What is it that you really want to know...

And that really was the question that I asked myself as I began my journey into Module 2. As well as thinking about the inquiry, I wanted to know how the reseach would benefit my practice now and more importantly in the future. I must admit, it's a great feeling when you come up with an idea for a research question, even more so when you find a gap in scholarship. Then the turmoil begins as you start to mould and reshape the words into structured sentences and ultimately into a concise question. In October 2022, I was at the British and International Federation of Festivals for Music, Dance and Speech which is fundamentally a conference for adjudicators. There was much discussion about the criteria for marking and its proposal for future change. At an open forum, I posed the question 'what is more important the mark or the feedback'. The question was received with silence. It was clear that it was a question that provoked thought but there was no answer. It was at that point I realised I had my question. After much thought, research and further contemplation I came up with my final title: What is more important in a competitive dance festival environment, the mark or the feedback? Examining the impact of the adjudicator's report on former dance festival performers in the UK. In essence what I wanted to do is shift the focus from the thoughts and judgment of adjudicators to competitors and to gage their thoughts about the impact of the mark and feedback on them. Due to age constraints and ethical considerations, the research would be conducted on former competitive performers over 18 years. I will update my blog next term, once the interviews have taken place. Watch this space...