Qualifications V Experience - My Perspective

Wednesday 25th discussion brought forward a question that I have never thought of before. Does somebody require a qualification in order to work within a specific role, or is experience justifiably as good as a qualification?

This is something that I have never had to answer before. I have always thought that they go hand in hand but was slightly swaying towards qualification, because it is what I have been told and taught. But starting in my new position, as a dance teacher in a specialist needs school, experience is outweighing any form of exam that I could take. This is when I realised that I have started my new beginning (if there is such thing), or is this just an on going journey of learning?

I qualified as an ISTD teacher in classical ballet, modern theatre and tap dance with a DDE in each subject. This gave me insight into the growth of a child, health and safety in the work place, why the ISTD syllabus is structured like it is to fit growth patterns, different ways of teaching/learning, safe practice and many different things. But actually learning to take a class and deliver in the correct way came in a separate module; teaching practice. We taught classes and were observed and feedback was given on our classes. Everything led up to this point of taking a class and so much preparation was put in before hand but the practicality of it is, you can't always prepare everything. The more I taught, the more I learnt and then more responsive my students were. My training combined with practical classes and experience helped me to develop as a teacher.

This is not the same story for my new job. I underwent training for my new position before starting but nothing could prepare me for my new classes, learning more from the learning support assistants than from the formal training. They knew more about specific students and what stimulates them. This is not to say that none of my prior training helped me, but the experience of other members of staff was much needed. My class structure dramatically changed and I had to quickly adapt to my new surroundings. Retention of material was something that the students struggled with so the LSA's helped me come up with a visual board of movement and triggers. Without their input from experience, it would have taken me a lot longer to achieve the goals we have accomplished. This was also the point that I had to revert back to the beginning and start again. Go back to basics and build up lessons from the start. This is when I had to stop and think and it became clear that in previous classes I missed out stages that could have potentially helped previous students. Questioning something brings a realisation into what you have been doing wrong. This is a new beginning which you can build upon and develop along a new path. It took this step back and evaluation of my own work to realise that we can often skim over things to be able to reach the end goal, especially when we are restricted with a time limit.

Within the Skype session we spoke about whether it was 'okay' for someone to hold a dance class that has had no prior experience in dance, but multiple years in teaching. I feel that before 'my new beginning' my answer would have been a hesitant no, I wouldn't have thought that it would have been safe or structured in the correct way. But now on reflection, I feel that your experience is utterly needed. The specific dance class in question was not for students dedicated to dance and wanting to pursue it professionally, it was for specialist needs. My conclusion came to; so long as the class is carried out safely, the learners are having fun and this is a chance of creative outlet and expression, then go ahead. Let them dance their worries away. This is not to say that I feel everyone can do this and anyone can teach a dance class, but I do feel that everyone should be presented with the opportunity to be creative and have fun.