Looking further into Ethical considerations.

Completing the task on Ethics got the ball rolling a little for me so I decided to look a little further into the subject.

Code of Professional Conduct and Practicefor Teachers of Dance

I found this document via the ISTD (Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing) website, I found it points out many ethical considerations for both employers and employees including, Integrity, Competency and due skill and diligence, and is from the specific role of a dance teacher. I think this will be a good source to refer back to while conducting my inquiry and during my professional career.

Ethics resource Center

The Ethics Resource Center is an organization providing information, guidance and resources.

ERC is a non-profit, nonpartisan research organization, dedicated to independent research that advances high ethical standards and practices in public and private institutions.  

Ethical issues in qualitative research

I thought this would be useful for my inquiry as my research data will be qualitative, so I hoped it would give me some tips or food for thought. I found it an interesting read. The writer uses real-life examples to explain what complications you might encounter during conducting your research. The first example talks about the confession of abuse during an inquiry interview, this circumstance was something I had thought about lightly before but the ethical debate lead me to reflect deeper on the issue.

This story illustrates a delicate balance you might face between trying to do what is right in terms of maintaining privacy and, at the same time, recognizing that you have received information that might be damaging to the participant. Should you tell someone? If so,who? What about the promise you made to maintain privacy? You might not have thought about ethics while you were planning your research. Yet, recently, much has been written on the topic. I want you to think about what kinds of issues you might face and how you would handle them.

I’m glad I have read this in my planning stage as it gives me time to think about how I would act if certain situations where to arise, perhaps a way around this dilemma is to state in your informed consent that all information shared is to remain confidential unless I feel is possess risk towards themselves or another person, after all an important part of our jobs and a high consideration for our inquiry is the safeguarding of those in out care.

Another discussion that I thought was important and I will need to consider whilst delivering and analysing my data gathered from my inquiry is.... 

Informed consent

They also have a reasonable expectation that they will not be coerced into participation……if a study is to be done in an organization, individuals within that group (e.g. Students, workers) might feel that they cannot refuse when asked. There might be pressure placed on them by peers or by superiors.

I knew I would need to gain the consent of my students before they participate in my inquiry, what I didn’t realise is how many dimensions there are to gaining this consent. The college where I work is small 30-40 students in each year and only three years, at some point during my working week I teach every student in the college. I will need to ensure that the students feel they can refuse to participate in the inquiry without any negative repercussions, maybe I should ask for volunteers rather than selecting students?
This brings me to another consideration I encountered while reading this chapter the example sanareo discussed an inquiry into a pre-school where the founders were interviewed, privacy was promised to those interviewed but as it was a small community there was a chance that the school and even the interviewee could be identified once the findings were published despite the effort to disguise names. As I have mentioned my place of work is small and all students know each other. I think I will need to take extra precautions to try to avoid revealing identifying characteristics of my students.

Whilst reading this chapter the writer mentioned a columnist from the New York Times called ‘The Ethicist’ so naturally that was my next call. Currently Chuck Klosterman, formerly Ariel Kaminer and Randy Cohen, the column provides ethical advice on money, relationships, work, family, etc. Although only one person’s view this keeps the topic of ethics at the forefront of your mind and I found myself thinking what I would do or what advice I would give to someone in the situations put forth on the column and how they differ to the views of others, they could pose as good debate questions

Looking into ethics has confirmed what I knew and brought to light some things that I was aware of but hadn't really coincided in detail. Data protection was one of these, I knew about the data protection Act 1998 but this task has highlighted some of the regulations, but this task has made me think more about types of data and how I will it.

I find that most of the things I have read regarding professional ethics are in line with my own personal ethics, researching them has helped me to recall those that I forgot and ferment those that I use regularly.

Every employee is called upon to make decisions in the normal course of doing his/her job. Organizations cannot function effectively if employees are not empowered to make decisions consistent with their positions and responsibilities.

 The PLUS Decision Making Model, Ethics Resource Center

Ethics are about making decisions, we make thousands of them daily. Our personal ethics govern the outcome of them decisions. For those that need to be made in a professional environment, decisions need time and consideration into the ethics of your employer and the workplace.

Ethics

After a couple of attempts of scrambling through drawers and cupboards I have finally located my Staff handbook. The staff handbook is given to all staff at my work and is designed to provide information including staff roles, facilities, college rules and policies.

