In My Workplace.

As a work with children, I find it difficult to write too much on my blog about how I've been taking my degree work into my workplace.  I am sure others in the same position have had to think about this too , so I thought I would just do a brief summary of what I have been writing in my journal and the steps I have taken in my day to day professional practice.

This is a new position and I have just completed my first half term,  I talk about my degree a lot in work, it's extremely social and the other members of staff seem interested in what I am researching.  I have been able to gather other opinions to fuel my research as well as just my interviews and  lit review.  Finding out what people actually know about drama and their opinion of it and it's use for learning and healing has been very interesting and given me the chance to see where drama really stands.

I have been given two intervention groups to run, with certain criteria to meet to ensure targets are being met and learning barriers identified and overcome.  The first of these groups has been Occupational Therapy in which the group have certain tasks to work on and complete, for example today we focused on star jumps, for symmetrical body awareness and throwing a bean bag into a hoop on the ground.  I have tried to be as creative with this group as possible and implemented certain things which have been suggested to me by dramatherapists over the course of my interviews. I, of course, am not a dramatherapist but have been using games to warm up the body and engage the mind ready to focus on the tasks.

When I was younger I particularly enjoyed a meditation of some kind at the end of my drama lessons and loved the feeling of being relaxed and focused on whatever images where being put in my head... such as the ocean.  For my first meditation I decided to continue the theme of body awareness and encourage the children to think about different parts of their body being heavy and sinking into the floor.  The first time I did this with them I thought I had completely wasted my time!  It didn't seem to be effective at all and I was concerned that it wasn't suitable for them and I could use the time more productively!

However to my surprise , one of the children who struggles in her creative play and struggles with her imagination begged to "feel heavy again" at the end of the next session!  I was amazed and granted her wish, starting the meditation for the second time.  This time I found they really were relaxed and thinking about what I was saying... " Now, our fingers are slowly feeling a little lighter and we can start to feel our fingertips again... we can wiggle our fingertips...' Etc. This time the mood was totally different, there was no giggling and no random talking, everyone was really focused.  When we talked afterwards about the meditation and I asked what they liked they all said the feeling of being heavy was really nice and that's what they enjoyed the most.  Afterwards (to make sure they aren't too tired going back to class!) we do a little shake out and jump around for a few minutes to reenergise ourselves.   I am eager to carry this on as the weeks progress and to try different types of imagination games, as in this group a few of the children struggle with being creative.

I have also been playing the ' mirror game' with this small group and have been so thrilled at how this has been effective.  The children in the intervention group are there as they all have varying degrees of SEN and need a little extra help in things related to occupational therapy and body awareness and development.  Our mirror game starts of by have the children in pairs facing each other whilst sat cross legged on the ground.  One is the leader, the other is the reflection and must strive to copy the movements of the leader.  In week 1 the children found this extremely difficult and the concept itself of being a 'reflection' was difficult to understand.  Now on week 4, I am thrilled to see how this game has progressed! The children are now standing facing each other and the movements they do have  evolved,  they are more explorative and more adventurous then simply moving our arms up and down. I encourage the children to be creative and explore what their 'reflection' can copy.  There are varying levels of SEN in this group and it has been wonderful to see the more able children adjusting their rage of movements so that their 'reflection' can successfully copy them.  This has never been mentioned and is something the children started to do automatically as they became more aware of how everyone moves. In my professional enquiry I have been asking the question about building bridges and wondering if drama in schools could promote a society of understanding and acceptance, I believe I am starting to see this in my small group.  Not only are they working together but they are adapting and accepting the needs of others to ensure the game carries on smoothly.  

Over the next few weeks I will be starting another small group with the intention of encouraging social and interaction skills and am so excited to have been given this opportunity to try out new drama techniques. So far the plan is for me to teach a small drama game to 2 children for about 25 minutes, then invite others to join us as they explain the game and how it works.  I am hoping this will have similar effects and encourage the children to work together to ensure the successful playing of the game.    

Chapter 9

Blaxter,L., Hughes,C., Tight,M., 2010 How to Research. Fourth Edition. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Chapter 9

Again, as with the previous blog, this will be a typed up, clarified and thought about version of the notes I made whilst reading this.  Writing always helped me to clarify my thoughts on something.

So, what kind of data have i collected? - Qualitative.  Does this mean that it's exclusive to qualitative analysis only? No.  Numbers may come into it during the process, I may find that 2 out of 5 dramatherapists agreed with a certain idea and can use numbers to show this, so I mustn't rule numbers out completely and keep an open mind as to when they may actually be useful in conveying an idea and making my explanation understandable and valid.

