4C continued - developing questions.

This week I have had some further discussions via email with other teachers of the arts.

I put some of my questions to them to see some of their opinions.

One of my drama teachers from my hometown shared her thoughts on what it is like to work with other teachers in different subjects -

"One [question] I liked and related to was the teacher interacting with specialised drama teachers as that happens a lot, as you know there is a fear sometimes with people over drama and it makes teachers not feel in their comfort zone. 

I had to train teachers through NHS interact in primary schools and some teachers were stayed within their practise and found it hard to implement the programme but younger teachers were open to it." 

From this I wondered what is it that could cause people to fear arts subjects? And how important is it to change up techniques we use in our practise? 

Does anyone have any thoughts on that?

I also spoke again to my colleague who is a singing teacher who answered my questions in a previous blog. We talked about her experiences with children who's first language is not english and whether she feels she has enough support,

"In my experience in the schools I work I have been fortunate enough to have the support if there are any language behavioural or learning difficulties, which has allowed me to teach in my own methods without restricting me. I do anticipate that in many schools this can be a problem due to lack of funding or knowledge in this area and I do feel that this would effect the way I would have to teach in order to engage everybody in the class. This would mean however that my time would not be used as effectively as it could."

We then talked about what skills a good teacher of the arts should have and whether you could define them, 

   It can be hard to define what skills a good teacher of the arts should have. Some teachers may have expertise in different areas and because our subjects can be seen as ‘fun’ it can be hard to sometimes enforce discipline effectively without it having an effect on the children’s creativity and expressing themselves. In my experience I would say a good teacher of the arts needs:

•       Fun and energy
•       Passionate about their subject
•       Knowledgeable
•      Patient
•     Approachable and friendly
•         Confident and assertive
•        Authorative"

 We also talked about whether is easy to work with other arts teachers, 

"  Sometimes I find it hard to work with other creative teachers. This is mainly due to a clash in methods and approach as well as figuring out who the natural leader is in a situation. There have been may times where I have found it refreshing and have been very eager to adopt some of their techniques."

I asked her about whether she thinks parents understand and appreciate the arts,

"I think when it comes to parent it will be different across the board. Generally there is a respect and understanding for what we do and how much hard work gets put in. Sometimes parents think that the arts are easy and therefore not much is needed but I think it’s the completely opposite. Working in this field requires a lot of skill discipline and practise to become great."

I asked her whether she thinks that exams can be restrictive to a students 'creativity', 

"   I think exams are a good way to measure a students level. I don’t think it limits creativity as there are now many exms on offer in different genres and I feel that people who have taken the time to think through the exercises put the different syllabuses together very cleverly. Exam boards regularly change the requirements, which I think is needed."

I asked her about how important she thought behaviour management was and whether it differs to other school subjects, 

"Behaviour management is needed especially in a creative environment. I don’t think it should be confused with it stifling the creativity as there still needs to be a certain respect for the craft, which can still be enjoyed with some basic rules."

Lastly we spoke about how we should deal with students disappointments,  

"I think disappointment is a good thing it shows a child that they need to work hard. In these situations it is important to focus on the positives and also to ensure the child that there is always another try and that they have done their best."

I found my colleagues very interesting because some of her responses were different from what I expected - going back to the assumptions I found that of course not everyone is making the same assumption as me. For example, the question about exams. When I came up with that question as I mentioned in a previous blog I WAS assuming that the exams restrict students. However, my colleague has pointed out rightly that these exams are very carefully put together. So I could find out about how they are put together? I could find out how the marks are decided? I could find out how often they are adapted?