Reader 4: Answering Questions

For me to answer this  question:"Are there any ideas from work based or organisational knowledge theories of learning that could be used to understand your own professional inquiry?" precisely I believe I have to categories my profession into 3 sections; Dancer, Choreographer and Teacher.

As a dancer my job is to retain choreography quickly, execute movements precisely and to perform in a professional manner. I am currently training in two of the biggest studios in Los Angeles, USA and I’m learning that being a dancer is a state of mind that must be programmed into your brain through training. It takes time and a lot of classes to train your mind to retain, execute and perform efficiently. I see this whole process as a sector named, “Being a Dancer”. I believe the learning tool here is to analyse different methods when picking up and executing, and decide on what methods work best for you.  I have been critically reflecting my performance when training and came up with a thought process I name “Controlled Shapes with Reason”. “Controlled shapes…” Makes it clear to me that I have to execute certain positions in a controlled way keep my movements clean. “… With Reason” Enables me to decide my thought process when getting to the shape. Whatever my reason is will determine the texture and facial performance I decided to use.  Coming up with the thought process “Controlled Shapes with Reason” was inspired by many thought processes I have learnt through life, which sometimes makes learning very confusing as I find myself having to use different learning tools in different classes to retain different criteria, hence why I came up with one short phrase to help me with, not all, but most of my areas of improvement. As a result of this I would but “Being a Dance” under the category of transdiciplinary.

As a choreographer I believe this topic can be put into one disciplinary category. Whilst in LA I am surrounded and am learning off amazing teachers and choreographers. As a choreographer myself I begin to ask myself why and how did they produce each movement or section? This then enables me to understand his/her choreographic methods. I have been recently working out  my own choreographic methods, so that I have a better understanding of myself as a choreographer. I feel like the learning tool here is to analyse, evaluate and then to pick out what may help or inspire me.  However I believe it is essential to understand that you must not lose your own individuality – “Innovate don’t imitate”   

As a teacher, again I see my practice as a disciplinary as just like it states in the Reader, as my knowledge is usually characterised  by boundaries such as “Street Dance” “Contemporary” depending on what I am teaching. However as a self-employed dancer, who also teaches the approach of my knowledge can come under “Inter-discipline” due to the fact of me using knowledge from both of my practices.

Barnet (2000, 2007) acknowledges that carrying “multiple learning tools” and then identifying, which learning tool to use in a specific situation may be confusing, due to us living in a world that is characterised also increasingly, by uncertainty”. As explained before I am currently training in Los Angeles. I have been using my journal and other reflecting methods discussed in module 1 to critically reflect what “Learning tools” work best for me as a dancer. I have evaluated and analysed many of the “learning tools” I have been learning when taken part in dance classes. The constant question I ask myself is “When is it right to use the specific learning tool?” This is where things can get confusing. However, I have worked out, the more I take class the more I understand when to use the correct learning tool.

Reader 4 asks me the questions, “what do I know? And how do I know it”. At first I found this question difficult but after taking some time to reflect on my practice and how I make a living, through my practice; the answer was easy “Dance”. However, they are many aspects of dance, some I believe I am stronger in than others.

I believe dance is what I know due to my passion for the Art and due to me being lucky enough to have been taught by amazing dancers and choreographers who are also amazing teachers.  Within my journal I have stated the expressions “Success is a journey, not a destination”. To me this means in order to be successful you must constantly be learning in order to keep success persistent. As in my opinion, you can’t just stop one day and say “I am successful”, you must continue on the journey, creating something that lives on forever. As a result of this “What I know” and “How I know it” will be a never ending journey and as a teacher I will pass on my knowledge to the next person who can then do the same, this is a cycle, which I believe may live on forever.

I was then asked to find points within the Reader that will help develop my topic/investigation.  When I first read this question I found it hard to answer as I wasn’t yet 100% sure on what I wanted to investigate, therefore I didn’t know exactly where to start.

When reading further through the reader (4) I noticed a paragraph quoted by Hanstein (1999, p.27). This paragraph enabled me to think of questions that would provide an interesting and  meaningful investigation. Rainbow and Froehitch pointed out that “a question differentiation should be made between genuine questions and pseudo questions”. This made me aware that I am not looking for questions to discover a yes or a no answer but instead I am looking for a questions that will provide my topic with important issues and factors that will provide my investigation with depth and also provide me with other questions, still to discover. I was also interested in the questions stated by Denscombe in the reader. The questions stated all gave the investigation a purpose, which should benefit wither your practice or enable you to open up your mind, creating new ideas for the future.

Through my journey as a dancer I often ask myself questions and through other peoples blogs other questions have come to mind.

Previously in this sections of the module, I explained that to answer certain question I have to break my profession up into 3 aspects Dance, Choreographer and Teacher. When having to state my profession, for example on my CV, the order in which II write my profession down can state, which aspect I am stronger in. For example: Dance, Choreographer, Teacher. Some people may take this as I am a Strong Dancer, who can choreograph and teach. My question here would state: In what order do I label my professions? Do I label it in order, starting with the profession I believe I am the most strongest in or do I label it to benefit the job I am applying for?

Another couple of questions that have come to mind are:

Does a strong dancer mean a strong choreographer?

Does a strong dancer mean a strong teacher?

I believe all the questions above will benefit my practice as at the end of the investigation I will have looked more in depth at these, giving myself more knowledge and a further understanding of my profession in several aspects. I also believe using these questions within my investigation may give

me a better understanding of the path I actually want to go down within my career, the path that brings me happiness, which is where success lies.  Another question I often ask myself is “Do I want to go down the commercial route as a dancer or not?” As I am unsure if I the commercial route will provide my life with happiness and if I do it am I just doing it because that’s what I have been made to believe I am supposed to do.

This question I found very difficult to answer because these are questions I’ve kept to myself and never really spoke about to my friends and colleagues. I have an idea, that some colleagues may believe I doubt myself when I explain, which aspects within dance I believe am stronger in than others, however, I am my own critique. Also, it will be interesting when I ask the people that employ me if they see me as a dancer, choreographer or teacher.

I will be asking me questions/ researching with my friends and colleagues. I will be asking the people who employ me to work, the people I work with, my students and regular friends and family. I think it will be good to get all these different points of view and compare, who’s view is more important to my profession and why. I believe this will help my practice, within the sense of how I should promote and sell my practice.

Can you 'theorise' your own worker-researcher position?As a self-employed freelance, dancer teacher and choreographer I don’t work for just one establishment and I don’t just have one role within my practice, and though my investigation I want to find out unanswered questions I have about my practice and will be using people from all different establishments to enable me to get a versatile and more precise answers and reasons, from the questions I ask.

I don’t believe I have just one SIG. However there is one SIG I will probably use for my research slightly more and this is th team and agency I work for named “SOAR”. Within this establishment, I teach students, I choreograph and dance for professionally and I work closely with other professionals, who I class also as my good friends. As a result of this I have good diverse opinions within my investigation. However, so my investigation isn’t biased in any way I will also be sharing my research with people who I am not so close to.

I will use my SIG by asking people from different establishments and who’s relationships I am close with and people I am not so close with. I will also Interview most of these people so I can get a more in depth answer, which I am hoping will consequently provide me with more questions so that I can further my investigation, giving me a more precise result at the end of the investigation.

Like in Module one when we had to record our self on YouTube I think I could use the same method as a way of providing evidence to my profession enquiry. However, I would have to see what participants would be ok with being interviewed and if they would be ok with their views being shown publicly. I must keep in mind that I need an honest and reliable answer to my questions and this may mean that the participants want some privacy.