Friday, 28 March 2014

Thinking ahead

Although there is still plenty of time to think about our oral presentation I am already having thoughts on how to present mine.

Due to the fact I am currently cruising around the world, being there in person is not an option. Also because of the wifi being so bad I won't be able to do it on Skype. I will however be able to do it over the phone using the one situated in my cabin. 

Although this Is not ideal it is the best option for me , both Paula and I have discussed it and feel this is the way to go. 

As part of my presentation I want to create a slide share, I find the ones Paula does for the campus sessions really informative and helpful so I feel I want to do something similar. Also if the phone line cuts out which it has a tendency to do, or the signals really bad atleast my audience will have something to look at and focus on while we're reconnecting. Moreover I think it will help me in the process of creating the presentation and enable me to present something that makes sense from start to finish. 

I know I'm thinking very far ahead but in my working environment I feel I need to be one step ahead as circumstances on the ship can change very suddenly. 

Once I have concluded my findings and finished the professional inquiry I will start to form the slide share and during its work in progress will post certain parts and hope for some constructive feedback. 

Thursday, 20 March 2014

Tools and resources I have used throughout the inquiry process

Through out the inquiry process I have used several tools and resources. Everything we have learnt from module one onwards has came in to play at some point in time as well as many others.

To begin pulling everything together I decided to draw a spider gram 


Due to the lack of resources I have currently onboard the ship the scan is not of a very good quality how ever it gives you a good idea of the amount on aspects that we have relied on. 

Just glancing at the spider gram you can see all the different tools and resources that immediately came to mind, I may have missed a few off accidentally, for example networking however it highlights to me how far I have come from module 1. Before we started if you had handed me this list I wouldn't have understood the importance of them not only for our inquiry process but ultimately for our professional practice.

When embarking on this journey I remember feeling apprehnsive when hearing the term Net Savvy or trying to set up a blog, now these terms along with many others have become second nature, something of which at the beginning I would have never of thought. However something I have now come to realise they can be very valuable tools to help us evolve our expertise. 

Everything we have learnt from day one onwards has become a part of this professional inquiry we are currently producing, and everything resource and tool we are applying now will continue to help us even once the submission date has loomed upon us.

Being a professional dancer and self employed means we are our own boss, so we are in charge of our self development and progression as professionals. The tools above which we have been exposed to can now play a key part in this, and for that I am very thankful to Middlesex University and the work based learning course for enabling me to realise the importance of these and how they can effect my practice. 

Please comment if you feel there are some tools or resources you think I should add in, and then I will post a new and improved version?!

Campus sessions

Due to the fact I can't physically get to the campus sessions I have been reading up on Paula's blog for old ones so I can keep in the loop and on top of my work. 

The first three which I have followed have been a great help. Paula has produced slide shares which I was able to download and follow offline. They are all full of vast amounts of information which has proved very useful. Due to module three being such a project it was a great help to realise it's not as big of a monster as you make out it to be in your head. 

Campus session 1

Before delving into the inquiry Paula asks us what we think a professional inquiry is?

In my opinion it's a journey in which we produce a piece of work by using many resources and tools which we can be proud of, it also sets us up with skills in which we can take onto other aspects of outright life's and professional careers. also within the context of the course it's something to help us within our professional practice too. 

Paula's own definition highlighted the importance of learning, developing, evolving, problem solving, reflecting and progressing through a process. These factors sum up my journey all the way from module one! 

In the first campus session Paula reminds us that we must not stress! It's important to identify milestones and decide on our actions in order to remain stress free and focused. A very important point I feel, I often find myself stressing but once I have sorted out the tasks in hand and figure out how to complete them it all seems less daunting. 

During the campus there is a lot of talking about the analysis of both literature and data, both are important as they form the basis of the inquiry. Paula mentions Theory's that we have previously touched upon in readers through out the course! I myself have been reading Blaxter and Hughes 'How to Research' (4th edition) I have found the methodologies mentioned in their book very helpful and we be applying some of them to my own Inquiry.

Through out the campus session there are tasks set out for pairs to discuss their work. I carried out these tasks with some of my professional peers with whom I work with. All the tasks were very helpful and informative. 

Campus session two 

This session focuses more on the structure of the professional inquiry and the importance that the literature we gather holds.

The literature not only expands our knowledge and understanding around the subject ares it also gives the inquiry validity and a reference in which you can use when analysing your findings.

Paula gives us a few tips - 

shape the writing In according to your needs to explain what you are doing.
Develop writing that's more efficient with fewer words.
Read aloud, be clear at stating your point of view.

In short be meaningful and concise 

It was pointed out how important the introduction can be, also what it should entail.
The best piece of advice I took from this was that it's important to define the vocabulary and terms used throughout the inquiry. Many words often evoke different meanings, making it important to iron out exactly what you mean for your readers, as it's vital they understand exactly what you are trying to say. 

Paula explains analysis by showing a triangle of data, below are my notes on the triangle. This visual aid helps me link all the data together.



The session also highlights other aspect that you gain from analysing data but don't immediately think of, for example did any further inquiry topics arise or did you conduct or plan any activities/events/interventions that used what you found out from the inquiry .

Campus session three

During this session there is talk about how data can be gathered an displayed, ethics, reporting certain understandings in order to draw conclusions more or analysis and the critical reflection. 

The most important things I took from these slide shares were the guidelines on analysing interviews and how to manage the data for both interviews and focus groups as these both play a big part of my inquiry. 

