Module Two - Task 5B - Comparing Codes of Practice and Initial Ethical Thoughts

Interestingly enough, when flicking through my Staff Handbook for my Primary School, I came across these two sections where one was actually titled 'Principles of Professional Practice!'

Most of this I knew anyway and is very similar to the bullet points that I wrote down, however, I was amazed that the last bullet point in this picture specified 'reflecting on your own practice.' Not only is this encouraged and vital for this BA Hons course, but it is also vital to many other workplaces. This shows me that one of the most important principles of Professional Practice is in actual fact thinking on and improving on what you already offer. It also specifies to 'adapt with and learn from colleagues,' something that is encouraged on this course to do with our peers and Special Interest Groups. The ethical considerations is mentioned under the 'working in partnerships with parents and carers, respecting their views.'

When looking at the code of conduct for photography and Creative Arts, it appears that there is no harm in recording images for extra school activities such as Drama. The main things I need to make sure are adhered to are the informing of the parents and the age-appropriate consent from the parent and the child. I must have this consent from both in order to publish these pictures and will do so when I come to create the Ethics Release form for Drama Club rehearsals. I think it is important for the child to also sign and give consent to having their photograph taken too, so that both parties are happy with this. If some children are not happy with this, I will respect their wishes and remove them from the camera. I will aim to disguise the child's identity at all times. I will never mention any names of any pupils whatsoever.

To be fair, I never thought about considering a signature space for the child to give consent, but I feel this would be valid so that I have confirmed consent as well as verbal. This means I am carefully considering every party along the way. The next step is to create my Ethics Release form so that it is ready to give out to parents and pupils to sign. 

Ticking the Right Box - Philip Pullman

Today I was scrolling through Facebook and came across this video that another teaching professional had shared. This is Philip Pullman, an English novelist, who spoke on BBC News recently about our Education system and how in a way it is doing a disservice to children because it is not honing in on something that is crucial in learning; imagination. I found this video incredibly interesting as this was something I had only just been writing about. He talks about the fact that teachers can see whether their pupils are engaged or are struggling as well as the fact that the Education system is obsessed with 'ticking the right box.'  He also discusses that there should be more trust in letting teachers 'get on' with their teaching. I think this also links to other forms of practice and not just teaching. I think we need to remember that in any Creative Practice imagination is vital.

'No work of Art, no book or painting, or poem or symphony was ever reasoned into existence.' - Philip Pullman

 

Module 2 - Task 5A - Initial Brainstorm of Ethical Codes of Conduct

For task 5a I had to quickly brainstorm some Ethical factors for my professional practice, so I decided to set myself the challenge of quickly noting down the first few factors that came to mind in bullet points. 

This was a very quick brainstorm into what I believed my ethics of working in a school were, without relying on actually documentation to assist me. Some factors were easy to think of, whereas others required more thought into them. What was interesting was that the ethics dealt with two things;  the professional and the emotional.

For example, in order to pursue a professional code of conduct you must listen to the children, however, factors like listening and communicating to the children can be for emotional benefit also. It appears that sometimes professional and emotional ethics can link hand in hand, which makes you think of how the code of conduct was created; quite simply with the children in mind. Surely you cannot have one without the other?

This is shown from Figure 2 in Reader 5 which presents the 'Arenas of Professional Practice.' The diagram shows cogs turning and that one cannot simply operate without the other. You have to achieve all three for your ethical practice to work; employer expectation, professional code and personal ethics. They all link hand in hand which makes me realise that without ethics, you can't really have a community or serve a profession to the best of your ability. 

Module Two - Task 4D - Literature Review

"Children have the capacity to see the wonderful in the ordinary." 

- Catharine Bell

Ken Robinson 

He defines creativity as the process of having original ideas that have value. Divergent thinking is more about how to find not just one, but multiple answers to questions. It’s more about thinking laterally rather than linear.

Within the video, Ken Robinson explains that ‘Collaboration is the stuff of growth’ and has noticed that most learning happens in groups.

The Arts deal with the here and now and engage the senses immediately. He talks about ADHD and how children are anaesthetised and medicated so that they can focus on the conformed way of teaching. He talks about how the Arts are an aesthetic experience rather than anaesthetic experiences where you’re in fact shutting your senses off. In his words, you are instead deadening yourself to what is happening. Instead Ken Robinson believes we shouldn’t be putting these children to sleep, we should instead be ‘waking them up.’

