Task 3d - Critical questions and issues that emerge

Do specific ideas emerge about my professional networks and sources of information?

The need to concentrate on creating a network that focuses on my professional needs for the future not just maintaining contacts from my present work. This includes networking in a way that is appropriate to my needs, for some this will be about promoting self or business but for me at the present time this is about sourcing information and gaining experiences in order to make decision on my future career path.

Therefore my own professional profile sites, or masses of self promotion as in “look at me, this is what I can do!” may not be appropriate, but being a presence in a community that is involved in discussions about topics and areas of work I am interested in developing as a future path may create more of the opportunities that I am looking for.

In creating this newer forward thinking network I know that I am going to have to engage more, I know this is something that I am not so good at now, I shy away from sharing my opinions for fear of being wrong. I need to plan a focused approach to networking and seeking out new opportunities and contacts, and to get the most out of the contacts I do make.

Are your ideas, positions or concerns shared within and beyond your professional area of work?

I think that a lot of the students on the BAPP programme have used this opportunity of looking at our professional networks to form in our minds that we need to be looking forward, developing networks that will support our future endeavours.

I think that some of my concerns are shared amongst those in the BAPP network. I have read a lot of blogs in reference to cooperation, that feeling that we end a relationship when we have gotten all we can from it is an uncomfortable one, and wondering what the motives are within our networks, although this is a concern I think it is a valuable thing to have become aware of. And it will shape the way I make connections in the future, you cant always rely on a professional network, but trying to make valuable working relationships with people we trust I think is important.

I feel a little bit on my own at the moment of feeling like I am creating my networks about gaining knowledge rather than employment. I think this highlights the different positions that each of us are in our careers, and that maybe the way in which we network and the reasons behind it will grow and change as our careers do.

Does sharing ideas and communicating with others shift your thinking, planning or practice?

As I have said before I don’t feel I share my ideas enough and moving forward this is my major goal in making my networks more valuable, as a result of this particularly where this blog is concerned it means others don’t communicate their thoughts with me. However I have made massive use of the blogs to read other peoples varying opinions on things and this has shaped meaning for me in a lot of areas, (social constructivism at work?). Before beginning this course I would have dismissed networking as not that important, but reading and sharing other peoples experiences has made me realise that I am wrong, professionals are using this to their advantage, especially in terms of online networking and I am missing out on vital opportunities.

In my current working practice I communicate with close working colleagues daily and this is always shaping my thinking, why a particular student behaves in a particular way, how planning something in a certain way has helped them out. Communicating ideas is how we learn, it gives us something to challenge our own thinking with and this makes us more confident in the conclusions we come to or gives us something to continue building on.

Does critical reflection help you decide what really matters and what action to take?

Critical reflection is of vital importance, I believe it is how we learn, by looking back at things and really considering how it is working, it helps us to see things that need improvement and gaps in our knowledge or things that do work that we can build upon.

Reviewing someone else’s works such as the programme reader or blogs and critically reflecting on it, agreeing disagree and considering how it would effect your practice makes those theories more relevant. By challenging things we are forced to work out why something is of value or not and this makes it more real and allows you to consider whether it is a practice that you would really like to trial, rather than adopting something because you have been told to with no real understanding of what it is you are trying to achieve.

To what extent do concepts and theories assist you in thinking about your professional networking in different ways? And do these different ways have some value to you?

The concepts and theories I have discussed in my blogs have opened my eyes to not only the ways that I am able to approach networking but also the ways that others will. I feel informed to make decisions that will allow me to network in a way that is appropriate for me, and with people with a similar mind set, for example I will be aware and avoid people who are only for what they can get from me. 

It has shaped the way I consider I would like my network to operate. It has also open my eyes to the fact that we will all have preferred methods to communication, levels of social stimulation for example means that some of my valuable contacts may not always be in my face shouting about something, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have value, and it is up to me to source that.

It has also reminded me that the people we surround ourselves with have a massive impact on our understand and opinions about the world, so making contact for contacts sake, or just in case they will have something to offer may not be wise if they don’t share a similar set of values, while being challenged is good, being convinced of something because everyone else is could be dangerous. Who we share our networks with may not always be within our control but how we operate within them is.

Are you left thinking differently than prior to this part of the module?

I feel now I have an understanding of the importance of networking, but also that this means something different to each of us, at different points in our careers.

