My inquiry pops up in Munich

Well the next four days take me to Veranstaltungsforum Theatre, Munich. I am the Musical Theatre Judge for Dance World Cup, German finalists. The young talent is unbelievable here in Germany, both in discipline and in terms of passion.

Whilst here I was discussing the aspects of teaching arts within Germany with fellow judge and Romania Soloist, Rares Pop. He makes a direct comment regarding my inquiry.

"Well ideally you have both. You need the paper that says you can teach. But you also need knowledge and this comes with experience. You can't teach after one year of performing. I don't understand why more schools in Munich don't have more experienced artists in there schools" (Pop, 2013).

It seems that even when I travel to Munich to work, after making the conscience decision to sign off from my inquiry. It now seems to encompass my practice. This points out the relevance my inquiry has to my practice and that fact it underpins my future work as a practitioner. Like it or not, it's all things inquiry.

I will catch up on comments and your blogs as soon as I'm back...

Finding a place for Observations

I'm in the middle of writing up my analysis. It's a tough task. I've literally got four windows open on my desktop, the analysis, literature reviews, my blog and my data notes. It's seems to be a task knowing where I'm at. However, as I near the end of writing it, apart from being ridiculously over the word count (as always), it's fascinating to sit back a read through my analysis. It's like a massive puzzle of pieces within my inquiry that I have pieced together, to make clearer or better sense of my practice. The 'geek' in me seems to have been ignited and I find satisfaction in seeing all my work within data collection and literature reviews on one page. The task of reading it gives me a great sense of satisfaction to know I have collected something worth analysing and that I am able to communicate it to the rest of the world.

My interviews and focus groups have served my inquiry well and the ideas I have been able to extract from them will be of great value to my learning. However, there was an initial struggle with where to place my observations. Where did they fit in in my analysis? I then read through the notes and discovered that again, like my discussions, they were not direct answers to questions. What observations have done, is provide a unique and valuable opportunity to see how things are done by others within my practice. Acting as more of a support to my interviews and focus groups, the notion of looking inside my inquiry to see the work of others, has given me a great insight, thus resulting in my practice improving and being stimulated.

Next step is to take a step back and have a break. Then I can come back to evaluating my inquiry with fresh eyes.

2nd Campus Session: Module 3

After an initial catch up, lead by Paula, we delved straight in to defining the idea of an artefact.

Artefact: Product of your inquiry. Born from your findings within your inquiry, it's a comment of your research on process or production. It can be ongoing and ever changing. The thinking behind the artefact is just as important as the product itself. In order to find an audience for the artefact, Paula advises, "a separation from ones self, so that its stands on its own" (Nottingham, 2013). This means the artefact needs to be accessible to the outside world and useful to others.

We then carried out a useful exercise to help establish what the introduction part of the critical review might look like. By talking about it spontaneously, we could establish what we already have to say.

Yet again, it's certainly been useful to plug in and touch base with Middlesex University and the BAPP community. We realised, by doing this, our studies come alive instead of lying in the realms of our study space. Where ever that is...

Mason 2002: Critical Reflection

"The key question for this chapter and is, how to construct and present a convincing explanation or argument on the basis of qualitative data" (Mason, 2002). It is this notion that takes me to this critical reflection of Mason 2002. The chapter begins by advising that sorting data and constructing explanations should be strategic and consistent. There are three key elements to organising qualitative data, cross-sectional; categorical indexing; non- cross-sectional data organisation. Mason states that before one can decide which approach they should be using, one needs to recognise the data first. 

Recognising data

Having transcribed all interviews, focus groups and observations, I now have a series of ideas. These ideas need to be transcribed and also 'put into boxes', clearly labelled so that the data is easily accessible. When It comes to reading the data, Mason gives me two key questions. What counts as data or evidence in relation to my research? How do I wish to read my data? Mason states that it is vital to revisit these questions which I asked myself many times. The data is then put into three categories. Literal reading, where I look at the literal form of the interview, concentrating on the words and language used, and the structure of the dialogue in its literal content. The second is interpretive and reflexive reading, this is the consideration of the interpretive reading of the data, it concentrates on my interpretation of what is being said or the interpretation of the social phenomena. A reflexive reading makes me part of the data. 

