jueves, 24 de noviembre de 2016

BAPP Task 3d Critical questions and issues that emerge

The task 3d of the Module 1 of the BA (Hons) in Professional Practice at the Middlesex University consists of reflecting and think critically about what you have been doing to date in Module 1 through answering the questions below, also it is important that we posting in other students blog that have captured our attention and thinking.

Prior answering the following questions, I would like to say that this Module 1 has been an incredible process of learning and re-learning many things that I already knew or that I thought I knew, especially in the Part 3 of Networking.

- Do some very specific ideas emerge about your networking and sources? Does your engagement to date seem appropriate? Limited? Focused? Planned? Unplanned?
After completing this Part 3 of the Module 1 of the BAPP Course, I feel that I have learnt so much from it, as I have said many times through this process of the Networking, for me it was a re-learning due to I already knew some parts, because since I started my professional career last year I already engaged quite a lot of this networking, however it was really interesting to check what I have done as well as to increase my knowledge and improve it in the future. In my opinion I feel that I have engaged quite a lot in this course through my blog as well as other students blogs and other social media plus all of our Module Programmes & Readers, but as always there is more you can do, therefore I will engage more in the next Module and so on, because you can always get better and improve what you have done in life.

- Are your ideas, position or concerns shared by others within and/or beyond your professional area of work?
In many cases, I think I share my ideas, positions and concerns with others people that are related in my professional work, for example in my company when the Christmas season is coming we are all concern that the work load is going to increase because of Nutcracker, or when we are creating a new premiere I always try to share my ideas both with the choreographer & dancers so we have a better cooperation and at the end create a better work. As artist we are always sharing knowledge and ideas, this is the creative process itself, so when it is very important that we share with everyone so we can have a better process, the knowledge and ideas will aid you to become a better artist.

- Does sharing ideas and communicating with others shift your thinking, planning or practice?
Of course, for me, it is very important the communication with other people so I can always have other opinions and points of view of my work and other issues, I´m like a sponge, I try to absorbe as many things as I can so slowly I´m introducing in my work to improve and progress as an artist, I believe that life is a process itself, so you have to always have appetite for knowledge.

- Does critical reflection help you decide what really matters and the actions to take?
Yes it does. For me, critical reflection helps me to analyse what I have done, how I have done and how can I improve it in the future. It ´s an essential process for every person to keep progressing in their professional and personal life. In my case prior even moving to London in 2011 I was already some write reflection, however now thanks to this BAPP Course I´m improving these skills quite importantly.

- To what extent do concepts and theories assist you in thinking about your professional networking in different ways? And do these different ways of thinking have some purpose for you?
Before this BAPP Course I have Heard of those concepts and had vague idea of what they really meant. After studying them, definitely assist me in my thinking and have a purpose for me, for example in my case I used a lot Social Constructionism and Social Practice, because they were incredible useful to build my Professional Networks in the pasts years, and now to improve and increase those networks I will introduce the other 3 concepts: Cooperation, Affiliation and Connectivism.

- Are you left thinking differently prior to this part of the module? And if so, how?
Absolutely, the Module 1 of this BAPP Course at the Middlesex has helped to change my way of thinking in order to have a deeper understanding of those concepts so I can approach them differently in a much more mature way. Also for other professional aspects of my work it is also helping a lot to improve them in quite unexpected but fantastic ways (such as new ways to act to some things, or new ways to create better networkings)

Now that I have finished all the tasks of Module 1, it is time to get started with the Assignment of it, and keep checking the blog with the new tasks from Module 2 early next year!

Gonzalo


lunes, 21 de noviembre de 2016

BAPP Task 3c Sources of Information

The task 3c of the Module 1 of the BA (Hons) in Professional Practice at the Middlesex University consists of identifying your current 5 most important sources of information and create a post about them in our blogs, also should we should include references to other student´s posts and how
They might be useful to us and we need to reflect about any copyright or confidentiality issues that may be involved in the sources that we have chosen.

