Task 4A (& 4C)

Hi guys

I must be completely honest and mention about my absence. I've recently just landed myself a TA position in a Primary School, which means that I've been working about 14 hours a day with that and my retail job from 5pm onwards. Also my performing arts teaching on a Saturday. I have now quit my retail job, so now I have time to actually focus on my studying! It's been very frustrating to not have the time.

So I sent a few of my original questions from task 4A to my Boss (qualified and well experienced teacher) to see if she had any answers, and I was surprised to receive a prompt reply with most of the questions answered. [Below are my original questions with the questions that she answered in green.]

1. What similarities are there in teaching within a school and in a dance school?
2. What other methods of disciplinary are there? For example; for autistic children.
3. How long should you give yourself for Lesson Planning?
4. How do you gain a high respect from the students other than from good discipline?
5. Is there a way in teaching that can help students to be as honest a person as they can possibly be?
6. How do you encourage students without making them overly confident? 
7. How do you handle a situation where the children think that it's okay to hug the teacher?
8. What are the best methods to praise children, for them to learn to do things well without always expecting praise or a reward?
9. How many warnings should you give children/students before disciplinary action? 
10. Should the phrase; 'Spare the rod, spoil the child' become more literally speaking in teaching?
11. When did the rod stop being used?
12. Do children have more rights than teachers?
13. Can lowering your voice be just as effective as raising your voice?

I didn't get a chance to discuss them with her but I've been a Teaching Assistant now for about 3 weeks and I've tried a few of my boss' methods out such as number 7; giving a high five instead of a hug. Fantastic!! Has worked a treat. It's stopped the awkwardness of the kind of situation where you are not sure if a child running over to give you a hug is right or wrong. Also, number 8; giving a small nod or a smile for their efforts. It seems to get their mind's in the right mode to working hard for themselves rather than to please the teacher. How would I know? Well purely because of the behavioural change. Instead of running up to myself or the class teacher to say that they've finished, they've simply put their hand in the air to say that it's finished and/or ask to see if what they've done is right. It is such a drastic change. This is in TA mode; one-on-one contact, but I couldn't say for definite whether it would have the same effect or show the same drastic change as it would when doing it in front of the whole class as a classroom teacher. So would it work? My initial thought would be no, purely because each child has the rest of the class to compete with.

Now discussing the same questions with my Mum (who teaches in a variety of different schools as a violin teacher) answered them in this way:

Teaching related questions:

1. What similarities are there in teaching within a school and in a dance school?

Both involve teaching groups of children; the students tend to work towards exams so syllabuses are used (or the National Curriculum) in order to cover various levels in dance, maths, English etc.

2. What other methods of disciplinary are there? For example; for autistic children.

If an autistic child needs to be disciplined, if they enjoy doing something and are allowed to do it as a reward – then that could be disallowed.

3. How long should you give yourself for Lesson Planning?

As long as is needed – but shortcuts should be used such as shortening words to abbreviations (as long as it is understandable)

4. How do you gain a high respect from the students other than from good discipline?

Praise when the student does well.

5. Is there a way in teaching that can help students to be as honest a person as they can possibly be?

By example from the teacher – owning up if we make mistakes!!

6. How do you encourage students without making them overly confident? 

When praising them it is good to point out how they could do even better next time - so they know there is still some way to go.

7. How do you handle a situation where the children think that it's okay to hug the teacher?

By only responding a little and then moving away.

8. What are the best methods to praise children, for them to learn to do things well without always expecting praise or a reward?

A chart with stars is a good idea.

9. How many warnings should you give children/students before disciplinary action? 

At least 3.

10. Should the phrase; 'Spare the rod, spoil the child' become more literally speaking in teaching?

Yes – children should be aware of the boundaries in their behaviour before the teacher either tells them off, or needs to use disciplinary action otherwise control of the class is lost.

11. When did the rod stop being used?

Not sure – possibly in the 1970’s?

12. Do children have more rights than teachers?

They think they do!! Parents too!! Teachers do have more rights, but the head teacher and governors have to be involved in any decision.

13. Can lowering your voice be just as effective as raising your voice?

Yes.

Dance teaching related questions:

1. How can I get enthusiastic about choreography without music being my inspiration?

I think by having different sequences and interesting shapes?

2. How could I make a deeply emotional piece of choreography to absolutely no music?

The way the body can move either with fluidity and slowness of movement, or with lots of energy and power?

3. What exercises can I do in dance for children aged 4 to 6 without any basic training?

Stretching arms up to the ceiling; use floppy moves; jumping from one foot to another.

5.  Is verbal use just as important as the visual in teaching steps, styles and technique?

I would think visual is the most effective way of teaching as children are good at copying others – but you still need to explain verbally for those children who like to think things through.

6. What strategies or methods are there to boost a students confidence in performing?

Praise is always good.

7. Is repetition in teaching a dance routine the best method to get the students to learn it quickly?

I would think so as it becomes embedded in the memory.

8. Can you run a dance school successfully without employing a dance syllabus or examinations?

Learning different routines (especially for shows) is always exciting but exams are useful for parents and children to know they are progressing.

 I've put all of these up in case anybody in my SIG find them helpful in anyway.

When discussing these answers with my mum (again I must emphasize that she is a qualified teacher and has years of experience in a variety of ways) a few questions emerged. One was based on question 5 in Teaching related questions. Being an example by owning up if we make mistakes, but my questions were; What if mistakes happen more than 4-5 times? Wouldn't the students' respect for the teacher decrease if they were to keep apologizing for these mistakes?  Mum's response was; 'Of course it would, because it would show that they can't do your job properly.' Rather blunt I suppose, but it makes sense. I did argue though that maybe these errors occur during a tough time for the teacher, and they are having troubles at home. Now I ask the question; How could you gain back the students' respect after it's been lost?
I will do some research on this and ask a few colleagues and family members who are in teaching.

Now from her response to number 7 in teaching, I had to disagree to some level, as giving as little attention as possible doesn't always work when a child thinks it's okay to hug you. I know this from experience. Some children just don't get the hint. My boss' example has worked well for me [see above on giving a high five]. This has been super.

Discussing number 8 in 'Dance teaching related questions', really made me think on my own aspirations of what I want in a dance school. Being able to at least teach a specific syllabus without the students going through the exams would be a good start. I have been advised, [see above scanned discussion] to try and get these qualifications because it's good for the parents to see how well their child is progressing and it is an extremely beneficial challenge for the child; something for them to work towards. It also gives for a better disciplined school.

So new questions that arose from my discussion:

1. What other benefits do a dance syllabus give for a dance school/academy? (apart from good discipline and an official progress.)

2. What are the boundaries of physical contact when teaching dance? ~ Teacher to student.

3. What are the main features of a successful dance school/academy?

4. What aspects would you need to avoid when starting a dance school?

This has now got me thinking on my subject inquiry and what would be the most useful for me. 
I plan to do my PGCE in teaching next year where I expect to learn about different methods and strategies in teaching and have a whole year of experienced training in a school. There is a lot that I know already, and I believe that a lot of it is a case of trial and error, therefore, I think the most beneficial inquiry for me would be based on dance teaching and starting a dance school.
It's always been an aspiration of mine, ever since I was little, to start my own dance school and now that I've fulfilled my dream of performing professionally, I can start to think about the other dream that I hope to fulfill, and like with performing; I want to do it properly.



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