Dubious teacher CPD - what would you think?

[annaliesey]

Hi everyone 

 

I’m thinking about how I feel about a class my daughter attended. It was a senior class of I guess ages 12+ most of whom do a fair bit of dance in a mix of styles - ballet & jazz

 

the class is freework with warm up, conditioning, sometimes a short routine and from the ones she’s done so far technical jazz.

 

dd really enjoys this class. But, tonight I hear from a stand in / guest teacher they’ve had a couple of times that they are going to be taking the class regularly. No problem there, as I said, she liked it. 

 

But .. there was a story told about being tough and that this teacher had to do a performance with an injury. Also they did a plank competition although the teacher did stop them at 3 min 45. And .. they didn’t do a cool down.

 

so obviously we’ve been spoiled with good classes and teachers to even be aware of this.

 

but this is a gentle question and I don’t mean to overreact, to ask does anyone ever get a gut feel that some teachers are those that graduate from college, maybe work professionally, but then don’t appear to keep up CPD to hear these messages that our children hear about not doing certain exercises, not dancing with injuries etc 

 

would this concern you enough to do anything? At the moment I’ve just spoken with dd and she volunteered the info to me and rolled her eyes so she knew aspects of the class were a bit poor/inappropriate/inconsistent with other training .. but, she still wants to do the class 

 

hmmm. Just thinking. What are your views? 

Edited June 11, 2018 by annaliesey

[dancertaxi]

Eeeekkkkkk alarm bells!!! 

 

I would be asking if stand in teacher is qualified to teach - actual teaching quals not a degree in dance. 

 

Conditioning really needs someone who knows what they re doing any why rather than "my teacher told me this way". 

 

[annaliesey]

6 minutes ago, dancertaxi said:

Eeeekkkkkk alarm bells!!! 

 

I would be asking if stand in teacher is qualified to teach - actual teaching quals not a degree in dance. 

 

Conditioning really needs someone who knows what they re doing any why rather than "my teacher told me this way". 

 

 

Yes, alarm bells sadly 

 

but i thought most degrees had a teaching unit which is what makes me wonder if it’s CPD that’s missing and is it unreasonable to expect these ex-professionals and degree level teachers to have kept up with the times?

 

(dr dance I can almost visualise your words forming) but as a parent I know I would be the minority to not have the attitude this class is nothing less than fantastic

 

urgh 

[dancertaxi]

An old teacher of dd did degree in dance but had to do pgce and held no other teaching qualifications - ie linked to an exam board. 

 

A pgce teaches you the generics of how to teach rather than subject specific content - there is an element of conceived knowledge from degree. 

 

I dont know the ins and outs of the dance teaching world I m afraid. 

 

I guess regardless of qualifications it comes down to quality of practice which is even more variable in relation to accessing cpd. 

 

I would be raising a concern via the principal in a - hi can I just check - do they now do x like this and should dd be doing her own cool down now...hint hint 

[Bluebird22]

I’ve just paid £300 out in CPD on top of my membership fees, to complete the required 18hours so I can continue to offer exams for my students. I’m self employed on £9.50 p/h it’s a huge expense, BUT I choose to do this job and I owe it to the kids I teach to do it to the best of my ability. 

 

However I can see why parting with so much money would be off putting, particularly for a guest type teacher (dancers aren’t known for their large salaries!) 

 

There is a wealth of information online so there is no excuse for shoddy and poorly planned classes. 

[dancertaxi]

3 minutes ago, Bluebird22 said:

I’ve just paid £300 out in CPD on top of my membership fees, to complete the required 18hours so I can continue to offer exams for my students. I’m self employed on £9.50 p/h it’s a huge expense, BUT I choose to do this job and I owe it to the kids I teach to do it to the best of my ability. 

 

However I can see why parting with so much money would be off putting, particularly for a guest type teacher (dancers aren’t known for their large salaries!) 

 

There is a wealth of information online so there is no excuse for shoddy and poorly planned classes. 

I wonder bluebird if the guest teacher doesnt have membership for offering exams whether they will have any requirement to fulfill cpd hours ? 

 

There was a post recently on Facebook about studios falling for people with high profiles on social media to guest teach when actually they are performers and dont have the skills to effectively teach anyone. 

 

We ve been invited to a few where teenagers are teaching or judging at festivals yet have no formal teaching experience and rarely have advanced grades themselves. Scary world. 