The Role of Teacher
It is important that the teacher establishes an environment where students can develop their full potential. In order to do this the students need to be given an environment that allows them to feel safe and supported, in order for my inquiry to work it is vital that my student feel comfortable to discuss the opinions.

Code of Conduct
A code of conduct is intended to be a central guide and reference for users in support of day-to-day decision making. It is meant to clarify an organization's mission, values and principles, linking them with standards of professional conduct. It is an open disclosure of the way an organization operates, and provides visible guidelines for behaviour. A code is also a tool to encourage discussions of ethics and to improve how employees should deal with the ethical dilemmas, prejudices and grey areas that are encountered in everyday work.
As it is our experiences that shape our ethical views all teachers will have different opinions on certain behaviour and whether it is acceptable. The handbook contains a list of rules that students must abide by, however for other behavioural issues that are not covered by this list it is the decision of the teacher as to whether they find the behaviour inappropriate.

Anti- bulling Policy
The aim of the anti-bulling policy is to ensure that pupils learn in a safe and supportive environment, without fear of victimization. Procedures are in place to allow complaints of bullying to be dealt with. During my inquiry I will be asking students to talk freely about their thoughts and feelings, I will remind students of the schools anti-bullying policy and as them to be respectful of others and their opinions.

Equal opportunities
Regardless of race, colour, ethnic origin or gender all students should be treated equally. The handbook refers to the Race relations Act (2000)
The Race Relations Act (RRA) 1976 amended 2000 makes it unlawful to treat a person less favourably than another on racial grounds. These cover grounds of race, colour, nationality (including citizenship), and national or ethnic origin. -http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1976/74/introduction

Data Protection
The Data protection Act 1998  http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/contents
The workplace stipulated that all data should be cared for appropriately and confidentially. No personal data is to be sent by email. The use of communication under the college name is not permitted unless permission is given and no college material is allowed to be shared publicly unless permission is given. Gaining this consent is an important part of the Inquiry process, not only have I been given permission to use certain data in an anonymous format, I have ensured that my employers have a link to my blog and I inform them each time I post something of interest.

Research, Research, Research

The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well.

― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

I've been busy researching motivation and had a desperate need to stop and try to organize my thoughts. I've been looking into intrinsic motivation and if we can find ways to help others to develop their motivation.

.....................................

This lead me to discover Self-determination theory, which is concerned around the choices people make without influence and includes research into intrinsic motivation. There are many other theories involved in this idea but Cognitive Evaluation Theory caught my interest, It is listed as one of the SDT's mini theory's and relates to intrinsic motivation. It discusses how a prototype of intrinsic motivation is children’s exploration and play, I found this interesting I believed that intrinsic motivation would be a concept to mature for a child to grasp but hadn't connected a child's need or want to learn. SDT also covers the effect extrinsic rewards have on intrinsic motivation with fascinating results,

Edward L. Deci is a Professor of Psychology and Gowen Professor in the Social Sciences at the University of Rochester, and director of its human motivation program. He is well known in psychology for his theories of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and basic psychological needs. With Richard Ryan, he is the co-founder of self-determination theory.  Deci (1971) performed several experiments to support his theory's. The first conducted of two separate control groups the same  number of puzzles. The first group where given no external motivators but the second where offered money for each puzzle they completed. During each of the three sessions,subjects were left alone in the experimental room for an eight minute"free choice" period. They could work on the puzzles, read magazines, or do whatever they liked. The results showed that the subjects were less intrinsically motivated after the experience with money than subjects who performed the same activity for no pay.


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I found this article called Increasing Student Success Through Instruction in Self-Determination by American Psychological Association. Again it discusses the negative effect extrinsic rewards can have on intrinsic motivation, however it takes a more detailed view towards the student.

Numerous studies have found that students who are more involved in setting educational goals are more likely to reach their goals. When students perceive that the primary focus of learning is to obtain external rewards, such as a grade on an exam, they often perform more poorly, think of themselves as less competent, and report greater anxiety than when they believe that exams are simply a way for them to monitor their own learning. Some studies have found that the use of external rewards actually decreased motivation for a task for which the student initially was motivated.

