Skype with Paula

Last Monday I had a Skype tutorial with Paula.   I have written a summary of the points we discussed below:

• We both agreed "Professionalism" would be a better word to use in my main inquiry topic instead of "Employability".  This is because I feel it is more personal/ direct to what I want to research as it allows me to explore what traits myself and other Freelance Dancers, as working professionals, need in order to enhance our careers, rather than focussing on the term employment.  

Photo - (http://www.quotehd.com/quotes/frank-tyger-quote-professionalism-is-knowing-how-to-do-it-when-to-do-it-and)

• We discussed the meaning of what an idea or theory is.  Paula gave me the link to a very useful article which helped me to understand these terms in more depth. Below is the link to this article taken from, "A Dictionary of the social sciences eds. J Gould and W. Kolb, Free Press, 1964."

 http://www.lse.ac.uk/researchAndExpertise/units/gellner/Concept.html 

The definitions that stood out to me were: 

• " Defined as an aspect of thought, a concept is a kind of unit in terms of which one thinks; a unit smaller than a judgement, proposition, or theory, but one which necessarily enters into these".  

• " In as far as given theories require certain concepts, and in as far as concepts can be said to incorporate theories, there is no sharp line between choice of theories and choice of concepts". 

• "In philosophy and the social sciences (and other sciences too) concepts enter as (a) the most general tools of inquiry as such and as (b) the content or object of some specific inquiries, notably in comparative studies." 

• We also discussed if there were any ideas from practitioners from my previous literature that I thought would help inform my own writing and how it is important to keep reviewing literature to develop ideas.  I want to find four or five ideas/theories on Professionalism from other Practitioners that I can apply to my own writing and practice to develop my Inquiry.

• As I am interviewing my Employers to gain a different professional view on my inquiry topic, the word "assumption" was discussed.  We spoke about how this is a very useful method of practitioner research as it will be questioning my point of view and assumptions and seeing if they are similar or if they differ from theirs.  By questioning my point of view it will allow me to explore other avenues and therefore develop my thinking.  This will help me to grow as a professional and not remain on one level with "blinkers" on.

As I am now using the word Professionalism in my inquiry topic instead of Employability, I have been experimenting with different questions to have as an "Umbrella Question" for my inquiry topic, but I think the question below sums up what I want to research best.   

"How can a Freelance Dancer achieve optimal professionalism whilst seeking and securing work?"

I would love to know your thoughts on this question. 


Paula sent me the link to an article "On Professions and being a Professional" by Stan Lester. 

http://devmts.org.uk/profnal.pdf

I will be writing a Literature Review on this article within the next week, as well as reviewing the book "Professionalism in Dance Education" by Susan R. Koff and Gianna Limone Mistry.  I feel both of these pieces of literature will be helpful in defining what Professionalism is and how I can relate it to my own professional practice. 

This week I will be completing my consent forms and arranging dates and times to conduct my Interviews and Focus Group.  I will also be reviewing the literature discussed above and I will be sharing these reviews with you all via another blog, as well as any ideas/theories I find from practitioners which I can apply to my Inquiry.   I am hoping to conduct my Practitioner Research within the next couple of weeks and am intrigued to analyse the findings. 

So.....there is lots to be getting on with!!!!