Task 5A - Ethics (initial thoughts)

Within my work I feel I have to; 

• Be presentable / suitably dressed
• Be respectful
•  Be organised 
• Use appropriate language at all times
• Be prepared 
• Manage my time well 
• Be professional 
• Be reliable 
• Show positivity 
• Use team work
• Maintain high standards 
• Maintain the companies image and reputation 

Abide by any and all rules including;

• First aid
• Safe guarding 
• Heath and Safety 
• Fire safety 
• Company policy 
• DBS (CRB) checks 

What do I need to consider for my inquiry?

• Make sure any questions are suitable for the person being asked. Only ask questions directly related to my inquiry. 
• I must have the companies permission to carry out any kind of inquiry within the work place.
•  All questions must only be asked to persons aged 18 or older. If I wish to involve a younger person it must be fully in coordination with all company policies, DBS checks and with full permission of the child's parent or guardian. 

Research - Learning through Play

Within my job I perform daily to a group of parents and children a selection of nursery rhymes, songs 
with actions, all designed for the children to join in, mimic and sing along. 
it is very interactive.
These songs remain the same each day in order for the kids to become more familiar with the 
movement and words so they can begin to learn a little more from each performance. 
I am eager to begin finding out a bit more about learning through play and how much of it will be 
directly applicable in my WBL research.  

In Einstein Never Used Flash Card authors Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff
describe the five main elements of play.

• Play must be pleasurable and enjoyable 
• Play must have no extrinsic goals; there is no prescribed learning the much occur
• Play is spontaneous and voluntary 
• Play involves active engagement on the part of the player 
• Play involves an element of make believe 

This defiantly describes the intent behind the performance session done at my work place.  

I will be finding out more about Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff's work if I look into this book as part 
of my literature research. 

In my initial research I have found a huge amount of research and data but one of the more simple 

ways I found to look at it was broken into three categories;

• Classic theories focus on the idea of burning of extra energy; replenishing every after hard work 
•  More modern theories explore play from the perspective of how it impacts a child's development 
• Other theories focus on "the relationship of play to diversity and social justice in daily living and 
• knowledge"

I feel within my inquiry I will be looking to focus on examining how play impacts on a child development.

Learning through play is thought by some to have development benefits in multiple areas for children 
including;

• Creativity 
• Imagination 
• Initiative 

One specific style of learning through play that caught my interest is the Montessori Method of teaching.

This teaching technique is directly reliant on the child self-directing activity and the teacher simply 

observing and guiding. 

It was developed by Maria Montessori , an Italian physician and educator, it put emphasis on

independent learning or "freedom within limits". 

The video below really put into perspective for me the theory Montessori developed,

One of her more detailed ideas is the four periods in human development, or "planes of development"  

I have created a diagram of the four stages she describes;

Below is another video I found really educational for understanding a bit more about the use of the 
Montessori method and also a helpful link to the official Montessori website,  

http://www.montessori.org.uk/what_is_montessori

I find this method of teaching incredibly interesting and will be trying to take some of these ideas into

the workplace to see if I can observe any or her hypothesis in action. 

If anyone else has had any experience with this or a similar teaching technique I would be greatly 

interested to hear some of your experiences! 

References 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_through_play

http://www.montessori.org.uk/what_is_montessori

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/146023.Einstein_Never_Used_Flashcards

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_education

https://www.youtube.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_educationhttp://www.theparentconnection.org
/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Einstein-Never-Used-Flashcards.pdf

Research - Engaging Children in Performing

The first thing I did when beginning this research was a mind map to get some initial thought flowing and see what I think I already know about the subject. 

My very first thought on this subject came as soon as I start this diagram. 

What do I mean by "performing"?

This is a very broad term that can mean all manner of things in different contexts. 

Most of the time within our industry we are referring to definition number 4, to act (a play, part, etc.) as on the stage, in movies, or on television, or number 6, to accomplish (any action involving skill or ability), as before an audience. 

However when referencing my inquiry I am speaking about the most simple movement and speech tasks undertaken (mostly through song) meant to aid in the learning and development of young children. So perhaps "performing" isn't quite the right thing to be looking at. 


Definition of "playing" 

This is a much more accurate definition of what I was intending to explore and it has lead me directly onto what was going to be my next point of research, the idea of learning though play. 
This has made me feel more confident that I am heading in the right direction and that I am finally starting to narrow down some of my ideas! 


References 

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/performing?s=t

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/play?s=t

Knowledge and Skills in the Workplace

What do I know?

