When thinking about ethics, I considered my lines of inquiry, past experiences and potentially future ones, and it is within dance education that my questions lie, and where it is important for me to understand ethics.
Ethical issues within dance education is a huge subject, and can include; ethics and the learning and teaching of dance, ethical practice in dance and codes of ethics, practice and conduct.
Having taught dance myself in the past, there were many things to be considered, although at the time I wasn't given much guidance on what was expected, and what was the formal 'code of conduct'.
Through doing some research online, I found some interesting points that could be considered the correct ethics and code of conduct when teaching dance, or a good guide to base my own teaching on.
- Dance teachers will have clearly defined aims and goals. The benefits an individual student can expect to receive through staff's conscientious implementation of these aims and goals will be clearly stated.
- Dance teachers will make sure that they are capable of providing any services claimed.
- Dance teachers will have the experience, knowledge and/ or qualifications required for the range of levels and techniques being taught. Student teachers will be trained and supervised to ensure the school's teaching standards are maintained.
- Dance teachers will ensure that class sizes are suitable to the levels and techniques being taught. Students in each class will be of a similar age and/ or standard.
- Dance teachers will ensure that the dance facilities provided:
> conform with minimum safety and space requirements
> have suitable flooring, with a safe surface designed and constructed to minimise risk of injury.
- Dance teachers will use effective and flexible teaching skills to create a productive learning environment. Dance teachers will:
> strive to communicate a love of dance
> show professional attitudes, including punctuality, reliability and responsible care of students
> strive to develop self- discipline and self- motivation in the students
> encourage and support the individual in the class situation
> present general concepts of movement as well as those of a particular dance style.
- Dance teachers will recognise the role of dance in the development of the whole person. They will also seek to recognise and develop each student's potential, whether it lies in dance or in related fields, and offer appropriate guidance for further progress.
- Dance teachers will endeavour to recognise physical anomalies, modifying their teaching and seeking medical advice when necessary. The teaching and choreography must be anatomically safe, and teachers must be prepared to deal with medical emergencies.
- Dance teachers will take responsibility for seeking more knowledge in all aspects of their work.
(Code of Ethics for Dance Teachers, Australian Dance Council, 2012)
There are aspects of ethics to consider in relation to my own research and professional inquiry.
Things to be considered are: who will be a part of my research/ inquiry? How will i make sure they're involvement and data will remain confidential? Who will benefit from my inquiry? Are my participants taking part voluntarily? What if they no longer want to participate? And how will the use of imagery/ video affect my inquiry?
Sunday 29 March 2015
Sunday 22 March 2015
Literature Relating to my Lines of Inquiry.
I have begun to research and develop my possible lines of inquiry further, by finding appropriate literature to help with my research.
Using Google Scholar, I was able to find some really interesting articles relating to my lines of inquiry.
I chose to focus on three of my six questions, and find three pieces of corresponding literature.
1. Are dancers educated properly on healthy eating eating and nutrition?
'Between Scylla and Charybdis. Nutritional education versus body culture and the ballet aesthetic: The effects on the lives of female dancers', T. Benn, D. Walters- Research in Dance Education, 2001- Taylor & Francis.
http://eprints.bham.ac.uk/285/2/benn_RDE_2001.pdf
This study investigates whether improved education for dancers about nutrition has made a positive change to the body culture of the ballet world and lifestyle of female dancers. Here, an interpretive, critical research approach was used to maximise the 'insider perspective' of the researcher, who has over 20 years experience of the training and professional ballet culture.
Interview and questionnaire responses were gathered from student- dancers, professional dancers, teachers/ managers, and medics at a UK vocational ballet school and a company fed, to some extent, from that training school.
The findings indicated that there is still a gap between the rhetoric of nutritional education and the reality of the ballet world's aesthetic and practices. Whilst dancers in training were better informed, pressures related to the body inside the profession dominated attitudes and behaviour. The recommendations include a re- appraisal of the ballet aesthetic and body culture in the management of the profession and more empowerment of dancers to encourage them to question, critique and improve the culture of their art form rather than merely accept its ideals and demands.
Some of the prominent ideas and arguments resulting from this research, that stood out to me, and can be explored further were:
"In addition to the obvious technical and expressive mastery of the body, dancers also learn that controlling body shape and size is essential to success in their careers".
