Task 3b - Theories relating to networking

After reading the third course reader, 'The Networked Professional' a number of times, I began to process how some on the established theories included, might add value to my understanding of professional networking and help me to improve upon my networking to date. However, we are told to 'think critically'; never taking anything at face value; so I began to challenge how effective each concept would actually be to me in my professional practice. I have chosen to blog my views on 'Cooperation' and 'Connectivism'.

Cooperation is something everybody uses in day-to-day life; and using cooperation as 'the will and way to win', closely associates it with 'Game Theory'. This theory, developed my mathematicians, is modeled on games where 'one player succeeds at an other's expense'. Robert Axelrod likens the idea of 'cooperating fully with others, until you reach a point of maximum benefit, and then to‘defect’'; to the game of 'Prisoner's Dilemma' where using a tit-for-tat strategy is proved most successful. Although I agree that cooperating with people in your network it essential to gain personal benefit, I don't however agree that using a tit-for-tat approach to networking would necessarily prove successful. 'Cooperation based solely on reciprocity seemed possible', Axelrod, R. (1984) - to me this seems unlikely, as I think 'Game Theory' fails to take so many factors into consideration - one being the differents statuses within a network. In a basic game scenario, this is a very logical and effective strategy; however the world we live in, especially the industry I am in, is not logical. For example; if the producer or director in the pantomime I am currently rehearsing, didn't cooperate with me particularly well, I wouldn't then reciprocate this in a tit-for-tat approach. As my superior I would have to continue to work hard for them and continue my cooperation, even if it is not reciprocated. I may not choose to work for the producer or director again, but by fully cooperating in a professional manner I would have kept my affiliation and my network with others associated with them in tact.

Connectivism is one of the theories that I could instantly relate to my own experiences. 'Connectivism provides an explanation about how networks both learn and provide the means for individuals to connect and learn'. I agree that the traditional model of learning, where knowledge is 'transferred' from teacher to student, is definatly in need of modification. 'Informal learning' is now said to be a significant part of our learning, and 'Formal education' is no longer the majority. We can learn through communities of practice, networks - both personal and professional, experiences and through work-related tasks. I think this is not only an effective way to learn, but almost essential. These facts from the 'American Society of Training and Documentation' suprised me: 'half of what is known today was not known ten years ago'; 'the amount of knowledge in the world has doubled in the past ten years'; 'knowledge is doubling every eighteen months'. With the world developing at just a staggering speed, it would be foolish to think that we could attain all the inforamation we need to succeed professionally completely as an individual. For example; I wouldn't beable to find out about every suitable up and coming audition, or have acquired so many teaching ideas and skills on my own. Therefore being part of a network -'allows learners to remain current in their field through the connections they have formed'. By communicating regularly with the others in our networks we are able to keep up to date with the ever-changing knowledge and information out there - giving us a far better chance of becoming or continuing to be professionally successful.  

Please let me known what you think ....
 

Task 3a - Current Networks

Networking can be an opportunity for learning, affiliating, constructing important relationships, personal benefit and the benefit of others (both social and professional) and so much more. Networking in any profession I think almost vital - and in the entertainment and performance industry it can literally be the be all and end all.

What are the current and different ways (tools) that you have, or do, engage your

professional network?
Having only recently graduated from college I am very new to the industry, however I already currently use a number of tools to engage in professional networking; these include - Facebook, Twitter, Spotlight, group chats on my Blackberry, blogging and communicating with people on the BAPP, meeting with old college friends and other friends in the industry; staying in contact with people I once trained with who are now well established in the industry; and meeting and talking to new people at auditions and castings.

Are there methods, approaches and technologies that you use socially that might apply and help you develop your professional networking?
Websites I use regularly including, Facebook, Twitter, etc ... are branded 'social networking sites' and I suppose the majority of users predominantly use them to network socially; but without having realised (until starting this task) I actually do use these sites to network 'professionally' too. I often chat to or message friends from college and see what they're up to through my news feed or by looking at their profile. This makes we aware of not only what they're doing personally and socially, but also professionally; therefore helping me find out about auditions, companies or names of people they are working for, future opportunities that may be beneficial to me, etc ...

