Task 7a

During the last few days of Module 2, I had a lengthy discussion with my tutor Paula about my original inquiry question which was 'what does dance mean to the users of PDSW'.
Through the process of looking at all the ethical considerations which I needed to think about when wanting to focus on a couple of different 'types' of users that the facility attracts, I realised that it would be extremely hard to validate and eve complete with the time frame provided. I wanted to gage what the dance centre has provided to each of its type of user by asking them to complete an interview taken out by myself and also fill out questionnaires. Although you could argue that this would give me lots of information to evaluate and the possibility of conflicting ideas, it just didn't seem blunt enough for my Inquiry and seemed to become more vague than a clear indication of what I was aiming to achieve.

As a process of elimination, I thought of the 'type' of users that I was originally going to ask to participate in my inquiry - these were; Dance students, Dance teachers, Community participants and Audience members. Using Paula's advice and decided to focus more now on the teachers at PDSW and in particular the teaching provision, the act or process of supplying or providing something. To me, personally having been an active dance teacher volunteer at the centre, I already have a good insight to how the system works and the strong relationships that each of the team members have. I began to think about how I could delve more into this and focus more for my inquiry into what is the purpose and function of an arts centre like PDSW and what are its influences, and link this into how the teachers have an impact into how an art organisation can become and maintain its successful status.
As perviously mentioned, I am keen to drive forward my passion to teach, so I want to explore my researching into one specific teacher at the arts centre. I have decided to use the research tools of interviewing with a series of questions that I believe will give me a deeper understanding into how a teacher at the centre may be influenced and how she sees community dance developing, or implications that may alter it to develop. After this I aim to then part take in an observation of a dance class that she will teach to gage a visual evaluation. I would not require to be observing the students therefore will not require connect, but for ethical obligations all students that will be taking part in the class are over the age of 18. From this observation research I hope to evaluate how the teachers presence and overall delivery is key to the outcome of the students progression. From this I hope to understand why a dance teacher would be keen to work at the community dance organisation and how there input contributes to its success.

Having thought about how  I could narrow it all down into one question that will lead my inquiry, I have decided on;

' What is the function and purpose of an arts centre in a local community?'

Drawing from this question, I will lead my investigation with the use of PDSW as this is my local dance community set up which I volunteer and so with the consent of the director to speak with a teacher there, I am able to conduct my research with no restrictions to the facility itself. I would like to cover a few specific areas within my inquiry and I have listed these below;

• Data and information on my local community dance organisation which is PDSW - When did it begin, how is it funded, who runs it, who works there..... All this information will be gathered by web research along with documents which the centre will provide me.
• How has the dance awareness changed in the local area of Bournemouth since PDSW has opened? I will look into what was available before, and if any close by towns have similar set ups
• How dance teachers specifically can benefit from working at a community dance organisation like PDSW - because this is a big area of my inquiry I will use an interview and observation of a dance teacher who works at the facility to collect relevant information.

Together with all of this information I hope to answer my inquiry question with valid and solid research.

I have already had a big change in ideas from my original Inquiry question and feel the transition from the two ideas has been a big learning curve that has enabled me to feel more focused and settled into the Module 3.