In Blake's blog, Campus Session, she writes about how everyone was asked to say what their inquiry was about 'in one or two sentences' (Curtis-Woodcock, 2013).
I decided to have a go!
My inquiry is a very personal one that aims to better understand motivation in dance students, through their own words, experiences and perceptions, with the purpose of developing more effective strategies for enhancing this motivation in the future.
Whadda ya think!!!
Friday, 25 October 2013
A moment of clarity?!
I came across this just now and it seems to sum up where my head is at this morning!
- What exactly should my inquiry title be to accurately represent the data
- Why would people find my inquiry useful
- How do I present the data, i.e. as professional artifact, so as to reduce misunderstanding and misrepresentation
A journal entry made late last night was concerned with the development of my inquiry from it's proposal stage, and the fact that my proposed title:
There's no such word as can't: Student perspectives on motivation in the dance class
doesn't really seem to reflect where my data and literature is taking me. So instead I am thinking of something along the following lines:
Dance student perspectives on motivation: a study of the highs and lows
I still want to represent any 'findings' from the students perspective but I think that the dual meaning of the second half of this possible title represents a) the differing levels and types of student motivations, i.e. their intrinsic/ extrinsic motives for attending dance lessons, and b) the fact that these motivations can go up or down due to external events.
I realise that the title is perhaps something of little importance in the grand scheme of things but it is my way of condensing the 'what' of my inquiry so that I am certain of its purpose.
I was never going to be able to define the parameters of my inquiry accurately in my proposal due to the nature of my topic area and methodology and recognise that, even at this stage, it is still a work in progress, but I think that this has made things clearer in my mind as to where this inquiry is taking me.
S
Thursday, 24 October 2013
Mega-lightbulb!
You know when you don't really think you've been thinking about something, then someone else triggers you with a word or thought, then something else pops up that creates a whole stream of consciousness? Yeah. Well, that was me earlier!
I was so very glad that I'd been interviewing this evening as I had my voice recorder to hand, although I'm not sure about the rules for voice-recording and driving!
I shall try to organise what I taped into something people other than myself might understand. Here goes,
It all started whilst reading Blake's blog - Campus Session. In it she talks about 'presenting my artifact audio visually' and how being dyslexic this offers her an interesting solution (Curtis-Woodcock, 2013). This got me thinking, and commenting, about my own professional artifact and how I had, up until that point, been focusing on my potential audience in terms of their professional practice and not about their needs as individuals, i.e. the accessibility of my artifact.
OK. So that makes sense, right!
Then, on the way home from a student interview about 2 hours ago, I happened to tune in to an advert that was playing on my car radio (normally I just tune them out!). It was for the R.A.F. and the voice said something like "My name is ...... and my motivation to join the R.A.F. is..." This immediately made me think the following:
These two events have, through assimilation and verbal reasoning (into my voice recorder), lead me to another interesting discovery; my inquiry has two distinctive, but linked, aspects:
Phew! I think I might switch off for the rest of the evening now!
I'd really love you to comment about my ramblings though, particularly about if you think I'm,
a) talking nonsense,
b) making some sense but need to keep thinking, or
c) have a good idea that is worth developing!
S
References
Curtis-Woodcock, B. 2013. Campus Session. Blake's Blogs, [blog] 24th October 2013, Available at: http://blakecw92.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/campus-session.html [Accessed: 24 Oct 2013].
I was so very glad that I'd been interviewing this evening as I had my voice recorder to hand, although I'm not sure about the rules for voice-recording and driving!
I shall try to organise what I taped into something people other than myself might understand. Here goes,
It all started whilst reading Blake's blog - Campus Session. In it she talks about 'presenting my artifact audio visually' and how being dyslexic this offers her an interesting solution (Curtis-Woodcock, 2013). This got me thinking, and commenting, about my own professional artifact and how I had, up until that point, been focusing on my potential audience in terms of their professional practice and not about their needs as individuals, i.e. the accessibility of my artifact.