I feel that by taking this course I am just starting to make decisions about my career and what direction I will be moving in. and where once I would have considered networking as getting out there to be seen and snapped up in employment I now understand that it can be about sharing knowledge and opinions and creating meaning about things that we all share. This makes me more comfortable, and more excited about moving forward with this.

I don’t feel ready to shout about what I’m doing, there are still too many things for me that are undecided, but I do feel able to make use of networking to help me make those decisions, and maybe sometime in the future I will be ready to start shouting and self promoting through networking too. But for now instead of feeling like I’m doing something wrong by not putting myself out there and selling myself, I feel I can use networking in a way that is still important and appropriate for me by gaining knowledge and experience.

Task 3c - Sources of Information

Through the theory of connectivism, we are encouraged to seek our information from outside of our own knowledge base. The idea that the world is moving at a much faster pace and knowledge and understanding is growing at a far greater rate than it is possible for one person to keep up. Advancement in technology has allowed us to communicate ideas quickly, and so in turn they evolve more quickly and things change at a rapid rate. It is no surprise then that when we seek out information our first port of call is the internet.

Google – Like almost anyone with internet access if I want to know something I search it online, I either pick up my phone or my laptop and within a few moments I have the answer, or at least I have the means to find out where I can source the information I need. At the top of the list when I Google search is usually Wikipedia, and although in previous posts I have doubted the validity of information found on Wikipedia it always seems to be a valuable place to start, further reading around and seeking out the source of the information may be needed to ensure information is correct, but I see it as almost a contents page for of other articles that will be of value.  

YouTube – When I am struggling to get something across to my students I look for inspiration and techniques that I haven’t tried, having a visual representation to learn from when you are teaching a visual art is incredibly useful. There are almost always how to guides available online, for example, how to pirouette returned 1590 results, this is a lot of information available with very little effort.

YouTube can also provide creative ideas, when thinking about choreography it is nice to have access to literally thousands of pieces of work online, this is especially important to me as living in Devon the opportunity to go and see live work is more limited than when I was living in the city.

TES – When researching going into teaching in mainstream education I came across the TES website. It has a whole library of teaching resources, at first when I found the site it made me realise how unprepared I would be if I was to make this career move. This for me has been extremely valuable; searching resources has given me insight into gaps in my knowledge as well as example of how lesson plans should be created. It has also inspired me to think of way I would approach things and given me another starting point for further research. And I’m sure if I do come to the point where I do enter a mainstream class room there will inspiration there for my own classes, and hopefully I will be able to start paying back with resources of my own.

Classes – I still love to take class, I think it is important, how can I teach something I don’t know, or something I can no longer do, it is important to me to be able to teach by example. Also every teacher has a different style, will have different exercises or approach correction from a different perspective. By experiencing this I not only continue to practice my skills, but I learn how to pass this knowledge on to my own student. They may say something that allows a particular step to make more sense or more easily executed and I can then share this with my students.  

Books, and Syllabus – I teach classical ballet, and I have to know the syllabus for several senior grades, and although I have a fairly good memory and things usually start coming back to me once I have started an exercise, we only do exams every two years and I need a prompt. I always have the syllabus in my teaching bag it is always there when I get stuck, or when I am questioned by a pupil “is the arm fifth or open fifth?” my response as I shuffle through my bag… “let me just check!”

Not all information on the internet is correct, with user added content sometimes it is nice to know the information you are getting is first hand and not someone else’s interpretation. For this reason I am still a fan of books. I am always searching Amazon reading reviews and buying books, dance education, dance psychology, choreographers. Anything that I think is of value, dance is still my passion as well as my career and I enjoy furthering my own knowledge.

People - My most valuable source of information. I love to ask questions, as I said when talking about my networks; I am a fan of knocking on an office door and asking for a chat. I think that ideas come much more organically, you will drift form one subject to another and get out so much more than you first intended.  On top of that I am at the beginning of my career, I am surrounded with people with experience and knowledge, and a passion for what they do, I find that most of these people are more than happy to share what they know, so it would be foolish to ignore such a valuable resource.

I am a teacher, I need to know what to teach, I get this information form my students, I ask them questions, “what don’t you understand” “what do you find difficult” “what would you like to work on” and I watch them, I read them and see what needs work and where they need to go next, this is information that I can not get from the internet or from books. What I do is based on people, that’s why I enjoy it, and I need them to inform me so I give them what they need.