Nowadays there are many sources of information, in fact this is the time that humanity has had information so easy accessible, thanks to a worldwide connection called Internet. In my case when I am developing a new work (Choreography, articles, research….), there are many sources of information that I try to use, so I can be as accurate as possible, I use a mix between the traditional way of getting information (Books, magazines, photography…) and the new technological ways (Google, Social Media….), therefore these are my 5 main sources of information and the order that I use them:

1- Google
When I am starting a new work, a new process of creation of something, I always start by searching it on Google, it gives me a brainstorm of ideas, a bunch of information that I will have to order while the process of creation is being developed, for me is key to have many different ideas about that specific project so the process of creation consists of putting all the pieces of that “puzzle together”.



2- Wikipedia
Usually when I type the subject in Google, one of the first entrances is Wikipedia, the biggest encyclopaedia ever created, with millions of articles in dozens of language. When you are doing an academic essay, usually Wikipedia is forbidden, due to its inaccuracy. However, I think it is a mistake, because Wikipedia is not a place where you will find the most accurate information about the subject that you are looking for, it is a starting point so you can develop it by yourself by using more specific sources of that subject (Magazines, webpages….) But I´m favourable of the use of Wikipedia as a starting point for a research, of course not to take all of the information of it as accurate, or to quote phrases from Wikipedia. Because this is the goal of Wikipedia, a starting point, a link between all the human knowledge, that with decades it will be developed to be more accurate.

3- Social Media
Also when you type on Google your subject of research are on the first entrances that you will see, for me is very interesting to see those, not only to see the information that they post about their work (Companies, dancers, writers….) but also for the network that they have created between them with other creators, audience…. It is a great tool to expand your own knowledge about that subject by observing that so you can increase your own network too.



4- Books, Magazines & Printed works about that theme
After I have done the first research through the new technological way (Google, Social media…), it is time to transform this brainstorm of ideas into a much more defined work, therefore, I use more specific sources of that subject (Books, Magazines, essays…) in order to increase my knowledge of it, as well as to contrast the information that I already have about it, so I can have as many point of views, so I can create my own.




5- Multimedia Resources (Films & Documentaries) about that theme
In this last process of ordering my ideas, multimedia resources are key, because  “a photography speaks more than a thousand words”, therefore by looking or viewing something it will give some ideas or another point of view that will improve your work, it is a very important source to complete your work.

In terms of Copyrights issues and Confidentiality I must say that when you are using a source of information you need to acknowledge that, you need to prove where this information is coming from.

Finally I would like to re-say how important it is to have a wide range of sources of information, it will be many different points of view and a much more accurate and interesting work that you will create.


Gonzalo

viernes, 18 de noviembre de 2016

BAPP Task 3b Theories relating to networking

The task 3b of the Module 1 of the BA (Hons) in Professional Practice at the Middlesex University consists based on Reader 3 on the Networked Professional, reflect critically on the concepts that are given and if possible bring in other concepts and perspectives to explore the value these concepts provide to you so you can understand your professional practice in a deeper way.

For me reading the Reader 3 of the BAPP Arts, Networked Professional, was a really interesting, because before that I already knew the importance of Networking and I have been doing since I started my professional career last year through different paths such as the Institutions that I have been working for, or Social Media. In this Reader we are first introduced with the term of Professional Network:
“A work related community held together by either close working affiliation or more distant but common work interests or needs’”

Middlesex University (2012) BAPP (Arts) Reader 3, Institute of Work Based Learning, London: Middlesex University

After having defined this key term, they introduced us the most important concepts related to them: Cooperation, Affiliation, Social Constructionism, Connectivism and Communities of Practice. These ideas are not only theories that we have to learn like parrots, but they are more like a starting point to get us introduced in this whole process of Networking. Here you will see these concepts described a bit more with some examples that I have found interesting to describe them.