OK. So that makes sense, right!
Then, on the way home from a student interview about 2 hours ago, I happened to tune in to an advert that was playing on my car radio (normally I just tune them out!). It was for the R.A.F. and the voice said something like "My name is ...... and my motivation to join the R.A.F. is..." This immediately made me think the following:
- audio, with text, would be accessible to more of my audience than words alone
- student voices, which I really want to include but have been struggling with how to maintain anonymity and confidentiality, could be 'heard', for example,
- couple this with an animated graphic or the words popping up onto the screen and I could include a visual aspect to the artifact.
- lead on from these 'quotes' by talking (with graphics - words or images) about the teacher's need to understand what motivates, or doesn't motivate, students.
(with names of flowers/ shrubs - like Holly, Fleur, Rose, Pink, etc - to protect anonymity and confidentiality)"My name is Holly and my motivation to come to dance lessons is that I like to keep fit and healthy"
These two events have, through assimilation and verbal reasoning (into my voice recorder), lead me to another interesting discovery; my inquiry has two distinctive, but linked, aspects:
- The discovery of the individual and uniquely combined motivations of my participants, and
- How these combinations are uniquely affected by the events within the class, i.e. participant 1 is affected by event B more than event C due to her intrinsic/ extrinsic motivations W, Y and Z, whereas participant 2 is affected by event C but not B, and really affected by event D, due to her intrinsic/ extrinsic motivations X, Y and Z.
Phew! I think I might switch off for the rest of the evening now!
I'd really love you to comment about my ramblings though, particularly about if you think I'm,
a) talking nonsense,
b) making some sense but need to keep thinking, or
c) have a good idea that is worth developing!
S
References
Curtis-Woodcock, B. 2013. Campus Session. Blake's Blogs, [blog] 24th October 2013, Available at: http://blakecw92.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/campus-session.html [Accessed: 24 Oct 2013].
Sorry for the delay, Emily!
A few days ago Emily Hunt left me a comment on my blog Narrowing Down that read:
http://www.annarbor.com/news/ted-talks-ann-arbor-teachers-share-insights-with-their-peers/ (Biolchini, 2013).
The section that linked in my mind to Emily's comment is from Wendy Rothman - a teacher at Mitchell Elementary School - who, according to the article 'spoke first in a reflective address to remind teachers that how they talk to their students and arrange their classroom has a major impact on how a student's day and school year goes' (Rothman in Biolchini, 2013). The example she then gives shows how motivation can be changed with the flick of a switch. I know for sure that there are times when no sooner have I opened my mouth, I wish I hadn't, and the reaction/ action of the pupil on the receiving end is something that tends to stay with me for a long time. An occasional slip might not be too damaging, or might it?
In my data collection so far I have been aware of the numerous occasions that interviewees have spoken about how the manner in which the teacher deals with the day-to-day of dance class occurrences has a big impact on the motivation of those students within that class. The area seems broad, and I am using both student voice and theory here, but includes such things as: negative feedback (Buckroyd, 2000), correction without explanation (Participant 004, 2013), controlling rather than autonomy developing (Reeve, 2005), shouting at students in front of others (Participant 008, 2013), negative comparison (Participant 005 and 007, 2013), learning binds (Schon, 1987), ignoring students (Participant 012, 2013), and more. However, a common theme seems to be evident here - the basic principle of how you communicate with your students - both verbally and non-verbally, intentionally or unintentionally - and how the student understands this communication; alternatively put, the intra-personal relationship between teacher and pupil.
So, this would suggest it is more of a state of mind than a case of think before you speak. Is the root of using language more about the teacher's perspective? By which I mean:
I have also been quite amazed by the 'teacher knows everything' comments that I have heard during interview.
That's a potentially fatal combination isn't it... A teacher who uses language without care or consideration plus a student who believes the teacher is always right. Consider the following examples:
"My teacher tells me I'm not good enough" - well, my teacher must be right because she knows everything.