Task - 3b - Theories Relating to Netwokring

Moving forward I want to develop a meaningful professional network, from which I can find knowledge, new understanding and opportunities and share the knowledge and opportunities I gain along the way. I am beginning to understand that having a presence and engaging in these activities is key to being successful. But in order to do this I am aware that I need to develop a better understanding of the concepts of networking and how these are applied to my own professional work. I consider that the best place to start is in understanding the theories.

Cooperation as defined by dictionary.reference.com is

“an act or instance of working or acting together for a common purpose

or benefit; joint action.”

For me before considering reader three the idea of cooperation would have been seen as purely positive, the idea that we are able to work together to achieve a mutual benefit should hold opportunities for all. However reader three concentrates on cooperation as part of Game theory, the idea that one player has to succeed at another’s expense. Is that how we see our professional practice as a game? Where we can only succeed at the expense of others?

Robert Axelrod 1986 describes the notion of cooperation as

“…the benefit of cooperating fully with others, until you reach a

point of maximum benefit and then to defect”

To me this seems extremely cold, of course there will always be an element of this, as human beings we form relationships for mutual gain, for example have friends because they listen, make us laugh or are really interesting, or even a little bit of you do this favour for me and I’ll help you out. But I would like to think that we don’t just “defect” when we feel we have had all we can from someone. It is a very sceptical view of the world and I am not entirely sure that I agree.

In terms of our professional networks and indeed life we will always come across people that are out for themselves, the girl in the audition who will ask for your help with the choreography and then purposely stand in front of you so you cant be seen, and in limited short lived relationships then I understand that this can happen, especially in extremely competitive environment like auditions and interviews.

In meaningful networks where strong working relationships are forged then I would like to think that this wouldn’t be the case, I think that our connections may be fluid, there may be times when we rely on particular people more that others, but to cut them out of our network when we have reached “maximum gain” I feel would be a very foolish move. I believe that everyone in my network has meaning, we all gain knowledge all of the time, and we should be open to share this with others, this may not allow us to get immediately ahead but in the long run should mean that we all have a more valuable network and a larger knowledge base to draw from, those who have been more cut throat earlier in their careers may not have such a valuable advantage.

I think this is why I feel that looking professional networks from the perspective of affiliation is much more comfortable one for me, and a model that I would like to build my future professional networks around.

“…a network of support that will help us when in need”

(Crisp and Turner 2007 pp266)

To me this is a similar idea to that of cooperation, where we are able to work with others to reach joint goals, or to be there for each other to provide, support, advice or share our working or creative knowledge. The Important difference is that we do not “defect” or end relationships based on what we are able to gain. For this reason I think that networks that are based around affiliation can only go from strength to strength as my knowledge grows I am able to share this my network and vice versa, again this comes back to the idea of growing a vast knowledge base.

As a teacher this is also of vital importance, affiliation between myself and my students are important in my previous post about how I make my network connection, I talked about the importance of face to face contact and the element of trust. In a educational situation both student and teacher have a lot to gain from each other, as my ability as a teacher grows so does the experience my students have, and as they grow and develop I am forced to up my game and work harder for them, allowing mutual development. I am of course aware that at some point my student will move on, but I believe that the relationship forged by this mutual trust will mean that a link will remain as it has for me and my past teachers, keeping that network intact.

Within this theory I also find it interesting that we are able within our relationships to balance the needs of each individual. O’Connor & Rosenblood (1996 pp267) link this to us being able to maintain

“relative and preferred levels of social stimulation”.

Whether we are introvert or extrovert may link to our ability to network successfully, as it impacts on our level of affiliation or privacy. I would say that I am not an extrovert, I am quite happy in my own company and don’t really feel the need to share my thoughts, compared to someone who likes to voice their opinions does this leave me at a disadvantage when it comes to networking?

I think that it possibly does, I may be more reluctant to share my thoughts and this may mean that relationships within my network are less valuable as less is shared between its members, however it is possible that the opposite is true as the nature of my communications may be more valuable as I will only communicate things that are of greater importance, perhaps less is more?

Either way it is an important thing to be aware of, it makes us more understanding of other people within our networks allowing us to form relationships that are mutually comfortable, and to be aware of our own behaviours and how these may be improved to make our networking more successful. 

Social constructionism is based around the idea that our observations and knowledge about the world are informed and reinforced by our experiences and relationships with others. 