[Bluebird22]

This is all too often the case- it’s a major pet peeve of mine. My teacher training has cost me a fortune and dancers/vocational graduates/one time performers are all too often invited to teach (at premium rates), they have no teaching qualifications, no association membership and they simply aren’t regulated.  

 

Just because you can dance doesn’t mean you can teach- my mum can drive a car but when the one time she attempted to teach me to drive was an absolute disaster, because while she has the necessary skills she is not a teacher!

[Picturesinthefirelight]

Some degrees may have a teaching module that is probably optional. Many won’t have. 

[Pas de Quatre]

Just as in the Academic world, degrees vary enormously in quality and content!

 

Unfortunately I feel some ballet exam boards are milking their members with high training fees for a qualification to allow the teacher to enter pupils for exams and very high prices for CPD.   These ballet organisations are beginning to feel more like a franchise along the lines of copyrighted workouts like Zumba, Body Balance etc. 

[drdance]

13 hours ago, dancertaxi said:

I wonder bluebird if the guest teacher doesnt have membership for offering exams whether they will have any requirement to fulfill cpd hours ? 

 

There was a post recently on Facebook about studios falling for people with high profiles on social media to guest teach when actually they are performers and dont have the skills to effectively teach anyone. 

 

We ve been invited to a few where teenagers are teaching or judging at festivals yet have no formal teaching experience and rarely have advanced grades themselves. Scary world. 

 

Scary world indeed. Many times we have all agreed in discussions here that a good dancer does not make a good teacher, however in the current world of social media celebrity there are people out there promoting poor (and indeed dangerous) practice to young dancers who put these people on pedestals. This makes me incredibly angry and frustrated. 

 

Having said that, sometimes a young and enthusiastic teacher just needs a bit of guidance into how to direct their enthusiasm into a class for impressionable young people. This teacher may be trying to build resilience in the students; they may have felt like the students weren't dancing full out, or giving 100% and their (naive, IMHO) way of trying to get them to dance full out when tired is to say something like "you have to work hard as a dancer, the industry is tough, I had to dance with an injury once". The plank competition has good intentions, again this is something I do with students to develop strength and mental toughness, but 2 minutes is plenty. 

[drdance]

While we're on the topic of CPD - lets not forget that an unqualified person can open a dance school where no exams are taken. This "teacher" has no obligation, other than moral, to undertake any further CPD, ever.

 

Secondly, while the major examining bodies have CPD requirements, lets also not forget that there is no requirement for child protection training. CPD hours can be online, you can claim hours for going to the theatre, and you can self-certify your CPD without having to ever submit evidence. Therefore, many teachers can say they are meeting the CPD requirement but not actually attend any course. Only if audited as part of the random process would they need to provide evidence.

[Bluebird22]

The BBO insist on child safeguarding and also there is a maximum amount of hours you can claim you have undertaken independently. I think 12hours have to be undertaken via one of the courses the BBO approve and the final 6 hours you can undertake independently. 

[TooTu]

Unfortunately my dd has experienced teachers in the past who I would question having done sufficient CPD. Reading that teachers can self certify their CPD hours is worrying for parents who not only put their trust in a teacher but also in the organisation to which they belong to regulate this. 

[Pups_mum]

CPD is something of a minefield in any profession - even large, heavily regulated ones. To a degree it has to be self regulated and rely on the honesty of the participants. The only person who can genuinely assess the value of any cpd activity is the person who is doing it. Attendance at a formal course doesn't guarantee quality learning - an article read, an afternoon spent watching a colleague work or a chat with a mentor about a difficult situation may be many times more educational, but far harder to quantify. Good quality, reflective appraisals are probably the best way to maintain standards, but that is nigh on impossible to implement in large, structured organisations, never mind such a disparate industry as dance teaching. Any kind of independent inspectorate would be very expensive and would no doubt increase the costs to parents.

On the other hand, I do find it terrifying that literally anyone could set themselves up as a dance teacher with no regulation whatsoever. I've recently qualified as an "entry level" sports coach and the training I have has to do, scope of practice I must abide by and undertakings I have had to commit to are pretty rigorous. To think that I could basically put a notice up on the village hall board and start offering dance classes without any of that is frankly ridiculous.

I'm not sure what it is, but there must be a happy medium.