet] Available from: http://boysdancing.org/teachers/episode-1-from-playing-to-dancing [Accessed on 28 March 2015]

I also saw this link on Paula’s blog to an article relating to this subject; it was an interesting read, especially seeing the students’ opinions on this controversial subject.
Paula's Blog link: links on BBC and CBBC on dance - boys and Dance Hall

I still don’t feel that I know enough about what inspires these boys to take part in performing arts activities within my school. I have developed the following questions that I think would help me find out more about this subject. A possible line of inquiry is, ‘What inspires young male students in secondary schools to take part in performing arts activities, as part of their curriculum or as an extra curricular activity?’

Possible points of inquiry:

• Are they inspired/enthused to choose dance as an option from their compulsory KS3 lessons?
• Do they have a passion for performing arts outside of the Academy?
• Are male specific/male orientated classes or workshops used to increase male interest?
• Does a role model type setting create this passion, where the older students are seen dancing/performing and being accepted by the school’s ‘society’?
• Is it an, ‘offshoot’ of the nationally and internationally highly successful school music bands? Students that are a part of this culture and then becoming involved in performing arts has been a natural progression from this.
• Is it a culture created over years within the Academy itself?
• Does the socio-economics of the school’s intake have an affect on what the student see as acceptable?

What gets you angry or makes you sad? Who do you admire who shares your feelings or has found away to work around the sadness or anger?

It makes me angry that there never seems to be enough time to really speak to the students about what they think is important. I noticed in my journal that my overriding emotion about what I do is stress. I am often stressed because there never seems to be enough time in the day to complete mandatory tasks, such as lesson plans. The time taken up by these things is clearly important, but if I am struggling to complete the necessary tasks then this leave virtually no time to have a really good conversation with the students about things that they find important.

These are not necessarily ‘important’ issues that students need support with because I know that our Academy has an excellent support system for students where they always feel safe. I am discussing the general day-to-day conversations. Often, the students just want to tell you how well they have done on their end of term test, or show you something they have learnt in another lesson, or just what they had for tea last night! I believe these are important moments, and I have noticed they are often the moments that I write about at the end of a day in my journal. A student has chosen to share that ‘thing’ with you as a professional, it meant something to them, and therefore it is an important event. Yet, I feel there is not enough time in the day for students to share these moments with the teachers that shape so much of their lives.

I believe that many teachers feel that way I do about this. I am not sure if I can pin down a specific person but I know form conversations with many colleagues that they also feel this way. The following blog on the TES (Times Educational supplement) discusses this issue that makes me sad about my job: https://news.tes.co.uk/b/opinion/2013/11/15/39-we-have-enough-data-on-our-pupils-and-schools-perhaps-it-s-time-to-concentrate-on-information-that-helps-the-school-community-develop-its-potentia.aspx

Possible line of enquiry, ‘What makes students feel valued in their learning environment and what role do teachers play in this?’

Possible points of inquiry:

• Do students feel they have enough quality time with staff to talk about things that are important to them?
• Are there possible ways of making time for this in the school day?
• Do students feel that I am the ‘listening ear’ for their ‘important moments’?
• What motivates a student to share something they deem in important to them with you as a member of staff? Is it influenced by a professional relationship formed in lessons, in a extra curricular clubs or trips?

What do you love about what you do? Who do you admire who also seems to love this or is an example of what you love?

From my journal writing entries, the thing that I love the most is the ability you have as a teacher to be the catalyst in the students’ lives that inspires these young people to achieve in their education. To be that motivating factor in their school life, the lesson that they anticipate walking through the door of each week, is the part of my job that I aspire to do well and the part that I think is the singularly most important thing about teaching.

When I first thought about a person that I admired who also loves this about my job, my first answer was pretty generic - all teachers feel this way. However, my Dad works in education and when he came home yesterday, he was describing the lecture he had shared with his students. He was so animated as he described the strategies he had used to involve the students in the subject of Space. He was enthusiastic when he described how the students did not want to leave the lecture because they said that they had learnt so much. It wasn’t necessarily the events he was describing that inspired me to write this, but it was the evident joy that he felt from (what he considered) a successful lecture. This made me realise that I really admire the passion my Dad has for teaching after 35 years in the profession. Even though he does not teach in the arts, this is a passion that we share.

Line of enquiry, ‘How do teachers bring the passion that they have for their subjects into their lessons to motivate young people to achieve?’

Possible points of inquiry:

• Do the majority/minority enjoy performing arts lesson and why? Does this vary school to school?
• Does personality type of a teacher motivate/deter young people in lessons?
• Do students enjoy different individual subjects in the performing arts more or less (e.g. loves dance but hates drama or vice versa)? What are their reason for this?
• Are certain class groups/year groups more inspired than others? What are the reasons for this: is there a class culture (one person is inspired and encourages others or the opposite effect where they deter other students) and do certain teaching styles suit different student better (more independence given and some students don’t like this)?
• Do they enjoy a subject because they are ‘good’ at it? How does a teacher harness this?
• Do they dislike a subject more because they are ‘bad’ at it? How do teacher change this?
• What strategies do they use to motivate students: praise and reward, privileges?
• Have they been inspired to take part in extra curricular performing arts activities because they enjoy their lessons with their teachers?
• Have they ben inspired to take part in a performing arts related subject outside of school or considered it as a career path because they have been inspired by their teacher’s lessons within compulsory education?

Reference List:

Boys Dancing, Warwick Arts Centre (2015) Episode 1: From Playing to Dancing [Internet] Available from: http://boysdancing.org/teachers/episode-1-from-playing-to-dancing [Accessed on 28 March 2015]

Nottingham, P. (2015) links on BBC and CBBC on dance - boys and Dance Hall [Internet] Available from: http://paulanottingham.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/links-on-bbc-and-cbbc-on-dance-boys-and.html [Accessed on 27 March 2015]

Williams, J. (2013) 'We have enough data on our pupils and schools. Perhaps it's time to concentrate on information that helps the school community develop its potential.' [Internet] Available from: https://news.tes.co.uk/b/opinion/2013/11/15/39-we-have-enough-data-on-our-pupils-and-schools-perhaps-it-s-time-to-concentrate-on-information-that-helps-the-school-community-develop-its-potentia.aspx [Accessed on 25 March 2015]