Snipets from Fleming...

Literature review: 2

‘Starting drama teaching’ Mike Fleming 2003

I decided to review this literature to see if it had any controversial or thought provoking opinions on boundaries to conflict that of the other literature I reviewed ‘How to survive your first year in teaching Sue Cowley 2003’ and to also see if it conflicted with my practitioner interview with a social worker. I was also interested in this literature as it is focused specifically on Drama teaching.

Fleming starts off the book by recommending using literacy sources to deal with or confront contemporary issues. For example ‘The pied piper’. I think this is a good idea as it can make students aware of social situations without them realising in the first instance and is suitable for all ages. It could also make it fun or relevant for their age. This is all on page 9.

On Page 11 Fleming explores the question ‘What is successful Drama?’ Which is a question I ask myself almost daily. Successful Drama in education is an improvement in confidence, emotional recall, self awareness, social awareness and contextual studies for me at a basic level, anything else is beyond successful, it is breaking boundaries which is rare in comprehensive schools.

Page 12 Fleming quotes 1967 ‘Theatre is largely concerned with communication between actors and an audience, drama is largely concearned with experience by the participants, irrespective of any function of communication to an audience’ Way 1967;2. To me this quote sums up brilliantly a drama class, it isn’t all putting on plays, learning scripts, acting as such but more an exploration on ourselves.

‘There has been increasing recognition in recent years that acquisition of ability in Drama is important, not just learning through Drama. There is less consensus on how ability or skills in Drama should be conceived’ Page 16.

On page 17 Fleming goes on to say that in recent years Hornbrook (1991,1998) has criticised some of the widely accepted orthodoxies of drama education. There are many critics who don’t see the point in Drama teaching or that it is simply an extension of English teaching, in many schools Drama was previously taught by an English teacher. ‘Another more practical critism of Drama in education is that it is not sufficiently aware of the realities of day to day classroom teaching’. Page 19. I do belive that there is a limit to teaching Drama in a school due to the limits in our boundaries as teacher. For example it is not practical to do emotional recall during the school day and especially amongst peers.

Page 21 Fleming says ‘A more balanced perspective has emerged since the early 1990’s and there is now a far greater acceptance or varied approaches in the classroom, but that does not mean that there is no room for debate and differences in opinion’ Norman (1999:8) This is true I believe as Senior leaders seem to encourage a change of atmosphere in the classroom or a different layout to create a different learning space. I still feel there are limitations though and it’s hard to experiment but still make every second of a lesson count.

Page 21 Fleming talks about having a balanced perspective which is great advice, especially when teaching students of mixed abilities/backgrounds. I also think in terms of Drama/dance you have to understand unlike other subjects in school it’s not just black and white, there may be underlining issues to their lack of efforts.

Fleming also says that as a teacher we should ‘acknowledge that successful Drama cannot be taught in a formulaic and mechanistic way but involves creative energy and risk taking’ this to me is the basis of my inquiry, seeing what boundaries need to be put in place for safe guarding the children but what boundaries we can break down for education needs in Performing Arts.

Another quote that I would like to repeat of Flemings ‘recognise Drama as a separate subject and an educational method, as having a valuable contribution to make in other curriculum areas’ Drama is used in all subjects as he says as a method of teaching, a teacher can use Drama exercises to teach but that does not make them a Drama teacher.

‘Drama should involve taking a broad view of the subject to include work on scripted text. The value of performance, the importance of focusing on the ability to respond to Drama’ He suggests that as a teacher we put particular emphasis on certain subjects that are appropriate for certain age groups.

Page 31 is all about combining English with Drama which I touched on earlier. ‘To the uninformed, drama already existed as a genre within English alongside poetry and the novel, in the same way that Dance should be seen as a niche within P.E’I  don’t agree with this, Dance is a performance based skill, no other subject in P.E, badminton, football etc needs an emotional understanding and performance level to that degree. ‘To argue that Drama should be placed on an already overcrowded curriculum would be likened by some to the claim that algebra should exist as a subject away from Maths.’ This is an interesting perspective, to see that Performing Arts is not alone in its fight for more curriculum time. However Maths and algebra needs the same state of mind, unlike English and Drama.

‘Those who advocate that Drama should exist as a separate subject in the national curriculum are faced with a dilemma…If Drama is conceived less as a traditional subject with a body of knowledge and skills and more as a teaching and learning methodology then it’s claim to separate subject status is likely to fall on deaf ears in this climate which is all about outcomes’. This is a strong minded quote and one that I could talk about for ages. However as its not strictly on the subject of boundaries I feel I should stick to my inquiry. I did want to post it though as I believe it is thought provoking.

Fleming clearly had a great understanding of Drama teaching, he not only expresses his knowledge but his passion and opinion. I believe this literature may be a good source of information to conflict with my practitioner interview. ‘Despite narrow approach-there has been a huge change in teachers understanding to Drama from the 1980’s onwards…..’

Literature review

How to Survive your first year in teaching Sue Cowley 2003

I decided to review this literature as it’s a commercial booked aimed at the new teacher. New teachers are open for advice from anybody and this book has the potential to change a persons style of teaching and viewpoints on things like boundaries. Therefore I was interested to read it and read the authors opinion.

Cowley starts by talking about lesson planning on page 4 “Until you meet your students and get to know them a little, it is hard to anticipate their needs and interests”. I personally like this advice as it suggests that lessons are taylor made.