In this chapter I found a very useful section giving detail into what exactly I am going to do...

Analysing Interviews.

1) ' Familiarising yourself with your data'

This has also been mentioned to me in an interview and is the reason I am taking the time to transcribe all of my interviews, not only for my analysis but so I can listen thoroughly, just a few words at a time, to all of my interviews again. So far I have found this very useful in picking up things that were not apparent to me the first time around.

2) ' Generating initial codes... coding interesting features of the data in a systematic way fashion across the entire data set...' 

Again, something mentioned to me in an interview and I mentioned it in my last blog.  I plan to be organised and systematic by colour coding and using highlighters to categorise sections of my data as I see it in chronological order first of all.

3) ' Searching for themes... Collating codes into potential themes. Gathering all data relevant to each potential theme'

By this point, I will have colour coded various different things and will now be finding the themes hidden in these sections.  I plan to do this in several ways, the first being very practical and literally piling all the themes together.  Then, I plan to stick with my organised themes and enter my themes into a word document so I can see them all together.

4) ' Reviewing themes... Checking if the themes work in relation to the coded extract' 

 An example of this for me might be reviewing a piece of data which I have originally put under the heading 'emotional literacy' and checking that it isn't better placed elsewhere.  This is an example of what a theme could potentially be just based on my thinking so far.  Imaging the situation in my head, physically seeing what I will do has always helped me to plan ahead.

5) ' Defining and renaming themes... Ongoing analysis to refine the specifics of each theme and the overall story the analysis tells, generating clear definitions and names for each theme' 

So, constantly re working and revisiting previous themes, this highlights the creativity aspect of analysis, something with is constantly being reshaped until the final product becomes more solidified... or until you say enough!

6) ' Producing the report... The final opportunity for analysis. Selection of vivid , compelling extract examples, final analysis of selected extracts relating back the analysis to the research question and literature, producing a scholarly report of the analysis.' 

Keeping that feel of creativity throughout and till the last moment.  Producing something that will link back to why I did what I did and what have I found out.  I particularly like the words vivid and compelling used in this section, something I will remember.  Yes, this is academic writing, does that mean it has to be boring? absolutely not! Quiet the opposite! I want to inspire my reader with the same passion for this subject as I have and say  Look! This is what I discovered and this is why it matters!

I would highly recommend this book to others on my BAPP course as i found it really helped to clear up the process for me, I was able to relate back the information and think about how it might work for my own particular research.  I will be referring back to my notes and this blog throughout my analytic process and using this as a resource.

Chapter 8

Blaxter,L., Hughes,C., Tight,M., 2010 How to Research. Fourth Edition. Maidenhead: Open University Press.


I am still in the process of going through my interviews and turning them all into transcripts which can be very time consuming- but I believe helpful in the long run- and I am now starting to think about the next step.  I did a lot of reading about this for my proposal in module two but now the practicality of it is a little more... well, real.  I had an initial read of the above book and found it incredibly useful in helping me structure a 'to do' list and formulate a plan of how exactly i will analyse my data.  I keep reading things like 'thematic analysis' and 'look for patterns' but HOW do you actually go about doing this? In this book I have found logical and helpful advice on all the different steps i can take which has enabled me to understand what my next step is.  I made a lot of notes in this first initial read and I simply copied some things down, which I will now try to make sense of in this blog.

'...Surviving as a research student is about accumulating knowledge and extending skills...'  

The above quote made me relax, it acknowledged that this process is something to be survived and gave two clear ways on how to do this!  Gather all the knowledge you can, then enter into a world of the complete unknown whilst you figure out what to do with it! I have never done this, but I will survive it by learning new methods, this is new learning, which is what makes it seem so uncertain. 

Set a plan with an achievable time-scale. Don't just look at what it is you have to do, but look at when this has to be completed and come up with a plan including dates and checklists.  Acknowledge your own limitations regarding the time you have to complete the project and the cost and your word count... So , we are not tackling a 5 year PHD, this a degree based project with a smaller word count, the limitations are greater.  As I have discussed with my tutor in the past, I am not in a position to change anything right now so I must focus on the exploratory aspect of this research not just the application of my findings.  I am not going to change the world... this time anyway... 