"My teacher doesn't like me she never says anything nice to me" - well, I can't be very nice then because, again, my teacher is always right.
So now I feel ready to respond; here goes, Emily!
Not only does a good teacher need to be able to reflect on and understand the power of her words but she also needs to understand the motivations, personality traits, psychological needs, and past experiences, that each student is composed of - like those children's books where you could give the policeman the legs of a frogman! In short, Emily, my answer is, yes, the teacher needs to match the way of communicating with the individual!
References
Biolchini, A. 2013. Motivation for success: Ann Arbor teachers share insights with their peers. The Ann Arbour News, [blog] 3rd Septmber 2013, Available at: http://www.annarbor.com/news/ted-talks-ann-arbor-teachers-share-insights-with-their-peers/ [Accessed: 23 Oct 2013].
Buckroyd, J. 2000. The student dancer. London: Dance.
Criss, E. 2011. Dance All Night: Motivation in Education. Music Educators Journal, 97 (3), pp. 61-66. Available from: http://mej.sagepub.com/content/97/3/61 [Accessed: 23rd October 2013].
Participant 003. 2013. BAPP inquiry interview. Interviewed by Sarah Robinson [in person] 17th October 2013
Participant 004. 2013. BAPP inquiry interview. Interviewed by Sarah Robinson [in person] 10th October 2013.
Participant 005. 2013. BAPP inquiry interview. Interviewed by Sarah Robinson [in person] 18th October 2013.
Participant 007. 2013. BAPP inquiry interview. Interviewed by Sarah Robinson [in person] 21st October 2013.
Participant 008. 2013. BAPP inquiry interview. Interviewed by Sarah Robinson [in person] 15th October 2013.
Participant 012. 2013. BAPP inquiry interview. Interviewed by Sarah Robinson [in person] 21st October 2013.
Reeve, J. 2005. Understanding Motivation and Emotion. 4th ed. London: Wiley and Sons.
Schön, D. 1987. Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
With different types of motivation, do you feel the teachers approach could be a key one? (Hunt, 2013)It's something that I was all ready to agree with but then I couldn't quite organise what I wanted to say coherently until I remembered this article I found in September:
http://www.annarbor.com/news/ted-talks-ann-arbor-teachers-share-insights-with-their-peers/ (Biolchini, 2013).
The section that linked in my mind to Emily's comment is from Wendy Rothman - a teacher at Mitchell Elementary School - who, according to the article 'spoke first in a reflective address to remind teachers that how they talk to their students and arrange their classroom has a major impact on how a student's day and school year goes' (Rothman in Biolchini, 2013). The example she then gives shows how motivation can be changed with the flick of a switch. I know for sure that there are times when no sooner have I opened my mouth, I wish I hadn't, and the reaction/ action of the pupil on the receiving end is something that tends to stay with me for a long time. An occasional slip might not be too damaging, or might it?
In my data collection so far I have been aware of the numerous occasions that interviewees have spoken about how the manner in which the teacher deals with the day-to-day of dance class occurrences has a big impact on the motivation of those students within that class. The area seems broad, and I am using both student voice and theory here, but includes such things as: negative feedback (Buckroyd, 2000), correction without explanation (Participant 004, 2013), controlling rather than autonomy developing (Reeve, 2005), shouting at students in front of others (Participant 008, 2013), negative comparison (Participant 005 and 007, 2013), learning binds (Schon, 1987), ignoring students (Participant 012, 2013), and more. However, a common theme seems to be evident here - the basic principle of how you communicate with your students - both verbally and non-verbally, intentionally or unintentionally - and how the student understands this communication; alternatively put, the intra-personal relationship between teacher and pupil.
