Developing Questions....

I must say I was pretty pleased with myself after completing task 4a; I had brainstormed a wide range of questions and I felt passionate and excited about the discovery that lay ahead.......oh how naive of me!!!

I set up a facebook group with all my relevant contacts and posed my questions to gain their opinions, perspectives and thoughts. After reading all the replies I realised that I was heading down a no end road. All of my posed questions had the dreaded title of 'Pseudo Question'...

'.....a pseudo question expects no answer, cannot be answered or has an answer that is already known to the person.' (Reader 4, Middlesex University, 2011).

My main inquiry was centering around training in young people and whether full time training was better than part time training (after school classes). Obviously this is very much dependant on the individual, what is right for one child will not be right for another......there is no right or wrong, hence no answer!
Some children have had fantastic experiences at full time schools and have gone on to lead successful careers, such as those from part time schools. There are successful/unsuccessful, good/bad, positive/negative cases from each pathway.

As I started to think in more depth around my posed questions, I realised that both Practitioner Research and Data Collection methods would be challenging to say the least. 

In hindsight I should've tried to answer these questions initially to discover whether they were a genuine question that could be answered upon inquiry.  However, this is all part of the 'journey' and how we learn what it is we are truly wanting to discover.  In the chapter 'Getting Started' from 'How to Research' (Blaxter, Hughes and Tight, 2001) it is discussed that sometimes a change of direction is needed and to remember that 'change is good'.

As a teacher I want to best prepare my students, many of whom will want to undertake full time training later in life.  I therefore came up with the proposed inquiry....

'How can you best prepare someone for full time training in Musical Theatre?'

My inquiry is from a teaching perspective, so as a teacher how can you best prepare your students for this type of training?
I feel this is a genuine question that I can research and the findings will hopefully be of benefit to my future career. 

Sub Questions

• What is the criteria for gaining a place on a full time Musical Theatre course?
• What skills/attributes are the panel looking for in potential students?
• What are the demands of full time training?
• From a graduates perspective, what further preparation do they wish they had before attending full time training?
• How can I ensure that my students meet the criteria?
• How can I prepare them both technically and emotionally?

As always, thoughts, perspectives, opinions are always welcome!

Task 4b: SIG

Now I have started with my research questions, I can begin to search for my SIG :)

I will be searching through, also looking at previous blogs to find those who have similar interests to me and potential similarities in our lines of Inquiry. 

If you feel that we could be within the same SIG,  please blog and let me know.
(I feel like I am doing an online dating ad, haha)

Looking forward to hearing everyone's initial ideas :)

Task 4a - Developing Research Questions

Task 4a

Developing Research Questions

To start this task I looked back at Task 2d to see what my 'Initial lines of Inquiry' were. I have to say that due to my change in direction, these questions did not seem to be the focus of my thoughts anymore.  I am now pursuing a career that is primarily teaching based and my main age range will no longer include pre-school children. 

My main thoughts/queries focus around the standard of training within young people, particlarly the question...

'How early should children be prepared for professional training?'

As a teacher I need to know how to develop my students in the right way, so that I can make them achieve their goals and full potential, however they are still children and need to develop as people, not professionals. This is always a worry of mine; where is the balance?? I want them to achieve and to be successful, but I don't want to push them too far and I want them to enjoy their childhood, as you only get this chance once!

From this question I brainstormed and came up with the following questions/issues.....

• How Professional should 'after-school' classes be?
• Should the emphasis be placed more on fun or more on training?
• Should their be special classes for people who want to take it more seriously?
• Or would this be limiting the students who haven't decided yet whether they want to pursue it as a career?
• Do children need to take classes in all of the art forms to give them the best possible chance?
• Do full time schools, such as 'Sylvia Young' really give the students an advantage over children who attend normal school and after school training academies?
• Do children from schools such as the above, have more chance of gaining a place at 16+ theatre school or even employment?
• Do they have substantially longer and more successful careers?
• Do children who attend full time training schools lose their identity or individuality?
• Do they actually get to develop fully as a person?
• At what age does a child need to decide if they are going to pursue their hobby as a career in order for them to have more chance of success?
• Do children who have trained professionally from a young age end up losing their passion for the arts much sooner than a child who enters professional training at a later age?
• How important is it to know who you are as a person and be confident within yourself, before attending a full time training institute?
• Are the pressures of full time training too much for children under the age of 16?
• Are they likely to end up resenting the life they had?
• For dance based courses, what is the best age to start full time training?
• Would it be more benefitial to choose a high standard 'after-school' class, rather than attending a full time training school?
• Would you have a more rounded personality if this were the case?
• Do you need life experience to be a good performer?
• If the children don't gain this life experience, are they actually diminishing their chances?
• How important is it to be surrounded by family when growing up?

I would love to know what you think......

Do any of the questions really stand out to you?

Can you relate to the questions?

Did you attend a full time training institute from an early age?

Are you a teacher who has similar worries?

