Category Archives: education

NetWERK! Next Dance Teacher Forum On 30th September, 2012

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NetWERK is DanceWerk’s monthly networking event especially for freelance dance teachers. We aim to create a community of dance teachers who share ideas and best practices with each other. We provide attendees with training in aspects of teaching and being self employed that are not covered at dance college or on teacher training courses. We don’t keep our ideas to ourselves – we SHARE them!

Each monthly forum will cover a different aspect of teaching and learning or being self employed/freelance. Every forum is a chance for our dance teachers to network and make contacts with others in the industry.

    September’s NetWERK event will include training on ‘Inclusion In The Dance Class’ – worth £47

With an estimated 5th of all children in UK mainstream education being identified as having Special Educational Needs (SEN), it’s more than likely you will have children with diagnosed or undiagnosed needs in your dance classes. Do you know how to get the best out of these children and give them equal access to your dance teaching?

* Discover how to include children with special needs in your mixed ability dance class without needing to drastically change what you teach

*Discover the attributes of many recognised Special Educational Needs and how to provide for them in your dance class

*Discover ways to plan for differentiation in your dance class to ensure ALL dancers can access the learning, no matter what their needs are

Having spent 5 years as a primary school teacher (3 years in UK classes with over 70% Special Educational Needs and 2 years in classes overseas with 98% English As An Additional Language), I am passionate about inclusion and have spent the last 3 years running a dance school with an inclusive ethos, open to all abilities. During my primary training and teaching experiences, I wrote case studies on Autistic Spectrum Disorders and created Individual Provision Plans for children with ASD, ADHD, EBD, EAL and a range of other Special Educational Needs, whilst liaising with Educational Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists, Behaviour Therapists and other professionals. During my freelance dance teaching experiences, I have applied my knowledge to teaching dancers with learning and/or physical disabilities in schools for children with special needs and organisations for adults with learning disabilities. I recognise that this is a topic that dance teachers may not have studied in great detail at dance college and may not be confident with the strategies they can apply to their teaching to achieve optimum results from all dancers by providing for a range of needs in their classes. I want to share my knowledge of inclusive practice with you all at the next NetWERK event.

Find out what some of our previous NetWERK attendees had to say:

“Really enjoyed the session. Meeting people and learning new techniques.” Emma Lucas, Maidenhead.

“I really enjoyed being a part of this first session. I feel very included as a potential employee of DanceWerk now, and it was overall a very enjoyable experience.” Anonymous, Reading.

“Really good session and made me think about how to deal with problem classes as well! Good opportunity to network and meet other teachers! Thanks!” Anonymous, Reading.

“The session was very interesting and thought provoking. Enabled me to begin to think outside the box and maybe adjust the way i teach my sessions. Behaviour Management is very important in maintaining a successful, safe and comfortable working environment.” Maryka Debra, London.

Find out how networking can be invaluable to your development as a dance teacher and dance business owner:

Being self employed is lots of fun but can be a lonely business at times. Meet like minded individuals at our dance teacher forum and get the support you need. We have a range of people coming to the forum – from dancers looking to make the transition into teaching to dancers who have set up their own successful dance businesses. If you would like to come down to our next session and find out what it’s all about, your first session is FREE so you have nothing to lose!

    NetWERK!: Inclusion In The Dance Class

Sunday 30th September, 2012
2.15 – 4.45pm

RISC (Room 3)
35-39 London Street
Reading Town Centre
West Berkshire

(Free parking available – access via East Street)

What you will get:

* Training on ‘Inclusion In The Dance Class’ – worth £47
* Training resource pack – worth £7
* Tea and coffee refreshments
* Networking opportunities with like minded dance teachers and dance companies – priceless!
* Opportunity to promote your own dance business via online video to all of DanceWerk’s contacts

GET ALL THIS FOR JUST £10!

    **Only 10 spaces available** Book your place now by clicking on the button below.

New members book your FREE place now by emailing cerys@dancewerk.co.uk

All places must be pre-booked.

Keep dancing!