(2004)

I found this very interesting and backs up the studies from SDT but also brings into focus something I have been struggling to wrap my brain around. I have noticed students entered for exams sometimes become worse during class and always put this down to the stress they where under, they can sometimes be entered for 3 or 4 major exams at once and find it hard to manage their time between each subject. A few students start to feel upset and generally unmotivated at this point.

Schools throughout the country are using self-determination instruction as a way to better motivate students and meet the growing need to teach children and youth ways to more fully accept responsibility for their lives by helping them to identify their needs and develop strategies to meet those needs

(2004)

So I feel my focus should not be on getting the students to work for a scheduled exam but to take control of their own learning, identify their needs and how they can achieve them and set realistic timelines and strategies for accomplishing their goals. But also to take time to look at the 'Bigger picture' why they are wanting to gain the qualifications they are studying for? What is it they want to achieve?


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I decided to do a little more research into SDT and how it can help with student motivation. I found a website dedicated to creating more self-determined lives. It has information about what SDT is and more importantly how to promote it,

There model for self-determination is split into four parts

PART 1

Know Yourself and Your Context
Knowing yourself includes knowing your strengths, weaknesses and needs, if we take time to understand ourselves we can create realistic goals. Having a variety of experiences to draw from and knowledge of a wide array of options helps us make informed choices. Finally, we need good decision-making skills to help us weigh the benefits and potential pitfalls of our potential goals and actions.

Value Yourself
To be self-determined we need to believe in ourselves and know that we have the right to pursue what we desire. This includes excepting our weaknesses. The more we are able to accept our weaknesses, even though we don’t like them, it is more likely that the power of  weaknesses over us will be minimized. We will also then increase our ability to take action aimed at correcting weaknesses if we choose to.When we value ourselves we take care of ourselves emotionally, mentally, and physically. It is hard to imagine successfully accomplishing, or even identifying, important goals if we’re overly tired, stressed, or otherwise physically, mentally, or emotionally unhealthy.

Self-determination doesn’t happen by ourselves alone. We are social creatures and we need good relationships to be self-determined. Ryan and Deci (2000) identified relatedness as one of three psychological needs that needs to be met to foster increased self-determination. In our research to identify the personal characteristics associated with self-determination the most common response to our question “what helps you be self-determined?” was “friends and family”. Not surprisingly, the most frequent answer to our question “what gets in the way of your self-determination?” was the same: “friends and family”.  Experiencing the warmth, security and sense of support that comes from creating and nurturing positive relationships in our lives is one of the most important elements that can advance our self-determination.

PART 2

Plan
In order to achieve we need to set our-self goals. Planning and preparation is a vital part of that. In order for us to realize those goals our BIG VISION we need to plan our long term and short term goals that will help us to arrive at our desired outcome.

We need to be able to see the BIG VISION and then create baby steps to get there.

PART 3

Act
We achieve outcomes by taking action. Taking action always involves risk, but through action we can develop knowledge and confidence. To act we need to take risks, communicate, negotiate, deal with conflict and criticism, access resources and support and be persistent.

The ability to persevere in spite of obstacles is an essential element of ongoing self-determination.

PART 4

Experience the outcomes and learn
We need to consciously reflect on our experiences. we need to compare the actual outcome of our efforts to the desired outcome. Did we achieve what we set out to achieve? Did we like the outcomes we obtained from our efforts, whether or not it was what we set our to attain?

Achieving the outcome we initially set out to attain is not the essential point.  Any attempt we make toward self-determination provides opportunity to experience and learn from the outcomes that occur.

Model of Self-Determination. Revised (2014) by S. Field and A. Hoffman. Ealy Education Group, Inc.

I feel that this model may come in handy with my focus group, I could moderate it or create my own and ask the students to follow the model to reach one of their goals. I wounder if the results would be different from what they encounter now? Any thoughts?.....  



Resources



Increasing Student Success Through Instruction in Self-Determination, American Psychological Association, July 21, 2004

DECI, E. L. The effects of externally mediated rewards on intrinsic motivation.
Journal o] Personality and Social Psychology, 1971

A meeting of minds

I had a very encouraging meeting with my 'Gatekeeper' and thought it would be useful to write out some of our thoughts...........

I approached her a few weeks ago with regards to my inquiry but as I was still unsure as to what path my inquiry would take I could only ask permission to induct an Inquiry without giving any ideas as to what it would entail. I been spending time (furiously as I'm sure we all have) preparing my plan so I have a more detailed idea of what tools I will be using and how this will impact the students and my workplace where I will be conducting my Inquiry. I thought it would be a good time to meet with my gatekeeper an fill her in in a little more detail how my inquiry will work and its impact.

