Possible lines of inquiry

At the moment I still have a few areas of interest for my lines of inquiry. I would be interested if anyone has any feedback and discussion points that I consider whilst I'm at the researching stage of developing my lines of inquiry-

1- What effects does a teachers health and well being have on their pupils learning

2- What teaching style is the best approach for the learning of children? i.e. strict or friendly

3- What are the benefits of the use of movement and music in a classroom on a child's learning.

4- How can the incorporation of the arts/dance movement therapy help children with special educational needs

Reader 4- Starting to wonder

After reading reader 4 here are some of the key points that have got me to start 'wondering' -

Who would benefit from my inquiry?

What are my intentions?

What do i want to gain from the inquiry?

Which is going to be my most reliable work based learning environment?

What are my future prospects?

What is important to me?

What is the purpose of my inquiry?

What do i want to achieve out of the inquiry?

Over the next week I intend to answer these.

Hope these points help others to start wondering.

Reader 4- Knowledge and skills in the workplace

My job role is an educator within a dance school and a special educational needs school. Within both settings I have identified both situations are inter-disciplinary.

What do I know?

Dance school
I have knowledge on the style of dance I am teaching, I understand the concept and practice of education- I have professional experiences to draw upon and experience of being in the learners position. I know how to construct a class within a vocational setting and appreciate that children are there to learn the discipline. 

Education setting

I have basic knowledge of the children needs, I have attributes to provide a caring and positive learning  environment, basic subject knowledge on most subjects.

What are my competencies and capabilities?

I agree with Raelin that competencies are more based on 'behavioural characteristics' and there 'are other attributes, tangible and intangible, controllable and uncontrollable that also cause for effectiveness' (Ralein, 2008, PP.44-44)I feel I am a competent educator because of my personal attributes- I take ownership, caring, good organisational skills, good work ethic, enthusiastic, always wanting to improve, inclusive within my practice, adaptable. 

My capabilities ' the scope to which a person can gain new knowledge' (MDXa, 2016) 

I am very capable to do this but something I need to challenge and push. The BAPP course is definitely helping me to do this. Being able to do this I think depends a lot on mindset. I came across this video on a fiends blog and helped put this into context: http://katythorpe2012.blogspot.co.uk/

What knowledge and skills do you think you will need for the future?

"Sometime the boundaries of professional inquiry relate to what is required by the next step in someones career as much as solving problems about existing work situations" (MDXa, 2016)

My plan after completing the BAPP course is to progress onto a PGCE in primary education I have recognised that I need a greater understanding of the teaching role, how children learn, and more subject knowledge. I also do not have much knowledge on how the arts is used within an education setting, how to differentiate and adapt planning and teaching styles for the two settings.

Asking myself these questions has helped to identify what knowledge I need to progress further as an educator and will help when developing my lines of inquiry. 

Questions raised from this- What other knowledge and skills do I need to progress as an educator?

To be a competent educator can the skills be learnt or is it personal attributes that make an effective educator? 

How can I extended my capabilities further?

References-
Raelin, Joesph A. (2008) Bridging Knowledge and Action in the workplace Work based Learning, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 

Middlesex University A (MDXa) (2016) Reader 4, BAPP Arts, London: Middlesex university. 

Its not about finding the perfect answer

After the welcome back Skype call today one big thing that I have taken away from it is that 'its not about finding the perfect answer' you need to 'wander and wonder'.

It was good to hear from a module 3 peer Hannah. Her advice having been through module 2 was to read anything and everything. Like life you don't know unless you try, so read/watch/listen/discuss anything and everything as you might surprise yourself. Don't just look at things because you know they are about what you want them to be about but exploring and researching to find new ideas and connections, probably something you have never thought about.

It can be scary to step into the unknown and if like me time is precious and are balancing the studies with full time employment it can be tricky to take the time to read or watch something that at the end of the day may not give you anything but you aren't going to know unless you do it and dedicate time to this.

So lets wonder and wander together and who knows where the path will lead and where we will end up.

Module 2 goals

I have written this for myself to look back on but this may help others

Goals and things to remember in module 2-

Set study times
Take movement breaks
Set a time to finish working- 9.30 pm.
Dont make an assumption or just try to prove your self right.
Shift and change will happen and thats fine
Its not about finding the perfect answer
Its about the journey not the destination
Reference from the beginning
Do lots of research- read/watch/talk about anything and everything!

Reflection on module 1 feedback

Its that time again to start the blogging. Welcome back everyone and I hope you have all had a good summer.

I recently went to Yoga convention and on one of the stalls you could pick out a quote. The one I happened to pick out said 'be proud of yourself for how hard you are trying'. I feel I can apply this to the work that I did in module 1. My feedback reflected this but now I ask myself how can I further improve and what have I learnt from this in order for me to progress further?
 
One area that my feedback highlights is the importance of the use of others. Through the use of more arts based theories and the work of other authors I hope to develop my practice. I intend doing this by making a real effort with the research aspect of the next module to outsource new ideas and theories.

I also hope to improve my oral communication skills to develop my ideas further. I have always struggled to put into words my ideas/thought/feelings and verbally communicate them. A few moments when I did discuss ideas with others I found it opened so many doors. I look forward to more involvement in the Skype conversations and sharing my work with work colleagues as my studies develop into the inquiry stage.