When finalising
the questions for my survey I decided to write down the questions I want
answering first. This helped me immensely when deciding on the final questions.
It has also lead to me changing parts of my inquiry.
I want to know how
important performance is to the students I will be teaching. How they use
performance as part of dancing even if it is subconsciously. By doing this will
help me find if there is anything missing in there classes to benefit them
expressing themselves.
From research I
have made I made my own definition of performance. It includes five aspects;
Facial
Expressions, Musicality, Energy, Character and Eyes. I have chosen to refine
this to four due to one of the questions in my survey:
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3
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When watching someone dance what makes
an individual stand out?
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(Please tick one)
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1. Flexibility
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2. Performance
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3.Technique
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4. Musicality
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5. Dynamics
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This made me think
that musicality should not be one of my aspects of a good performance. I feel
as if musicality is an aspect of its own, it’s extremely broad and could lead
to so many more avenues.
My
consent forms are printed and I am scheduled to observe 4 classes on the week
commencing 11th March. I have chosen not to observe the principles
class. I have made this decision as the Principle is aware of the topic of my
inquiry. I don’t want to observe a class and her feel influenced to make
changes to her normal teaching habits based on my inquiry. I feel she may now
be more conscious of the subject. The questionnaires will be filled in by the
pupils that I observe.
Hi Kimberley,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds as though you are making good progress with your inquiry. Do you believe that musicality is a broader aspect than any of the others you have chosen to include? As with all the aspects you list above, there are potential sub-inquiries. Would it be worth exploring the possibility of concentrating on one aspect in detail? What is it you are wanting to understand within your inquiry? What is 'performance'? Which aspect is most important within a performance to the performer / audience? What are you wanting to gain and understand from your observations? The methods used by the teacher? The natural performance levels of the students? I am really interested in your inquiry Kimberly. I look forward to reading more..
Best Wishes,
Jo
Hello Jo
ReplyDeleteMy inquiry is to find out the difference in performance standards in my home region and what I have found is expected in the industry. I am now teaching in the school I began to dance in and I feel that if I can influence the students with my findings and learning from my progressing career it will help then in the future.
I have researched and discussed what people think make a good performer and have defined it myself however I still think it is too broad. After your comment on focusing on one quality I think I may even refine it to three; Facial expression/Eyes and character. I think these are good options as it gives me a change to explore internal and external.
The reason behind the observation is not only to see the teaching techniques but also the children's ability to perform. I am looking for key words from the teacher; show it in your face, imagine you are, visualise this and so on.
I will then hand the questionnaire out to the students that I observe and see how that reflects on my findings from the observation. I want to know how important the students think performance is, what is internal; whether they create a character, a story or emotion memory behind their movements.
You have really made me think Jo and that is just what I need. I think having someone else to challenge your ideas is essential to having a tight inquiry.
Thank you
Hi Kimberly,
ReplyDeleteI am so pleased. I too enjoy being challenged as it makes me think and re-focus...
I love the sound of your investigation assessing what the students are thinking about / feeling whilst they are dancing. It's almost the question of whether or not they are being organic and true to themselves by "being" or because they are being told to "show it in their face", they manufacture the look of enjoyment / performance (of which the latter I remember doing when I was in shows at my local dancing school!).
The three aspects that you have chosen have been carefully selected, perhaps because of their commonality - emotion and feeling?
The exploration of internal and external expression is a fascinating one. I look forward to hearing about your findings.
I hope the observations go well for you.
Best Wishes,
Jo
How are you getting on Kimberley - get in touch before Easter for a tutorial if we can arrange it. On this idea about comparing what 'performance' is in your region to a more national definition - how are you going to do this - what literature have you found that will help you analyse this. Yes internal and external expression sounds like a good avenue to investigate - is that in the essence of performance Facial Expressions, Musicality, Energy, Character and Eyes.- how does it relate? How is it judged by the audience, director, the performer? Is there a psychological element to all this that you are putting into the definition? Remember this is also about finding knowledge and understanding about your topic area - tally ho for another small literature search? Try going to MyUniHub - Library - Summon and search key words performance pychology - found one on music anyway...
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