Please let me know what you think and I look forward to blogging with you all :)

'Getting Started'

In the Reader we are advised to read the chapter 'Getting Started' from 'How to Research' by Blaxter, Hughes and Tight (2001).

I thought this would be a good place to start, before continuing with the Handbook tasks.  Within the chapter there is a lot of useful information, some will be more useful when we are further on in the process of the Inquiry.  However there are some key points included which can definitely help with 'getting the ball rolling' so to speak. 

I've included a link to a document I created on the chapter; it is just some general observations and tips that may be helpful to you when 'getting started'.

'Getting Started' (Blaxter, Hughes and Tight, 2001)

Thoughts on Reader 4........

I must say, it has been hard work actually getting the time to sit down and re-focus the mind into 'study mode'.  So, now I am throwing myself back into the swing of things and I started by really breaking down Reader 4.  As I always say, it was definitely overwhelming on first read but after making lots of notes and re-reading I can definitely see how the Reader provides much useful guidance on the process of the Inquiry. 

What really stuck out to me from the Reader?

The goal of the inquiry is to.....'explore a topic that will benefit your work and the work of colleagues and fellow professionals'.
This has given me a little more clarity into the direction my Inquiry will need to take. The results should be of benefit to my future career and help to improve my 'Professional Practice'.  It needs to relate to me specifically and I need to ask myself 'What will I gain from the findings of the Inquiry?'.

The Inquiry will be about examining what we are doing, whilst we are doing it. The topic for the research will be based on experiences you are now actively involved in!! Make it relevant!!

The Inquiry will help us to take an issue, reflect on it and improve it for future experiences :)

Gibbons (2008) supports the fact that knowledge in the workplace can require a more 'transdisciplinary' approach and he describes it as 'a scope of understanding that crosses the boundaries of disciplines'.  Many of us on this course are aiming to gain a Degree level qualification so that we can go on to teach full time. We are all Professionals and therefore as teachers we will have 'Inter-disciplinary' jobs. We have extensive knowledge on the specific subject we will be teaching, but we will also have to understand the concept of education and the practice of education.
I think it is fair to say that just because you are good at something, does not mean that you will be good teaching it. This form of 'inter-disciplinary' type role proves that you need to know both sides in order to be a successful teacher.

I found the section on 'Capability and Competencies' very interesting! I am often frustrated by job advertisements that demand specific requirements from their applicants. I may not have the qualifications to prove that I am competent in that particular skill, but I most certainly have the capability to learn new skills at a fast pace.  Raelin (2008) argues that only 'organic competencies' can be used effectively, generic competencies can not be applicable to all organisations - what is sufficient in one place, may not be sufficient in another!!
I vote for capability over competence!! i.e. the scope to which a person can gain new knowledge and apply it successfully, rather than what skills/knowledge a person already possesses! I would be interested to hear other views/thoughts on this :)

It is the process of the inquiry where the learning will take place, the end result is perhaps not the most important aspect! It is about examining what we do - how can the inquiry inform and help my practice??

One of the most prominent features will be 'Research Knowledge' - reading about your area of research in lots of different sources  and this will give you an idea on what has previously been explored in that research area.

'Practitioner research allows you to critically think about what you do.  You can then make informed decisions based on the evidence from your research.'

Start big and make small - what I mean by this is to start with a broad topic and  then keep narrowing it down by creating further questions, i.e. sub categories.  It is in this way that you will get to a specific research topic.  I must say I have been worried about  how I am going to come up with the topic for my research, however if you think of it in this way then you will naturally come to a topic of your choice :)

'Pseudo Question' - a question that either expects no answer, has no answer or the answer is already known.
Make sure to really think about the questions you are asking - are you truly seeking to find the answer and the truth. Is the answer unknown to you??

The aim at this stage is to come up with questions that you can investigate in a small Practitioner Research Inquiry.   - 'Start with broad ideas that become more targeted'.

My Approach

I am going to brainstorm all the issues, problems, queries etc surrounding my daily professional life. What am I eager to learn/find out more about? What am I worried about? - often we need to solve our problems so that we can progress in our career, therefore this question could be a good starting point. Where do I want to be in 5 years time? - think about all the obstacles you will need to overcome to get to this point??

So, I am going to brainstorm and see what arises from the brainstorm.  My Professional life has taken a different direction in the past couple of months, therefore I may find that my brainstorming brings out more relevant proposals than those suggested in Task 2D of Module 1. 

I will break these down further and further until I find the specific area that I really want to focus on, constantly thinking about how the result of the research will benefit my future practice??

Discuss the questions with fellow professionals and peers. Do they shed new light on the ideas??

Question the questions I have raised!! Constantly analyse and reflect on new findings/thoughts.

Let's begin....

I would love to hear your thoughts on the Reader....

What stuck out to you? What is your initial approach? Are you finding it difficult or easy? Have your questions given you any surprising answers? How are peers reacting to your questions?

When I am sure on my area of research I will be searching for my SIG members!

Looking forward to blogging with you all :)