Royal Academy of Dance Examinations
My school is most definitely one focussed on exams. Personally, I like working towards a goal - it keeps me motivated and engaged. It is however, one of the most contentious areas in my job.
Royal Academy exams are really tricky to pass. There is a syllabus, a recommended number of face to face tuition hours and home practice hours for each grade. It's very unwise to try and pass an RAD exam without hitting these recommendations.
I don't mind if students don't take exams. My school is structured by academic years rather than ability, so if a child doesn't take the exam they don't get left behind. I also offer a very inclusive approach to exams and use the Academy's range of exam options to suit most children. I'm not precious about my school's statistics, I am far more concerned about offering as many children as possible the opportunity to take an exam. Having said this, I refuse to put children into exams who have not had the training required, because either they, or their parents want me too. It's not in their interests to be entered into an exam situation unprepared. It damages their self esteem and confidence. Year after year, I am faced with parents who ignore my advice and blindly subject their children to this situation. I don't really know where this comes from, 'keeping up with the Jones's' syndrome perhaps? They seem to be fighting for their child's right to be included in the exam process regardless of whether this is the correct decision for their child. It is quite possible to fail an RAD exam. I have only ever had one fail in 10 years and I will never forgive myself for putting that person in for their exam. It was a mature student who I felt unable to say 'no' to. I didn't want to hurt her feelings but because I didn't do the right thing, her self esteem was crushed and she never came back to ballet again. I was newly qualified, inexperienced and it was a terrible decision, but lessons were learned.
One of the main challenges as a teacher is, that you have to make a decision on who is ready several months before the exam takes place and you hope that the child will continue along the same trajectory of progress that they are currently on. Sometimes this backfires; they miss a few lessons, don't attend any of the extra practice sessions, don't practice at home and before you know it, they are ill prepared for what faces them and disappointed with their results.
I think parents need to think carefully about exams before they sign up for Exams. They need to be realistic about their children's motivation to practice, and the spare time they have available each week. Above all, always take your teacher's advice. It's ok to say no to your children sometimes - good in fact! why would you set up your most beloved to fail? Most children when asked would say they definitely want to take their exam but in most cases they have absolutely no idea at that point the work & commitment involved so it's up to the teacher and the parent to assess this and make the right decision for them.
Another tricky area is when the results come out. It should be a time of joy and celebration as we always have 100% pass rate (excluding my mature student mentioned above). It is however, often a time of disappointment, sadness and in some cases, even marks an end to their ballet classes.
Distinctions are hard to come by, they are reserved for exceptional talent. The examiner needs to be pretty blown away by both technique and performance to give one out. We've had our fair share of gold medals over the years and it's wonderful when they happen but I know never to 'expect' them.
I try and manage expectations along the way but it's tricky if a child or parent has decided that they deserve a gold medal based on their own criteria, completely outside of the RAD's. The RAD examinations system isn't dumbed down in any way - the children don't just get a medal for turning up. They expect tangible talent at ballet which takes years of continuous training. Getting parents and students to understand this is something I feel very passionately about.
The Royal Academy of Dance was founded in 1920 and is one of the world's most influential dance training organisations. With The Queen as our Patron and Darcey Bussell as our president, the RAD has a long history of training brilliant dancers. When you take an RAD exam, your ballet skills are recognised by the world's largest ballet exam board. You only have to look on YouTube to see how far reaching the work of the RAD is. The exams are Ofqual accredited so they actually mean something in the real world.
Some children I teach are technically brilliant but have limited outward expression of joy in performing. These children work really hard - they are practicing and perfecting but just not able to communicate a sense of performance. They are the ones who get very demoralised when the child studying with them, who doesn't know the work nearly as well, but visibly enjoys performing, gets an equal or better mark than them. Obviously, I work hard with all the students on the areas they find difficult but we all have areas of strength and weakness in everything we do and we need to be open about this.
It's unbelievable to me that children and parents are disappointed with passes and merits from the RAD. It's just not appreciating the value of what they have achieved. Not to celebrate this as an amazing achievement is missing the whole point. We have to be realistic with our children to build lasting self esteem. 'It's ok not to be the best in the class', 'race alone', 'if you worked hard, did your best and passed yippee! job well done, let's go and celebrate'. When I was studying RAD exams all I was interested in was improving my mark on the last time and even that is a tricky goal as each time you move up the grades the metaphorical 'barre' is raised.
RAD exams build resilience, determination, work ethic and artistry. If students and parents realise how special these exams are and how much they mean, then they also build lasting self esteem.