My first concern was my use of focus groups. I feel this is vital to my inquiry to see if any progress is being made, but the students timetables are full and fitting in focus groups during lunch (only 30 min) would not give me an appropriate amount of time.

Focus groups normally last about an hour and a half. 

Rowan University.

  Limit the time for a focus group to two hours or less. Usually somewhere between 60 and 120 minutes is ideal. If you’re doing groups with children, the younger the children, the shorter the group should be. 

CDC.gov

Fortunately through our discussion I was able secure an hour slot during my working hours that would not impede on the students studies, whew! one hurdle crossed.

Next we moved to disusing my topic of inquiry, my employer was very interested to here my topic was motivation particularly my findings regarding extrinsic rewards and their effect on intrinsic motivation. As a school we are heavily set around examination. The students have three years to gather the required number of examinations to gain the teaching qualifications, so the thought that these exam deadlines may have the opposite effect on a students motivation than you might at first think is one that grabbed the attention of my employer (me also, until gathering research for this inquiry I always thought as exams as a great motivator, and I suppose for children this might be so but the students are working towards a career in the Arts so these exams are given a lot more wight which carries added pressure upon the short three year deadline) I explained that my intention was to look into ways we can help students stay motivated. If students had a model to shadow and guide them it could possibly help. I also brought up that studies have shown that students who are in charge of their own learning are more likely to be intrinsically motivated. This is a tough one. Although they have opportunities to develop their artistry and choreographic skills the teaching course is mainly a didactic approach to teaching. We instruct the students on correct technique, we teach them the syllabus work and theory that goes with it. The problem is it has to be exact there in no room for artistic licence. So my employer challenged me to find a way that students could be in charge of their own leaning without impacting their education. I would like to cover this in my inquiry, Would giving the students more responsibility for their leaning help their levels of motivation? 

Next we covered what I will be asking of the students who will be participating in my focus group. As well as joining the group and sharing their thoughts and concerns (here we covered the ethical implications that my groups will be confidential, to encourage the students to talk honestly and openly to me) I will ask my students to complete a diary of there thoughts and feelings each day. I am hoping this will help us to find patterns that effect their motivation. The students are given a review with the principal regularly to talk about their progress and discuss their aims as well as regular tutorials where they can discus any problems or concerns they have. I mentioned that the diary's may be of use for all students to keep a record of how they are feeling and what has effects on their motivation, so they could then use them as reference and reminders in preparation for their reviews and tutorials, I feel this is something we could look into implicate if the diary's are successful. 

Overall this was a very beneficial meeting it allowed me to update my gatekeeper on my intentions for this upcoming inquiry and also talk about how it could benefit the students involved but also the potential of all students attending the college. It also gave me food for thought on some methods I could use to help with my inquiry.

Resources 

Toolkit for Conducting Focus Groups, Rowan University

General Guidelines for Focus Groups, Centers for disease control and prevention.

A fork in the road

“Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.

― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

From talking to other teachers it is evident that motivation of students is a popular topic. This did concern me slightly, after all if it is such a popular topic then have all possible solutions to building motivation been explored? what is left for me to inquire about? I noticed that most advice I had been give related to 'in class' ideas; Stickers, Dance Captain, Performances etc. All great motivates, but then the thought occurred to me

These are all examples of extrinsic motivators  

I couldn't find one piece of advice related to intrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic motivation is the self-desire to seek out new things and new challenges, to analyze one's capacity, to observe and to gain knowledge. It is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself, and exists within the individual rather than relying on external pressures or a desire for reward. 

― From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I think this is where my Inquiry would be most beneficial, its a more complex theory but a stronger form of motivation and while I'm sure there will be no simple straight forward answers I'm excited to see where it will take me.  

Choosing my line of Inquiry

I thought I'd put figurative pen to paper and blog about some of the research I've been doing for my inquiry. Although I started with quite a specific idea and was concerned that I had narrowed my options too soon. After spending a couple of days staring at my computer screen researching motivation (or lack of) I feel the subject is too expansive, and I'm still unsure which way to go. Although I am positive that motivation is a good topic and from my discussions with various SIG's I have enough evidence to support that it will benefit teachers to inquire into this subject, it is where I focus my inquiry that I am struggling to decide. On the one hand most of on-line discussions have been regarding early teen and it does seem that this is when a problem does start to occur.