Cross-sectional and Categorical Indexing

"Cross-sectional indexing of data involves devising a consistent system for indexing the whole of the data sets accordingly to effect of common principles and measures" (Mason, 2002)" Often called categorising or coding, the data is put into systematic categories with headings or subheadings that give a descriptive sense of what each section of text is about. I feel that I like this method and in my write-up will make for a clear and concise analysis. However Mason warns there are limitations to indexing in this way. This signposting could make the data general, but also if the data is not so uniform, such as a semi-structured conversation, it could not work well in representing what was said. This method is best for text based data. However, it is good regaining a systematic overview of the data, to gain a clear idea of the scope. 

Categorical Indexing

Categorical indexing is about taking a slice of the data from a collection of sections from the whole data collected. Here the researcher needs to ensure they are familiar as possible with the data, by knowing the data well the research can then make decisions on the indexing and categories that they will live in.

Non-crosssectional

Non-crosssectional or contextual data organisation involves sorting your data in methods which does not necessarily use the same lens. You can consider the life stories of the participants or the dynamics of the settings. 

I Feel that a contextual approach to my data analysis will be ideal as Mason recommended it as a way to, "understand intricately parts of my data-set, social processes, complex narratives or practices" (Mason, 2002). Without claiming to be a professional researcher, this approach give me a sense of room to allow my data to do the talking and gives me the tool to know something within my practice, I'm still yet to learn. 

To conclude Mason suggests that these methods are not constitute to the whole act of data analysis in themselves, in effect all these methods do is to help organise and get a 'handle on the data', the remainder of your analytical effort will go into constructing explanations and arguments" (Mason, 2002). I now take these ideas forward with me to analyse my data and present them to the rest of the world, in a clear and concise display. 

Making Convincing Arguments

Mason sees qualitative researchers as being in the business of producing social explanations or addressing intellectual puzzles. She explains it is like arguing interpretively on narratively, by making an argument because you show that the interpretation and the meaning is reasonable. "Interpretations of meanings, experiences, accounts, actions and events can be developed into explanations and understanding... Theory comes first, and your analytical task will be to measure or match up your data against these theories" (Mason, 2002). Mason then suggests it useful to concentrate the researchers efforts on thinking about the data in a theoretical and conceptual inspired way, thinking about theory within the data. Here I find an importance for the theory within my literature reviews and the rationale behind finding ideas, that critically measure to what I will discover about my professional practice.

References

Mason, J. 2002. Qualitative Researchring; Part III: Analysing Qualitative Data. Sage Publications, London. 

Collaborations and a good old catch up!

I want to stop and reflect on my BAPP SIG. I met this fellow BAPP student in module one and be it similarity in age and background, I seemed to relate to her position within the course and we began to collaborate our experiences, struggles and ideas. Since then be it within a semester or during module limbo, touching base and merging ideas has been a regular activity. After my weekly routine telephone conversation with her today, our reflections informed us how fascinating it was that despite starting the course 'in the same boat', our inquiries have taken us to different paths and paved a different journey for both of us. Still it feels good to connect with her and establish where I'm at and offer and receive advice. Today my SIG gave me some fantastic advice, a real light bulb moment. As I began to talk her through my what my findings may look like, I was explaining that my CV may confuse people as it will have graduated in 2013, giving them the wrong impression that I am fresh out of University with no experience. She advised me to always insert 'Work Based Learning', which would help explain my profession situation. This is of course a fantastic idea and her advice was received with thanks, it is a great way to help paint my story and point out my experience on my CV. I now understand the importance for conversing with my SIG, not only in terms of my inquiry, but my experience on this course. As I reflect on my BAPP journey so far, this practitioner has definitely enriched my academic path. I am grateful to Jo Clarke for her support and collaboration within my SIG and my inquiry. Thank you!

