Researching into Interviews

Researching interviews

I have performed my own research before carrying out my own interview to help my inquiry, I collected my data from Kvale in 1996 ‘An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviews’

When conducting your own interview you need to be aware of how to present yourself, and keeping your interviewee on their toes. I need to keep the interviewee’s attention, it should not be dull and uninteresting.

First Impressions- How do you present yourself when you first meet someone? If you was in a job interview situation you would normally start with a hand shake. You want to come across happy and confident, but not over confident.

However my interview will be more relaxed, I know my interviewees and I have worked with them for the last 3 years. I would like to also conduct a professional conversation with my past teacher which would be more formal as I respect her so much but still relaxed.

Questions and answers- When asking questions while conducting your interview will be normal, you should be in control of where the interview is heading, but hopefully if your interviewee is interested they will bounce back with questions too, this just shows they are involved in this discussion.

Preparation- Preparation is crucial! This is why I am researching into interviews, I am looking at literature, sources and researching into my topic, how exactly I word certain sentences for the best answer, I need my questions to be to the point, clear and for my interviewee to understand them completely. Everyone who conducts their own interview wants the best out come and this comes down to preparation. Preparation in your interview questions and preparation in knowing the background of your interviewee.

Why are you doing this, and why that interviewee- I am interviewing to collect more data on my topic of inquiry, I want as much detail and opinions on each section of my interview. I have chosen my 2 interviewee because they have a varied amount of experience performing, 2 different age groups, and have been trained differently. I also think my professional conversation with my past ballet teacher will also bring variation to my data, she also widens my range of people. I want to be able to compare and pick out resemblances between answers. 

Dress code- Dress code always depends on the situations, if you was interviewing for a new job a suit or an outfit which is smart. You would never want to go to an interview in your pajamas, you need to think about how you want to present yourself, and you need to dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Also the person conducting the interview should dress professionally, the interviewee needs to see your presentation just as much. 

Be enthusiastic- Is you was holding an interview which was dull and boring the interviewee would not been keen, if you are excited about the topic of your interview they will be too. You have control of this situation you need to make it a positive situation which will hopefully lead to a positive outcome. For my interview it will be relaxed and probably before or after classes so it will be in dance wear.

Timing is critical- On both sides on the interview (interviewee and interviewer) you need to show you are highly organized, professional and respect each other enough not to be late or over run unless it is suitable for both parties. I need to make the most of my time so I can not afford to be late especially if it is both a class as students will arrive early. 

Natural and relaxed atmosphere- You should both be relaxed during the interview, not awkward or uncomfortable. The interviewee should feel happy in their surroundings and comfortable enough to discuss openly about their opinions. The interviewer should not be judgmental to any answer or opinion even if you disagree.

Warming Up and Cooling Down

Warming Up and Cooling Down

Professional source written by Helen Laws, Caroline Marsh and Matthew Wyon published by ‘dance UK’ in 2006.

Why do we Warm up?	Why do we Cool down?
·         Reduce the risk of injuries        ·         Improve co-ordination      ·         Improve technique      ·         Enhanced psychological focus	·         Reduce muscle soreness and stiffness      ·         Maintaining flexibility      ·         Improve removal of waste of products of exercise (e.g. lactic acids)      ·         Reduces chances of feeling dizzy or faint      ·         Reduces the risk of injuries.

Warm-up

Increase body temperature because you a warm up with jogging, side steps, step ball changes etc. This causes the heart rate to rise bringing the oxygen and nutrition to the working muscles. This increases the rate of respiration too. A warm up causes the person to sweat and start breathing faster and deeper.

Synovial fluids warms up the joints and gets smoother through-out the warm up as it is quite viscose at normal body temperature. When the synovial fluid is warm this gives the dancer more free movement and mid-range stretching.

Prevents the dancer from injury as her/his body is is preparing itself for a dance class.

The nervous system becomes more alert making better co-ordination.

A warm up does not just help your body physically but also mentally. Performing a warm up helps prevent unnecessary stress and fatigue in your muscles and emotions. This give you time to prepare your body and mind for a dance class, you mind needs time to focus itself too.