When you reflect upon current networks, can you think about the motives of others to

be in the network and what values and purpose they have in mind?
One network I was and am a part of is a Group on my Blackberry named 'Birdies'. Although the purpose of the network isn't necessarily relevant to my current professional practice, I think it's a really good example of the motives of others to be in the network and what values and purpose they have in mind. The group consists of almost all of the people in my year at college who own Blackberries. As part of this group/network, we can all read and contribute to a message or 'chat' between all members of the group. At first the main motive of others to be in the network was simply to find out changes to the timetable or rehearsal times - as at college the timetable was often subject to alterations and rehearsals could well be called last minute. However, in our third year we participated in auditions, in-college musicals, agent showcases, workshops etc... a few of these had limited places so finding out about them as soon as possible was really important. Also turning up on time and at the correct venue when last minute rehearsals were called was essential in order to keep your role in a piece/routine. Being part of the network meant that when members found out about these things they would post them on the chat to let everyone know. It was also really valuable as you could ask; when? where? for how long? what to take? and it was more than likely that someone in the group would know and respond to you.

What are the established (and different) ways that others use their networks,

especially if they are more established or experienced practitioners that you admire?
In the performance and entertainment industry most performers do a lot of their networking at auditions and castings; talking to people about what they are doing, what auditions may be coming up, who is casting which shows, etc... You often see the same people at auditions - whether that be fellow auditionees or the people on the panel - so it's a really great networking tool to get to know and chat to as many people as you can and keep in contact through Facebook or Twitter. Emailing someone you may have auditioned for before or an assistant to let them know you will be attending an audition, is also a good way in which people utilise their networks. More established artists including a lot of westend performers, casting directors, actors, singers, use Twitter to network. By gaining as many followers as possible, they are able to 'tweet' and let people know what they doing, where they will be performing, etc ... in order to gain further interest and job opportunities. Practitioners who are very well established also tend to have their own websites; this enables them to network with a large number of people by including photos, voice reels, posting information about up and coming events, gigs, tours etc... Rachel Tucker, who is currently playing 'Elphaba', the lead in 'Wicked' in the Westend, is a prime example of this. 


What would your ideal network look like and why?
My ideal network would be similar to Twitter. Enabling people to follow me and my activities without me having to accept them as friends; and also so I could follow other people such as casting directors, companies I would like to work for, other performer etc... Ideally it would allow you to add a range of photos and a voice or show reel to your profile which appear on the screen as soon as somebody views it. This would be a great way to showcase a snippet of your talent. 


What realistic things could you do to work towards developing your ideal network?I am already a member of Twitter, however I do tend to use it more as a social tool opposed to a professional one. By following more people in my profession it would develop this type of 'professional' network of mine. I also would like to record a voice reel to upload to my Spotlight page; adding links to this on my Facebook and Twitter accounts. This would be another realistic way of developing my networks.

Personally I am a very 'people' person and I do like networking face to face; however I know it is very important to network through all the technology I have mentioned. In this buissness I do sometimes find that some people are only interested in networking for they own 'professional' benefit, not taking interest in who they are networking with, simply just using people. So -Is there a skill to being a succesful networker? Are you likely to share information with someone you see to be using you? Is it better to have a huge network of people you don't really know; or a smaller network of people who are loyal and reliable sources?

Let me know what you think......  I'm looking forward to reading everyone's views on our current networks!







 

Task 2d - Inquiry

Looking through my journal and reflecting on my blog posts and daily professional practice, I have given a lot of thought to the following questions in order to answer them with complete honesty...

What in your daily practice gets you really enthusiastic?
As a teacher I do quite a bit of preparation, and whilst doing this it can be any number of things that get me enthusiastic, for example; a piece of music I plan to use, new choreography I'm excited to teach, etc... However when I am actually teaching my dance lessons, it is undoubtedly the children that keep my enthusiasm alive. It gives me so much joy when I see the children progressing and improving. Especially with some very young children (aged 3 or 4), to engage and start to enjoy a whole lesson is such a big achievement - not only for them as a pupil, but for me as a teacher. I recently choreographed a solo dance for a pupil at my previous dance school; and to see the work she had put into improving it from session to session, really made me even more enthusiastic to choreograph a really well thought out routine and share with her my knowledge and passion. One line of inquiry in relation to this would be - How can I continue to improve on my teaching skills, to ensure the children stay motivated and enthusiastic? The reflection I have started to do in my journal writing had been a good start - Am I challenging them enough? Are the tasks and targets I set attainable? Is my style of teaching varied enough?
Who do you admire who also works with what makes you enthusiastic?