"There was no consensus in attitudes of students and/ or professional dancers to nutritional education, which either indicates attention to different sources or divers interpretations of information received. Nutritional knowledge levels were variable but there was a lack of awareness about risks associated with poor nutrition. this was supported by a medic with extensive knowledge of sports nutrition, who suggested that dancers' nutritional knowledge was comparatively "poor in relation to what they need and in relation to danger levels".
"All the students had received professional nutritional advice but most again considered the advice inadequate, contradictory and full of the "blindingly obvious' such as "don't drink coke and don't eat junk food". One problem identified by the medics was that specialist nutritional advice was required by the dancers and rarely available.
2. Are dancers given enough support and guidance on furthering their careers?
'The next step- career transitioning for professional ballet dancers', Hannah Bulkley, 2014.
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/18472/Hannah_Bulkley_mastersresearch2014DB.pdf?sequence=1
This research project examines the resources and support services available to professional ballet dancers on the West Coast of the United States who are interested in transitioning into other fields after their performing careers are over. It covers who provides these resources, whether it is the ballet company the dancer is employed by or by a third- party organization. It considers whether the size of the ballet company has any influence on its ability to support dancers looking into this transition.
Although this research focuses on ballet dancers, and those based in the United States, it can be related to some of my ideas behind my question are dancers given enough support and guidance on furthering their careers?
The prominent idea of this research is that while existing professional support seems to be limited, a review of professional literature reveals the field is growing, and the concern of dancers transitioning into other fields and careers after their performing careers is being addressed.
Articles mentioned in the research, focus on college program initiatives and how they can be tailored specifically to dancers. They include:
'College Programs for Professional Ballet Dancers: The Impact on Career Transitions' (Hamilton, Bristow, & Byars, 2002)
'Reflections on a Degree Initiative: The UK's Birmingham Royal Ballet dancers enter the University of Birmingham' (Benn, 2003)
'Access and Innovation: A Degree Program for Professional Dancers in Transition' (Lamoreaux & Taylor, 2008)
'Integration of a Professional Dancer into College' (Pulinkala, 2011).
These articles can be researched further, in relation to my line of inquiry.
3. Should dance teachers be allowed to physically correct students?
'A Postpositive Approach to Teaching Dance: A study on Dance Pedagogy', H Wasserman, 2013.
http://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/54663/Wasserman_Distinction_Paper.pdf?sequence=1
I found this paper by Hannah Wasserman interesting. She researches the methods used to teach dance, and although it is not specific to the issues surrounding physically correcting children in dance, it can be beneficial in researching the basic benefits to physically correcting students.
Some of Hannah's objectives of the research were to explore the appropriate student- teacher relationship, and to find the best way to deliver corrections and constructive criticism. By looking into these ideas further, they can be used as a basis to my line of inquiry.
Using Google Scholar, I was able to find some really interesting articles relating to my lines of inquiry.
I chose to focus on three of my six questions, and find three pieces of corresponding literature.
1. Are dancers educated properly on healthy eating eating and nutrition?
'Between Scylla and Charybdis. Nutritional education versus body culture and the ballet aesthetic: The effects on the lives of female dancers', T. Benn, D. Walters- Research in Dance Education, 2001- Taylor & Francis.
http://eprints.bham.ac.uk/285/2/benn_RDE_2001.pdf
This study investigates whether improved education for dancers about nutrition has made a positive change to the body culture of the ballet world and lifestyle of female dancers. Here, an interpretive, critical research approach was used to maximise the 'insider perspective' of the researcher, who has over 20 years experience of the training and professional ballet culture.
Interview and questionnaire responses were gathered from student- dancers, professional dancers, teachers/ managers, and medics at a UK vocational ballet school and a company fed, to some extent, from that training school.
The findings indicated that there is still a gap between the rhetoric of nutritional education and the reality of the ballet world's aesthetic and practices. Whilst dancers in training were better informed, pressures related to the body inside the profession dominated attitudes and behaviour. The recommendations include a re- appraisal of the ballet aesthetic and body culture in the management of the profession and more empowerment of dancers to encourage them to question, critique and improve the culture of their art form rather than merely accept its ideals and demands.