Schools are still geared towards the interest of factory lines; school subjects, ringing bells, age groups, separate classrooms. In a sense, its geared towards industrialisation. This is a concept I had never really thought about, until now. I can now see how as humans age, we start to conform to the rules of working life; going to university, getting a job, driving a car etc. Nowadays, a lot of this is an expectation that we are very often expected to fill.

The most important thing about them appears to be their date of manufacture or their age. In the Changing Education Paradigms video, Ken asks the question ‘why is their age the only thing they’re meant to have in common with each other?’

The Changing Education Paradigms video can be viewed here:

https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms

Much like Howard Gardner, he is an advocate for considering multiple types of intelligence and the understanding that all children think and learn differently.

Howard Gardner

Howard Gardner has been the theorist that so far has truly interested me the most whilst I have been undertaking my studies. This is because he takes the notion of the four types of learning and expands on them further, looking not just at one strength in learning, but looking at the character of a person and how they respond to different things. 

I often believe that behavioural issues within my school up till now have been a result of skills not being focused on and supported. There are many boys in my school who excel at sports, but until now have never had a chance to be on a football team or have a Physical Education specialist to really encourage their talents. It makes me realise the more and more I work with them that not everyone is a theoretical academic; some people are just more practical than others and therefore I feel we have a right to serve every type of learner there is and to do this, we should make our lessons both theoretical and practical to engage everyone at some point. This can only happen, therefore, if we provide those opportunities for them.

John Dewey and Phillip Jackson  

"Progressive Education is essentially a view formed by John Dewey, exploring the idea of Education that emphasises the need to learn by doing."
(Adam Jordan, http://study.com/academy/lesson/john-dewey-on-education-impact-theory.html)

This idea relies heavily on the art of pragmatism and the idea that the reality cannot be informed unless it is experienced.

This helps heavily in the school I work in and is a great way of enabling the children to try it and make mistakes. I realised the other day, when I undertook a science experiment about gas with the children. They were so engaged in the practical and because they were so engaged I was then able to make sure that they all finished writing their theoretical elements before we continued the practical experiment. This got them to be more involved with their writing and to be more enthusiastic about the things they were writing down and exploring. This made the lesson simply like a piece of theatre. It truly inspired them to write what they had seen. 

The idea that the teacher is more of a facilitator, rather than an instructor is explored by John Dewey.

“What the best and wisest parents wants for his own child, that must the community want for all its children.” (Dewey, J, The School and Society, 2007 edition, Page 19, Cosimo, Inc.) He also discusses how school is geared towards the industrial world we live in, explaining, “the growth of a worldwide market as the object of production” (Dewey, J, 2007 edition, The School and Society, page 21, Cosimo, Inc.) makes me realise that it is to facilitate a society that already exists in its own way.

Phillip Jackson

Phillip Jackson develops further and talks about John Dewey’s beliefs which he believed was true.

"He believed in creating school experiences that provided children access to wonderful lives, because he believed children have the capacity to see the wonderful in the ordinary."
 (Catharine Bell, PhD'07, Phillip Jackson's former doctoral student, UChicagoNews article.)  

Phillip Jackson continued throughout his career to look deeply into how to teach imaginatively and to look deeper at what teachers were trying to achieve in their work with their pupils. 

 "it is greatly to his intellectual credit that he began to look at classrooms and teaching in a more holistic and imaginative way - one that, among other things, paid attention to the tacit messages that emanated from classrooms and from teacher's work, matter that had been long ignored." 
(Professor Emeritus Robert Dreeben, a University colleague of Jackson explained, UChicagoNews article.) 

Ofsted recently arrived at the school and it made me realise that there is an expectation to uphold a particular standard. As teachers we have to uphold the National Curriculum, but we also have a duty to the children to engage them in any way we can. To spark enthusiasm for learning. This is where ethical factors come into question.

Bibliography

Abowd, M, July 31, 2015, Phillip W. Jackson, education scholar committed to children's flourishing, 1928-2015, UChicagoNews.

Dewey, J, 2007 edition, The School and Society, page 19, Cosimo, Inc.

Dewey, J, 2007 edition, The School and Society, page 21, Cosimo, Inc.

Jordan, A, http://study.com/academy/lesson/john-dewey-on-education-impact-theory.html

Robinson, K, October 2010, Changing Education Paradigms, RSA Animate

https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms

The Real Truth - Why did I Crumble at the Wednesday Workshop?