So, this would suggest it is more of a state of mind than a case of think before you speak. Is the root of using language more about the teacher's perspective? By which I mean:
- if the teacher values the student there is less likelihood of students feeling ignored or negatively compared to others,
- if the teacher appreciates the psychological needs of the individual (Reeve, 2005) then she is more likely to be able to tailor the comment/ event/ experience within the class to suit the student,
Cos I can either be really open with my emotions or really inside so often teachers...and when I’m getting angry they often think I’m just being, like, attitude-y or sulky but it’s not that it’s, just, like, my frustration (Participant 003, 2013)
- if the teacher builds a relationship with the student built on cooperation rather than seeking to control (Reeve, 2005) or create a win/lose model (Schon, 1987) then the student will not experience the loss of autonomy (Reeve, 2005),
- if the teacher provides the reasoning behind feedback, or rationale that is informational (Reeve, 2005), then the student is more likely to see the worth of doing something,
- if the teacher understands what 'drives' the student then they will more likely to provide every individual with the level of challenge that they need within the class (Criss, 2011).
I have also been quite amazed by the 'teacher knows everything' comments that I have heard during interview.
That's a potentially fatal combination isn't it... A teacher who uses language without care or consideration plus a student who believes the teacher is always right. Consider the following examples:
"My teacher tells me I'm not good enough" - well, my teacher must be right because she knows everything.
"My teacher doesn't like me she never says anything nice to me" - well, I can't be very nice then because, again, my teacher is always right.
So now I feel ready to respond; here goes, Emily!
Not only does a good teacher need to be able to reflect on and understand the power of her words but she also needs to understand the motivations, personality traits, psychological needs, and past experiences, that each student is composed of - like those children's books where you could give the policeman the legs of a frogman! In short, Emily, my answer is, yes, the teacher needs to match the way of communicating with the individual!
References
Biolchini, A. 2013. Motivation for success: Ann Arbor teachers share insights with their peers. The Ann Arbour News, [blog] 3rd Septmber 2013, Available at: http://www.annarbor.com/news/ted-talks-ann-arbor-teachers-share-insights-with-their-peers/ [Accessed: 23 Oct 2013].
Buckroyd, J. 2000. The student dancer. London: Dance.
Criss, E. 2011. Dance All Night: Motivation in Education. Music Educators Journal, 97 (3), pp. 61-66. Available from: http://mej.sagepub.com/content/97/3/61 [Accessed: 23rd October 2013].
Participant 003. 2013. BAPP inquiry interview. Interviewed by Sarah Robinson [in person] 17th October 2013
Participant 004. 2013. BAPP inquiry interview. Interviewed by Sarah Robinson [in person] 10th October 2013.
Participant 005. 2013. BAPP inquiry interview. Interviewed by Sarah Robinson [in person] 18th October 2013.
Participant 007. 2013. BAPP inquiry interview. Interviewed by Sarah Robinson [in person] 21st October 2013.
Participant 008. 2013. BAPP inquiry interview. Interviewed by Sarah Robinson [in person] 15th October 2013.
Participant 012. 2013. BAPP inquiry interview. Interviewed by Sarah Robinson [in person] 21st October 2013.
Reeve, J. 2005. Understanding Motivation and Emotion. 4th ed. London: Wiley and Sons.
Schön, D. 1987. Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
Share and share alike
I follow Betty Wells blog and saw she had posted a video clip in one of her latest posts about motivating boys to dance. I clicked the link and watched the clip, which was really interesting, then decided to have a wander around the rest of the website. I found this clip:
http://www.teachersmedia.co.uk/videos/ks3-ks4-pe-motivating-girls-1
Watching it I found several words and phrases resonating with my current thinking and my inquiry so far:
'competition' 'comparison'
'concentrating on being better than them'
self-conscious 'choice'
'for themselves' 'student voice is really important'
'got something out of it'
'fitness'
(Teachersmedia.co.uk, 2013)
The video clip focuses on the whole P.E. curriculum for girls, which includes dance, but I can already see parallels with the data that I have been collecting for my own inquiry.
