Task 5c & 5d : Ethical Framework learning

eth·ics

/ˈɛθɪks/ Show Spelled 
1. a system of moral principles: the ethics of a culture. 

2. the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.: medical ethics; Christian ethics. 

3. moral principles, as of an individual: His ethics forbade betrayal of a confidence. 

4. that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions. 

If I'm completely honest with myself I'm finding this module extremely brain challenging and have great difficulty focusing on the reading through to then writing. I suppose I take for granted my understanding of ethics in relation to my profession and feel I follow and uphold what is expected of me. However on reading through relevant material it seems that as a provider of private dance tuition my compliance with ethics is set by myself and whilst I endeavour to follow those set out by the societies who I teach under the ultimate responsibility and ruling is of my doing, whilst fellow students who work for local education authorities are accountable to their school or authority. I very much appreciate this position and as I would like my journey of learning to guide my career in an alternative direction and maybe towards more state bound teaching then I feel I have to be abreast of these differences and expectations if indeed my current ethical considerations are not comparable.

Within Reader 5 we discover that ethics is sectioned into 3 areas of Personal, Professional and Organisational. 

Personal Ethics : where we determine what we consider to be right and wrong within our personal lives. Some believe that we are guided by a greater being - a god or divine existence, from this we follow the path of good or evil, right and wrong. Knowing that to hurt or injure another being is not an ethical action. Whilst I am a believer of religion and faith after spending many years attending Sunday school and church from being very young I do believe that in today's society the responsibility of teaching right from wrong lies with that of the parent and whilst you are deemed the enemy by your children for many reasons as you challenge them with rules and objectives in the long term you will then provide them with the pathway to a positive future and in turn they can pass this onto their children and  so on. Too many times I have come into contact with young children who I know with a more suitable upbringing/environment would benefit from a more positive start in life on the path to good morals and success. 

Professional Ethics : fundamental principles of any given profession encourage integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality and professional behaviour. Most of these are as guided by the workplace/organisation that individuals are employed by. As previously mentioned I personally feel I uphold these values within my own business and these expectations are placed upon my staff. However to support and accentuate my own principles I follow those as set by the ISTD and RAD to who I am registered as a teacher and ultimately without the support and underpinning of these  I would not have the ability to follow a structured syllabus which in turn provides my students with recognised qualifications through assessment. 

Organisational Ethics :  this is the next step in the level of ethics and refers to in my case the ISTD and RAD and who they are answerable to. What guidance they have in place must be in line with ethical standards as set out by government and regulation standards. 
There are at least four elements that aim to create an ethical culture and behaviour of employees within an organisation.
1) a written code of ethics and standards
2) ethics training for executives, managers, and employees
3) the availability of ethical situational advice (i.e. advice lines or offices)
4) confidential reporting systems

The application of ethics in all areas provides a understanding for all those concerned of what is expected, how it will be done and is ultimately a set of rules which in most cases is what we as human beings exist on - without these what sort of world would we live in ?  
I value Ethics within with my personal and professional life and endeavour to always execute what I deem to be good practise in relation to these. In todays world children are extremely self-aware of what is acceptable and ultimately unacceptable and are no longer 'seen and not heard' as in days gone by. They have a greater understanding of their rights and can act on them if necessary, therefore being in the profession of teaching, I as a teacher have a greater responsibility to provide an ethical led place of learning. 

Task 5b : Codes of Practises that steer Ethical Frameworks in my Profession

As I predicted after reading through both policy documents from both the ISTD and RAD for who I am a registered teacher, they follow the same train of thought and encourage what I already expect from myself as a Teacher and Principal of a Dance School. Therefore I dont really feel they have provided me with any further areas to explore in terms of understanding or to gain knowledge.

It was interesting to see how these documents were presented, with the RAD producing a very stately Policy booklet in comparison to the ISTD which was a few sheets of information. The RAD information was heavily based around the ethos that they are providers of the highest standard of dance education to offer both Nationally and Internationally. They continually refer to discipline and setting & maintaining of high standards as a priority throughout emphasising that a teacher who did not adhere to these expectations would and could be reprimanded accordingly.
Since being a young student of the RAD I have always had the perception in my head that they upheld strong expectations of students and that they were the pinnacle of all dance societies, somewhat looking down their nose at others. As a teacher I have maintained that feeling of hierarchy knowing that now it is far more challenging to become a qualified teacher with the RAD due to the demands and costs involved and so young teachers are not being given that opportunity within colleges and so we are an exclusive breed of teacher !
Continuing Professional Development was also acknowledged within the document as a priority for any registered teacher and failure to comply with this would again incur consequences. I strongly agree with this point and very much support the RAD in their stand on this issue as there are many teachers who after completing their initial teacher training fail to maintain CPD. These kind of teachers are cheating their students as they are not abreast of change and as a result provide an inadequate service that is being paid for in return.

The ISTD document is a very generalised piece of literature which refers to dance and teaching of dance but is not very specific to its expectations of delivery in lessons and its journey through to examinations. Its breaks the document down into very generic headings such as Integrity; Objectivity; Competency; Confidentiality etc. these titles lend themselves too many professions. However where its does become more specific is in relation to Health & Safety requirements; financial obligations and Data Protection all areas that a teacher of dance must be fully aware of and actively promote within their profession, and more so as both a business owner and employer I personally need to be very proactive on these issues. One area of learning I gained from the ISTD document was a reference to the Information Commission with regards to the possession of Data. On reading through the material it appears that I fall into the criteria that may or may not need to register even though I only use the data for my own business requirements - further exploration will be necessary.

