Module 2: Task 4c - Developing Questions for Employers and/or Professional Associates

Using the questions I initially came up with in Task 4a, I am now developing specific questions to ask those within my professional community outside of the BAPP Arts course. I have professional associates in mind, all of whom have different experiences of teaching within different contexts. Taking this into consideration, I would moderate the questions accordingly to make sure they are relevant to the chosen interviewee as not all questions apply.  

In bold are the initial questions from Task 4a and numbered below that are the more specific questions I would use in order to hone in on the information I wish to discover.

How do schools and dance schools manage behaviour? Is there a difference with how it is managed between school and extra-curricular? Do children behave differently in comparison between the two? Do children who attend extra curricular performing arts behave better at school? Why? 

Can participating in performing arts as an extra-curricular subject affect children's learning in school? Is there a correlation that suggests this is a positive or negative effect? Can it improve/certain aspects of their development? 

1. How does your school manage behaviour in your classes specifically?
1a. Are these methods affective?

2. Having taught in both a school and performing arts school, is there a difference in how behaviour is managed? 

2a. If so, what are those differences?

3. Do you know the children in your class who take part in extra-curricular performing arts?

3a. How does their behaviour in class compare to those students who don't take part in extra-curricular performing arts if different?

4.Do you know how what your performing arts students are achieving at school? 

4a. Do you think the performing arts classes they take part in outside of school have a positive or negative impact on their education and behaviour?

4b. Why do you think this is?

5. Do you think Performing Arts can have an affect on children's development?
5a. What sort of affect do you think this is? 

External performing arts schools (not for further education purposes) aren't assessed by any external board (e.g. OFSTED). Therefore, how do performing arts schools measure their success? How do they know they're adhering to certain codes of conduct? Is there a board that could come in and observe these? How do performing arts schools know what/how to improve without this? How do they create their expectations and set their standards? Could having something like OFSTED have a positive impact on such schools?

6. How does your performing arts school measure success?

7. Does your performing arts school have certain codes of conducts that you must adhere to?
7a. Are these codes of conduct that you have created or are they from an external board (such as OFSTED for schools)?

7b. If there isn't an external board, could performing arts school benefit from having something like this to regulate performing arts schools across the country?

7c. Why?

8. Is there an external board that has any control over what or how you teach?
8a. If so, does this board ever come in and observe or assess these aspects?

9. How do you know which elements of the school need improving?
9a. How do your pupils know what the expectations from the staff are?Do performing arts schools encourage a different mindset in children? Is determination and effort given more emphasis in performing arts schools over actual schools? Are children who attend external performing arts schools more prone to a positive attitude and are therefore more hardworking? 

10. As a performing arts teacher, do you rate effort and determination more highly than technique?

10a. Do you think effort and determination are recognised less in schools?

11. As a school teacher, do you think determination and effort is less important than grades and the final product of work? 

12. Do the students that partake in extra-curricular performing arts in your class, have a different attitude towards school work? 

12a. If yes, in what way?

13. Do you think performing arts can have an impact on children's attitudes in school?
13a. If yes, in what way? 

14. Have you found in the past that students who took part in extra-curricular performing arts were more hard-working in school?

How beneficial is a PGCE to a dance or performing arts teacher? Could the job be done based purely on experience? How does that compare to the importance of a PGCE for a primary school teacher or secondary school maths teacher? Do some schools take on dance or performing arts teachers who don't hold a QTS? 

15. Do you think your PGCE prepared you with the relevant tools and skills to teach?
15a. If so, how did it do this?
15b. If not, why not?

16. Do you think to be a teacher that experience and qualifications have equal weighting of importance? 

17. When employing new staff for your performing arts school, do you look at the experience or qualifications on their CV as more important?
17a. Why? 

18. Do you think a PGCE is more beneficial to an English or Maths teacher over a performing arts teacher?
18a. Why?

19. Do schools take on performing arts teachers who don't hold QTS?
19a. Is this ever the same for english or maths teachers?
19b. Why do you think this is?