'The BTEC'

A discussion began in the staffroom yesterday about the BTEC and its place within the National Curriculum. It was interesting to hear the views of experienced teachers and get their take on it. The conversation began after a member of staff made a comment about how low ability students were taking a science BTEC rather than a GCSE despite the level of the BTEC being equivalent to an A*/A at GCSE – a level completely unachievable for these students. Teachers from other departments said they were finding this too and that they have to teach BTEC rather than GCSE ultimately so that the grades will not affect the schools league table results. This links into the government’s introduction of Progress 8. 

It seems that the BTEC demands a lot more from the pupil than the GCSE in terms of research and coursework and in a way the skillset is more similar to that of university level and it is very wrong to demand that from a low ability student. This also makes it very difficult for them to get a distinction.

When conducting interviews with head teachers as a part of my inquiry, one of my immediate findings was that the results published in league tables heavily influenced what the heads included in their school curriculum even though from a holistic point of view they felt that creative subjects needed to be more prominent within the curriculum.

My own opinion (and like I said before -  very biased opinion) is that the subjects of dance and drama are just as important as the ‘compulsory’ subjects which students have to study on the English Baccalaureate route. However because they are considered to have a ‘lower status’, less and less students are choosing them and it seems that schools are becoming somewhat reluctant to promote them as qualifications gained are not. 

Back on Track..

So after deferring this module due to a new job and busy schedule I am now hoping to have the degree finished in May. I have been offered a place on a PGCE course to start in September so I now I a real incentive to get it finished!

My inquiry is looking into the placement dance and drama not only have within the National Curriculum but also in schools (11-16). I have already carried out interviews and a questionnaire which means my main focus is now on the literature. Obviously I have a very biased opinion and wholeheartedly believe the performing arts subjects should be more valued however, I am aware, and understand that there are only so many hours within the day and there are other subjects also competing for 'lesson time'.

Another struggle I am having - and I believe this is because I am struggling to remove my own bias - is finding relevant literature which argues AGAINST dance and drama featuring in the National Curriculum. I am currently carrying out my literature reviews so please comment if you are aware of anything I could use? Also, if you work in a school or are carrying out a similar inquiry please get in touch and we can share ideas.

Thanks :)

Survey!

My inquiry is all about the position of dance and drama within the National Curriculum and I am particularly interested in secondary teachers views.

If you have five minutes, please, please, please, fill it in!

Thanks

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KG6RNRX

The Beginning of the End!

Approaching the final stage of the degree seems very daunting to say the least! The feedback I had received from module two was good and I am happy with what I had proposed.

My initial main concerns with this module are a) the volume of words we are expected to write and b) the artefact.

Most of my thoughts over the summer have been about the artefact and what my artefact could be. My inquiry will relate to teachers and so I knew that I would want it to be informative and laid out in a professional manner. However, at the same time I still wanted it to be nice to look at and something that I could put together quite creatively. I decided this could be done by presenting, for example, bar charts using ballet shoes.

I am currently working to put together a questionnaire to be completed by secondary teachers of all subjects because ultimately, it is their views I am after.

Critical Reflection on Professional Practitioner Inquiry

Critical Reflection of Module 2

Introduction

After developing underpinning knowledge in module one, module two gave me an opportunity for professional growth. By expanding on what I had learnt, I was about to embark on a process of inquiry through which I will be able to “further investigate, explore, evaluate and understand your professional practice.” (Reader 4).

Principles of Professional Inquiry

Developing my own lines of inquiry I was struck by the comments of Kahn et. O’Rouke (2004) who stated in respect of the adult learner that they should “engage with relevant problems and scenarios, draw on existing knowledge, seek out new evidence, and analyse and present that evidence in appropriate ways.” My initial questions were all related and relevant to the fundamentals of teaching as well as my own experience with regards to this. (Appendix 1). I selected the questions which I felt not only most strongly about, but also the questions that I felt had the most potential to be developed I then critiqued each of the questions in my blog. Here I also noticed an improvement in the maturity of my writing in the way that I critically examined the negative as well as positive aspects of the questions. (Appendix 2). Although I made use of resources outside of the degree course, I feel that I could have benefitted more with a greater use of my SIG in this early stage of the inquiry process as I quote from my personal journal that I was “... feeling a bit unsure about where to go next with my questions” (D’Arcy, A, 2014). This is an area where using SIG would helped me establish where to go next.

Professional Ethics

My learning in this area begins with me stating the knowledge I already have. (Appendix 3). The list I had written was very basic and I had failed to consider the consequences to both others and myself if these ethical considerations were to be ignored. As I delved deeper into this topic with a focus on ethics within the workplace, it became apparent to me that the issue of ‘Safeguarding’ played a vast part when considering ethics (Appendix 4). This was one of the reasons why I wanted to lead my inquiry away from using under sixteens. As I gained a better understanding of ethical contexts (Appendix 5) I had a growing awareness of the part ethics would play in my inquiry. I am mindful of Devine and Heath (1999) “A researcher’s personal biography... can influence the choice of research topic establishing what ethics are - broad subject”. This became evident as I started to plan my inquiry as noticed that my writing was heavily biased in my first draft.