One person I really admire when it comes to teaching dance to children is my former dance teacher Miss Michelle. I was taught by her from the age of 4 - 18, until I left to continue to train professionally. Owning my own dance school is a future ambition of mine, and I feel being part of such a successful dance school, is what first made me enthusiastic about the idea. When Miss Michelle gave me the oppotunity to become a teacher at the school (before I left for college) I watched her teach and observed how she gained so much respect from the children; how she passed on her love and enthusiasm; how she cared about each individual; and the amount of hardwork she put into running a successful school. As I was gradually given more responsablity and greater oppotunities to teach, my confidence and enthusiasm in teaching grew. A line of inquiry that really interests me and one which I will have to pursue when I come to creating my own school is - What are the key aspects to running a successful dance school? How would I go about starting up a my own school from stratch? 

What gets you angry or makes you sad? Who do you admire who shares your feelings    

or has found away to work around the sadness or anger?
I have come to find that audtions can often be frustrating, and leave me feeling sad, angry and defeated. This isn't always true, as I have had many really enjoyable auditions where I feel I have gained a wealth of experience, however; only being able to sing 8 bars; not being seen because of the amount of people dancing in a tiny room; seeing people with little talent or skill being recalled purely through connections with the audition panel; are just some of the situations which sometimes leave me questioning my chosen career. Fortunatly the passion I have for my art outweighs these negatives completely, and along with my group of college friends I find ways to work around my sadness and anger. Having a close group of friends with whom I trained, who know my capabilities and talents, and who regularly go through the same audition process, is really important to me. We offer each other support and advice and remind eachother that we must perservere to achieve what we have worked so hard for. A line of enquiry that would be really worthwhile would be - How can I use my audition experinces, good or bad, to improve my future professional practice?

What do you love about what you do? Who do you admire who also seems to love this

or is an example of what you love?
I suppose with any type of performer, the thing they love most is getting out on the stage and performing. This is certainly true in my case! After all the hard work and rehearsals we put in to perfecting a song, dance routine, scene, etc... getting out infront of an audience, recieving a great reaction and feeling that rush or adrenaline; is what I love most. There are so many professionals in the dance and musical theatre industry who I admire; but Sutton Foster and Kristin Chenoweth, are two of my favourite and most inspirational performers. On their websites (links above) there are a number of videos of both of them performing. 
Sutton Foster was my main inspiration for creating a solo piece at college based around 'Thoroughly Modern Millie', and this performance from the 2002 Tony Awards http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GVVpzTNEpA is why. Foster is such a polished performer and all her performances have such conviction. Sometimes I take for granted how amazing her voice is when I am watching videos of her, because her ability to play a character and portray story and emotions through a song is so overwhelming. I feel that is the sign of a brilliant musical theatre perfomer! 
Kristin Chenoweth is also a performer I admire and aspire to. She is now most commonly know for her appearance on 'Glee', however I started following her work when I was lucky enough to see her perform as 'Glinda' in the musical 'Wicked'. Chenoweth is such a versatile performer, being able to play a wide variety of roles, but it is her comic timing and ablity that I admire most about her. Comedy within musical theatre is something I very much enjoy and have been told is something which I am quite talented in. I could watch videos of Kristin Chenowth performing comic songs for hours; as her mannrisms, conviction, timing and use of light and shade is second to none. 
These two performers remind me of why I love doing what I do - after watching clips of them on YouTube I often rush up to my room to put of a backing track and start singing! A line of inquiry that interests me would be - How can I analyse their peformances in more detail? How do I emmulate their conviction of performance, without impersonating them? I intend to look  into attending an'Acting through Song' intensive workshop as this is something I feel would be really beneficial.

Looking inwardly at how the ideas of Reflection relate to me and my professional practice, it has helped me to consider emerging lines of inquiry for me from my training and practice. Hopefully exploring these lines of inquiry will not only aid my work on the BAPP course, but also help me answer I lot of questions I have about my daily professional practice and future amibtions.
   

Getting to grips with the Readers

I have said in my previous post Task 2c - Reflective Theory, I am finding it much easier to digest the information in the readers and further reading list and websites, by relating it to specific experiences. I started by trying to just read the whole thing a couple of times and then see how if it made any sense to me; however it just left me feeling confused and defeated! I now read each paragraph (or sometimes less) a few times and then try and relate the theories and information to a specific lesson I taught, or a memorable day of rehearsals (sometimes using my journal to assist me). I've found this really helps me to actually put the information into practice rather than just trying to just grab on to dribs and drabs of content I have managed to understand.

