Critical
Reflection
Having completed the BAPP course I have acquired new knowledge and
understanding about myself. I have realised that I am keen on self-reflecting
on my own practises in order to strive to further improve my teaching and my
students learning. I know more about using technology in the classroom/studio,
which technologies work better to assist particular learning objectives and
also that some students learn better using different strategies, visual, kinaesthetic,
audio etc. Therefore it is more important to know your students, to understand their
individual learning needs and to plan for differentiation. I would like to look
further into Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences to evaluate other
teaching methods. I found my blogs to be a helpful way to voice ideas (however
sometimes disappointed with the lack of response I received on some topics).
Wright, G (2013)
Reading literature brought new ideas to my attention. I managed to find
some good evidence to support my arguments for my inquiry. For example I
observed a dancers working day at the Royal academy of dance which they had
posted on YouTube, giving me the idea to post students work onto the schools
website (under the secure learning section). Students can observe and evaluate
their own performance, catch up on work missed and self-reflect to make further
improvement to their own work.
From exploring different ideas I have gained
a greater understanding to implement my skills to the beneficiary of the pupils
that I teach. My inquiry has also changed my view of teaching dance in schools. An
important part of teaching dance in a school is to differentiate tasks to suit
individuals learning needs. The lessons are often formed of mixed ability
students from versatile backgrounds. Technology has enabled me to make dance more
appealing to those students who struggle with the subject by engaging students
through visual aids, increase student progress in terms using video feedback
prior to assessment, helping to maintain their interest using the internet for
research material and offers an alternative option of cameraman, director,
choreographer roles.
Unfortunately, while away on maternity leave my current employer decided
to remove dance from the timetable due to lack of funding. The head teacher has
not realised the true value of the creative arts for the development of its
students. I am being made redundant and feel saddened after all of my efforts
that my organisation will not benefit from my inquiry findings as much as I had
hoped for. However the inquiry has helped me to develop my own teaching
practise to become a stronger teacher. I will continue to use appropriate ICT
tools in future to aid support student progress.
While doing the work on module 3 I have continued to
take a professional approach to using networking sites such as Twitter,
Facebook and my LinkedIn account (which has now become my CV in my search for a
new career opportunity).
The course also encouraged me to engage in discussions
in My
SIG groups, which were interesting and useful. People commented and shared
ideas regularly.
I have learnt about the importance of ethical issues surrounding my teaching
practise. I worked with my sixth form students for my Inquiry so did not need
parental permission, just a signed disclaimer from each participant. I do
however work with children on a daily basis so must keep up to date with Ethics
and this will now be considered when planning and delivering lessons.
I have chosen
to use a power point for my Artefact, as I can add links to you tube clips, add
photos of my dance students and upload video footage of their dance
assessment/performance to clearly show my target audience examples of how
technology can support dance learning. This style of Artefact will be suitable
for my target audience to benefit my new institution. Also it can be
distributed to a wider audience through the Internet, loaded onto my SIG groups
and social networking sites to share among a broader audience of professionals.
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