Responses from a newly qualified teacher

1.      How do you feel discipline has changed since you were a child?

I feel that despite being young myself that discipline has changed since I was young. I feel that children now do not have as much respect for their teachers as they used too. Children do not think twice about answering back or questioning a correction or what a teacher is saying to them. I feel that the development of social media over the past couple years, and also that the perception that children appear a lot older than there years, which again is I feel is down to social media. I don’t necessarily think its a lack of respect, I just think that its a complete different generation and a different way to the way I was brought up. We also now have so many rules and regulations as teachers of what we can and can’t do which does make it difficult for us to teach/give corrections and all it takes is for one child to say something to their parents and it could be blown all out of proportion, and I also think that children today are aware of this which affects their discipline.

2. Do you think experience is just as valuable as qualifications?

I do think that experience is just as valuable as the qualifications. You can’t teach experience and we do learn from our experiences which ulitimately makes us better. However I do think that the qualifications are important to have as well so that we do have a clear understanding of what we as teachers are passing onto our pupils

3. Should having dance/drama qualifications mean you should be able to transfer them to any dance/drama board?

I think it should. No matter what bored you train with the grounding and the technique is exactly the same, its just a case of learning different settings of exercises and sometimes difference in vocabulary. If you know how to correct a pirouette, its the same whether it is RAD ISTD IDTA – I believe that it is important that you do have a qualification with an exam bored but I do think that it should be transferable. If you are good at what you do, it shouldn’t make a difference as to what bored it is you should still be able to get the message across

4. Should acting experience give you the opportunity to teach LAMDA or Trinity performance exams?

I think that experience should be a factor, however I don’t think experience should allow you to be able to teach straight away. You may have all the acting experience of different genres but if you don’t have any experience in LAMDA or TRINITY how are you going to understand what's involved with them.

5. Should private dance/drama schools have an ofsted type inspection?

I feel that there should be some kind of system – There are so many dance and drama schools around at the moment how do you know which ones are better than the other, what each schools offer. If I was a parent I would want to make sure that my child was being taught safely and correctly in a safe environment and with no formal paperwork how as a parent are you able to define between a good school and an excellent school.

6. How do you feel about mixed level classes ie Grade 3 & 4 or bronze/silver together etc? Do you feel students can still progress?

I don’t think its ideal, as you have to average the level of the class and can not work with individual level specific exercises. If you need to work on specific exercises for exams etc then a mixed level class does make it difficult to achieve this as personally I am concerned with spending enough time with each group of student. Of course mixed level classes are okay on occations but not ideal on a regular basis

7. How valuable do you feel 'The Arts' are in an education setting?

I feel that its extremely valuable. I think that it gives students who may not be as strongly academic the chance to shine in something that they are passionate about. I also feel that it gives children confidence and is good for learning life skills. Like getting up and speaking infront of a large group of people confidently and clearly and giving them the confidence to do so. I also think its valuable to have a rounded education which means including the Arts as well, whether that be dance drama or music

8. Do you feel parents/students appreciate all that is involved in running dance/drama classes?

I feel that there are some parents who really appreciate what you do and are always willing to help anyway that they can to help and always say thank you. However I do feel that there are those parents who don’t have a clue what's involved! – They think that you just turn up and teach and then go home again. They don’t know the time you spend choreographing finding music doing the accounts extra time at exams late nights away from family and loved ones.

9. Should exams in dance/drama be compulsory or optional. Do students work as hard without a goal?

I feel that they should be optional – Some students come dancing to just get some weekly exercise which is fine. If students are focussed enough and  want to do it then they will work hard towards the exam but I think you shouldn’t pressure any child into taking an exam.

10. How valuable are the arts to under achieving students?

I feel that its extremely valuable! – The arts is somewhere that students who are under achieveing to shine and gain confidence, maybe even let off some steam and some frustration that they have when they are struggling with there academic studies.