Sunday 25 October 2015

Literature Reviews and ideas - Professionalism

After focusing on the term "Professionalism" I have been looking at literature for theories and ideas I can explore and apply to my own practice and Inquiry.




I have found the two articles below very useful:






(Image From - http://inntrending.com/great-quotes-about-literature/)

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ARTICLE ONE

Title, Date, Author, Publisher

Lester. S (2015) "On professions and being professional" Stan Lester Developments, Taunton, UK


Where did I find the source?

Paula my adviser sent me the link to this online article as she thought it would be useful to read to gain ideas and theories about professionalism.



How is it useful to my Inquiry?

This source is useful to my Inquiry as it discusses and explores the "idea of ‘profession’ and what it means to be a professional".  As I am going to research how a Freelance Dancer can achieve optimal professionalism to become the best performer they can be and help them to secure work, it is important I understand the meaning of the term profession and what it means to be a professional in order to develop my thoughts on what to research further.  


Theories and key ideas

"The word ‘profession’ stems from the Latin verb profiteri, to profess, in the sense of making a formal commitment or vow (as in taking a monastic oath). This can be interpreted as suggesting that joining a profession requires a commitment to acquiring its knowledge and skills, and to adopting its ethos". 

Being a Freelance Dancer requires a lot of commitment as it is a very tough industry to be in.  I will be exploring how commitment and motivation play a major part in a Freelance Dancers life through literature and through my practitioner research.  

"A professional might be considered as a person who embodies the idea inherent in ‘profiteri’, and following Hoyle & John20, makes proficient use of expert or specialist knowledge, exercises autonomous thought and judgement, and makes a voluntary commitment to a set of principles." 

This suggests a professional is someone who uses their expert knowledge of their profession and applies it to their own practice as well as making the decision that they want to be committed to their profession.

How reliable is the source?

This article was written by Stan Lester in 2015, but grew out of a 2002 article by the author in the Journal of the Society of Archivists, vol. 23 no. 1. An earlier version was also published by the former Institute for Learning in 2009. Therefore it is a reliable source as it has been written by a professional in his field and used as an academic source. Therefore, I feel using ideas/theories from this source to develop my own thoughts and ideas will be extremely beneficial. 

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ARTICLE TWO

Title, Date, Author, Publisher

Evans, Linda (2008) "Professionalism, professionality and the development of education professionals".  British Journal of Educational Studies, 56 (1). pp. 20-38


Where did I find the source?

I found this article online.  



How is it useful for my Inquiry?

This source is useful for my Inquiry because it includes quotes and theories from other Practitioners on their theories and ideas on Professionalism.  Even though the article is referring to professionalism within the teaching industry, I feel the professionalism theories and ideas are more general and therefore I can apply these theories to my Inquiry and they will be beneficial in informing my own writing and thinking.  


Theories and key ideas

Hoyle (1975) explains professionalism as "those strategies and rhetorics employed by members of an occupation in seeking to improve status, salary and conditions" (p315) 

I will be applying this idea to my Inquiry as I will be researching through literature and my practitioner research how Freelance Dancers can improve their status, salary and conditions.  I have found a committee on Equity who speak about improving conditions for Freelance Dancers and I have also found many sources discussing the pay of Freelance Dancers. 

Troman (1996, p.476) similarly perceives professionalism not as an absolute or an ideal, but as a "socially constructed, contextually variable and contested concept...defined by management and expressed in its expectations of workers and the stipulation of tasks they will perform". 

Freelance Dancers can be employed in many different dance styles and are always having to adapt to what the employer is looking for, for a specific job.  Therefore, this theory is very apt to our industry and practice.  I will be interviewing my employers so this will be an interesting theory to think about when I am conducting the interview. 

Hoyle's more recent (2001, p.146) explanation of professionalism as a term used "to describe enhancement of the quality of service" 

Sockett (1996, p.23) follows the same "quality" line: "Professionalism is about the quality of practice". 