HOW do I know it?

These are two questions I honestly never thought would be difficult to answer. 

But they are! 

I know it seems silly, of course you know what you know. But really I don't often think about HOW I know something. 

This got me thinking about the inquiry and about Mode 2 knowledge as discussed in Reader 4, 

"Mode 2 knowledge is generated within the context of application"(Gibbons, 2008, online) 

This kind of knowledge is something that is created in the process of DOING within the workplace but how often do we really think about WHY we are doing it and HOW we know to do it? Most people just put auto pilot on everyday and go through the motions at work. 

This is something I hope to look into more as I develop my inquiry within my workplace. Thinking about the why and how of my actions may enable me to develop further questions. 

Another interesting topic is that of disciplinary and trans disciplinary. 

My research and WBL is defiantly going to consist of trans disciplinary and inter-disciplinary context. This again links to the theory of Mode 2 knowledge, which I found very applicable to my current learning situation, 

"Mode 2 knowledge production is transdisciplinary, which means it

uses a range of theoretical perspectives and practical

methodologies to solve problems"

Below is an extract from my journal where I stared to list the knowledge and skills I feel I would like to learn for the future throughout the development of my inquiry and my WBL research.  

References 

WBS 3630 Module 2 Reader 4, Middlesex University

Task 4B - SIGs

One of the most useful SIGs I have found has been the Facebook group set up a few weeks ago for Module 2 students. 
It's great to have direct contact and an open forum with all the other students going through the same process. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/BAPPArts

I am also part of another BAPP Arts Facebook group set up by one of the Module 3 students. 
This has helped me to reach out to the students who have been through the process and are further into their professional development. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1772278123061723/

I have also recently been talking to Mariele Zammit, another Module 2 student. 
Mariele and I were in the same year at college and had 3 hard years of training together! 
She has recently started back on BAPP in Arts again and it was great to be able to talk to her about my ideas and what she has been up to since college.
It turns out she has been working full time as a Drama teacher, something I am greatly interested in, so it was great to pick her brain! 
Because of this she is also the perfect person to get some feedback from regarding my current line of inquiry - what skills children learn from engaging in performing arts. 

I asked her a few key questions that I have been developing, (these questions will also be the start of my questionnaire research!) 

- Do you think going to the theatre/ watching performances influences young children?

-  Can taking part in performing help young children become more engaged in other areas of life? If so what? 

-  What other skills do children learn from engaging in performing?
- Have you ever used a "learning through play" technique?
- Have you ever used any other child development techniques? If so which one?

I am also connecting with a some other BAPP students who I have found are researching similar topics to me, Rebecca Jones and Laura Jayne I am hoping we will be able to bounce some ideas around in a Skype session very soon! 

Chat with Paula

Moving forward with my new job and looking into some new ideas had me feeling in need of some more guidance! So I called Paula for another chat to get some of my ideas slightly more organised. 

Below are the notes I took during our call, 

Following this I have a couple of really interesting topics to move forward with, 

- Learning through play

- Child development

New job

So far Module two has not gone as well as I had hoped... 

I started out with several interesting topics to look into (I unfortunately haven't got round to blogging much of my research so far) and yet I am still to decided on one topic point to move forward with into the the part of the Module. 

I believe one big factor that has been holding me back it that I recently decided to leave my job. This decision was made for a number of reasons, one of which was that I felt I didn't have enough time to focus on this course. 

Ironically I now feel this has left me at a huge disadvantage as I no longer have a work place to do any WBL in! Because of this I feel I am beginning to fall behind.

I have had several job offers so far but ideally I want to do something that is going to aid me in this next section of my course. 

So I have taken a position working at a kids play centre. This is a job where I am able to combine my skills as a manager with my love of performing arts and my intentions to become a teacher. 

In this role I am going to be hosting parties, running toddlers mornings, entertaining and working with children on a daily bases. 

Based on this change in my career I am going to re evaluate some of my topics and look into something that I feel will be the most beneficial to me moving forward with this new role. 

"Recognising knowledge in the workplace will be important in identifying topics or

issues that could benefit from professional inquiry."

Pulling on my original ideas from Tasks 2D and 4A these are some topics I will now look into,

- The influence of theatre on young children

-  Can Performing Arts can help young children become more engaged 

-  What skills do children learn from engaging in Performing Arts 

Any comments/ helpful ideas would be much appreciated! 



References

WBS 3630 Module 2 Reader 4, Middlesex University, Page 12