“…all knowledge, and therefore all meaningful reality as such,

is contingent upon human practices, being constructed in and out of

interactions between human beings and their world, and developed and

transmitted within an essentially social context.”

(Crotty, M 2005. pp 42-44)

This is a complicated issue to understand but important when related to professional networks, it means that the meanings that we relate to the world will be directly influenced by the people that we surround ourselves with. The meaning of behaviours or characteristics of groups or even just colours or symbols are made to mean something, by us all being in agreement. 

This then means to me that if I have a particular issue or problem that I then go on to discuss with my network, be that friends and family or a working network, the opinions of others will help me to shape meaning and create new knowledge for myself.

I think this really highlights the powerful nature of human relationships and of our personal and professional networks.

We have all heard about children falling in the wrong crowd, this social interaction has changed the behaviour of the child because the meanings of things in their world have been influenced by the social group that they are a part of.

Does that then mean that we are at risk of “falling in” with the wrong network, of being in relationships with people that have a powerful influence over how we construct meaning may mean that we miss opportunities because some people say that company is bad to work for? Or because they don’t think your new idea will work out?

Conversely though, does that mean that we have the opportunity to “fall in” with the right network? One that already shares a number of principles and ideals that will then allow us to debate and construct further meanings and knowledge by combining the intellect of everyone within the group.

The idea of social constructionism highlights to me the importance of making connections within my network with the right people, people that share my ideals or my interests in order for us all to construct the kind of meaning and knowledge that will support our further development, and not damage it.

Connectivism,

“in relation to professional networks the theory of connectivism

provides an explanation about how networks both learn and provide

the means for individuals to connect and learn”

This theory is connected to the spread of the internet and the changing ways in which we now learn. Learning used to based on the teacher transferring knowledge to the student, now through the theories of connectivism it is the idea that the information is out there, within other people, the internet and classrooms and that we are able to interact with this and learn from it, the use of social networking, blogs and wikis makes this easier.

Information moves much more quickly that it did in the past, knowledge becomes obsolete rapidly and it becomes impossible for us to be able to keep up.

“the amount of knowledge in the world has doubles in the past

10 years and is doubling every 18 months”

(American society of Training and Documentation)

It is becoming impossible for us to keep up and so the ability to store our knowledge externally from ourselves is an important one. We have the use of the internet, it is becoming less important to have knowledge but more important to know how to access knowledge.

This means that our social network is of growing importance,

“since we cannot experience everything, other peoples experiences,

and hence other people, become the surrogate for knowledge

‘I store my knowledge in my friends’

is an axiom for collecting knowledge through collecting people”

(Karen Stephenson)

This is surely the whole premise for a professional network, you store knowledge, information and important contacts through the use of networking sites to a greater or lesser extent. The BAPP blogs are a perfect example of this the sharing of knowledge and information with in a network of people with common interests in order for people to learn and improve there own knowledge.

Applying these theories to my own professional practice has been easier than I thought, and I consider that I have made some important discoveries that I will be using to shape my professional networks of the future.

The two theories that I feel I need to be wary of is cooperation and social constructionism. In terms of cooperation the thought of “defecting” form a networking relationship as it is no longer beneficial is uncomfortable, and to me it always a good idea to leave doors open behind you, none of us know what is around the corner and we may live to regret losing that option in the future. I know that there will always be people who will do exactly this and being aware of this can only have its benefits also; being careful who we put our trust in and with how much we share should always be in our mind in professional networking.

Social constructionism I feel also raises questions about who we affiliate ourselves with, it shows the power of the social group in being able to shape how we see and interact with the world, and I imagine this can be a pit fall that many fall into, allowing the wrong people to influence us could be detrimental and we should be mindful of this when we introduce people into our networks.  

Affiliation with the right people and building a network of support around us to me is the way that a network should be constructed. We should be able to trust and rely on the people we network with, and this holds gains for us all, as knowledge grows and is able to be shared then everyone in the network should benefit from this. This is linked to connectivism, the fact that our sources of knowledge no longer have to just be within ourselves, strong and social network that are able to share, debate and communicate new information should surely make for a network that is of value to everyone involved and create a vast knowledge base for each member to draw from.

3a - Part 2 – How I connect with my Professional Networks.

I feel that I am perhaps a little behind in the ways in which I connect with my professional networks. I am more likely to connect face to face, my tapping on an office door and having a conversation than to use a social networking site such as facebook, I regularly use email if I have queries and need to contact someone directly.