Motivation in learning, therefore, would seem to be something that crosses over all of the students' education and an area that needs awareness and understanding by all teachers irrespective of their subject area(s).
Thank-you to Betty for posting the link, which lead me (through interaction and sharing) to find something relevant to my own inquiry.
S
References
Wells, B. 2013. 'Boys don't Dance' an inspirational video. Betty Wells BAPP, [blog] 21 October 2013, Available at: http://bethanywells2.blogspot.co.uk/ [Accessed: 23 Oct 2013].
Teachersmedia.co.uk. 2013. Education videos and resources for professional development. [online] Available at: http://www.teachersmedia.co.uk/videos/ks3-ks4-pe-motivating-girls-1 [Accessed: 23 Oct 2013].
http://www.teachersmedia.co.uk/videos/ks3-ks4-pe-motivating-girls-1
Watching it I found several words and phrases resonating with my current thinking and my inquiry so far:
'competition' 'comparison'
'concentrating on being better than them'
self-conscious 'choice'
'for themselves' 'student voice is really important'
'got something out of it'
'fitness'
(Teachersmedia.co.uk, 2013)
The video clip focuses on the whole P.E. curriculum for girls, which includes dance, but I can already see parallels with the data that I have been collecting for my own inquiry.
Motivation in learning, therefore, would seem to be something that crosses over all of the students' education and an area that needs awareness and understanding by all teachers irrespective of their subject area(s).
Thank-you to Betty for posting the link, which lead me (through interaction and sharing) to find something relevant to my own inquiry.
S
References
Wells, B. 2013. 'Boys don't Dance' an inspirational video. Betty Wells BAPP, [blog] 21 October 2013, Available at: http://bethanywells2.blogspot.co.uk/ [Accessed: 23 Oct 2013].
Teachersmedia.co.uk. 2013. Education videos and resources for professional development. [online] Available at: http://www.teachersmedia.co.uk/videos/ks3-ks4-pe-motivating-girls-1 [Accessed: 23 Oct 2013].
Friday, 18 October 2013
Update
So, it's the third week of the Uni. term, and I'm keen to keep pushing myself and staying on track, so I thought I'd construct this blog about where I am, where I am going and anything that has given me cause for reflection along the way. My aim is to(1) go over things in my own mind before committing them to text, thereby giving myself a more constructed, and constructive, look at the things that have been and gone and (2) take things forward, both in planning and executing, by using what I have learnt or gained, from this reflection, and hope to avoid/ improve in the future.
I am now five interviews in to my twelve, and still thoroughly enjoying every minute of it. I can honestly say that each participant has given 110% of themselves to this inquiry (for which I am thrilled and thankful) - in the diaries that I've had back, the responses that I've been given to questions in interviews, the feedback after interviews, the time willingly given to participate - and I feel very inspired and motivated myself and determined to do my utmost to represent my students to the very best of my ability.
As each interview has come along I feel that I have improved in my ability to fit a 're-cap' in to each stage of the questioning, with a verbal explanation of why to each participant, so that I can clarify what has been said before as a tool to reduce misunderstanding or misinterpretation later on - for example, when transcribing or during analysis.
I have been transcribing interviews as soon as I possibly can so that I am still fresh in my mind about the event. I did think long and hard about using transcription software, both in the proposal stage and again after my initial interview took place but the following points made me decide to do it myself:
When I have finished transcribing an interview I am then printing it out and making hand written notes on it that help to contextualise the conversation and to add more depth and understanding to the text. For example, in one interview you can hear a 'bang.' By noting in the relevant place in the text that this was the interviewee striking the table top with their hand to add emphasis to a point I will keep the emotion behind the thought rather than just the thought itself.
I have also been reading around my topic area of motivation - gathering some interesting new knowledge and insight into the theories and concepts behind the subject. I had come across several points that I felt might of great use for the analysis stage of my inquiry but even after doing less than half the interviews I have realised that, by thinking ahead, I am in danger of trying to 'fit' the data to the theory. AHHHHHHHHH! Something I definitely do not want to do! In other words, I currently feel that by 'knowing' I have almost stopped 'inquiring!'