How is everyone else finding their SIGs? I hope you are finding the collaboration within them as useful as I am...

A Taster of My Analysis.

What skills do actors naturally have, before teacher training, that are directly transferable to the drama classroom? This question was asked to all practitioners that teach in schools. They have been grouped into ex-performer teachers and non-performer teachers. While the ex-performers gave me a colourful, complex discussion about the pros and cons of ex-performers that teach and what they can offer before training, at JRCS, there seemed to be a unified feeling that, "performers don't necessarily make good drama teachers" (Non-Performer D, 2013). These non-performer teachers drew on their experiences and told stories of how actors are not fit for the job. "They tend to focus on themselves a lot," (Non-Performer B, 2013) and "it's never about you, it's always about the students" (Non-Performer C, 2013). As I begin to gather the idea of a stigma or a reputation around actors that want to teach, the head of department supports this notion, stating, "I think you would be right to play down you are an actor upon applying for a drama teacher role within a school. I've seen it many times, we are not looking for talented people to show our kids how it's done. We are looking for people who understand how children learn" (Non-Performer A, 2013).

Then I turn to the quantitative data within my survey, when these non-performer teachers at JRCS were asked what skills they possessed naturally before teacher training, only 20% of them felt they had subject knowledge; practitioner skills; and new classroom ideas. When asked if they had artistic passion and knowledge only 2 in 5 of them said they did. If my discussions with these non-performers suggests that actors are not naturally rich in teaching skills and my survey reveals that Drama/Theatre Studies graduates are also not rich in these skills before teacher training, I'm left with the question, who is? 

My reflections in my journal of the experience of the Goldsmith's PGCE application process tells me that,"we had to perform various tasks, all in aim of uncovering what skills we naturally have that will be useful when training... They had clip boards and watched us assist teachers to see if we had any instinctual tools and skills that were transferable to the classroom" (Ahmet, 2012). As Ex-Performer A concludes in his interview, he makes a statement that points to an important finding, "Everybody will always defend themselves. Generally speaking a teacher will always think that their way is the right way and will protect their own chosen path as practitioners. You need to bare that in mind, we naturally want to protect our background" (Ex-performer A, 2013). This opens up a new perspective within my inquiry. Are teachers from a non-performing background bound to assume ex-performers will, "seek the lime light in class and not care about the educational experience of the students" (Non-Performer C, 2013). Ex-Performer D argues, drama graduates may have more of a theoretical background, but I'm not sure of the relevance of that. I think my practitioners experience can enrich a student's process much more than somebody who has merely studied it at university" (Ex-Performer D, 2013). My review on Lawrence Davidson's articles shows support to the idea that, "clever young people just down from university with a degree in drama will find there is no substitute for practical experience” (Davidson, 1999).

 
As I gather and analyse this data, both quantitative and qualitative, I am aware that a practitioner may tend to support their own choices as a professional. Rather than find an answer to my question, it has exposed a stigma or an opinion that I may meet upon my journey in teacher training and applying for a job. The awareness of this assumption will be key, when it comes to selling myself at interview and combating any stigmas that might be put upon me. Rather than my inquiry providing direct answers to my questions, it has allowed me to learn about the culture within my future practise and construct an understanding, thus becoming a better informed practitioner. 

Mini Cyber Campus Session

Web 2.0 proved to deliver yet again another method of communication within the BAPP community yesterday. Organised by Adesola, the were four of us collaborating ideas and comparing experiences vie Skype. These sessions will be happening monthly now and I really refine and them. It's another way to plug in and gain inspiration. Also it was great to get in touch with people from module one and go back to the roots of how my inquiry started.