I think that there may be two reasons why my methods of connections differ to the ones that others use.

The first reason is that I am employed in permanent contracts, I don’t need to regularly connect with an agent, to put myself out there or search out new work in the same way that I would if I was still performing on temporary contracts. My working life is fairly settled and so I don’t network for the same reasons. If I need information from a member of my network or they need anything from me it is usually specific, and doesn’t need to be shared with multiple people and so a phone call, face to face chat or an email are more appropriate methods for me to use.

The second important factor I think is that I live in Devon, I don’t usually need to communicate with people who are very far away from me, my networks are on my door step and as much as I hate to admit it the pace of life here is slower, I don’t need to keep up with constantly changing events using twitter as I am more likely to get my information first hand. I think this makes the way I communicate more personal, and I feel this can only be a good thing. Having said this though, exploring new ways to network are important to me, I have come to a point where I would like to search out new areas, ideas and opportunities and think that I can use networking to help me with this.

So the ways I currently network are;

Face to Face  

I am always knocking on doors, asking people if they have five minutes for a quick chat about something and I regularly attend team meetings with the whole of a staff team where we can all sit and discuss issues that affect us as a whole. I am a big believer in face to face contact, you can read so much more about a situation or how someone feels than you can from a post on a social networking site and to me this is important.

I also think that when you are standing waiting for a class to begin and a parent or student wants to have a chat, this openness is good for business. People get to know you this way and it develops a kind of trust between you, even perhaps a sense of loyalty which in business these days is hard to find and even harder to keep.

We are all so wrapped up in technology these days that I think we forget about the personal touch and this to me is a real shame.

Facebook

I have a facebook account, this is where I keep in contact with friends, people I went to college with and old teachers and co-workers. It is always interesting to see what is going on for other people, when they share their career progressions then it can spark ideas for yourself, and of course bring about the possibility of new work. I have a number of friends who have gone on to choreograph, produce or start their own dance schools, having regular contact with these people mean they share opportunities with me, if they need a class covered, need a dancer for a show or vice versa then it is the easiest way to contact people en mass. For this purpose it is extremely valuable. 

Because like I said previous I am currently employed under contracts and therefore work for other peoples businesses, I don’t have a facebook page that is solely professional. This is something that I have been considering changing. I have never considered advertising myself, but as I develop new ideas about how I want to move forward with my career it is something I am thinking about, a way to meet new people and keep this on a professional level has a number of merits, it would also allow me to add students (something I don’t feel is appropriate on my social account) which would allow me to advertise any new ventures that I come up with for my career progression.   

BAPP Blog

The BAPP blog is my newest network. I don’t feel however that it is my strongest. I don’t comment a lot on other peoples work, I have blogged before on this, and I think I feel that I am not worthy to comment on other peoples work, I don’t know any more than they do. I keep saying that this is something I will address, as I am aware that the network is only as good as the connections, and frequency of connections made. If I don’t talk to people, it is highly unlikely that they will communicate with me, and I think this is an important point, in any kind of relationship there has to be something in it for all people involved, for this reason I don’t feel my blog is overly successful. But I am hoping in completing this section of the module I will gain a better understanding and confidence in building and using new networks and be able to improve the strength of them.

Twitter

From the previous work done on Web 2.0 technologies I was encouraged to open a twitter account, to see what I was missing and to find the value that other people seem to find. I have to say that I haven’t really found it all too valuable in the sense of developing meaningful new networks. A lot of the people I have on my twitter account I also have on facebook and so I get much the same as I do from that. However it has allowed me to find some classes and opportunities for further study and education that may aid my professional practice, I have been looking for things of this nature on-line for sometime but it seems that companies and dance professionals are making use of sites like twitter to advertise rather than conventional methods. This has made me aware that I have another option for sourcing information, for finding people and when I begin to develop the next steps in my career another option for advertising, I was late to catch on but it seem that this is the way a lot of people are using twitter.

Linkedin

I have just discovered linkedin, it was through Paula’s post on the libguides that I found a SIG I was interested in and it just happened to be on linked in. I am really excited about this site, and about making new links with people in an area that I am interested in. I am very new to this, and again I haven’t had time to really have a good look through or to comment, however it is something I want to make use of in the future.

This brings me onto another point, I find it so difficult to make time for everything, keeping up with networking in so many ways and on so many sites is very time consuming, and I find I can literally spend hours trying to catch up on what has been said. I can see the value and I want to connect to my networks more, but how does everyone fit it in?