Making sure you muscles are warm and ready for stretching, you should stretch at the end of a warm up but not for too long otherwise your body will start cooling down again. The best time to stretch is at the end of class this is when your body is warmest and is more pliable than ever, this is when dancers should be practicing splits, box, straddle and bigger stretches. Make sure you do not stretch unless your body is warm.

Improves proprioception as greatest awareness of joints and muscle positions, also improves the transmissions of feedback messages along the sensory nerves.

Redistribution blood is taken away from certain parts of the body (for example, the gut)

A good warm up should consist of;

10 minutes of cardio-

Gradually increasing the heart rate.

Examples, jogging, jumping, star jumps, step ball changes, gallops etc.

10 minutes mobilisation-

Smoothing the synovial fluid, you should be aiming for mid-range stretches.

Examples, hip swings, mobilising the spine, arm stretches etc.

10 minutes of stretching-

Hamstring stretches lying on the floor, quad stretches, hip flexors, MID range stretches.

The warm up should be performed in this order as you need to raise the heart rate first, work your way down the body for mobilisation and then save stretching until you are warm. Also at the end of a warm up it is good to practice proprioception to make sure your body is aware of it posture, making sure joints and muscles are in the correct position. You can do this by rise up on demi pointe, closing your eyes, or balancing on one leg etc.

Cool Down

The main reason for a cool down is to gradually change from extreme exercise to moderate and mild exercise. It is better for the body to adapt slowly, this allows the body time to dissipate lactic acid from working muscles and to stop blood pooling.

Lactic Acid- is a waste product of anaerobic respiration and can lead to achy and stiff muscles. Oxygen breaks down lactic acid therefore a cool down should include low impact cardio.

A sudden stop in exercise without gradually decreasing the heart rate can slowly cause many heart issues.

For example blood pooling, when you suddenly stop exercising with the heart rate decreasing gradually the heart pumps out the blood at a high rate therefore pooling into the muscles rather than being pumped back to the heart.

Blood pooling effects can be dizzy, fainting and nausea.

A cool down allows you to mentally and physically relax.

Cooling down allows your heart rate and breathing to return towards levels slowly.

A cool down consists of slowing down the pace of your exercise for a minimum of 5-10 minutes then follow this with some mobilisation and stretching out the muscles.

The best time to stretch is after you have cooled down, your muscles are still warm and respond favourably and there is less of a risk of injury. PNF stretching would be the best for after a cool down. Practicing your PNE (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) after a cool down is also helpful.

PNF means the small sensors that identify muscle tension (proprioceptors) are used to achieve maximum elongation of the muscle without initiating and stretch reflex.

The Physiological Basics

Heart and Lungs

When a dancer’s body engages in physical activity, the working muscles start to demand more oxygen. Blood circulation therefore starts to increase to meet this demand, the blood is routed to the muscles that need it the most. This starts to increase the core body and muscle temperature.

If the speed and intensity of exercise was to increase too quickly, the human body cannot keep up with the demand of oxygen, this then means the muscles will start producing energy anaerobically which means without oxygen. This will then lead to the build-up of lactic acids which contributes to making the dancer feel tired and will cause their muscles to stiffen.

It is important to make sure a dancer’s breathing, circulation and energy production increases gradually, this will be done so if an effective warm up takes place. So when dance activity begins all systems are working at the correct level to meet the increased demand for energy. This makes sure the aerobic system is ready and working.

After finishing your energetic dance sequence it is important to lower the heart rate gradually, if a dancer suddenly stops the heart carries on pumping blood around the body at a high rate, without the muscle action in the legs and feet the body cannot help pump the blood back to the heart. This can then lead to blood pooling, which can make the dancer feel faint. Also the by-products of exercise will not be washed out of the muscle beds as effectively, which may result in sore muscles the following day.

A good cool down will help the body in a few ways, firstly reducing the dance activity slowly will allow the blood in the muscles to redistribute through-out the body, and the muscle energy levels will be replenished.

New York City Ballet Workout DVD

New York City Ballet Workout DVD

I was given this DVD many years ago by my Ballet teacher before I went to Tring Park School for the Performing Arts. I recently watched this DVD and realised it would be a useful as a professional source for my topic of inquiry. ‘New York City Ballet Workout’ was presented by Palm Pictures in 2001. Peter Martins, Ballet master in Chief and dancers from New York City Ballet are used in this 

DVD.

