Qualifications (Dance Mentor spinoff)

[Suheir]

A while ago a woman (whom nobody seemed to have heard of) advertising for teachers to deliver her 'syllabus' (a package comprising teacher training and curriculum advice, business and marketing support and financial commitment, Examination syllabus to offer students, teaching resources) posted on a UK messageboard.

When questioned about her credentials and how she was qualified to offer accreditation she replied at length and in well-written but meaningless marketing-speak which still didn't explain what was in the syllabus. With reference to her qualifications: "To be perfectly honest with you I don't think it bears too much relevance to what is on offer; people should consider the products rather than the person who started their development" and "From an educational background I have a BSc(Hons) and a PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education) and delivered classes in Science, specializing Biology to 11 to 18s for many years". She also said that she had been learning belly dance for 15 years and teaching for 5 - fair enough, but to say that her qualifications don't bear much relevance to the product on offer?

 

[Aisha Azar]

Mentoring, etc.

Dear Soheir,
I notice that quite often, when people have less to qualitify them to teach a specific subject than they should have, they let the prosepctive buyer know about all their other, usually unrealted degrees, awards, certifications, etc. When pressed, they also frequently claim it is irrelevant whether or not they know the actual subject at hand. There often seems to be a disconnect between the material or product being offered and the specific education and experience that makes the person qualified to understand what it is they are supposed to be offering. I believe it is referred to as "Baffling us with Bullshit".
Regards,
A'isha

 

[Suheir]

Dear Soheir,
I notice that quite often, when people have less to qualitify them to teach a specific subject than they should have, they let the prosepctive buyer know about all their other, usually unrealted degrees, awards, certifications, etc. When pressed, they also frequently claim it is irrelevant whether or not they know the actual subject at hand. There often seems to be a disconnect between the material or product being offered and the specific education and experience that makes the person qualified to understand what it is they are supposed to be offering. I believe it is referred to as "Baffling us with Bullshit".
Regards,
A'isha

Very well put! Sadly, I fear some people are easy to baffle.

 

[Gia al Qamar]

All true ladies and beautifully stated.
It makes me so sad and so very angry that there are people who would take advantage of those who have put their trust in someone they believed to be reputable.
In the case of the people who offer their 'degrees' in "B.S." as evidence of their qualifications...all I can say is that I hope that the pros THEY go to for service, such as doctors and lawyers, are better qualified to assist them than they are to those they'll injur with their negligence.
I feel that '...there are none so blind as those who will not see'.
Gia

 

[Kharmine]

Everyone I know of with a degree says they didn't begin to really know their field until they had actually worked in it for awhile. Academia and the "real world" offer different aspects of knowledge, and a paper degree is only the beginning of knowledge in so many things.

Without that paper degree in some fields, you can't begin to be taken seriously -- such as law and medicine. What a lot of people don't know is that a paper degree may be required but it's unnecessary in LOTS of things today -- marketing, public relations and journalism, for instance. (I'm in journalism -- I was required to have a degree when I first joined a newspaper staff that was full of old codgers who hadn't been to COLLEGE, let alone that le-de-da thing known as journalism school.)

Now, dance is like martial arts, hatha yoga, shamanism and a few other quirky things -- in a separate class.

What's more important is lineage and experience. In other words, who taught you, (and who taught that teacher) and what you know from that teaching plus actually putting it in action.

More people ought to know this and don't: "Qualifications" don't always mean the same thing. If you want the services of somebody competent, know what it really means to be competent in that field.

 

[Aisha Azar]

Mentor, etc.

Dear Kharmine,
That was very well said. The meaningfulness of that paper qualification has everything to do with the knowledge, experience and integrity of the person who has it framed on the wall or stuffed in the drawer or wherever. And usually a person's age is part of the way in which we judge "qualification" merely because the person in question might probably need to have been hanging around the planet long enough to GET some experience in the field of endeavor! There is the occasional savant, but not often.
Regards,
A'isha

 

[Shanazel]

My official college background is in agriculture. Reading this thread, I recall what the vineyard manager at the university told me upon being congratulated on receiving his higher degree:

"B.S., M.S, PhD = bullshit, more shit, piled higher and deeper. I got my real education on the farm."

 

[Yasmine Bint Al Nubia]

My official college background is in agriculture. Reading this thread, I recall what the vineyard manager at the university told me upon being congratulated on receiving his higher degree:

"B.S., M.S, PhD = bullshit, more shit, piled higher and deeper. I got my real education on the farm."

LMAO!!!!!!!
Yasmine

 

[Violeetsidhe]

i was taught ballet modern jazz and tap under IDTA which is from the UK they haven't updated their website but i am interested in the fact they now have bellydance syllbus i would like to see what it is. there r teaching exams which give qualifications to teach.. the exams( there r 3) are very challenging and you have 60% or higher pass( i did the first exam to teach ballet up to grade four 5 years ago)my ballet dance teacher has a Bachlor of art majoring in dance thats all i know and belong to MEDANZ i think that what it is called.