Email/ Phone/ Text

The pressure of time is possibly why I still like to pick up the phone and ring or text, when I ring someone I get an immediate response, or vice versa. I know this limits my communication to just one person, but sometimes this is all that is needed.

I also send a lot of emails, it means I don’t have to read a lot of information on someone’s social networking site to find out what I need to know, I can send the email, and get on with something else while I’m waiting for a reply.

I like things to be direct, I am a straight forward person and I think that is why I still rely on face to face networking, and phone calls etc. And if I’m honest most of my meaningful connections with my networks are always based in these kinds method. From reading other peoples blogs I am aware I may be on my own in this conclusion, and I wonder what I am missing? Is it because I don’t have my own business and so don’t need to advertise, or because I don’t look for changing work as often as other people who are perhaps performing? If anyone has any thoughts I would be really interested as I do still feel like I am missing something important?

Moving forward I am determined to make more connections, not necessarily to add more people but to communicate more with the people I do have in my networks in more and different ways. I am determined to keep trying and working on networking using such sites as twitter, facebook and linked in. For me it’s still that idea of working with the unknown until it all starts to make sense for you. Perhaps by making more time and actively making the effort to think about what others are saying and being confident to add my opinion I will gain new value from it, It comes back to that idea again about engaging with something in order to learn something new, there is little point in being part of these networks unless I actively engage and see what I get back. I know it must be important, as everyone is doing it, but for me at this time it about trying to make sense of it and how it fits into my life and my professional development.

Ideally when I reach the end of that process I will have a stronger network, where I am more of an obvious and valuable presence, and where I have a skill set that allows me to communicate in a more varied way. I want to have drawn in valuable members of my extended network closer to the centre so that I communicate with them more regularly allowing me to create relationships that not only allow me to create opportunities for myself, but to be part of a community of people that are valuable to each other. I want to push myself forward in this area and to develop my self as a professional with an online identity.

3a – Part 1 - Current Professional Networks.

As someone who is currently working within a few areas as part of my professional practice I discovered that in all I have 5 separate networks. Where others have found that their networks may overlap, at the moment I think my areas are a little diverse and so there aren’t really as yet many connections between them. The diagram below is a visual representation of my networks. 

At the moment I have 3 current areas of work, I work within schools as a support to the teaching of creative and active subjects, I teach ballet classes for a local dance school for children and I am a support worker, working with adults with learning disabilities enabling them to engage with the community and access creative and active pastimes.

My other two networks are around the BAPP programme and also my personal support network, of family, friends, and previous teachers and employers that have an impact on my life.

I have taken the idea for my second diagram from the information in Alan's blog  "Mapping our professional networks"  in which he shared an article by Christopher Butler about logging the frequency with which we connect to those in our networking circles "mapping your network" . How often I connect with my networks I think is an important aspect, a network is only useful if you are engaging with it regularly, regular contact means regular sharing of ideas and opportunities for new work, improvement of our current practices, and a way of measuring our progress through reflection from others. 

Those that appear closest to me in this diagram are the people that are currently directly linked with in my working life, people that are having an impact on my professional practice daily, give me feedback and support on how to move forward and improve, or by being the people that allow me to do my job, my students and their families, this to me must be my most important network, as they are the people I work with or for.

The people further away from me that I connect with less regularly are either people who have impacted on my working life but perhaps are no longer such a regular influence, such as previous teachers or employers. These people are still very important to me, and although I do not now rely on them regularly the network is still important as it is access to more sources of information, or potential work as they are aware of my practice.

Also of great importance are those in my more extended network who I would like to work with more, I would see these as people who I am trying to introduce into my closer network, as I am aware that it may hold opportunities for me. An example of this is external agencies that I have some contact with; I am very interested in creative therapies as yet I have not had the opportunity to explore this further, I have professionals in this area as part of my network which mean I can work in making more regular contact and search out possibilities for further education or work.

The people that we have in our networks are there for a reason, there must be something in the relationship for both parties and I feel that this is something to bear in mind. The frequency with which we connect can mean that these people stay with us or do not, this will always be fluid as we change jobs, or roles and we need to stay connected and be available to those who are most important to keep those relationships alive, maintaining networks is vital.  

Task 2d - Enquiry.

What in my daily practice gets me really enthusiastic?


