BAPP Arts 2016-17 Module 1 - Task 2d - Inquiry

I am really enthusiastic about creativity in teaching and all the different styles and approaches to it. Teaching excites me, because I can tap into my creative mind daily. Yes it has its challenges but within those challenges I am thinking on the spot, reflecting and always improving and adapting my style of teaching. Every student is different and I truly believe in tailored learning for students. In this day and age we are encouraged to think out of the box and move away from labels and the idea fitting into the "normal" category. We should celebrate creativity and individuality. When I was at school I was misunderstood by my teachers, I could not focus for an hours Maths or English lesson but I was an exceptionally creative student. There was too much content in core subjects and I found the style of teaching hard to engage with. I cannot learn from text book reading and writing, I am much better learning through practical tasks and by doing.


I really admire Sir Ken Robinson http://sirkenrobinson.com/, https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity. In his TED talk (2006), Robinson challenges the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence. He describes intelligence as being dynamic which is I think is such a great way of describing it. The oxford dictionary defines 'intelligence' as "The ability to acquire and apply knowledge", which is exactly why it is so dynamic. Everyone in this world is intelligent they just need the right tools and education to access it. In every school system across the globe there is the same hierarchy, at the top are maths and languages, then Humanities, followed by the arts. Why should children who are creative and physical learners be taught that Maths and Languages are the most important lessons. Tailored learning is so important going into a world where you are encouraged to make your career choices so young. I had no idea I wanted to be a teacher until I was 27, and its kind of ironic, my mum (a head teacher) couldn't believe it a first. My fire and passion come from my experiences at school, I want to be that teacher I never had, who understands more that just one strand of intelligence and looks for ways to tap into a students strengths and celebrate them.




When I think back to my days in school I am saddened and angered by the education I had. I take 100% responsibility for my action at as 11 to 16 year old however some of the reasons for my actions were solely because my strengths were not celebrated or regularly recognised. In todays world of education, especially in the past 10 years, I have seen a completely different approach to teaching and learning. However there are still some what I like to call 'Old Trees' that have their traditional and moral teaching roots well and truly grounded in schools, keeping watered by their 'upper pay scale' watering cans. This is something that I find extremely frustrating. How long will it take for the old to be out and the new to plant their roots? Being one of the younger members of the school faculty, I have become friends with other young teachers who I find extremely inspiring. It is so refreshing to have a conversation with someone who is passionate about teaching and learning and to share experiences. In my job we are given ample opportunities to do informal observations of other teachers across all subject and share ideas between departments to promote cross curriculum learning. I love observing geography as it is a subject so distant from dance and drama. I observed a teacher (need permission for name) teach the most incredible lesson on the Boscastle Flood of 2004. All of the students were more than engaged, retained every piece of information and the teacher himself I could see was so passionate about the lesson. Observing lessons like this taught by teachers who understand the diversity of children in the class and the dynamic of their intelligence, makes my heart race and remind me why I chose to be a teacher.


I love engaging with children and teaching them a subject most would never consider participating in. In my school dance, drama and music are all separate subjects on our students timetable. Dance for most kids is and alien concept as a subject which I find benefits me because they don't know what to expect. Each week setting children tasks and watching grow and develop in their own way. Challenging them appropriately (individually) to spark creativity and to question them, listen to and value their ideas and opinion. My students make me laugh and sometimes make me cry but all the time they make me proud and the reward of teaching is watching students learn. Who do I admire who feels the same love as me? this was a challenging question as honestly I don't know what people are feeling. I pondered over this question a lot, searching online things like 'Teachers who love their job' and 'Inspiring educators over time', but I feel teaching is much more intimate and than that. I decided to reflect on times when teachers in my school made me think for what ever reason, 'they must be really good at their job'. I emailed these teachers the same question I have answered 'What do you love about what you do?' and here are some quotes from their replies (there are quite a few but I think they deserve to be mentioned).


“What I love about teaching is being able to make a positive difference, learning from the students I teach and the staff I work with. I also love the fact that I’m never bored”. M. Prerea, Additional Educational Needs Teacher at Acland Burghley School.

“I love the fact that every day someone makes me laugh out loud. Usually a student. I love the fact that teachers essentially are trying to find the best in everyone”. A. Rimmington, English Teacher at Acland Burghley School.