 Teacher 1 

Tip for teens!! Anyone find that age 13-15 is the 'its not cool to try' phase? Praying it isn't just us but feel like im drawing blood from a stone at times. Any tips much appreciated! 

Teacher 2

I teach secondary school dance so I see a lot of this. Dance is compulsory in our school at KS3 and with the classes being mixed in age and ability motivation is essential.

Teacher 3

Mine is 11-13 age range! Driving me mad

Teacher 4

I grit my teeth for two years between 14-16, and then they are lovely again. 

Teacher 5

 I'm struggling with the older group 16-18 and although they've actually CHOSEN to be doing a btec course they won't try anything! 

However, the discussions I have had with my colleagues are heavily focused on 16+ and students in professional training. It was through this work that my idea to focus on motivation began. I am lucky in that I have a fairly large group of students to try out motivational techniques on, Some of these students are going through a dip in motivation at the moment so it will be interesting to see which, if any, motivational techniques help them although I'm not sure that should factor into my decision? I wouldn't want anyone to misunderstand, the students who I teach are very dedicated and have a passion for what the study, but are lacking in motivation to better themselves outside of college hours e.g. arriving early to conduct a more thorough warm up before the days lessons start, staying behind after college to stretch or applying the amount of hours required to complete build-ups or learn theory. I recently had a group of students entered for teaching qualifications everything was left until the last minute which resulted in a group of very stressed students and an extremely stressed teacher. After the exam I wanted to talk to the students to see why this happened. One student remarked "I just can't seem to motivate myself." This is what interested me, the concept of self motivation and whether there is anything we as teachers can do to help students to find their own motivation rather than always being there to push them along.  I am still unsure as to whether using both age groups will create too broad a topic or if it will help strengthen my inquiry. I do think that there is a difference in the problems that occur in the age groups, when talking to people about motivating early teens it seems to be more focused on 'in class' or 'in the moment'situations

Teacher 6

 I have found with lower school (year 7&8) they need lots of short tasks. If they are given extended amounts of times they will only work productively for about 5 minutes,

Teacher 7

 I think pitching the class right is vital. Set the class a generic/core exercise. For those excelling, go to them individually and give them an extra task/make it harder, for those struggling, help them maybe break the steps down and praise them at each step even if they cant quite reach the generic/core movement. 

Teacher 8

Maybe a cliché but I do find that being positive with them and praising those that work hard and picking up on anything positive they achieve helps.

Teacher 9

I make one of my girls dance captain in each class, it makes them work harder, also if they have been working hard there treat is they can do the warm up in modern under my supervision

I still have a lot of thinking to do and would love any opinion on my line of inquiry and its relevance.

Professional Ethics

Working within any organisation, professional ethics and how they are enforced is an important issue. The private sector presents a challenge itself, as there is no governing body to oversee the way in which the business in conducted, the responsibility of setting standards and maintaining an ethically run business falls the the principal and those in charge of the running of the establishment. I spent some time thinking about ethics and expectations of staff in the workplace, its funny how many ethical principals you use without realizing, but there effects are important, I've made note of a few.

• As a privately run college, teachers are not regulated to hold a qualification in order to be employed. It is therefore the responsibility of the workplace to ensure that all staff have the relevant qualification or experience of their craft to deliver skilled and knowledgeable education at the required level.

• We are contacted for our teaching hours but to ensure a level of preparation and professionalism all staff are required to be present in the building 15min before class starts.

• Physical contact is something that is unavoidable in a dance class, it is the responsibility of the company to make all parties aware that physical contact is used and in what form that will take. I always ask permission of my children/students before I make a physical correct and will use the back of my hand as point of contact if possible.

• Claire Radford makes a valid point regarding safe guarding of students, students are asked to call upon their emotions to help portray stories thought choreography. We ask them to draw emotion from past experiences to help them create the desired effect. This needs to be approached with care and attention need to be given to students reactions and mental state during the class, recalling past memories can bring memories to the surface.

•  As teachers it are job to monitor the mental and physical health of our students. if any student shows growing concern a teacher needs to inform a member of management.