Quite simply the part of my daily practice that get me really enthusiastic is people, I am privileged to work in a number of environments with a range of people and seeing how they react to me and my classes and seeing them achieve and become enthusiastic is why I do what I do. As I said on my blog profile, I am truly fascinated by dance, and in particular the way we learn to dance. The fact that everyone has a different mindset and a different body, a different set of skills and reason for dancing, and the implications and uses that all of these things can have. 

I had a teacher when I was a college, she was the best teacher I had there. She taught each person as an individual. She knew the girls that would fight back and work harder if she was hard on them, but she also knew the ones who would crumble if she put on too much pressure. She was understanding and gave more than one solution to a problem, corrections often started with “this is hard, but if you try this… or if that doesn’t work try this instead” It was all about finding your own way, she understood the people she was teaching and that is why we all did well under her instruction.


What makes me angry or sad?


I get really frustrated when people aren’t treated as individuals. People make snap decisions based in the very little they know or see of someone. Everyone is different, not every blond is the same, not every child in a dance class is the same and not everyone with the same disability is the same. In a teaching environment it is so important to understand the people you are working with, you have to find a way to make something make sense to that individual, what works for one wont work for all.

It upsets me when a teacher complains that their student doesn’t understand something and say “I have told them a hundred times” the expression “A bad workman blames his tools” comes to mind, if you’ve said it 100 times then you obviously aren’t saying the right things! Just because you understand it that way doesn’t mean someone else will, think of another way for it to make sense. 

I work with lots of talented people within learning disabilities; the service manager of the company I work for is fantastic at seeing the individual and will always try and see something from another person’s point of view and then work with this to find a solution and I think this is a fantastic skill to have.


What do I love about what I do?

I love to come across challenges, a student that simply can’t pirouette, another student who is lacking confidence or one who has all the technique but not the artistry and students with learning disabilities who interact with you in a totally different way. I love to discover the reasons for these things and develop strategies to work with them, tricks to make it work for them or that one thing that suddenly makes it all make sense. I love to watch people grow and develop and to become more enthusiastic and more confident in themselves and what they are doing.

I think I get this passion from my mother, she is also a teacher and she thrives on a challenge, there is never anything to her that doesn’t have a solution. With the children she works with it is all about encouraging confidence, and showing them that there is always a solution, because if there is a solution somewhere, then there isn’t anything to be worried about is there, it’s just a matter of time until you find the answer. She is my inspiration when I teach because I think she does it so well.

What do I feel I don’t understand?

Teaching children is so enjoyable to me and I have considered that I would like to make this my full time direction by moving into mainstream education. But I don’t as yet fully understand what this would entail. I help with GCSE and A-level classes, however I turn up on practical days and help with choreography or technique classes, something that I am comfortable with but I don’t fully understand the other aspects of what is taught. All of the other responsibilities that go with working in a school, preparing for exams, teaching educational syllabus, setting essays, marking homework, creating time tables. How do I know this is an area that I would like to move forward in if I don’t fully understand what it entails?

 

Working with adults with learning disabilities makes me curious to the applications dance can have. Creative therapies have wide reaching uses and this is something I am fascinated by, I have seen this first hand with some of the people I work with but as yet is something I don’t fully understand or have had chance to investigate.

The idea that something I love purely for the sake of it can have powerful applications is really exciting to me, but how does this work? How do you take something that most of us see as entertainment and make it into something that can have therapeutic applications?

Both are areas I am interested in moving towards, but I am unable to make a decision on this until I have a clearer idea if what each entails and whether I a have the skills that each one would involve.

Task 2c - A Critical Reflection on my use of Reflective Practices

I found the subject of reflective practices really interesting, I can see how I use reflection in my work and in fact believe that we all use reflection a lot of the time, this is how we process our experiences. When I start thinking about reflection I instantly start linking it to learning, I wonder if I have made the right distinctions between the two? Or are they that linked that perhaps it is difficult to have one without the other and so the distinction is slightly blurred?

Below is my critical reflection, it details how I feel I use reflective practices and the links to theories in the reader.
Task 2c - A Critical Reflection on my use of reflective practices

If anyone has any thoughts they would be gratefully received?!

Task 2c Reflective Theory. - Part 1.

The reflective theory task asks us to look outward at what others have said about reflection. This is just a short essay that is my starting point to understanding the reader and what has been written about reflection before I go on to do my critical reflection.
 
Task 2c Reflective Theory.