Cerys x

PS. October’s NetWERK event will include a presentation on Tax Issues For Dance Teachers, led by our first guest speaker. Discover the differences between being a sole trader and being a limited company and how these can benefit you as a dance teacher. Discover what you can do to save money when calculating your expenses as a dance teacher. Stay tuned for further details on this essential session, coming soon! :)

Are you using non-verbal communication to teach dance?

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Being off work due to a recent throat operation, faced with being unable to talk as often or as freely as I would like while I recover, the experience has got me thinking all about communication and the importance of effective NON-VERBAL communication as a dance teacher.

So what is non-verbal communication?

I came to realise the importance of non-verbal communication during my 2 years of teaching children with English as an Additional Language in Bangkok, Thailand. Non-verbal communication is all about use of gesture, body language, facial expression, eye contact and visual aids to get your message across. Even when you are talking to someone normally, non-verbal communication accounts for roughly two thirds of the conversation.

How can we use non-verbal communication?

As dance teachers we can use positive body language to create a great first impression when securing a new teaching contract or meeting a new class for the first time. Positive body language can include a slight lean forward, great posture and eye contact.

But how do we use non-verbal communication in our teaching?

We can use non-verbal cueing systems to manage behaviour within our dance classes. Training our dancers to stop and listen when they hear a specific sound or see a specific hand gesture, for example, means that we can gain the attention of our classes without needing to raise our voice above chatter or music – as dance teachers we should always be taking care of our voices and finding ways to use them less. We can also simply stand in front of a noisy class doing absolutely nothing but making meaningful eye contact until they begin to settle or beckon to the misbehaving child we want to reposition and point them in the direction of where we want them to stand. (Check out my previous video about behaviour management in the dance class: http://www.dancewerk.co.uk/blog/behaviour-management-in-the-dance-class/)

We can use gesturing, such as pointing, to signal which direction we want our dancers to travel in and which foot we want our dancers to start on, for example. We can also use gestures such as head nods or hand claps to signal when the dancer should start. A great way to count dancers in (a method I use to protect my voice), instead of the usual ’5,6,7,8′ is to use 4 claps. Train your dancers to respond to this by initially introducing the claps on top of the counts and eventually taking the verbal counts away.

SEN children with a range of needs respond well to non-verbal communication, particularly those on the Autistic Spectrum and of course those with hearing impairments or English as an Additional Language. Of course, dance itself can be a medium of communication that is non-verbal, and those who have difficulty with verbal communication may well benefit from the positive effects of expression through dance. We all have different preferred learning styles and those who learn best visually will also benefit from this. (Check out my previous blog post about learning styles and dance: http://www.dancewerk.co.uk/blog/how-do-your-dancers-learn/)

We can use visual aids to increase understanding of what we are teaching and support those with language or communication difficulties. This also makes our lessons fully interactive for all our dancers despite their needs. For example, we can use picture cards for different shapes or movements we want our dancers to create or vocabulary cards to emphasise a particular step or movement’s technical name. We can display our class learning intentions or targets visually, as well as reminders of rules that are easily referred to around the studio or dance space.

Note the reference to dance in the following explanation of the history of Non-Verbal Communication studies:

The first scientific study of nonverbal communication was Charles Darwin’s book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals.[3] He argued that all mammals reliably show emotion in their faces. Seventy years later Silvan Tomkins (1911–1991) began his classic studies on human emotions in Affects Imagery Consciousness volumes 1-4. Rudolf Laban (1879–1958) and Warren Lamb (1923-) raised body movement analysis in the world of dance to a high level. Studies now range across a number of fields, including, linguistics, semiotics and social psychology. Another large influence in nonverbal communication was Birdwhistell. “ Anthropologist Ray Birdwhistell pioneered the original study of nonverbal communication—what he called ‘kinesics.’ He estimated that the average person actually speaks words for a total of about ten or eleven minutes a day and that the average sentence takes only about 2.5 seconds. Birdwhistell also estimated we can make and recognize around 250,000 facial expressions.”
(Source: Wikipedia, August 2012)

Ultimately, effective communication includes a mixture of both verbal and non-verbal communication in nearly all cases. How are you using non-verbal communication in your dance classes? Post a comment below to let me know :)

Cerys x

Dance Teacher Forum

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Our very first dance teacher forum is scheduled to take place on Sunday 15th July from 2.30-4.30pm at RISC in Reading town centre.