This workout DVD is built up on 17 exercises:

·        

      The warm-up prepares the body for exercise- exercises 1-3

The first section is warming up, which is very important. In this DVD they warm up the upper body first and gradually work their way down, they talk about this being important and you should always start with a warm-up before class or a workout even if you just want to focus on abdominals and legs, ‘this will bathe your body and muscles in warmth so that you can avoid injury.’ Peter Martins.

·        

      Stretching creates more awareness of posture- excise 4

Section 2 talks about a lot about stretching, many of my sources say different things when it comes to stretching during a warm-up. Peter Martins discusses how stretching makes dancers more aware of posture and protects the lower back. Stretching helps a dancer elongate and makes a dancers movement more fluid, it also incorporates a wider range of motion than a warm-up. A warm-up is to isolate difference sections of the body and warm the various muscles groups up and be prepared for exercise. Peter Martins talks about how it is important to stretch before and after class as it prevents strained muscles and how there are more than 400 muscles to move our bodies, but also he talks about factors effecting flexibility too such as; ages, poor posture, injury and repetitive motion to only one group of muscles. With all different types of factors that can effect flexibility it is important you strengthen and stretch if you aim to improve both you are less likely to cause an injury especially if one of these factors affect you. The last thing Peter talks about is how ballistic stretching can be quite violent and dancers can easily tear muscles and cause injuries. Here are a few ways Mr Martins think you can develop of flexibility in your muscles;

1.       One technique to stretching is holding a stretch and breathing rhythmically to release tension in the muscles which are stretching, you should hold this stretch between 30seconds and up to 2minutes.

2.       Instead of holding a stretch, you can repeat a movement and keep moving through a certain position trying to increase the range of motion (ROM.)

3.      The last technique is PNF stretching and Peter Martins calls it the contract/relax method, you gently contract the muscle for 10 seconds then relax into your stretch for 20 seconds and hopefully your muscles lengthen each time you repeat this.

·         Great looking abdominals- exercises 5-6

      

      Having good abdominals helps support the entire body, this will improve your posture, so many movements our bodies need even on a daily basic we use our abdominals for. If you do not use your stomach muscles then you will find a habit of slouching which is not good for appearances or your body. In this DVD they use exercises that help straighten your body up and lifting your posture to make a dancer look graceful.  

·        

        Floor barre- exercises 7-9

Floor barre helps with our technique which we use in ballet, it helps us prepare for more advanced movements but still works on our abdominal, back and torso area too. The floor helps support us so we do not need to worry about balance, this is a useful way to learn a sequence so you can focus on the movements rather than balancing. After floor barre the next step is to practice centre work which will then makes us more aware of our bodies as we move through space. During exercises on the floor you are building muscles you will need for centre work, a working leg and a balance are needed from a dancer but then adding advanced movements to improve co-ordination and you should already have the support that you gained from floor barre exercises and you the correct posture.

·        

      Leg section- exercises 10-16

In the DVD Peter Martin talks about strengthening our legs, trying to elongate the muscles to give that ‘long look’ of a dancer. The best way to improve your legs muscles are starting slowly and then gradually get faster, you want the quality of the movement and if a beginner aims for faster movements it will be the momentum moving your legs not the muscles. It is pointless if you exercise incorrectly, pay attention and think what muscles are being used, can you feel them working?

·       

           Cool down- exercise 17

Peter Martins repeats his stretches from before, and talks about how your flexibility should have improved as the body is much warmer now after the workout. Hold the stretches slightly longer than before and feel the difference from before to now during a cool down, it should be much easier. Spend time on hamstrings, inner thigh, low back and pec stretches, spend a long 10 minutes stretching while your heart rate and temperature should return to normal. This also gives you time to unwind mentally too, ballet is movement but it is also thought you need to think about it during a warm up as you are preparing the body and mind, and during a cool down you need to relax and also pay attention to your stretches. When performing ballet you should be thinking about which muscles are working , when you hold your leg up and balance there are lots of muscles working for instanced your stomach muscles should be contracted as you hold this position. 