Three of the main points I picked up on were,

1. A good way to catogerize complex data gathered from interviews is to look at themes that are emerging.

2. It's vital to organise that data in an organised way so that comparisons, contrasts and evaluations can be made.

3. The main aim is finding the meanings of the evidence presented. 

In regards to managing data Paula mentions a very valid point, it's important to keep all tapes and transcribed data not only in a safe place but to keep it until the end of the process just Incase the university need to check up on it. 

To conclude the third campus session the critical reflection is touched upon.

It is of the upmost importance as it serves the purpose of showing your learning journel to the academics. This course is designed so we can undertake it while working professionally, and an important part for the university is that we show we have learnt equally as much undertaking this course than we would have done being sat in the university for four years. 

The critical reflection is a self analysis of our learning through out the process. It is an opportunity to explain how and if we have acquired new knowledge and understanding on several topics, our selfs, our jobs, our workplace, our communities of practice. 

We are able to air our own views and opinions on how we have evolved as both a person and a professional from module one to the present day. More over the effect this course has had on our future and how our professional practice has been affected.

Conclusion 

Obviously there is a lot more to the campus's sessions that what I have summarised but I took what I believed to be the most important segments to share with you. 

I look forward to downloading sessions 4 and 5 when I get my next good serge of wifi! 

Saturday, 8 March 2014

Ideas for my artefact

From the start of the inquiry process I have had some strong ideas for my professional artefact.

Due the the nature of our professional practice and the role social media plays with in it, I decided I wanted part of my artefact to be compatible for this. 

My artefact will have two parts to it, one will be a video with both audio and visual elements. The video will represent my findings and the importance they have to my professional practice and community. The reason I want it to be in video form is so that it can reach the optimum amount of professional peers as possible. In our social media savvy worlds it's so easy to click share on Facebook or Twitter, Upload a video to YouTube, or send a video via what's app! I want my video to have that potential. 

In combination with the video I will produce a small booklet, which will include pictures and written information. The reason for adding the booklet is to add another aspect for my academic audiences. From my research my professional peers prefere entertaining videos over reading booklets, however I feel for my academic audiences I want to put something down on pan and paper. It will also help with reinforcing my findings for those who also watch the video. 

I would really appreciate some thoughts? To see if you would enjoy the combination of artefacts as either an academic or professional peer? 


Inquiry title

It's so important to get the right title for the inquiry as it sets you up for the next 6000 words! 
However I'm struggling to come up with the 'right one' if there even is such a thing?

For those who don't know what my intended Inquiry is about I will enlighten you by giving you a brief summary. Maybe then you will be able to point me in the right direction for my title. 

My inquiry is based on a combination of literature. Books by Malcolm Gladwell and David Epstein brought to me views based upon psychologist Anders Ericsson. Malcolm Gladwell based upon Ericssons theory's and others experiments believes that the only way to become accomplished in your chosen profession is to practice for 10,000 hours or more! David Epstein argues that other factors come into play, such as genes, talent, ethnicity etc. Finding the core of both these men's views brought me to Ericsson who looks at the whole picture. In his journals he looks at what produces the elite performer. Hard work, talent, genes, circumstance, parental support, motivation, commitment amongst other aspects. A lot of these I can personally apply to myself and my journey into becoming a professional dancer, however I wanted to know what other factors dancers apply to themselfs in order to be the best that they can be. How do they continue their professional development in order to become an elite athlete? Do they apply specific techniques inspired by world renowned choreographers? Or do they just go with the flow and hope for the best? Moreover why do we even want to be elite? And at the top of our game? What benefits does that create for us?

There are a lot of questions to be explored and answered.

I feel this inquiry has validity and my findings will be there to help not only myself and the rest of my professional practice but also the next generation of dancers. My inquiry won't produce a magic cocktail to transform you overnight into being the best, however it will provide guidance and help to push many of us in the right direction.

I would really appreciate your comments below. 

Here are a few sample titles, let me know what you think!

1. How do we as dancers become elite? And why does that matter?

2. How does continual professional development effect us as dancers, and why we should be the best that we can be? 

3. Elite performers, how do we become one? 

Thursday, 6 March 2014

Back to reality!

This week I flew half way around the world to embark on my next adventure, four months on the Dawn Princess cruising around the world. Now I am back on board I have remembered how bad the Internet is. My resources in comparison to home have completely changed. 

I don't have 24 hour access to wifi, instead I have to pay for very few minutes on a very dodgy system and wait until were in port to find a decent connection. But since we are in install for the next few weeks port time is also going to be very limited. I also no longer have my own space and have to share in a very small cabin with lovely bunk beds! Which makes working on my inquiry a bit more tricky. Another aspect to add is its hard to access printers and scanners unless your willing to do favours for certain people those items are normally off limits!

 On the plus side the focus on my inquiry lies within my cast of dancers. They will be the people I interview and use as my focus group, all of them have already concented to be part of my inquiry so I'm excited to have them all literally on my doorstep. 

Being in install at the minute limits my time I can give to my inquiry however as soon as that's over every spare minute I have will be dedicated to this inquiry. I feel time management is important which is why before I embarked I did everything I could and now will dedicate all my time out of install to this inquiry.

My next step is to conduct my focus groups and interviews how ever myself and my cast are currently uprooted and are situated in different cabins all over the ship to accommodate our handover. Thankfully this ends in three days and we will get our proper cabins back and everyone can settle in. Once this has taken place I will schedule my focus groups and interviews to take place. 

Meanwhile I will continue to keep in contact with my sig groups and also continue carrying out my literature reviews.