One reason that this came to light is that I had come across an idea about autonomy, competence and relatedness (Reeve, 2005, pp. 101 - 129), which I felt might be a useful concept in my inquiry analysis - see blog post Light bulb! (Robinson, 2013). I now realise that the data I collect will cover a much, much broader area than will fit neatly into these three ideas. So instead of constructing my analysis through just these three I will need to have a much broader knowledge-base to work from - things like value, intrinsic/ extrinsic, feedback - in the initial stages of analysis, which may or may not lead to a tighter grouping of ideas as I get further into things.
N.B. This is obviously not an intentional state of mind but, by becoming aware of it in the early stages, I feel more confident that I will not pigeon-hole my data (and therefore, by extension, my students) into existing theoretical constructs. I am not saying that I won't be using theory to aid analysis but it will be the data that tells me the direction of growth, not existing knowledge.
I am resisting the urge to 'peek' into diaries at this point in time as I feel that the diary and transcript should be treated as parts of the whole rather than in isolation. Obviously I will need to read the diary of each individual but, by reading them alongside the interview transcript, I will gain a much clearer picture of the individual, their motivations and the main factors that affect this.
So, where do I go from here?
Well, the plan is now:
Week 4/5 - finish interviewing, collect remaining diaries, and finish transcribing so that all data is in an organised and user-friendly form. Carry on with further reading and reviewing of literature. Keep noting down ideas for professional artifact.
Week 5/6 - start reviewing and analysing data in isolation - looking for key ideas, words, thoughts and experiences within individual data. Carry on with further reading and reviewing of literature. Keep noting down ideas for professional artifact.
Week 6/7 - begin to analyse data as a more unified whole - identifying areas of commonality, strength of feeling/ experience and unique data. Carry on with further reading and reviewing of literature. Keep noting down ideas for professional artifact.
Week 7/8 - categorise data into groups (if this is possible) using existing research, theories, concepts, etc. Keep noting down ideas for professional artifact.
Week 8/9 - think about starting Critical Reflection and propose more concrete ideas for professional artifact after seeing 'what' inquiry findings are and identifying 'who' inquiry audience might be.
Weeks 9-12 - creating Critical Reflection, artifact and oral presentation.
I have overlapped in weeks 4 - 9 as I don't think anything will be as cut and dried as 'do this then' so I want to allow myself that leeway of spilling into the next week so as to avoid setting impossible deadlines or creating stress!
One final thought that seems to be in my mind at the moment is that I am, for once, happy not to be entirely in control of this situation; the data will be whatever it will be and by planning too far in advance of it (see paragraph 7-9) I am in very real danger of, to use a metaphor, answering the question before it has even been asked. This inquiry is not 'to get a right answer,' it about improving my professional practice and through that, the experiences of my students. As I have already mentioned in my post Unintentional interventional! (Robinson, 2013), there have been small changes already and I am eager to welcome further development and growth over the next few weeks (and beyond!).
S
Reference
Reeve, J. 2005. Understanding Motivation and Emotion. 4th ed. London: Wiley and Sons.
Robinson, S. 2012 Professional Inquiry Proposal. [google.doc] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tvFWpCEhcrywodfXDphFJEPrhP9a61EZuDMyitbgMlM/edit?usp=sharing [Accessed: 18 Oct 2013]
Robinson, S. 2013. Light bulb!. BAPP, [blog] 27th September 2013, Available at: http://seraclops.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/light-bulb.html [Accessed: 18 Oct 2013].
Robinson, S. 2013. Unintentional interventional!. BAPP, [blog] 14th October 2013, Available at: http://seraclops.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/unintentional-interventional.html [Accessed: 18 Oct 2013].
