Activity 2

Activity 2

An influence that is not mentioned in table 3 when acting as a worker-researcher is the fact you will personally know the people who can help you complete the research. This is an advantage because you can keep on top of gathering data. This is due to the fact that you will constantly have contact with the people who may be completing a task or a questionnaire to help you. Therefore you can easily check on progress, gather information and refine as the task is completed – this allows action research to take place more easily.

Activity 1

Case Study: Detailed example study to answer a research question. Any research method can be used, one is chosen in accordance of appropriateness for the task.

Critique: Critical assessment. Analysis about a certain article/action/finding.

learning blog entry 2

When drifting in and out of sleep I always come up with ideas. I have thus realised that there is no point forcing thinking time as it only leaves me with worries that I am not going to come up with any creative inspirations.

While daydreaming a research idea came to me: How teaching the arts improves your own performance skills.
This idea is closely related to me as I am a performer and teacher.

What can I do?
• Think about how I myself have improved through teaching
• Observe other teacher/performers – questionnaire
• Observe performance and employability levels of just performers compared to those who teach aswell.
• Find writings on this subject – are there any?

What could I achieve from this?
• ???????????
• I can’t think of any valuable thing I could take away from this project apart from the interesting knowledge.
• Possibly get vocational schools to include a teaching module in their course to improve performers and also allow them to improve teaching skills, because so many performers teach as well as perform and after.

I have realised I work more productively when I am in the company of others. This is because I do not feel forced to concentrate, therefore concentration comes more naturally. And I also like being able to discuss ideas with other people. I discovered this by working alone and working in a room with other people (even if they ate doing unrelated things to me.) I find light and infrequent conversation between each other allows me to focus on the task in hand for longer. My need for conversation to keep me focussed might come from primary school in which I had a teacher who was insistent upon light chatter circulating constantly.

I keep switching between reading a research book and then fiction book for pure enjoyment. This way I do not get over-loaded with information and have time to divulge the research I have just learnt. The fiction book allows me to keep my brain active, compared to switching to watch television during which I am always falling asleep! I find I remember the research information better this way. This learning thought as inspired another research topic idea: Do pupils that do singing. drama and dance consecutively (eg. In a musical theatre class or round robin) become more skilled than pupils who do all 3 disciplines at different times in the week?

What can I do?
• Observe skills of children in separate classes compared to Musical theatre/Round robin
• Ask other teachers about their observations
• Read research material on this area – is there any?
• Think about my own experiences and friends


What could I achieve from this?
• Ideas of how best to run classes for myself and other schools
• How I should actively train myself

Learning Blog

What is the new module?
It is about planning a research project, learning how to research and ethical issues surrounding it.

What is research?
In my mind it is a process undertaken to provide knowledge of a subject and answer to a question.

What do I have to do?• Learn research related words
• Learn how to plan
• Chose degree title and give justification
• Learn about ethical practices
• Chose research project – workshop a number of ideas
• Learn about research subject chosen

Start thinking about.....
1. Two topics for your project
2. research to support that topic
3. Two things about the topics that you already know
4. Two things about the topics that you dont know
5. Question the things you know and dont know about the topics

Start doing ..........
1. Read guidance notes
2. Read book by Bell ( especially chapter 1 and 2 )
3. Read Paula's, Peter's and Rosemary's blog

What did I learn and achieve from the last module?
• Harvard referencing
• How to write academically
• How to write descriptively
• How to write to market something
• When different writing styles are appropriate and the difference between them
• How to reflect and analyse work in order to improve upon it
• My areas of interest and what inspires me, and what I am not interested in and understand why
• How to blog and use a blog as a professional tool
• I gained an improved CV and biography
• I used the writing styles in order to produce marketing items for my theatre school, plan/gain knowledge about what I aim to achieve with children and why parents should send their child to my school.

I read first 2 chapters of ‘Doing your research project’ by bell. Main things I learnt are:
• Different research approaches
• Find a personal knowledge priority of a topic interest in order to help form research question

Research Brainstorm
I tried to read handbook on computer and couldn’t focus on it. When I printed it out and could physically touch it my concentration was much higher and I was able to understand. Being able to do something physically, as simple as hold and highlight paper as I read heightens my ability to learn. My own enhancement of learning by doing has started me thinking why this is? – Research idea!

I am a dancer, it is a doing physical activity – I could focus my project on learning benefits of dance.

I teach children dance – I could focus my project on a certain age group.

I spoke to my tutor (Paula) on skype about the module as I was unable to attend the campus. After our conversation the module aim was much clearer. Paula made me realise I need to be the centre of my research project in order for it to be achievable in the time available.

I have so many ideas in my head, all based around the same topic – benefits of child development through performing arts. This is what I focussed my academic writing on. Doing that piece made me want to investigate more! Due to the fact I will be working as a performer in Greece when we have to do the proposed project and I am currently working as a teacher in Dubai I am worried I will not be able to do the proposed project. However I currently have no other formed ideas in my mind!

I definitely want to focus on something educational as I chose to do this degree to enhance my teaching career that I wish to pursue full-time when I stop performing. I don’t need this degree for my performing career as a dancer as it will only improve my theory and practice knowledge not performance ability. I want to have the word education in my degree title. Therefore I have to focus my project on something education based.

How can I access children doing dance when for research purposes when I am not teaching?
Talk to teachers I know and ask for co-operation
Ask some parents to help, and inform me of their child’s development
Visit dance schools in area I am living

What books may help inspire research idea performing arts education based?
Early years curriculum outline handbook – learnt about areas of development.
• Personal, social and emotional.
• Communication, language and literacy.
• Mathematical.
• Physical.
• Creative.
• Knowledge, understanding of the world.
Could focus research on a specific development area?
How can dance help them achieve these things?

The Art of Dance in Education – learnt about teaching models
• Professional
• Educational
Interested in how these increase child development
Which has more results?

new module!

Starting to think about the new module! Been 'highlighting happy' throughout the handbook, trying ot figure out exactly what to do! Already learnt quite a few new words, not sure what to do with them though!

Been bouncing ideas around my head about what my project could be about. I am finding having so much scope and no boundaries very daunting - what to choose, where to start! What ideas are other people having, maybe they could inspire me?! Currently thinking about researching 'the benefits of dance in physical development in 5-8 year olds' - does this sound like a valuable project and the right sort of title?