Tools of Professional Inquiry

As Bell (2002) states “understanding the major advantages and disadvantages of each approach is likely to help you to select the most appropriate methodology for the task in hand”. Throughout this part of the module, I lacked evidence through my blogs to support my development of my methodology. However, as I drafted my inquiry plan, I decided on three principal research methodologies to gather the information and then compare and contrast it in the best and most suitable way. Task 6c provided with a way a way of developing my own ideas through reading the blogs of my peers. (Appendix 6). This blog is an exemplar of how using rationale in a mature and professional way has helped me achieve an ideal conclusion.

Conclusion

Through this process of critical reflection I have established a number of areas in which I can improve my interaction with my peers and development of my own knowledge. From module one, I have further developed a way of critically examining each of the topics and gained a greater awareness of the ethical considerations. This module has built upon my knowledge gained in Module One and has assisted me greatly in the planning of an inquiry into teachers’ attitudes to dance and drama teaching in schools.  The lessons learned from Modules One and Two will become invaluable to me as I proceed into Module Three.

Appendix’s

Appendix 1

http://amydarcybappfirstblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014_02_01_archive.html

Appendix 2

http://amydarcybappfirstblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/task-4.html

Appendix 3

http://amydarcybappfirstblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/task-5a-ethical-considerations.html

Appendix 4

http://amydarcybappfirstblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/task-5b-ethics-within-workplace_7.html

Appendix 5

http://amydarcybappfirstblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/task-5c-ethical-contexts.html

Appendix 6

http://amydarcybappfirstblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/task-6c-award-title.html

Bibliography

Bell, Judith (2005) Doing Your Research Project. NewYork.

Devine, Fiona and Heath, Sue (1999) Social Research Methods In Context. London.

Kahn, Peter and O’Rourke (2004) Guide to Curriculum Design: Enquiry-Based Learning, Heslington.

Task 6c: Award Title

Deciding on the award title I wish to receive has been a very difficult process. My formal training at The Hammond, Chester was in Professional Dance making “BA (Hons) Professional Practice (Dance)” the most apparent choice.

However, upon completion of this degree I plan to study for a PGCE in Performing Arts with the hope to eventually be a dance and drama teacher in a secondary school. With this in mind, my two main considerations are either, “BA (Hons) Professional Practice (Performing Arts)” or “BA (Hons) Professional Practice (Performing Arts Teaching)”. I still felt that by choosing either one of these, still left very specific to just one topic. And although my aim for the near future is to become a teacher, I still want to leave it open incase later in life, I decide that I want to change my career path. I

It was only until I read Natalie Martin’s blog about the rationale for her award title that I thought about making my own title in a similar way. I was interested in how she had used the word ‘and’ within her title which made it appear a broader subject range. Therefore I would now like my proposed award title to be, “BA (Hons) Professional Practice (Performing Arts and Teaching)”.

Task 5c: Ethical Contexts

Ethics as a topic is one which carries a vast amount of information. Through the diagram shown in figure one cited in Reader 5 (2013/14) it illustrates that the three main contexts in which ethics are considered are, personal, professional and organizational, which in turn affect society.

If I think about these ethical contexts and how they relate to me, when I consider personal ethics, it will ultimately be informed from my family values. I will use these values to help me be considerate and well prepared throughout the inquiry process. As my inquiry will partly be done in secondary school, this is where professional ethics will need to be considered. I will do this by, where concerned, following the school’s ‘code of conduct’ and keep any information I receive confidential.

As ethics evolved, we were made aware of different theoretical approaches to the topic, firstly through Aristotle who presented the idea of Virtue. Next brought Hobbes (1651) who’s view on ethics was Consequentialist. Kant (1779) believed in a Deontologist approach and Mill (1861) developed a theory of moral obligation published in his work as Utilitarianism. 

Virtue

Virtue ethics is person rather than action based: it looks at the virtue or moral character of the person carrying out an action, rather than at ethical duties and rules, or the consequences of particular actions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/virtue.shtml

Consequentialism

Consequentialism says that right or wrong depend on the consequences of an act, and that the more good consequences are produced, the better the act.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/consequentialism_1.shtml

Deontological

Deontological (duty-based) ethics are concerned with what people do, not with the consequences of their actions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/duty_1.shtml

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism states that people should maximise human welfare or well-being (which they used to call 'utility' - hence the name).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/consequentialism_1.shtml

All these fit into a theoretical, ethical framework which we use today to help us evaluate situations. 

“As professions became more established and distinct they developed their own set of rules and norms. In tandem with this, professional codes of practice have developed in order to uphold the standards of the profession. Some professions have developed licences to practice and have professional bodies to oversee that codes and ethics are being adhered to.” 

Reader 5 (2013/2014)

This highlights how ethics have developed and that professional ethics play a big part. As a profession becomes more established, they have developed licences to practice and a professional body has been introduced to oversee this. For example, in teaching you now need a PGCE or QTC followed by an NQT before you are considered “fully qualified” ) and OFSTED represent the professional body which make sure that ethics and regulations are being adhered to. 

References

Reader 5, Middlesex University, 2013/2014

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/301107/Teachers__Standards.pdf