It's taken me a few days to get round to blogging as I have been so busy. It felt great to connect with Jess and Lara on skype. We had a great chat that allowed us to bounce ideas off each other and just to express concerns and feel you are not alone!! You can see Jess and Lara's accounts here :
*Jess*
*Lara*
We already knew about each other's inquiry topics through keeping up with the SIGs on Google +. Jess is looking at how students engage in english and drama. Lara is looking into German theatre in London. I am looking at performing arts exams.
We started off by talking about the literature and I think we were all in the same boat (as we probably all are) - thinking we are reading so much but what to do with it?! We need to pick out what is important to us. Jess also worried that she wasn't finding a lot of literature specifically about engagement in drama. I am also having this issue. I am finding a lot of literature about assessments - the theory of it, the nature of it, assessment for learning etc. However, it is limited in that there is not a lot specifically on performing arts or drama. I am hoping that I will get more on this through my interviews with the relevant people.
Jess mentioned that she had been looking at some Ofsted and government reports that should that there had been no study into drama or arts in education in more than 10 years. This surprised me as the national curriculum has changed over that time and very recently. Is this something that could affect how assessments take place? Could they be dated? Again these are questions that I hope to find answers to in my interviews.
We talk about how to structure our interviews and how they may feel very different depending on who you are talking to and how well you know them personally. We said that we don't want to bias the questions. We want to ask good informed questions but not lead the participants.
We also talked a little about the artefact we are all still a bit unsure as to which way to go with that but agreed that we think it should be something that communicates your inquiry to your professional audience. Does anyone else have any ideas about their artefact?
Thanks again Lara and Jess!!
Hi Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI had a tutorial with Paula last night and we discussed the changes in exams recently in both English and Drama. The board of English GCSE I am used to at my school does not include any marks for speaking and listening anymore. When I started 10% of the GCSE was made up on speaking and listening Controlled Assessment mark, now this does not count towards the final mark. Effectively removing the 'drama' aspect of the course.
I also know from speaking to practitioners that the percentage of marks awarded for theory in the Drama GCSE is increased with the new GCSE. I am not sure of the numbers in this case.
Like you say, with all the changes to the curriculum and testing introduced, its surprising that more research hasn't been undertaken in this area. What do you believe are the reasons for this?
I also talked to Paula about how I was finding it difficult to find specific literature on Drama and engagement. She said it is important to base your inquiry in direct fact (from the literature) and not your opinion on certain aspects of literature (interpretation and how it may link).
Jess.
Have the exam board given any reason for removing the speaking component of the English GCSE?
ReplyDeleteI also think it's surprising that more research hasn't been undertaken in this area. I think it's something in it's self that you would really need to look into to understand. Is it a concious decision that there has been no studies carried out? Or is it simply because no one thought about it?
It seems that there is such a focus on the moment on science and maths as THE most important subjects. I know they are important but the difference in support is strikingly obvious. A science or maths teacher can get a bursary of up to £30,000 to train to teach. Whereas I know of a Religious Studies trainee teacher who has been given £2,000. I understand that these subjects are important. But so are others. I know it may sound harsh but what use is a world of mathematicians. We need all sorts of minds to make our society great. How is that trainee religious studies teacher expected to support themselves. And people wander why there is a teacher crisis?!
Lisa