I am now five interviews in to my twelve, and still thoroughly enjoying every minute of it. I can honestly say that each participant has given 110% of themselves to this inquiry (for which I am thrilled and thankful) - in the diaries that I've had back, the responses that I've been given to questions in interviews, the feedback after interviews, the time willingly given to participate - and I feel very inspired and motivated myself and determined to do my utmost to represent my students to the very best of my ability.
As each interview has come along I feel that I have improved in my ability to fit a 're-cap' in to each stage of the questioning, with a verbal explanation of why to each participant, so that I can clarify what has been said before as a tool to reduce misunderstanding or misinterpretation later on - for example, when transcribing or during analysis.
I have been transcribing interviews as soon as I possibly can so that I am still fresh in my mind about the event. I did think long and hard about using transcription software, both in the proposal stage and again after my initial interview took place but the following points made me decide to do it myself:
- Reviews of transcription software (unless very, very expensive) suggest that they can really only cope with one voice at a time and struggle with over-lapping conversations,
- Reviews of transcription software suggest that all transcripts need to be double-checked for accuracy anyway, and
- My accuracy in the analysis of data stage relies on having a good grasp on the nuances and context of each piece of data so by transcribing things myself and having to listen again and again (and again) to the dialogue this surely means that not only do I get accuracy in capturing the correct words but also the meanings behind those words by really 'hearing' what my student are saying,
When I have finished transcribing an interview I am then printing it out and making hand written notes on it that help to contextualise the conversation and to add more depth and understanding to the text. For example, in one interview you can hear a 'bang.' By noting in the relevant place in the text that this was the interviewee striking the table top with their hand to add emphasis to a point I will keep the emotion behind the thought rather than just the thought itself.
I have also been reading around my topic area of motivation - gathering some interesting new knowledge and insight into the theories and concepts behind the subject. I had come across several points that I felt might of great use for the analysis stage of my inquiry but even after doing less than half the interviews I have realised that, by thinking ahead, I am in danger of trying to 'fit' the data to the theory. AHHHHHHHHH! Something I definitely do not want to do! In other words, I currently feel that by 'knowing' I have almost stopped 'inquiring!'
One reason that this came to light is that I had come across an idea about autonomy, competence and relatedness (Reeve, 2005, pp. 101 - 129), which I felt might be a useful concept in my inquiry analysis - see blog post Light bulb! (Robinson, 2013). I now realise that the data I collect will cover a much, much broader area than will fit neatly into these three ideas. So instead of constructing my analysis through just these three I will need to have a much broader knowledge-base to work from - things like value, intrinsic/ extrinsic, feedback - in the initial stages of analysis, which may or may not lead to a tighter grouping of ideas as I get further into things.
N.B. This is obviously not an intentional state of mind but, by becoming aware of it in the early stages, I feel more confident that I will not pigeon-hole my data (and therefore, by extension, my students) into existing theoretical constructs. I am not saying that I won't be using theory to aid analysis but it will be the data that tells me the direction of growth, not existing knowledge.
I am resisting the urge to 'peek' into diaries at this point in time as I feel that the diary and transcript should be treated as parts of the whole rather than in isolation. Obviously I will need to read the diary of each individual but, by reading them alongside the interview transcript, I will gain a much clearer picture of the individual, their motivations and the main factors that affect this.
So, where do I go from here?
Well, the plan is now:
Week 4/5 - finish interviewing, collect remaining diaries, and finish transcribing so that all data is in an organised and user-friendly form. Carry on with further reading and reviewing of literature. Keep noting down ideas for professional artifact.
Week 5/6 - start reviewing and analysing data in isolation - looking for key ideas, words, thoughts and experiences within individual data. Carry on with further reading and reviewing of literature. Keep noting down ideas for professional artifact.
Week 6/7 - begin to analyse data as a more unified whole - identifying areas of commonality, strength of feeling/ experience and unique data. Carry on with further reading and reviewing of literature. Keep noting down ideas for professional artifact.