I will be researching and exploring how a Freelance Dancer can enhance their performance for auditions and when they have secured work.  Therefore, both of the ideas above are very appropriate for my Inquiry.  I will be conducting a focus group with other Freelance Dancers to also ask how they enhance their performance and become the best Freelance Dancer they can be in order to secure work, as well as exploring literature on this topic.

Boyt, Lusch and Naylor's (2001, p.322) emphasis is on the influential capacity of the professional her/himself: "Professionalism consists of the attitudes and behaviour one possesses toward one's profession.  It is an attitudinal and behavioural orientation that individuals possess toward their occupations". 

This theory is the one I agree with most and what reflects my view on what professionalism is.  This idea explains how professionalism is down to the individual and their own attitude towards the profession.  I will be exploring through literature and practitioner research how a Freelance Dancer's mental attitude helps and hinders them in securing work.

Hoyle and Wallace (2005, p.103) "Professionalism seems generally to be seen as the identification and expression of what is required and expected of members of a profession" 

This idea suggests that professionalism is about the employee following the requirements expected of them in a profession.  Therefore, as a Freelance Dancer it will be interesting to know what employers expect once they have employed you, or what they are looking for when auditioning Freelance Dancers.  I will be exploring this further when conducting my interviews with my employers. 

Hoyle (1975) introduced the term "professionality".  He explained this as the "elements of the job that constitute the knowledge, skills and procedures that teachers use in their work" from that Evans, 2002b, pp. 6-7) has defined professionality as "an ideologically, attitudinalty- intellectually - and epistemologically - based stance on the part of an individual, in relation to the practice of the profession to which s/he belongs, and which influences her/his professional practice".  

The term "professionality" is important for a Freelance Dancer as we must have a positive attitude as well as a good knowledge and understanding of ourselves as performers as well as the industry.  This in turn will influence our professional practice and have an impact on the way we develop our technique and performance.  I already have literature on the elements that Freelance Dancer's should apply to make them the best performer they can be and therefore help them to secure work.  Therefore, I will be applying this knowledge to my Inquiry and own practice, as well as asking other Freelance Dancer's what they do to enhance their own practice through the focus group.


How reliable is the source?

I feel this source is very reliable as even though I found it online, as an online article, it is actually a published book as well.  It consists of theories and ideas from other practitioners and professionals who have knowledge on the term "professionalism" and therefore will be very beneficial to read to inform and develop my own thoughts on this topic.

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I discussed with Paula that I needed to find more theories and ideas on my chosen topic for my Inquiry.  I have already found some ideas which I have written a literature review on previously, this can be found on my blog.  However, I feel I now have a better understanding of the term "Professionalism" and I will be applying the theories and ideas I have bullet pointed above from other Practitioners to inform my own writing for my Inquiry as well as the previous ones and use them all as a starting point for further exploration and research.     

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Boyt, T.E, Lusch, R.F and Naylor, G (2001) "The Role of Professionalism in determining job satisfaction in professional serivces; a study of marketing researchers.  Journal of Service Research, 3 (4), 321-330

Evans, Linda (2008) "Professionalism, professionality and the development of education professionals".  British Journal of Educational Studies, 56 (1). pp. 20-38

Evans, l (2002b) "Reflective Practice in Educational Research: Developing Advanced Skills, London, Continuum.

Hoyle, E (1975) "Professionality, professionalism and control in teaching.  In V. Houghton et al. (eds) "Management in Education: the Management of Organisations and Individuals, London, Ward Lock Educational in association with Open University Press.

Hoyle, E (2001) "Teaching: prestige, status and esteem, Educational Management & Administration, 29 (2), 139-152.

Holye, E and Wallace, M (2005) "Educational Leadership: Ambiguity, Professionals and Managerialism, London, Sage.

Lester. S (2015) "On professions and being professional", Taunton, UK, Stan Lester Developments

Sockett, H.T (1996) "Teachers for the 21st century: redefining professionalism, NASSP Bulletin, May, 1996, 22-29

Troman, G (1996) "The rise of the new professionals? The restructuring of primary teachers' work and professionalism, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 17 (4), 473-487.

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