Yesterday was so strange. I met Arthur at Liverpool Street Station at 12pm and when I met him, I couldn't believe how different he looked. It's been 3 years since Drama School and this guy walking towards me had long hair in a bun, which he told me he didn't wash the usual way anymore, holes in his jacket, was thinner than I remember and told me that he was now Vegan. This wasn't the Arthur I remembered. The Arthur I remembered used to have tamed hair and absolutely loved to feast on meat. He even told me yesterday that he missed sausages...

We talked about our current lives as we bought a vegan lunch, but we didn't have time to eat it as Arthur was already late for for the start of his workshop. 

I went in and met the course leader, Faith, as well as the others and was instantly thrown into watching the 'Repetition' exercise, where the other actors repeat what the other has just said, based on what they observe about the other person. 

I had finally seen the truth in Arthur as I watched, remembering that at Drama School he had struggled with this at times. There were moments he was so real at this workshop and of course there were also times when he was bullshitting...

I watched for those few hours people crying and becoming so emotional on particular repeated lines.

Finally it was my turn to stand a face another new person to the workshop and had to describe what I could see. 

I could do this looking at him, but when I was asked to close my eyes and say the first thing I saw it became harder instantly and I wasn't sure why.

I kept saying things that had an opinion, like 'Granddad' and 'Monster.' All I had to do was say things like, eyes, hair, teeth, lips etc. Just simply state the physical.

Faith told me, 'You look defeated. You look defeated before you have already begun.'

And I cried.

I cried, I think, for a mixture of reasons. I cried, because I had been feeling defeated for so long. That I had dealt with these feelings in my own way, but now I was exposed again. And I think I'm starting to realise that I don't want to be vulnerable again. People watching me and being told to state the physical in someone else was suddenly just not easy anymore. All I wanted to do was to be left alone. For once in my life, I didn't like that feeling of being on stage, with people watching and looking right into me. I've had emotional baggage recently that's hard to handle. I find out today whether or not my mum has cancer and was told recently by my dad that I should start 'taking responsibility,' despite the fact I have many responsibilities already. 

I wanted to hide away from the world yesterday, because I wasn't ready to unleash what I'd been feeling. Low and scared. I didn't want people to see that. 

I left the workshop because I had to see my friend, another Drama School colleague, Chloe. I decoded with her what had happened. I feel now as if I'm over Acting. And I think Drama School did me damage. It's made me realise that I didn't want to keep living in the dramatic world. Instead, I want to do my job and be a teacher, who makes classes fun and is a role model to children who have nobody. Not to stand up and crumble in front of strangers because I'm 'holding back.' I want to cry in front of people who love me and have been on that journey with me. Not to indulge in any 'techniques' or 'strategies.' I feel like I'm passed that and this may be why I couldn't connect with the exercise. I wasn't being there for me, I was actually being there for someone else. 

At this moment in time, I want to do what makes me happy, and when I teach, I forget my worries and my fears and help others with their own issues because the people who are meant to listen to them simply can't or won't. I want to use Drama as a way of building people up and focusing on their positives, not going deep inside them and trying to pull out their fears or worries, because I see it in their eyes every day. If they want to talk, I am here. 

But I think sometimes, it's better to let people deal with things in their own way. I have dealt with it in my own way and it is not in front of people on a stage under beaming lights. It's with people who care. I do not want to be feel like a spectacle. I am a human being. 

Module Two - Task 4C - Developing my Questions

Since interviewing teacher, Daniel, with my questions I then wanted to see if I could develop them further with him. I wanted to see if there was any way in which I could refine them so that they were more specific and truly honed in on why the question would benefit my practice.

The previous questions were:

What is creativity? What does Creative Arts mean?

How do you teach someone to be creative?

Is there any time where you think the Creative Arts isn't creative?

How do you think the Creative Arts benefits Education?


Our revised versions of the questions now are:

How would you describe the term, 'Creative Arts?'


Can you teach someone to be creative or not?


Can the Creative Arts be restrictive and if so, how?


In what ways can the Creative Arts benefit the current National Curriculum?

I feel as if these questions have been rewritten in order to be much more specific, but to also not presume that the answer would be a 'yes' or 'no' before an explanation. Instead of asking 'what do you think X is?'  I'm instead asking 'can it be like this?' leaving the question open to the person to first consider if it is even a yes or no answer to start with. I've asked if people can 'describe' what they think instead, yet talk more specifically about what The Arts can benefit in my current situation. Education can mean anything, but by specifying the National Curriculum I can think about the benefits to the current Education system, which is something that theorists, (such as Ken Robinson), refer to. This is my current setting; a Primary School. 

