MAPP 2019 -2020

 Feeling and experiencing movement is something that creative dance allows us to focus on. I believe that this is the perfect platform to assist students who are differently- abled. My research will be on the benefits of creative dance for special needs students. It is interesting to note that I have learnt that there is so much more being done by the disabled community about their own challenges. They are fighting for the right to be heard. There are more disabled activists even where I live and they are making their voice known. One disabled person in her TED talk mentioned the fact that we are all dealing with disability in one way or another.' We are either aging with disability or aging into disability.' This young woman was in a horrible accident that left her paralyzed and now facing a  new reality. I found that her perspective was quite interesting as things that she took for granted like getting into a car and going to run errands became an event rather than a simple ...

 Module Three Research For the last two weeks I have been gathering info through semi structured interviews and also looking at several ted talks as it relates to my topic. I find that I am also reviewing my feedback from module two regularly and sometimes I find that I'm a bit confused again!!! I keep however pressing the refresh button in my mind when I start to feel overwhelmed. The whole idea of the definition of disability and what is disability culture has been at the forefront of my mind. The definition keeps changing...or adjusting...or expanding??... for me as I review my interview info and listen to ted talks. Also the importance of communication stood out for me this week. How do we communicate to our students? Are we paying attention to non verbal communication in the classroom and the power that this given to the dancer when they use it.

 Starting the new...... I started this term by speaking to Dr. Akinleye about my previos terms work in elation to charting a way forward. I must admit that for a while during our conversation, I felt as iff I was starting at the begining! I was a bit overwhelmed! I left however feeling better about the adjustments that I needed to make. While I am not there yet, I am getting clearer to my goal. I spent some time this week looking at disability by just scrolling through youtube and looking at or thinking about disability aesthetics and disability culture and what it means for dance. I was also greatful that I dont have to start writing yet! Only research for now........

As our draft assignment date is slowly (yet quickly) approaching I have been spending time with my thoughts with regards to what I would like my research to focus on. Looking at the term research inquiry has occupied quite a bit of my time. What I find interesting is that you have to spend time on the questions rather than the answers to the questions. Questions then allow me to see explore, wonder, question and reflect. What was discussed in the sessions are now more meaningful as I am able to reflect on what was said and see where it all fits with regards to this course. We may know the answers to our research project. Now we have to move backwards and work through the process that leads us to the questions and the process that we will use to get us to the answers. We are addressing the content and context of the answers. Let's get to the drawing board!

I have been reading through the module handbook and I am also experiencing several thoughts with regards to what my inquiry is going to be about. I find it very empowering that we are able to reflect and learn form our individual practice. I find that this gives me the opportunity to really delve deeper into what I would really like to research. Dr Akinleye spoke about the role of assumption and asking yourself what assumptions can be made and how this will affect or impact the inquiry design....ok more thoughts to process here! I am certainly looking forward to having answers that I didnt expect. I believe however that I will have questions that I didnt expect to ask myself as well. All a part of the growth and reflection process...  

The professional model of teaching according to Smith- Autard (1997) focuses on the teacher being in the front of the class demonstrating and instructing. The students follow and copy. Whitley S. also supports this in her article on Conceptual Framework for Creating and Analyzing dance Learning And Digital Content when she states “Dance has been largely taught through a teacher, choreographer providing direct information to the student through physical demonstration, touch or verbal instruction.” Starting at this point in learning and then moving to a place where the classroom has several teaching methods involved in a given session, encourages the teacher to reflect, deconstruct, and reconstruct their ideas before teaching another lesson and more importantly to move away from using only traditional teaching methods. “Today’s learners are and should be more and more independent as they progress in both the practical and theoretical study of dance.” states Autard (1997). How d...