Chapter 8 begins by looking at what ' shape' your data is in, meaning, the condition of your data, with what facilitates are you going to analyse your data with?  Think about your preferences, for me I need everything to be neat and looking organised otherwise I find it hard to think clearly. A messy work environment for me is just too distracting! I will be laying my transcripts out in a big space in front of me in order that I took them, that way I can see everything in chronological order and it will feel familiar to when I first did the interviews.  I will use highlighters, a colour at a time to go through my data and make a reference of which highlighter colour means what.  I will post pictures of this on my blog as and when it happens.  

'...managing your data by reducing it's size and scope so that you can report upon it adequately and usefully...'

I had not thought about this before, the reducing of my data into manageable chunks and meanings.  Visually, this made sense to me, narrowing something down slowly.  One of the worries I have had with analysing is the amount of data I have in front of me, but the thought of analysing essentially being the process of making that amount smaller makes the process seem more doable.  

...' Analysing your managed set of data by abstracting from it and drawing attention to what you feel is important or significant...' 

Something to always keep in my head whilst going through my data... what is significant, Why? What does this tell me? What will it tell my reader?

This book also looks at the pros and cons of using software to analyse data.  Personally I will be doing everything manually because I want to go through this process, i don't want to learn how to program my data into software which will analyse it for me, I want to go through this process myself and develop those skills so i can use them after this degree is completed.  I feel it would be like learning to drive a car and never lifting up the bonnet to see what's underneath .  However, I can understand why other, more experienced,  researchers may choose to use a software program, time saving is one of them! If I had hundreds of interviews and years worth of research, then it might be something I would consider,  but I feel this is a process I have to go through manually.  

As I mentioned before, this book also helped to clarify some terminology for me, surprising me with things i thought I already knew.  Below are a few quotes from the book which helped me to understand these phrases further. 

'...Concepts are

                     - abstracts of general ideas, which are important to how we think about particular subjects or issues '

' Theories are, 

                    - suppositions which explain , or seek to explain something.' 

' Explanations are, 

                     - statements which seek to make something intelligible about why things are the way they are' 

'Understanding is, 

                    - Our perception of the meaning of something , in this case the subject are, the issues and/or the research questions under consideration.'  

I will use these to ensure that statements I have made fall in line with these definitions, for example,  if I make an explanation does it accurately and clearly make something 'intelligible'.  I can check this by asking other people to read my analysis and ensuring they understand it and what I am trying to convey. At the end of all of this, I wish to have a document which uses the evidence I have found and explains it in a way that is convincing of it's validity and worth.  I can also enlist help from the people in my work place, I will be meeting with our schools SENCO over the next few weeks to discuss what I'm finding out so far and my current ideas for artifacts. I wish to ensure I keep in track with the project being ' work based learning' and ensure that it is useful for my professional practice.  

I found this book more accessible and easier to digest than I have other research guides, everything is in sections with examples and clear definitions of those phrases I keep hearing.  It doesn't answer a question with another one but cuts straight to the point of what it means and how to do it. 

Notes on chapter 9 coming soon.... 

Skype 30th September 8pm

On Friday we had our first Skype session and I think we all left the session feeling a little more equipped to start module 3, it was clear from the off that everyone was feeling the same sort of apprehension at the amount of work that is ahead of us.  Paula had some pictures on a slide of representations of how we might be feeling, such as a big pile of books, a tall building with a view looking up at the top floor...which seems very far away!!  There were others but those two stood out for me, the picture with all the books is not too dissimilar to how my desk currently looks!

I found the above picture and it made me smile... fortunately my desk isn't this bad!

Whilst looking through the notes I took through this session I have underlined one sentence which I know Paula has said before but it was nice to hear it again as I think it is something I should remind myself of...I need to remember that this is a piece of creative writing as well as academic.  This whole process is creative. Sometime i become frustrated with  myself as I put pressure on my writing to be perfect the first time around, but when I am learning new musical material or a new song I would never expect this of myself!I would take my time and practice, making sure I was exploring the material and constantly assessing how my performance could be improved.   I need to apply the same rules and remember this whole process is creative.  When I say it like that, it doesn't seem so terrifying, being creative is something I am comfortable with, a process that I understand, and I thoroughly enjoy creative tasks. This is no different! I shouldn't let the word academic take away the creativity from the process by paralysing me with fear!  Just because something is defined as academic, makes it no less creative.  

We finished the session by each stating what our next actions will be, what are we physically going to do next, what do we need to do. I think this helped a lot of us in making the next step seem reachable and doable, breaking the work down and just thinking... what is the next action I take.  For me I need to carry on transcribing my interviews so far so I can get them ready for analysis. I also need to be carrying on with my literature review and focusing on one book at a time to allow myself to fully focus on that one theory and be thorough in my critical review of it.