Module Two - Task 4B - A Very Special Interest

Today, in my Music class, I wanted to get the classes to listen and to think and discuss how they feel, because it’s a skill that children find so hard to grasp most of the time. 

I decided to make them listen to 5 different songs, all different and all with different moods. I picked one particular song that had inspired me before. The song is called ‘Any Other Name’ by Thomas Newman and when I have listened to it before I have felt so many emotions stir up inside me. I’ve felt sad, heartbroken, calm, uplifted and happy all at the same time and it’s probably been the only song that’s been able to do this for me before. So I thought I would include this song as well as the others to see the response it would have. I deliberately put this song after the Mission Impossible theme tune, to see the affect of the difference directly after an upbeat song. 

I was amazed by the reaction of one boy who suffers from ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder.) and ODD (Obsessive Defiance Disorder.) I played this song and I automatically saw his whole body language change. He became quite. And still. It was amazing how much he had connected with a song and for once wanted to be still and quiet. A complete change of character. I asked him, ‘do you like this song?’ All he did was nod. It was enough.

Later on a girl from Year One told me the song reminded her of ‘flowers opening in spring,’ with another later on saying that it had reminded him of his ‘Grandma, who had recently died.’

All from just one song.

I discussed this this evening with Jess and Eleanor on the course within our new ‘Special Interest’ Facebook group. Jess thought it was amazing that this boy had enjoyed it so much and seeing as Jess is considering mental health as her topic, I thought it was useful to share this experience with her, because a good number of children within my school have some form of Special Educational Need. Jess and Eleanor are still searching for the topic question to reflect upon and in a way this probably takes time to establish, because you firstly have to explore to find a certain direction. Jess was talking before in her own blogs about asking the wrong questions in order to ask the right ones but now I’m asking, is there such thing as a right or wrong question? Is it more a case that every question must be answered in order to establish which one is simply more helpful?!

I have also recently been contacted by my old Drama School friend, Arthur, who heard recently that I, myself, had been suffering with the state of my own mental health recently. The things he told me were astonishing. Not only did he want to see how I was, but he also wanted to tell me that he had been thinking about me recently. He told me that whilst undertaking a Meisner workshop, it had completely changed his life. And even though we were at Drama School together for two years, he felt as though he had finally, truly understood. He told me the most flattering of things, about how real I was when I was acting and telling me that he had thought of me at times when portraying truth. He admitted to me that when we were at Drama School, he always felt as if the teachers there never truly let me be who I was and that they were too busy trying to make me into something else, they were missing the raw emotion that I had to offer the whole time. 

I was amazed. This was because I had felt exactly the same way since leaving Drama School. I had always wished that they had honed in on the real ‘me’, instead of trying to perfect my natural speaking voice, or to make me more elegant in my movements. I had always felt that what I had to offer wasn’t actually good enough. And at last, someone told me exactly what I had been thinking. For once, someone else has finally seen this.

As a result of Arthur’s encouragement, I have decided to attend a workshop next Wednesday to see what it’s all about. Arthur keeps mentioning words such as ‘truth’ and ‘real’ and I can’t help but feel intrigued. I have always been an advocate for the truth in both myself and other people and I think this is why I love working with children and that this is why I am doing what I am doing. There is beauty in truth.

Below is my favourite song, ‘Any Other Name.’ 

To me, it is beautifully tragic and tragically beautiful.

This, however, is for you to experience your own feelings... whatever they may be.

Module Two - Task 4A - Interviewing a Fellow Professional

After discussing in my last blog about the types of questions to consider and reflect on, I decided to produce questions appropriate to my practice and chosen topic question. I had decided to complete another audio-visual video, but this time, not to film myself, but to film an interview with a professional colleague within the school environment, who had also previously undertaken a Performing Arts training. 

Daniel Chantler, a Year 4 teacher, originally trained at Masque Theatre and following his Dance tuition decided to pursue a career in teaching. I decided to compile a group of questions that would be useful to explore with another professional and gain an insight into his views. 

These were questions that Adesola had asked me to think about in my Reflective Feedback for Module One and made it clear that these were not questions to answer, but to simply think about. As a result, instead of thinking about them on my own, I decided to explore these questions with someone else to see their thoughts on the Arts in Education. 

After all, the Creative Arts is all about bouncing ideas off of each other and working collaboratively to explore a much deeper meaning, isn't it?