Development Essentials: The Foundation of Youth

Development Essentials: The Foundation of Youth

Written by Brian J. Grasso in December 2005, published by International Youth Conditioning Association (IYCA)

Flexibility- Are we Hurting Kids?

Stretching depends on different age groups and Brian J Grasso reviews different types of stretching which is suitable for young athletes. Flexibility is one topic we remain unsure of, not knowing what is best for children and many different opinions, what type of stretch should children perform and how long for is another popular question. How should we apply stretching is a safe and controlled manner, Brian J Grasso wants to look at a few key points on this matter.

Assessment of Flexibility

Many teachers want to consider a flexibility assessment, just to test a child’s suppleness, most teachers tend to ‘sit and reach’ which is probably the most common type of stretch, I cannot talk for all sports but I know many dance teachers including myself that have done this stretch during classes. This is pre-training assessments which is a ‘flexibility test’ but Brian J Grasso says he knows many trainers that think the ‘sit and reach’ stretch is an indirect assessment of flexibility and does not give an accurate picture to show someone’s suppleness so maybe dance teachers should not use this as much as we do. Also when stretching on the floor it tends not to be dynamic stretching and normally end up with static stretches which are not best used during a warm-up. Dynamic stretching is not only better during a dance warm-up but also in other sports.

Strength Training

When it comes to flexibility most people think about the tightness or pliancy or the actual muscle which is a big part of someone’s suppleness but you also need to think about the elasticity of the corresponding ligaments and also taking in the emotional state of that individual, these are all factors that you need to be aware of before stretching. Repeating myself again but the physical length of the muscle plays a large role in ROM (range of motion) this depends on genetics but you can also positively improve through strength training. The myth that strength or resistance training inhibits flexibility is certainly not true when it comes to this source. Muscles elasticity does reduce with age which most people agree with but you can still positively influence the muscles with this concern too. Strength training has a positive impact or flexibility which we should use more in class especially with younger ages. Working with younger people basic static stretching can increase the length of ligaments and lead eventually lead to joint instability, this will have the effects such as poor posture and will build muscles in the wrong places which they will use more commonly. Strength and flexibility need to work as a joint force to ensure optimal development and decrease injury risks. Children need to build the muscles to support and have control over the lengthen muscles if they are aiming to increase their flexibility.

Flexibility Training

Flexibility is connected to growth when it comes to working with younger ages. When teaching these younger ages you need to take in type, duration and frequency will change depending on their ages.

6-10

Different parts develop at different times and it is important for a teacher to understand how younger athletes develop and change. Hip and shoulder mobility decreases at this age so they are in need for dynamic range of motion exercises within these two major joints. The spine we need to take care of especially and maximum flexibility of the spine is reached around the age of 8-9 it is possible to go beyond the normal range of motion with the spine but is unnecessary and can potentially be harmful! Bare in mind at this age group you should avoid static stretches completely. Children at this age cannot perform a held stretch correctly because excitement in the nervous system is more pronounced than exhibited so being aware of this is very important, you need to be at the age where you can give yourself appropriate feedback from their body to ensure it is safe and actually effective for static stretches, keep away from Isometric stretches too, which is normally performed in yoga classes etc. When teaching it is important you keep their coordination and movement skills and not let this decrease when trying to improve flexibility, these types of stretching can strength the resting tone of a muscle which will negatively affect movement skills and coordination which should be avoided especially at this age group.

10-13

When they reach around this age their body mass and height will increase at a quicker rate, which does give them more strength. They should start to train more with their flexibility at this age category, while their bodies increase with strength and changes in body mass can start to have a negative effect to poor biomechanical habits which teachers need to look out for. Try using full range of motion during class in dynamic exercises this will help them in their training. 

Still going...

I have recently been on holiday and got back a few days ago. I took my laptop on holiday with me and kept typing up all my notes from my interviews. Many pages later I have finally finished!
I will now start analysing these answers in more details and bringing my knowledge from professional sources into these answers too. I'm really enjoying this module, I feel slightly like a detective and each new source gives me a new idea or opens a new door for me, gaining more information. My interviews have helped me enormously! I have many new ideas to bring to my classes which the children will enjoy!

