Alison Lonsdale BA (Hons) - Professional Practice, Arts & Creative Industries Blog

So during this absolutely crazy time, I was re-deployed into an adult care home. Here, I was in a 14 day isolation period, making sure that the most vulnerable came into contact with as few people as possible. The second rota of staff are working the isolation period right now and I am back to my 'normal' day work in school. We are keeping the 14 days isolation, 14 days day work routine until we feel appropriate and safe for everyone concerned. The isolation has been a very challenging time, more so than I thought it would be. Going in I thought I was going to be absolutely fine. I had no idea what was going to be fine, but I just didn't think a lot of it.  The first couple of days were absolutely fine, we had a good routine and everyone seemed to be on the same thought path, the good thing was the team spirit carried on throughout. Around the 4th day I started to miss home, it was less than a mile away from the home but I wasn't allowed to leave. I started to miss waki...

For those who are new to my blog, I am a dance and yoga teacher in a school for special educational needs and disability (SEND), and I also work in a private dance school a few nights a week teaching ISTD syllabus in tap, modern and ballet. Unfortunately due to the current situation around Covid-19 the dance school has closed for the foreseeable, which is extremely sad but others are in this very same situation. I miss my students so much, they were meant to be doing their annual show this week!! We are keeping spirits high by constantly posting on the schools instagram page and streaming live or pre-recorded classes. I am still working during the day as the school as this place of work falls into the 'vulnerable' section and we are required to keep providing services for the students who need additional care. Due to the vulnerability of some students we have been forced to go into a lockdown in some of the homes connected to the school and college. I have been working and livi...

Interview techniques and conducting interviews is something that I have never had to think about, and until now, I have only experienced them in the form of a job interview.  Job interviews to me have never been a joyful experience and I often don't remember them at all upon walking out of the room. It all turns into a blur and a fraction of self doubt. "Why did I say that?", "did I answer their questions fully?", "could I have done better?". Conducting an interview feels very surreal sitting on the other side of the table in the manner of having to prompt questions and lead the session.  For my inquiry I have chosen to carry out my interviews and focus groups in semi-structured format. These types of interviews are exactly what the title says, they are not rigid and dictated completely in the form of closed questions in search for a yes/no answer. The interviewer maintains structure by taking into the interview pre-set open ended questions to keep the...

Throughout my journey so far on the BA PP course I have had many lightbulb moments, and also moments of complete hysteria where I don't have a clue what I am doing. Through our community on blogger and also the Facebook group (which has been a god send) I have managed to stumble through module 1 and into module 2, but feel like I have constantly not been able to catch myself fully upright on my feet.  I tuned into a Skype session with a module 3 focus last week. I logged into Skype and was away chatting with module 3 students and some of my fellow module 2 students. My intent going into a Skype session is always blown out of the water and I come out with different thoughts, my questions that I write down before hand and intended to ask are either irrelevant or just don't fit into the conversation. My mind is away thinking about what has just been discussed during the session and my questions are left on the side unanswered. This is what I call my 'reoccurring hazy fog of a ...

I think the way we think about ethics and the way we portray them in life has a lot to do with; how and where we are brought up, how open minded we are and experience. My upbringing was not one of religion, I wasn't exposed to it at all and I was from a small town. My big move to a city at 16 was when I realised how different life was. I had no option but to open my eyes and change the way I looked at things. I felt a bit like a blank canvas that was able to form my own considerations but also a little uneducated in approaching certain situations. Attending other dance classes was a massive eye opener for me. There was a student that didn't take off their cardigan for the entire ballet class, throughout the barre, centre work, allegro and all the way through to pointe work. Out of curiosity I asked why they made this choice, to which they politely explained that it was due to religious reasons they were making this choice. Things as simple as this I had never had to think abo...

As a child I attended dance classes and took numerous exams with the examining body ISTD for ballet, tap and modern, I now teach these grades as a qualified teacher. It wasn't until I learnt and taught the grades that I realised there are differences in the syllabus, in the way it is learnt, taught and performed. The ISTD is a syllabus written in books, word for word, black and white, count by count. So where do these differences come from? One of my classes is grade 6 tap, which I have recently just taken over. Whilst observing the class prior to teaching, there were a lot of differences in the way the students performed some of the exercises. The students weren't doing it wrong but it certainly looked different to what I teach. Me being a conscientious person started to question myself, did I learnt it correctly or have I modified it to what I think it is? Has the previous teacher put on their own twist to give the performance factor? It started a whole trail of thought abo...

Picking up the handbook for the new module (module 2) after a break for the Christmas period was always, in my mind, going to be a mind field of unanswered and unexplored questions to add to the list of thinking and research. The first Skype back was a lovely introduction to new members to the BA PP course and also a very good kick start to the new material at hand. I didn't allow my self to think about how much I have to do, but more so about pinnacles through out which are going to help me progress. The first read through the handbook didn't register at all, I tried to process everything but there is so much to take in. I read the words but as soon as I was onto the next page, I forgot what was on the last. This feeling was all too familiar as I felt a little like this during Module 1. Before reading through the handbook again the next day I completed one of the tasks set out in the handbook to help you settle into the module. For us (module 2) there are numerous activities...

Starting Module 1? Totally lost? Yes, I was too. I thought that the first Skype session was going to be one big answer to all of my questions, however I felt like I left the session with even more questions than I started. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing as it gave me a good starting point for my blogs. I am currently starting Module 2 and after the first Skype, the mist descended and the feel of nostalgia crept up. The feeling of not knowing where to start and the thought of "what am I doing?". To avoid the panic, I thought back to what I did to ease my self into Module 1. Once I read, reread and double checked the handbook and started blogging, I knew I was on a journey of exploration but I didn't know if what I was doing was right. My advice to you would be to start with blogging as soon as possible. Your ideas flourish and it also gives you an opportunity to share with the BA PP community on blogger.com. It provides the chance for you to write your ideas down...

Do you ever feel that you don’t use all of the material and resources available to you and absolutely ring it dry of any information possible? Before starting BAPP this never crossed my mind but lately, I have pushed my self to use the internet as a starting point rather than an aid to develop an idea, by changing the way round I normally do things I found that I can take in a lot more information and broaden my knowledge before I make a judgement or decision. I watched the clip on TED Talks “what a digital government looks like”, which explains how Estonia has turned totally digital. Imagine being brought up in a world where your first port of call is a laptop or digital aid. A labyrinth of answers and ideas at your fingertips. As positive as the internet can be we as practitioners need to also efficiently use our bodies and creative minds to develop innovative and new ideas, but why not use Web 2.0 to help you get there. Getting into a habit that you are not used to doing can so...

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 critic...