Critical Reflection
Questionnaire.
As part of my pilot survey, I created a questionnaire that was given to 26 children at the primary school in which I work.
These children were aged from 8 – 10 years old and all participate
in whole school “Wake and Shake” dance routines every morning along with
production dances and dance PE in line with the curriculum based upon the topic
they are studying at the time. This questionnaire, I feel was a success as I managed
to accurately collate what skills they thought dance developed as well as how
they felt dance impacted their school life and education.
I decided to ask the children
many kinds of questions to see if they were able to respond with both
quantitive and qualitive information. I included multiple choice questions,
open questions (with lots of room for the children to explain and develop their
reasonings) as well as declarative statements the children could chose
according to their views. In order to ensure the questionnaire was filled in
honestly and without bias, I made sure I didn’t tell the children why I was
giving them the questionnaire, just asked them to think carefully and be
honest, that way they didn’t feel as though they had to please me with answer I
might want to hear. I am happy with the results and the ways I have used the
data to help with creating my inquiry and will definitely be using this tool in
my inquiry as I feel it gives a valuable insight into the thoughts of the children
who are experiencing dance within their education. I am glad I picked this age
group as they were able to articulate their feelings enough to be able to tell
me their opinions. In order to improve this method, I will open up the survey
to more children over a wider age range, this way I will be able to see if
opinions differ as children pass through the school and mature. It will also
help with compiling data as more views give a more accurate representation of
opinions across the school.
Interview/ Focus Group
I planned and organised a structured interview with the Head
of The Arts at the primary I work at. I had many questions written down in a
hope of getting opinions on all aspects of my inquiry. We were scheduled to
meet straight after school and sit down formally for the interview. Many
members of staff often casually gather together at the end of each day to pass
on information, reflect on the day’s events and plan for the following day;
this was happening as I went for my meeting. I got telling a few people about an
online lecture I had been watching the night before for my literature review
this meant that several people including teachers, teaching assistants and a
professional artist, who was visiting for the day, got to talking casually about
the infusion of the arts into and throughout the curriculum. We discussed how
creativity can help all aspects of the curriculum by encouraging an open mind,
confidence in your ideas and the ability to espress yourself in many ways. It was
interesting to hear opinions from the point of view of an artist, a teacher and
those who work closely with the pastoral care of children. The conversation flowed
naturally with people giving anecdotal evidence, pondering out loud and letting
their thoughts and ideas formulate as the conversation went on. There were some
great, honest views being expressed so I quickly realised that this was the
best way to get professionals to discuss anything to do with my inquiry. I sat
down after the conversation to ask the questions in the interview and instantly
realised that the more formal the setting, the less honest and more structured,
‘professionally correct’ statements I was getting. This may be due to the fact
that I work with most of these people very closely on a daily basis and so they
feel awkward setting up a formal conversation or it may be due to the fact that
they know I am on this course and want to give me the ‘correct answer’ without
offending or deliberately promoting me and my work. By starting a conversation
with a piece of evidence that I had found interesting and I thought they would
be interested in hearing, in a casual, comfortable setting, I unwittingly
managed to ‘lull’ the staff into an unstructured focus group to discuss aspects
of my inquiry.
For my inquiry I will aim to create the same organic, casual
discussion by bringing evidence or visual stimulus to the group at the end of
the day. I will be honest about my views and will let the conversation flow. I will,
of course, need to record any points made, hopefully getting some statements to
be able to quote in my write up, and so I will take my note book and write any
comments made. I will then ask to be able to use these views raised and hope
they will allow me to at least anonymously. I think that if I ask at the
beginning staff members will naturally try to create well planned statements
including background knowledge and evidence to back up their point. I think
this will hinder the honesty to their thoughts. If any person shows particular
interest or a view that I would like to look into further I will try to extend
the conversation with them as an informal interview.
I do not think that planning a formal interview will get the
desired information and so I do not plan to use this method in my inquiry.
Observation
I have asked teachers to observe a child in their class
before, during, after and an hour or so after their 15 minutes ‘wake up shake
up’ dance session in a morning at school. I discussed the impact it had on the
child, their alertness, their focus and any notable changes that occurred in
their demeanour throughout the morning. The results were positive, with most
teachers reporting great increase in the child’s energy levels in class for the
rest of the morning. I found the results interesting although rather short term.
I think I will improve this method in my inquiry by creating observations on
more children over several weeks. This is obviously providing the teachers
agree and ensuring the children are unaware they are being observed. The
results will be compiled and recorded with the children remaining anonymous. I think
this will provide much more useful data than a single observation.
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