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.