Week 7/8 - categorise data into groups (if this is possible) using existing research, theories, concepts, etc. Keep noting down ideas for professional artifact.
Week 8/9 - think about starting Critical Reflection and propose more concrete ideas for professional artifact after seeing 'what' inquiry findings are and identifying 'who' inquiry audience might be.
Weeks 9-12 - creating Critical Reflection, artifact and oral presentation.
I have overlapped in weeks 4 - 9 as I don't think anything will be as cut and dried as 'do this then' so I want to allow myself that leeway of spilling into the next week so as to avoid setting impossible deadlines or creating stress!
One final thought that seems to be in my mind at the moment is that I am, for once, happy not to be entirely in control of this situation; the data will be whatever it will be and by planning too far in advance of it (see paragraph 7-9) I am in very real danger of, to use a metaphor, answering the question before it has even been asked. This inquiry is not 'to get a right answer,' it about improving my professional practice and through that, the experiences of my students. As I have already mentioned in my post Unintentional interventional! (Robinson, 2013), there have been small changes already and I am eager to welcome further development and growth over the next few weeks (and beyond!).
S
Reference
Reeve, J. 2005. Understanding Motivation and Emotion. 4th ed. London: Wiley and Sons.
Robinson, S. 2012 Professional Inquiry Proposal. [google.doc] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tvFWpCEhcrywodfXDphFJEPrhP9a61EZuDMyitbgMlM/edit?usp=sharing [Accessed: 18 Oct 2013]
Robinson, S. 2013. Light bulb!. BAPP, [blog] 27th September 2013, Available at: http://seraclops.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/light-bulb.html [Accessed: 18 Oct 2013].
Robinson, S. 2013. Unintentional interventional!. BAPP, [blog] 14th October 2013, Available at: http://seraclops.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/unintentional-interventional.html [Accessed: 18 Oct 2013].
Wednesday, 16 October 2013
Professional artifact - another possibility
http://www.brightknowledge.org/knowledge-bank/study-support/motivation-and-time-management/learn-to-motivate-yourself
The link above shows a page from the Bright Knowledge website, which is powered by Brightside.com. It gives 5 tips for students to help finding their own motivation to study.
I like the 'friendly' look of the page and the non-technical language used, which makes it feel more accessible to all. The little pictures create a more easy-on-the-eye format, rather than just text, text, text, and I thought the way the information was broken down and kept to-the-point made it quick and easy to browse and I wasn't put off by the amount of reading I was expected to do.
The related links at the end also seemed to be a really good way to find out more without cramming too much on the page.
Any thoughts? They'd be helpful, particularly if you are teaching dance to adolescents, as your opinion will really help me shape my artifact to fit my potential audience.
S
The link above shows a page from the Bright Knowledge website, which is powered by Brightside.com. It gives 5 tips for students to help finding their own motivation to study.
I like the 'friendly' look of the page and the non-technical language used, which makes it feel more accessible to all. The little pictures create a more easy-on-the-eye format, rather than just text, text, text, and I thought the way the information was broken down and kept to-the-point made it quick and easy to browse and I wasn't put off by the amount of reading I was expected to do.
The related links at the end also seemed to be a really good way to find out more without cramming too much on the page.
After my initial reading of the page, I did the following:
- Changed the title, in my mind, to 'Learn to motivate your students,'
- Started to re-word the opening statement - So, you're looking at your class of teenagers, but no matter how hard you try you just can't seem to find a way to get them motivated...,
- then carried on - so you find some students can be motivated more readily than others, whilst some students seem permanently disengaged. If this is you, then you need to find out what motivates them...,
- I then began to see how tips for teachers could be listed as suggestions under, perhaps, motivational concepts or theory.
- Finally, I thought of including as a final tip 'Talk to your students, after all they are the best informed when it comes to what they need in order to feel more motivated.'
Any thoughts? They'd be helpful, particularly if you are teaching dance to adolescents, as your opinion will really help me shape my artifact to fit my potential audience.
S
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