“I did a number of jobs before I became a teacher (20 years-worth) and for all the stress and difficult times of this job, this is the best one I have ever done by far. It is one where I can fundamentally act like the kids and get away with it. I suppose the moments when I get most pleasure is when I feel I have achieved something. This can come in many ways such as doing a blinder of a lesson; thinking of an activity in a lesson on the spur of a moment which works really well; seeing in a student’s eyes ‘when the penny has dropped‘; having a student say to me years later ‘we all appreciate you’ and above all just feeling good about myself and knowing that I have done the kids proud!”. R. Stokes, History teacher at Acland Burghley School.

“I love working with people, be it children or adults, both teachers and parents/carers. Having conversations where I learn or help others who are unbeatable, and happen every day. As teachers you have much more of an impact, usually positive but not always, than you will ever realise. Mediating, that can be a difficult but an intellectual challenge in my opinion. Also, no day is ever the same, actually no hour is the same”. M. Collins, Spanish teacher at Acland Burghley School.

“I love knowing that what I do, every day, makes a difference - hopefully in a positive way. I love that every day challenges me in ways that the previous days didn't and future days wont and that I feel stretched, in terms of ability, every day. I love that I get to continue my own education as I take on new courses and spend time learning them”. D. Owen, Phycology teacher at Acland Burghley School.

“I love the fact that I can be creative and independent with my work - I organise myself. I love the fact that what I do challenges me and that it is different everyday - 10 years teaching and I can't say that I am bored, tired but never bored. I love that I have students that appreciate what I do and that they depend on me to a certain extent, it just makes me want to work harder as I feel responsible for them - like feeling like I can make a little difference to someone”. I. Figueira, Spanish teacher at Acland Burghley School.


I admire all of these people and more within my school. They all teach completely different subjects and in completely different ways but love the job and what the do for all the same reasons. Some pretty inspiring words for any new teacher starting out. I wonder if they had similar colleagues when they were starting their career? who inspired them?


There are many things within the profession of teaching I am yet to understand. I find the concept of challenge across a class who have a wide range of needs and learning strengths difficult. I went into teaching through working as a learning support assistant, supporting children with autism. I find it very easy to differentiate a task and simplify something for a student. On the other end of the scale is challenge, this is something I struggle with. I will always praise my students when they complete a task but very rarely extent their learning by challenging them afterwards (extension tasks). I recently had a meeting with the head of department Marita Young and we discussed ways of making it easy for us to set challenge so we don't detract from the majority of the class. she cam up with the idea of a challenge box. We set tasks and extensions in relation the content of the lesson, some tasks would be written and some practical. They would live in a box on our desks, that way we can direct the kids to the challenge box to take a task and this would not pull us away from the majority of the class. I really admire Marita and consider her a mentor at the moment. We have very productive meetings and conversations weekly that directly benefit my teaching. She is very supportive and reassuring, especially if we are experiencing the same challenges, we will work through them together.


I have two different teaching jobs and two very different teachings styles. My main job is at Acland Burghley School where I teach dance and drama. Its is a comprehensive inner city school in London that as a great performing art department. The ethical question I am always confronted with is 'Should physical intervention be allowed and recognised as part a teachers practise?'. Were are taught in child protection training that we should always physically intervene should a child safety be at risk, but what if they really aren't understanding something? In my other teaching job at Italia Conti Ruislip I teach a free syllabus. It is a privately run school and there I teach a range of styles. My job is very hands on, I move students around the room to different positions and manoeuvre different parts of their body into correct alignment. This is the norm for the students and their parents as it one hundred percent benefits their learning and development. In a comprehensive this is not the case, there is still a lot of grey areas around this subject. I will often find myself thinking, "should I have put my hand on his shoulders to move him?", "Next time I will remember to tell them to use the mirror to correct themselves". but then what do I do when a child is just not getting it? I have decided to take a cautious approach to this situation when it arises, and I consider four things when it comes up.


1. My relationship with the student - is it familiar, do I think they trust me.
2. The behaviour of the student - are they going to over react?
3. Make sure other students and staff are observing.
4. Ask the student if I can move their arm/leg/foot etc.


I would never consider physically helping a student if I did not have another member of staff in the classroom. I don't think any of my students would over react but you can never be to careful. I may feel comfortable helping and think we have a good working relationship but it could make the students feel very uncomfortable, which could lead to serious consequences for myself. So to sum it up teaching a practical subject is extremely difficult, I believe there needs to be a strong relationship between the teacher and their students for trust to build. We should be allowed to physically help the students purely to benefit their learning, but I think there is a long way to got before it is the done thing.