RISC
35-39 London Street
Reading
Berkshire
RG1 4PS

Our meeting will be held above the RISC shop, next to the Global Cafe. There is limited parking available at RISC but the Oracle Car Park is just across the road. If coming by public transport, Reading train station is just a 10 minute walk through town.

NetWERK

Whilst it’s lots of fun, being self employed can also be a lonely business at times – become part of a support network of local freelance dance teachers and share ideas and best practices with like minded people. There will be opportunities to introduce yourself at the beginning of the session and further networking opportunities at the end of the session.

Training

We want to give our supply teachers and those interested in working with us training in areas that they feel they require support with. Our first meet up will include a presentation on ‘Behaviour Management In The Dance Class.’

I had extensive training in the theories and practices of positive behaviour management throughout my years as a primary school teacher in challenging schools prior to running my dance business. This gave me a great start to managing busy dance classes with children and young people from a range of backgrounds without always having the support from other staff members in the same building. I recognise that this is an area that other dance teachers may not have had training in or feel confident with when presented with challenging behaviour either from groups or individuals within their classes. I want to share with you my knowledge on establishing and maintaining a positive learning environment and how to deal with potential behaviour issues before they escalate, allowing you to get on and do what you love – teaching dance – without the unnecessary interruptions!

There will also be opportunities for you to share your own experiences and ideas on best practice during this session and also comment on what you would like training on in future sessions.

DanceWerk Q & A

The dance teacher forum will also be an opportunity for you to find out more about DanceWerk and how you could benefit from the services we provide, including additional work opportunities, further training and qualifications. I will be on hand at the end of the session to answer any questions you may have about DanceWerk – essentially how we can help you make the most out of being a freelance dance teacher and earn more money in the process!

Get all this for FREE! Book your place now.

Our very first dance teacher forum will be absolutely free of charge. Being our first event, we need to know provisional numbers by Thursday 28th June so please kindly RSVP to cerys@dancewerk.co.uk if you would like to attend. Please do forward this on to any other dance teachers you feel would benefit from this service. I look forward to your reply.

Keep dancing!

Cerys

What type of leader are you?

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As dance teachers we are all leaders. Whether we are leading a small group of dancers or a team of dance teachers at our dance schools. There are many different theories about leadership styles and as I am about to embark upon delivering the Level 1 Dance Leaders Award to a group of young people for Sports Leaders UK, I am considering the many different attributes that different leaders possess. As I consider these different leadership styles, I invite you to think about this: What type of leader are you?

1. Autocratic – extreme transactional leaders who have complete power over the group they are managing.

2. Bureaucratic – follow rules precisely and ensure the group they are managing do too.

3. Charismatic – inspire their groups with enthusiasm and move others forward – success is reliant upon the leaders themselves.

4. Democratic/Participative – invite group members to participate in the decision making process.

5. Laissez-Faire – leave their group members to work alone.

6. People/Relations Orientated – focus on organising, supporting and developing the members of their group.

7. Servant – lead democratically by meeting the needs of their groups members.

8. Task-Orientated – lead autocratically by planning, organising and monitoring group members.

9. Transactional – focus on short term tasks in which group members obey entirely.

10. Transformational – inspire group members with a shared vision of the future through setting targets, being supportive and encouraging, providing stimulating tasks, communicating clearly and setting a good example.

What type of leader are you? There are some online quizzes you could explore to determine your leadership style, including http://psychology.about.com/library/quiz/bl-leadershipquiz.htm

Whilst a transformational leadership style is considered to be highly effective, good leaders often switch between styles for given situations. I would really recommend that whatever stage of leadership you are at within your place of work, balancing the needs of your dance school or organisation against the needs of the group you are leading is the best strategy to deploy when developing your leadership style.