Some of the prominent ideas and arguments resulting from this research, that stood out to me, and can be explored further were:
"In addition to the obvious technical and expressive mastery of the body, dancers also learn that controlling body shape and size is essential to success in their careers".
"There was no consensus in attitudes of students and/ or professional dancers to nutritional education, which either indicates attention to different sources or divers interpretations of information received. Nutritional knowledge levels were variable but there was a lack of awareness about risks associated with poor nutrition. this was supported by a medic with extensive knowledge of sports nutrition, who suggested that dancers' nutritional knowledge was comparatively "poor in relation to what they need and in relation to danger levels".
"All the students had received professional nutritional advice but most again considered the advice inadequate, contradictory and full of the "blindingly obvious' such as "don't drink coke and don't eat junk food". One problem identified by the medics was that specialist nutritional advice was required by the dancers and rarely available.
2. Are dancers given enough support and guidance on furthering their careers?
'The next step- career transitioning for professional ballet dancers', Hannah Bulkley, 2014.
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/18472/Hannah_Bulkley_mastersresearch2014DB.pdf?sequence=1
This research project examines the resources and support services available to professional ballet dancers on the West Coast of the United States who are interested in transitioning into other fields after their performing careers are over. It covers who provides these resources, whether it is the ballet company the dancer is employed by or by a third- party organization. It considers whether the size of the ballet company has any influence on its ability to support dancers looking into this transition.
Although this research focuses on ballet dancers, and those based in the United States, it can be related to some of my ideas behind my question are dancers given enough support and guidance on furthering their careers?
The prominent idea of this research is that while existing professional support seems to be limited, a review of professional literature reveals the field is growing, and the concern of dancers transitioning into other fields and careers after their performing careers is being addressed.
Articles mentioned in the research, focus on college program initiatives and how they can be tailored specifically to dancers. They include:
'College Programs for Professional Ballet Dancers: The Impact on Career Transitions' (Hamilton, Bristow, & Byars, 2002)
'Reflections on a Degree Initiative: The UK's Birmingham Royal Ballet dancers enter the University of Birmingham' (Benn, 2003)
'Access and Innovation: A Degree Program for Professional Dancers in Transition' (Lamoreaux & Taylor, 2008)
'Integration of a Professional Dancer into College' (Pulinkala, 2011).
These articles can be researched further, in relation to my line of inquiry.
3. Should dance teachers be allowed to physically correct students?
'A Postpositive Approach to Teaching Dance: A study on Dance Pedagogy', H Wasserman, 2013.
http://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/54663/Wasserman_Distinction_Paper.pdf?sequence=1
I found this paper by Hannah Wasserman interesting. She researches the methods used to teach dance, and although it is not specific to the issues surrounding physically correcting children in dance, it can be beneficial in researching the basic benefits to physically correcting students.
Some of Hannah's objectives of the research were to explore the appropriate student- teacher relationship, and to find the best way to deliver corrections and constructive criticism. By looking into these ideas further, they can be used as a basis to my line of inquiry.
Sunday 1 March 2015
Module 2- making a start.
After reading through Reader 4 a few times, I'm getting to grips with the idea of a 'professional inquiry', and how questions, issues, problems, and opportunities can be developed as ways to understand practice.
I have taken my questions to a professional associate, and look forward to getting her thoughts and feedback. I also hope to receive comments from other practitioners on the course.
As Sarah Dunn mentions (http://sarahdunn88.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/module-2-oganisation-research.html), I also currently work full- time in a non arts related field, so I have had to re- evaluate how I will go about my professional inquiry, the sources I will draw upon, the people (friends, ex- colleagues, dance teachers etc.) that will aid and support me in the process.
Looking back at my previous 'inquiry' task, there are some particular avenues that I have chosen to explore further, that will eventually lead to my line of enquiry, and which I hope will be relevant to my future practice within the arts.
Is body weight and image addressed in the correct way at dance colleges?
Are dancers educated properly on healthy eating and nutrition?
Should dance teachers be allowed to physically correct students?
Do dancers have the correct transferable skills in order to be successful in other fields?
How can the mis- treatment and exploitation of dancers be prevented and controlled?
Are dancers given enough support and guidance on furthering their careers?
I have started with six questions that I am interested in researching further, so have kept it fairly broad at the moment, to see which questions gain the most response/ interest.
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