Reflecting on week one
When I first completed the induction, I won't lie I was quite concerned about my current experience this year in Dance opposed to last year. Last year, I was fully consumed in Dance, teaching all day, five times a week, whereas now only two times a week. What I did think about was would there be much to discuss or reflect on?
I can see now after watching the Ted Talk 'Teaching art or teaching to think like an artist' alongside 'Do school's kill creativity?', that having time to reflect on my practice from a far less engulfed position, will allow me to gain perspective on the knowledge I already know, and how this makes me think within my own practice.
Thinking about Cindy Foley's points surrounding "Comfort with ambiguity", is something I as a dancer have struggled with, which made me wonder... How can you teach children to be comfortable with ambiguity, when you as a professional need to embody your practice within this? Mistakes are often responded to as wrong decisions, which in Ken Black's ted talk he refers to as being taught not to make mistakes. In fact, when I think about my own practice often my mistakes have allowed me to grow as an individual and become much more consumed within the ideas I am researching.
My idea for though how can we teach comfort with ambiguity within education as a learning experience?
Often as educators we have to teach the right way of thinking due to exam specifications and examinations that define young people's future, but actually when thinking about my own education I was very introverted, and would never raise my hand due to the sheer fright of making mistakes. Until I started studying dance full time in further education, I believe the freedom and creativity I was given to explore my own thoughts and ideas, and to question my own thinking, flourished my academic ability. The truth is, children are almost always dependant on the educator because they are never taught that making mistakes is an exciting and innovative experience. As this culture develops within education, I am afraid that constant pressures within the system both on educators and students will cause a decrease in human creativity and a drive for knowledge through experience. As Dewey talks about embodiment through experience, "continual reorganization, reconstruction and transformation of experience" (Dewey, 1916), allows the body and mind to work on expanding an individuals intellectual state.
Very much looking forward to having these points of reflection, and how they will allow me to gain a clearer perspective on my own practice. Also excited to share ideas and work together to create new ways of thinking within arts education.
I can see now after watching the Ted Talk 'Teaching art or teaching to think like an artist' alongside 'Do school's kill creativity?', that having time to reflect on my practice from a far less engulfed position, will allow me to gain perspective on the knowledge I already know, and how this makes me think within my own practice.
Thinking about Cindy Foley's points surrounding "Comfort with ambiguity", is something I as a dancer have struggled with, which made me wonder... How can you teach children to be comfortable with ambiguity, when you as a professional need to embody your practice within this? Mistakes are often responded to as wrong decisions, which in Ken Black's ted talk he refers to as being taught not to make mistakes. In fact, when I think about my own practice often my mistakes have allowed me to grow as an individual and become much more consumed within the ideas I am researching.
My idea for though how can we teach comfort with ambiguity within education as a learning experience?
Often as educators we have to teach the right way of thinking due to exam specifications and examinations that define young people's future, but actually when thinking about my own education I was very introverted, and would never raise my hand due to the sheer fright of making mistakes. Until I started studying dance full time in further education, I believe the freedom and creativity I was given to explore my own thoughts and ideas, and to question my own thinking, flourished my academic ability. The truth is, children are almost always dependant on the educator because they are never taught that making mistakes is an exciting and innovative experience. As this culture develops within education, I am afraid that constant pressures within the system both on educators and students will cause a decrease in human creativity and a drive for knowledge through experience. As Dewey talks about embodiment through experience, "continual reorganization, reconstruction and transformation of experience" (Dewey, 1916), allows the body and mind to work on expanding an individuals intellectual state.
Very much looking forward to having these points of reflection, and how they will allow me to gain a clearer perspective on my own practice. Also excited to share ideas and work together to create new ways of thinking within arts education.
Hi Jessica,
ReplyDeleteSo interesting reading your blog. I can really relate to what you write about the fear of making mistakes. I teach in educational dance projects in public schools a lot and often I find the hardest thing in the beginning of a project is, to get the kids to understand, that we are not looking for a correct way to do something, but to explore together what possibilities they are, much more with the idea of play in mind. There is so much creativity in these kids and its always very touching to witness, when the can finally access it, without the fear of making mistakes, or looking silly standing in the way.
I am really curious to hear, how dance education in school works in the UK. Do the kids choose, if they want to dance, or is dance and drama always part of their curriculum?
Hi Agata,
DeleteThank you so much for taking time to read my blog! I love your ideas about teaching exploration and possibilities, unfortunately there has been a culture created of right and wrong which can often impact on our subject. Dance in the UK is not compulsory sadly, and can be taught at KS3 (lower years of secondary) and then students will opt to take this at GCSE. This sadly all depends on whether there is enough interest, as if it is not taken at KS3, you often find there could be lower numbers.