First interview

I met my first interviewee at Costa today, I was really nervous about this as we are friends and work together, I wanted to make sure it was not awkward or for my interviewee to feel I was testing her. My interview went really well the only thing I would of done differently was time went so quickly! I thought an hour and a half would be plenty of time but the last few questions were slightly rushed which was unfortunate but I have many new ideas, ideas I had never thought of. Especially being more creative and keeping my warm-up more fun, lots more breathing exercises that will mentally prepare students. I'm very excited to start analysing and breaking down each answer more and working out how I can improve my teaching.
My next interview is Thursday and hopefully it goes just as well, fingers crossed!

Interview Questions

Interview

Before carrying out my questions for my interview please make sure each interviewee is aware you are NOT testing them, but simply gaining more knowledge. There is no correct or incorrect answer, I want to gather more information on this topic and each opinion is helpful.

Questions

1.       Why do you perform a warm-up during your dance classes?

2.       How do you make sure your students are mentally prepared for class? Do you have a certain exercise which helps their state of mind before class? Or after? Breathing exercise? Where did you come up with this idea? Were you influenced by anyone or anything?

3.       How has your warm-up been designed in a street class? (Street classes have a free warm-up designed by the teacher)

4.       What has influenced you with ideas during your warm-up or dance movements in your warm-up?

5.       How do you incorporate the aim of your dance class into your warm-up? Mentally and physically preparing your students for what is to come?

6.       Do you discuss your class ideas with other fellow teachers or friends you may know? Past experiences? What has made a differences to your teaching?

7.       How do you prepare for class? Where do you get the ideas for your dances from? Are you motivated by certain music or maybe a memory?

8.       All people have their own versions of a warm-up there is no right way to warm-up as long as you tick all the boxes for preparing the body for a dance class. Does your warm-up have a ‘stretch’ section? If so what type of stretches? Why do you perform these stretches and how does this effect your students?

9.       Do you perform stretches in a cool-down and if so how is this different to your stretches during a warm-up?

10.   Can you think of any way to make a warm-up or cool-down more creative? I want to improve my teaching and I do not want my warm-up to be effective but boring. I want it to feel like my students are dancing, 45minutes is not a long time so I want to make the most of it.

11.   How would your warm-up differ if you was teaching a ballet class? (Discuss cardio at the beginning of a class? Increasing the heart rate which leads to oxygen and nutrition to the working muscles.)

12.   Some research have come to the understanding if you stretch incorrectly during a warm-up this can have an effect on force production, power performance, running speed, reaction time, movement time, endurance, balance and jumping height etc. I was not aware of this until researching into my topic of inquiry but would you disagree or agree with this source? Have you ever come across this in your students? 

13.   Cool-downs are often forgotten about or a teacher does not have time to perform a cool-down. How long does your cool-down last for and when would you perform one?

14.   What does a cool-down prevent? Do your students understand why they perform a cool-down?

15.   What does a good cool-down consist of? Different stages?

16.   Many injuries can occur when students are stretching incorrectly. Normally because they have not warm-up correctly when, where and how is the most effective way for stretching?

17.   In what situation would you use…

 

a.       Ballistic stretch technique?

b.      Dynamic stretch technique?

c.       Static stretch technique?

d.      PNF stretching technique?

Is there any disadvantages you are aware of in these four techniques of stretching, maybe one you would not use in class, and why?

18.   There are many different factors that can affect a student’s flexibility such as tension, joint mobility, activity, gender and age how would you overcome some of these factors as a teacher?

19.   Also I have researched into when a dancer is already sore from a previous class the day before, if your students were to have aching muscles how would you advise them in this situation? If they answer by ‘stretching’ which stretches would you use?

20.   During your dance classes which type of full-range stretches do you use? Passive, ballistic and PNF stretching? Which do you find most effective and why or do you find it varies between students? How long do you hold these stretches?

21.   If you was in the correct position to perform full range stretches, what is the longest you would hold a position for, this is known as pro long stretching? (After they answer) Ask if they would prefer to use a different stretch technique or do they find this technique effective?

Please remember to thank your interviewee for their time, opinions and knowledge!