Let me know what you think about this.

Cerys x

Turn your dance school into a more profitable business!

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Starting out on your own? Need advice tailored to your needs as a dance business owner? Need business templates? Dance marketing advice?

I started out my journey as a dance business owner without really knowing anyone else who was local to me to get advice from. Luckily I discovered ‘Dance Studio Owner’ on the internet. This website is packed with knowledge and practical advice about business management, artistic direction, staff management and customer service. I would really recommend this site to you if you are serious about growing your dance business.

But don’t take my word for it – see for yourself! Click on the link below and discover what this fantastic dance teacher resource can do for you.

click me

How do your dancers learn?

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Last weekend, I was at the ‘Move It’ Dance exhibition at Olympia in London and had the pleasure of meeting some very inspiring dance professionals. Among them were the teachers and choreographers leading the dance workshops I attended. The teachers who inspired me the most were those who made eye-contact, were welcoming, explained the moves, demonstrated their knowledge and encouraged feedback.  These teaching techniques got me thinking about how people learn and how this can be applied to dance. Did you know we each have different learning styles? Do you know what your learning style is? More importantly, do you know what your students’ learning styles are?

No matter what or whom you’re teaching, knowing about and catering for different learning styles within your class will enhance the learning experience that you provide for your dancers.

There are 3 main types of learners: Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic (VAK)

What VISUAL learners need…

1. To see the teacher and watch how they move; 2. To be at the front of the class for the best view; 3. Visual displays; 4. To take notes

What AUDITORY learners need…

1. Verbal commands to listen to; 2. Opportunities for discussion; 3. Opportunities to describe actions out loud; 4. Descriptions/explanations of steps and movements to listen to

What KINESTHETIC learners need…

1. To have a hands-on approach; 2. To actively explore ideas; 3. To keep moving and active; 4. To try things out first

Some learners have one dominant learning style and some are a mix of 2 or all 3.  I think it’s fair to say that as dance teachers, we must all have an element of kinesthetic learning going on! But let’s say not everyone in your class is a natural dancer or let’s say you have special needs within your group – this is when VAK provision can become a very worthwhile teaching and learning tool within your dance sessions.

Going back to my experience at ‘Move It’, I have one particular dance teacher in mind, whose forward thinking approach to teaching was not for everyone but resonated with me in terms of their use of VAK provision for a mixed age, mixed ability class of dancers.  The teacher’s use of eye contact, facial expression, demonstration and movement around the room would have appealed to the visual learners within the class.  Their use of vocabulary, discussion, explanation, questioning and asking participants to relay words back to them would have been fantastic for auditory learners, for whom just ‘seeing’ and ‘doing’ in a dance class is simply not enough! Then of course the kinesthetic learners had plenty of practice time and opportunities to experiment with moves before learning the combinations and routines.  Through incorporating these elements into the dance lesson, the teacher was catering for all 3 learning styles, thus including every single dancer in the busy workshop, despite their age, ability or dancing background, by giving everyone equal access to what he was actually teaching.

Of course, for those of you who, like myself, are teaching between 15 and 25 classes a week, it may not be practical for you to find out the learning style of each and every one of your students and therefore it is a good idea to simply take some of the above on board and think about ways in which you could cater for every learning style within your classes. It may only involve a few simple tweaks to your teaching approach, such as (for example) use of talking through the warm up, writing up dance vocab on a flip chart, providing a diagram of body movements in a hand-out or giving students more practical exploration time before teaching them the moves or choreography.  Or maybe you’ve already been catering for all these learning styles with a varied approach to teaching without even realising it!

If you’re interested in finding out what learning style you have, there are plenty of online questionnaires out there – some are better than others…..being a partly kinesthetic, partly visual learner, I liked this one because of it’s use of colours and pictures! http://www.brainboxx.co.uk/a3_aspects/pages/vak_quest.htm Or for a more in-depth questionnaire, go to http://teachertools.londongt.org/?page=VAK

Feel free to leave me a comment about this and let me know what you think :)

Cerys x