Cowley suggests that as a teacher you should start off by being as ‘hard’ as possible, she says you can always relax, but you can never get a class back once you’ve lost them. I agree with this to an extent but again it really depends on the type of school you teach at. Some students don’t react particularly well to ‘hard’ teaching, this, similar to the lessons plans I feel should also be ‘taylor made’. I especially like the quote ‘Boundaries should be fair, realistic and achievable’ Page 8.

‘Setting boundaries is a matter of personal taste and opinion, also depends a great deal on the type of students you teach’ This clarifies the point I made earlier, I also believe the nature of the subject you teach has a great effect on the type of discipline you choose to put in place. Creative, physical etc. Cowley recommends setting goals, creating games and giving rewards to control behaviour which I agree with.

Similar to the critical reflection we are encouraged to do her on the BAPP course Cowley suggests using self evaluation, to think about what works and what doesn’t and to continuously take notes, similar to our journal. This all noted on page 14.

Boundaries everywhere...

Today I was yet again taken aback and surprised by an act of ‘normality’ in the playground. After much persuasion and tactics I managed to get the ‘most popular boy in school’ aka a strong minded able 16 year old to participate and feature in a contempory dance piece I am cheographing for a dance festival.

On the way to rehearsals me and the student walked through the basketball courts (where this student is normally found)When a fellow students called out “hey ****** where are you going?” The student then replied “Dance rehearsals” proudly, honestly and matter of factly. This I can only say was met with a shocked response full of offensive mutterings… and this to a “popular” kid.

Boundaries: They are literally everywhere! Forget boundaries in the classroom, I am now looking at peers, parents and society.

Please discuss with me your own experiences as I feel this is a topic close to many of our hearts.

Campus session 2 catch up phonecall.

After another catch up with Hannah Zapala (BAPP student),I was filled in further on Module 3 and the 2^nd Campus session that was lead by Paula. The main objective of the session was defining the idea of an artefact.

The Artefact is a product of your inquiry. Made from your findings within your inquiry, it's a comment of your research on process and/or production.

It could also be ongoing and constantly changing. The thinking behind the artefact is just as important as the finished product itself.

The artefact needs to be accessible to the outside world and useful to others aswell as for you to reflect upon.

During the session the attendees then carried out a task to help establish what the introduction part of the critical review might look like from magazines.

I am going to browse through the blogs to see what opinions and revelations other students have come up with after this session and try to come up with creative ideas for my own artifact.

Campus session catch up, with help from a friend.

I recently had a conversation with Hannah Zapala who filled me in on Module 3 which helped immensely as I missed the two campus sessions due to work commitments. It seems there is a lot of work to do, but hopefully everything we have done in the past two Modules has prepared us for this!Paula apparently went through a powerpoint presentation that broke down Module 3 into a form that was easy to understand, including what is expected of us to form our inquiry. Hannah suggested that I download the presentation, which I will be doing shortly.Hannah said the session by discussing the real basic question of 'what actually is an inquiry', Even though this might seem simple and obvious to some it helps to breaks things down into bitesize chunks that are easier to digest sometimes.Literature reviews were also discussed at the session aswell as “how Summon as a tool - found on the libguides is great for finding literature” it's split into genres by articles, press reviews and trade reviews which makes it easier to locate and find what you are looking for or need.
Hannah said it was discussed how it was important to keep a 'where are you now timeline', just to ensure that you are on target and don’t leave it all to the last minute.
Hannah said it was discussed how it was important to keep a 'where are you now timeline', just to ensure that you are on target and don’t leave it all to the last minute.I am very greatful to Hannah for investing her time in helping me. I wish obviously I could have been at the sessions but fingers crossed with help from my SIG and fellow BAPPERS I will make it through this Module OK.

The PLAN....

1. Write up consent forms for Hollywood performing arts students
2. Wrire up survey/questions
3. Look into further literature to review.
4. Compile information in easy to view/ analyse way

Notes on Reader 7 (Noted in Journal 17th January 2013)

 From Reader 7 I came across quotes that I found useful and would like to post on my blog to remember.

On Research: “The sources you have found and used to develop your inquiry are also an important element in analysing your findings” Page 3

On our Journals: This analytical process therefore require the inquirer to explore the internal, external, social and institutional processes that combine to form a particular event, and take a logical approach to see how those processes could expect to contribute to the behaviour of those involved” Page 10

The Process: The professional inquiry process is one that could be repeated at different stages in your career as a means of developing evidence from which work-related decisions might be based. Page 11

2013... all systems go!

Hi everybody, I just wanted to touch base as feel out of touch with my blogging. Since Module 2 I have taken on the role of a maternity cover dance teacher in a huge secondary school in Rochester Kent. I have stepped right into the deep end and joined the students right before their BTEC/GCSE deadlines and if I’m honest feel a little out of my depth.  I have also recently extended my after school clubs to not just a Saturday but a Thursday and luckily had a successful opening day last week.

So its been relentless to say the least, but things have started to settle a tad and I feel eager to get back blogging and keeping touch with everyone.

Over the last month or so I have been in regular contact with my SIG who have been supportive offering advice so thank you for that.

I also managed to have an interview that I recorded with a social worker about boundaries in schools and I even managed to write a few literature reviews (all of which will follow shortly).

I am now going to look back through my journal at the summaries I made of reader 7 back in January and my thoughts along the way of my new job role and journey. Hopefully some of these thought processes will be worthy of blogging. Looking forward to some feedback and advice from you all.