Student Representative Facebook Group!!

Hello everyone,

I have now set up a Facebook group called "BAPP Student Representative". The purpose of this group will be to provide an environment where we can all discuss the course and raise any issues, ask any questions etc. Add me on Facebook: "Liam Conman (Liam Driscoll)" and request to join the group.

Here's the link: BAPP Student Representative

I really want to get some real discussions going so I can identify where the issues lie and what you guys want to see changed or improved.

Thanks!

Liam.

Task 4c: Developing Questions

Last week I met with Fleur Stevenson, my friend and employer who has ran a successful ISTD based dance school for many years. I spoke to her about private dance education and how it contrasts with dance in schools. She was of the opinion that private dance education is much more about the technique, where as public dance education is more focused on expression, improvisation and creation. She acknowledged that both skills are important, however she made the point that a student can only progress to a limited level of dance if their technique is not solid.

We then moved on to discussing how the benefits of studying dance from a technical point of view are often unknown by parents of students, or overlooked and thought of as not important.

With this topic in mind, we came up with a potential line of inquiry:

"What are the benefits of dance within secondary school education?"

This is a question which I think would produce a lot of very valuable information which would aid my transition into public education. There is plenty of Literature on the subject giving me plenty to research...

This is by no means the final draft of my question, and I plan now to discuss the question with another friend of mine, Dr Jonathan Rees. Jon has a PHD in music and works as Course Co-ordinator and Head of Singing at Stella Mann College. As you can guess from his title, he is very academic and will hopefully be able to help me in fine tuning my question.

What do you all think? Is the question too vague, too broad? Is it too obvious? Does a better way of wording the question immediately jump out at you? Any feedback would be much appreciated!

Slogging away

After a good solid 5 hours of reading, researching, searching through previous student blogs for inspiration etc etc, I feel I'm making very little progress. I feel a bit lost, and compared to the last module, without any real direction!

However, after reading a couple of chapters from Dance as Education: Towards a National Dance Culture by P. Brinson, it's becoming clearer and clearer that my area of interest lies with dance within public education.

 i.e what is dances value within education? 

Is dance utilised enough within schools at present? If not, why not? 

Is dance still being stuck under the umbrella of P.E rather than being regarded as an independent subject like music or art? 

If it is, why is it not valued as much as music or art, both of which are similarly creative disciplines?

P. Brinson talks about the need for the gap between private and public dance education to be bridged...it seems like such a logical step forward to ensure that children nationally experience dance as part of their education, and yet it still hasn't happened! Why!?

I have no idea where to start researching all these questions...

Task 4b: SIG

Hi Bappers!

I have just created my SIG on LinkedIn.

I will be recruiting for it soon, but in the mean time have a look and if you think the group is relevant to you feel free to join! Dance within Secondary Education

Task 4a: Questions!

It's taken me quite a while to get started with this task. It's a very daunting concept, focusing such a broad area of interest to one specific question!

I decided to start by doing a brain storm on where I am professionally now, and where I want to be, hoping that questions would arise from trying to work out how to get there!

What does the education of dance in public education require that doesn't apply in private? 

How can I create a professional package that appeals to secondary schools?

What direction is secondary dance education going in and how will this effect my attempts to get involved in it?

Will marketing myself as a freelance teacher able to do one off workshops in secondary schools help me to get my foot in the door or public education?

How can I break down the lingering prejudices towards male dancers and performers in order to get more boys involved in dance in general, not just the "cool" styles i.e street/breakdancing?

How can I contribute towards a more organic educational system?

These are just a few questions that have surfaced, and it seems clear to me that dance in secondary education is the umbrella under which my  enquiry will be sheltering, so that's progress at least!! I will just keep chipping away and hopefully a more specific direction will begin to emerge. One thing I think I should certainly start doing is building up a knowledge of the history of dance within public education. When did it start being introduced? How far has it come? etc.

I know that there are others on the course that already work within public education and if any of you could offer me some advise as to how I should go about trying to infiltrate it I would be extremely grateful!

Student Representative

Hello everybody!


For those of you who haven't yet seen the notice posted on LibGuides, I’ve volunteered to be your student rep! In order for me to effectively communicate your views, issues and feelings about BAPP, I need to hear from you! I myself am in my second module, but as I am currently the only student rep I need to hear from all modules. So if you aren’t following my blog yet, please do, irrespective of module! This is because from time to time I may post blog entries specific to my role as student rep, and this way everybody will see them.

My role will be to communicate your views, issues and feelings about BAPP to the university at the Board of Studies meetings. Please email me at liamconman@gmail.com with anything you wish to be brought up at these meetings.

Just to get the ball rolling, here are a couple of topics for you to consider:

• UniHub – Any issues with the use of UniHub, any difficulty accessing resources, any confusion or lack of knowledge as to what’s available, ways it could be improved, things you really like about UniHub etc.
• Communication – Are you happy with the level of communication with your advisor and the course in general, is anybody struggling with keeping in touch with the course, is there any way you think communication could be improved etc.

These are just two areas we have highlighted, but if you have any subjects (great or small) you wish to be addressed please email me at the address above; my role becomes pretty redundant unless I hear from you guys, and this is how we can get our points of view across! So please, it would be great to get as many people involved as possible!

Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you. Please help to spread the word as much as you can via the blogs!!

I have returned!!

This blog is going to officially mark my return to the blog and the start of my journey through Module 2. Does it seem daunting? yes. But I plan to follow the same plan of action as I did in the first module:

I will throw myself into the deep pool of water. I will be disorientated, panicked and breathless at first, but eventually I will right myself and begin to float smugly on the surface wondering what all the fuss was about!

I am excited about conducting an inquiry and already I can think of a short list of people I will want to interview regardless of the specifics of the inquiry.

I've begun my first day back working on BAPP by catching up with my google reader and commenting on a few posts, as well as reading through the module handbook. It's got me going, and I'm sure I'll soon be back in the full swing of things!