I don't know whether anyone else found the overload of information a bit daunting at first!?!? Maybe not; but this method might help? Really helps me!

Task 2c - Reflective Theory

After reading Reader 2 - The Reflective Practitioner, several times; I found I was so overwhelmed with ideas, theories, explanations and new terminology, that I had no idea how to even start to relate the information to my own professional practice. The reader states that 'the course identifies 'Reflection' (reflective practices) as a key tool for understanding and learning from experiences'. Therefore I decided to focus on one specific experience of mine; my Solo Platform; this was a ten minute musical theatre piece I created and performed in my final term of college. It was based around and included material from 'Thoroughly Modern Millie'. By relating the information in the reader to this specific experience, it really helped me to identify how I always have and always am constantly reflecting; something I previously hadn't given much thought to. Therefore I will more informed as to how to alter and improve my future reflective practices.


It is often said that the more you put into something, the more you get out of it. This rang true in terms of my solo platform as I worked hard and engaged with every part of the experience; resulting in great feedback and a very good mark. John Dewey reiterates this explaining that the amount you learn from an experience depends on the level of consciousness and engagement you have with it; describing the learning process as 'continual reorganization, reconstruction and transformation of experience' (Dewey, 1916). In my solo platform: I attended private tutorials with a tutor, where I constantly reflected on parts that weren't working or flowing; I rehearsed my songs, monologues and routines continually trying out new ways to perform them; and I made peers watch parts of my platform and also watched theirs to exchange ideas and feedback. Through fully engaging in all these areas and more, I felt at the time I learnt the most possible from the experience. However, reflecting back on it now, I realise I could have utilized the journal writing we had to undertake more effectively. The BAPP course has deepened my knowledge of journal writing a great deal, and notating my critical thinking and reflections is something I will defiantly do to improve my future reflective practices.


At first I found relating my professional practice (solo platform) to Kolb's learning cycle quite difficult, and had no idea at what point I entered the cycle or began to 'learn something new'. The example on page7 of the reader; relating the cycle to creating your blog; really helped me to see where I was participating in all the parts of the cycle in my solo platform. Choreographing, singing, performing, etc... - 'Concrete experience'; watching videos of my self, my tutorials, watching other peoples ideas, writing my journal - 'Reflective Observation'; planning changes I wanted to make, concluding my plans in my journal, discussing with peers - 'Abstract Conceptualisation'; and trying out new tempos, choreography, scene changes, lighting, etc... - 'Active Experimentation'. By applying this, I found I entered the cycle most commonly at 'Active Experimentation'. I mainly practice Schon's concept of 'reflection-in-action' (Schon 1987); which Robert Kottcamp likens to 'on-line - 'reflection in the midst of an ongoing action' (Kottcamp, R.B 1990). And I completely agree that this is commonly fostered by artists (dancers, etc...) as we tend to work in a very 'hands-on' way.


Looking further into the idea that people have different ways to engage with understanding and learning; I was really interested in Howard Gardener's theory of multiple intelligences. Reading the list of different types of intelligences, I thought to myself, although I may favour a couple - I use all of them to learn! And according to Gardener and his later concept of 'mulitple lenses', it is true that we should not limit ourselves to be one type of learner; but instead use all the different types of intelligences we poses to engage in experiences. I further researched Gardener's ideas and found a link to questions and responses on this webpage: http://www.howardgardner.com/Student/student.html. 'How does intelligence relate to creativity?', was one of the questions posed, and I could really relate the response to my professional practice (solo platform). In his response Gardener states, 'individuals who enjoy taking risks, who are not afraid of failure, who are attracted by the unknown, who are uncomfortable with the status quo,are the ones who are likely to make creative discoveries', (Gardener 2004). I think that most of these aspects are encompassed by the majority of performers. Relating them directly to my platform, I wasn't particularly afraid of failure, I was more focused on trying out the ideas I had to see if they worked or not, and if they 'failed' I reflected on how to improve or change them. I was attracted by the unknown in terms of being really excited and inspired to create a piece, even though the outcome or the final product was unknown to me when I started. And I definitely 'enjoy taking risks' when I am performing or creating; which reiterated to me that I learn most when I am trying out new ideas or 'actively experimenting'. Gardener's theory will no doubt inform my future reflective practices, as I am more aware of the different ways of learning and engaging in experiences; hopefully giving me a greater depth of experience to reflect upon.