Reflection on my new beginning

Before starting on the BA PP course I didn't know how critical group Skype sessions were going to be for me. They bringing forward new questions that you have never had to answer before and also expanding the questions that you bring to the table. I have recently started working in a school for specialist needs and I wanted to analyse 'how I started my new beginning'. This came from the group discussion when the question was raised; 'When is the beginning the beginning? How do we know it has started, or is this just part of the evolving journey?'

Prior to working in a school, my time was split between teaching ISTD grades in tap, ballet and modern and dancing on cruise ships. Upon starting my new position I almost felt like I had to start again. This was very daunting for me and also felt that I didn't know what I was doing. But it also allowed for a moment of reflection. Starting these new classes I had to simplify dramatically but this also made me critically analysing how I previously ran my classes and picking out things that I missed out or skimmed over. I feel that this was down to the ability of the students. Like sponges they soaked up information and feed off your enthusiasm. My current student are so enthusiastic when it comes to dance classes but the classes and delivery of these are totally different.

I had to ask myself, how do I break things down even further than I am doing already? I decided to write down bullet points what students were struggling with and my observations of differences:

• Struggle to stand still (even more so than experienced in the past)
• Individuals have repetitive movements that they either cannot help or need to do as an outlet
• Discipline is different but still needs to be applied
• Students in wheelchairs. I need to seek alternatives for some exercises but make sure they still have the same opportunities
• Content of the class changes
• We do not cover as much material
• The structure of a class has to change but still contain some sort of structure
• What change in ethical considerations are there?

Each point had a branch of ideas coming off it or more questions about how we were going to overcome the hurdles. I had so many new objectives to look at and I had to come at if from a fresh start. I couldn't compare it to my previous experiences but I could relate it, which is when I realised that I have started a new chapter and a new beginning in my professional career. I could no longer jump straight into a class without being aware of certain situations or individuals. I had to be prepared and over prepare for deviation just incase we had to. Consideration of what individuals I had in my class, and to ethically look at my choice of music or use of language in class. These were all things that I took for granted before and skimmed over because I had fallen into a routine of knowing(or not knowing and therefore becoming ignorance?). Looking back on my previous classes made me make a better beginning for my new students that have never had the opportunity to partake in a dance class before now. I no longer skipped over basic steps and details which formed learning blocks.

After this experience I took what I had learnt in this new environment into my syllabus ISTD classes. Students did feel that it was a slight digression in learning, as they are used to fast pace. But a few students learnt names for steps that knew how to do but didn't know the correct terminology for. Some students learnt how to break a step down and use parts of that to progress into another. This helped the understanding and also nurtured the creativity of individuals. Without starting a new beginning, I never would have reflected upon certain aspects that I previously were skimming or skipping over in class.