 

[Aisha Azar]

Qualifications

Dear Group,
I worked for 7 years as costume designer and costume shop supervisor in the theatre department at Eastern Washington University. During that time I saw all kinds of people in the academic setting, and often I even worked with people in other departments or took classes. There are those who understand the value of an academic setting as a venue to gain tools, skills in the language of one's chosen work, and other elements that will make one bring something from the academic setting and apply it to life outside that setting. Then there are those who are so hung up in the academics that they do not feel that life outside the academic arena applies!! ( Sometimes these are referred to as "tenured professors with huge doctorates who publish researches without end on the same subject and never come to any conclusions, so they can appear current and published"!!). Then there are those who live the life of an academic in full knowledge that their work is to assist most of their students to go on to a life and work outside the academic applications of their work. I ran into alll kinds in the theatre department alone!
I was responsible for costuming all dance productions for the university theatre, including road shows, dinner theatre and any other dance, theatre, Opera, musical, drama, children's theatre, etc.. but here I am talking about my experiences as the dance production costumer.
I was very fortunate to work with a man named Leonard Fowler, who was quite well known in his time as a jazz and ballet innovator. ( I THINK he can still be googled, though he is now deceased.) I learned a lot about how dance should be innovated, and when, by being priveleged to listen to and work with Leonard. He was our artist in residence. He understood that everyone had their job to do and he was able to work well with set, lighting and costume people as well as dancers and the other professors, who all had various degrees from Associate to Doctorate. Leonard was wonderful for me on many levels, and on one of them he helped me to see that artistry and academics can work hand in hand and often do, but that one must really KNOW one's field of endeavor and be able to find a way to bring out the best of each in the learning of dance and other arts.
The other thing that I learned in the university setting was taught to me by a woman who taught modern dance. She was able to create brilliant choreographies, but she simply could NOT leave them alone and she made her students a nervous wreck with last second changes 10 minutes before they were to hit the stage and other such tactics. She had no faith in anyone's ability to do their work because she had no faith in herself. She drove the lighting crew, the sound crew, the set people and everyone else crazy because she could not be satisfied, ever. I finally went to the head of the department and told him that I would give up my position before I would work for her again. After that he hired an outside costumer to do her shows.
The lesson here is that in the academic setting, one finds people of all calibers and kinds, and sometimes they have much to offer and know how to offer it. Sometimes a person has much to offer, but is so insecure or inexperienced or egotistical that they can not offer what they have, or they simply do not have enough to offer yet.
Regards,
A'isha

 

[Sara]

Tell me about paper degrees!

I would much rather work for the National Trust or something (I'm going into heritage. One day I want to manage an English mansion), but instead I have to do a three year course. I will be doing work experience at some points along with the course, but some times I think I'm just going to waste time and money.

It's like learning to cook from a cookbook. It always turns out best when you try it yourself a few times. Cook book recipes never work for me either.

 

[Kharmine]

... I would much rather work for the National Trust or something (I'm going into heritage. One day I want to manage an English mansion), but instead I have to do a three year course. I will be doing work experience at some points along with the course, but some times I think I'm just going to waste time and money. (

Well, Sara, the comfort I can offer is that if you know what you want and what you need no education is wasted. Seek out the people doing what you want to do and ask them a bazillion questions. Find out what they studied and what they WISHED they studied, and how they got their jobs.

You're a student. Not just any ol' nosy member of the public.

And think about having a backup position -- if you don't get the job of your dreams right off, what else could you do with what you know, or what else would you need to make you more flexible? Any of your teachers who have kept in touch with old students should have some suggestions.

 

[Aisha Azar]

Education

Dear Sara,
And I would take Kharmine's suggestion that "no education is wasted" very seriousluy. I have taken college and university level classes in everything from religion to marketing, and have found that all of those classes have made me a more knowledgeable and more informed dancer. I am also constantly amazed at how much info can apply directly to my dance career in one way or another.
Regards,
A'isha

 

[Shanazel]

Tell me about paper degrees!

I will be doing work experience at some points along with the course, but some times I think I'm just going to waste time and money.

You never know what is going to be relevant- my dad was able to get a transfer out of Nagasaki (shortly after the bomb was dropped) to Kokura because he could name the 1945 starting lineup for the University of Arkansas football team.

 

[Sara]

I think I feel like that because I'll be in debt by around £20000 at the end of it, and instead I could be learning how to do it by working.

 

[Shanazel]

Wow, that is a lot of money. I don't blame you for being frustrated at havng to shell that much out. Are there scholarships you could apply for?

 

[Sara]

Yea, I only pay a fifth of the price though. Tuition fee's cost £15 000 but you only have to pay £3000 a year. Then there's £3000 for accomodation a year. I get a grant so it comes to £20000 ish. Then there's all my everday money.

 

[taheya]

Sara, I know the debt can be worrying and we do live in a society where being in debt is acceptable, in fact if your parents are not well off then you know that you will be in debt if you go into full time higher education. I was lucky when i did my course as i got a full grant and only had to apply for a small loan (relatively to others).
Dont let this put you off though, it is such a wonderful opportunity and you learn so much, grow as a person, meet interesting people and learn about life, I loved it and totally recommend it!!

 

[Babylonia]

I think I feel like that because I'll be in debt by around £20000 at the end of it, and instead I could be learning how to do it by working.

I definitely feel that an educaton is very,very important, I'm hoping to go back to school someday. But I've been out of the workforce for many years being a SAHM. I know that even with a masters I'd be hard pressed to find a job without alot of experience. That said my hubby has a great job in a coveted field. He only has a high school diploma but has been working since he was 12 and in his field since he was 17. He gets lots of intern and paid employee applications from people with this diploma and that but prefers people with work experience who can show that they can actually show up to work. He was willing to work his way up and alot of the people these days show up expecting the corner office their first week there. Of his friends who went to college none are working in their field of choice and they still are paying off student loans.

That said I wish you luck and I hope you find your dream job.

 

[Kharmine]

The high cost of higher education is a tragedy, I tell ya. It should be a disgrace how society is loading young people with debt the minute they're out of school.

Sara, apply for any legitimate, low-cost financial aid you can, and diligently dig around. There are always a few odd and rather obscure scholarships that aren't advertised. Whatever you can get will chip away at your costs. Just don't pay some "scholarship service" -- you can do all the hunting online for free.

Do you have any skills that can help you get a part-time job while you're in school? I don't know how belly dancing would help there.