Week away throwing myself down big hills !!!

So will the week away I've just experienced skiing in the Alps have

helped cleared my mind of the jumbled state it had reached in completing this module !!!  I am very much hoping so !!! 

Task 5a : Codes of Practice & Regulations that guide my setting - inital thoughts.......................

A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the responsibilities of or proper practises for an individual, party or organisation.
As a registered teacher of the ISTD and RAD I am aware of my responsibility to adhere to their Code of Conduct and demonstrate good practise to maintain standards as per set by them. It is my duty to underpin these regulations into my teaching practise if I endeavour to maintain registration and have the capability to use their name/logos as positive advertisement and promotion for my dance school being connected with a recognised and worldwide organisation when attracting new customers.

Within my own school I provide an Information Booklet on attendance at the school to parents; students and teachers alike so they have a clear understanding of what we promote; how we do this and what are expectations are. Parents are asked to sign relevant documents to encourage home/school relationships that contribute to a positive environment for all concerned.

Within the studio we also have posters aimed at students attending classes which clearly display 'Class Rules'. These compliment expectations laid down by teachers at every lesson and is a visual reminder to both parents and students.

As providers of dance education for both children and young adults, we as teachers have to be very conscious and self-aware of the ethics associated with working within this environment and where the line is drawn between teacher/carer/friend.

I look forward to exploring in more depth how my perception of Codes of Practise in relation to the ISTD and RAD are married together and if two different organisations that I am registeed with can be different if at all.

Task 4d : Searching and Identifying important pieces of Literature relevant to my inquiry !!!

I have to admit I'm struggling at the moment and I feel like I've hit a brick wall in my thinking and where my thought process is going. Work is taking too much time up and my initial commitment to making sure I dedicated one day a week at the start of this module is not somehow working out 'so I'm kicking myself for not doing what I set out to do so I wouldn't reach this point of despair.
 
I have come across a piece of literature on the internet Teaching-the-Dance-Class-Strategies which I have found to demonstrate some interesting points of view in relation to my thoughts around inquiry questions.
 
One of my questions was "Do peers affect the level of engagement on students within a lesson ? and would a philosophy of teamwork integrated into lessons provide them with security and promote positive and effective learning ?"  Alan made the suggestion through his Blog post "This question enables us to explore in more depth in terms of where or with whom does the insight lay? Know where you might go to answer the question might help to nuance it for greater precision. See this in this revised question:

‘What do students report as being the benefits of a teamwork approach to learning dance?’

 
Within Teaching the Dance Class Literature it discusses :

Optimising the Self Within Community: Recognise individual differences and optimise individual potential; encourage students to work in collaboration with peers.
I felt these points were really relevant and provided a good insight into theories and practises in line with my own questioning. I find promoting self-esteem in class and believing in one's self worth quite challenging and many lessons that are provided for teenagers lack the tenacity and vibrancy that a younger class of students display. Encouraging students to be both leaders and listeners, embracing the benefits of collaborative work appreciating that not all answers to learning lie with the teacher but are discovered through this process of learning encaptured my attention and whilst I am aware I incorporate this teaching style into my classes feel that more emphasis on it with older groups is an essential tool for productive learning.

Ritualizing Respect: Foster an environment of mutual, reciprocal and self-respect in and out of the classroom.
The points raised within this area of fostering a environment of mutual respect also left me analysing my own classroom environment and feeling assured that whilst I do promote and encourage a quiet atmosphere for listening skills and in turn understanding, I should maybe encourage within my students the understanding of how this has benefits rather than just emphasise class etiquette as a requirement.

Nurturing the Learner: Provide positive reinforcement and constructive criticism in ways the student can develop skill mastery and comprehension of principles .
This topic discussed how positive reinforcement can both inspire and motivate the dancer and that the teacher can provide praise when improvement is demonstrated or when great effort is demonstrated. In younger students this is very straight forward, for example a younger student who attended my class yesterday on a regular basis arrives at class upset as she finds the transistion from school straight to her lesson, however her mum knows that once she has actually arrived at the class she will enjoy it. In yesterdays lesson although arriving upset I tried to engage her in assisting me straight from the start as 'a helper' which she relished the responsibility. From this point onwards she began to take part and at every opportunity I saw fit I gave her praise and encouragement whilst at the same time also paying attention to providing constructive criticism on her exercises. She rose to the challenge and tried her best to achieve and at the end of the lesson the other members of the class chose her as the winner of the'hard work' trophy which left her ending the class on a huge positive, unlike previous weeks when she had not managed to pick herself up from her upset state that she arrived in.
Young children thrive on praise and adhere to encouragement from teachers/adults and they enjoy being the best or the one who can accomplish a movement or exercise before others can. However this trend does not follow through to the older student (mostly those within their teenage years) who most find receiving praise quite difficult to accept especially in the presence of their peers. On knowing your students from an early to get to understand their personality and can hopefully read the situation making the decision whether to highlight their achievement or reflect on it as a whole group referring to many students in feedback rather than making one individual comment.
I could go on and on blogging on various points of this literature but feel I need to invest my time in other points of view that can contribute to my inquiry. So onto the next ....................