Cooperation
It is a term that it is closely associated with Game Theory, a set of ideas that been developed mathematicians to solve problems in many areas such as sociology, economics or biology. One of the most important researchers in this fields is Robert Axelrod, in one of his key works, The Evolution of cooperation (1984) he established that:

“The importance of the notion of cooperation, and in particular, the benefits of cooperating fully with others, until you reach a point of maximum benefit, and then to ‘defect”

Axelrod, R. (1984) The evolution of cooperation. London: Penguin.

His theories are best exemplified at the game of  “Prisoner’s Dilemma” (That you can see a photo below). Game Theory is important due to it put his focus on the results of cooperation and the decisions to cooperate, or not. Axelrod argued for patterns and typical interactions so that they produce more effective results. A clear example of that is the “Prisoner’s Dilemma” however the durability of the “cooperate until maximum benefit produced then defect” suggests underlying and real patterns of behaviour.


Affiliation
It is a concept in the field of social psychology, that tries to explain how humans enjoy and benefit from affiliations with others and the reasons why humans creating close relationships as a social result of the psychological processes that are happening in our brains. One of the main researchers of this concept is Crisp & Turner that hey established in his work, Essential social psychology (2007) that Affiliation is explained as:

“Social process that provides us with a network of support that will help us when we are in need”
 Crisp, J & Turner, R. (2007) Essential social psychology. London: Sage

Relating to our main theme of professional networking, this social psychological perspective of Affiliation provides us with a social, psychological and evolutionary concept. This suggests that we have an innate need to network professionally and personally, indeed in all human range activities.

Social Constructionism

"Social constructionism is a one of a set of related explanations about how meanings about the world are made"

Middlesex University (2012) BAPP (Arts) Reader 3, Institute of Work Based Learning, London: Middlesex University

This is the introduction of the concept at the Reader 3 of the BAPP. One of the most important principles of it that through the social interaction, humans create meanings of the world and their experiences that they have had of it. Social Constructionism emphasises on the larger social processes so therefore it is key to understand when we think and try to understand the term of networking. This theory is really useful in the industry of performing arts because a lot of the work is about making a decision or having an opinion of yourself, not just listening of what people say of think about you, therefore you have to be unique, you have to be different in order to have a voice in this industry, and Social Constructionism helps you to develop those skills.

Connectivism
Reading the extract Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age (2004) by G. Siemens was really interesting for me to understand better this term that I thought what it meant enough before reading this, however I was wrong there is much more things that I would have never expected.

“Connectivism is a theory about learning influenced by ideas about the organisation of learning and information with special reference to the spread of the Internet”

Middlesex University (2012) BAPP (Arts) Reader 3, Institute of Work Based Learning, London: Middlesex University

When it comes to the Professional Network this theory gives us an explanation about how this network both learn and provide the meaning to the humans so we can connect and learn through that.

Communities of Practice
This idea of Communities of Practice has been developed in the field of social science. It aims to explain learning as well as the process of engagement in a social relationship. One of the main researchers of this concept, Lave and Wegner, through their work Situated Learning. Legitimate peripheral participation (1991), they suggested that:

“Learning can derive from if learning situations of co-participation and the term ‘situated learning’ was coined”

Middlesex University (2012) BAPP (Arts) Reader 3, Institute of Work Based Learning, London: Middlesex University

In my opinion this is one of the most important concepts of Professional Networking, at least, for my field, dance and performing arts, due it is really important to create our own circles of contacts in our networks in order to developed better our work.
Having said and explored all of these concepts, also it is importance to mention the issue about the Ethical Considerations for Networking, due now networking is a very easy thing because of Web 2.0 technologies, therefore, now we need to focus on what we share, due to in the social media, we cannot post anything that we want too, we need to think carefully about it before we post anything, for example a photo that many people appeared on it, then we need to have the approval of them to post it, before we do so.

Finally I would like to say that reading and exploring all of those concepts has been quite an intriguing and interesting process, because like almost everyone I thought what networking meant and the importance of it before starting this task, however there is so much that I have learnt that I didn´t have any idea that could be related and included in it, therefore I highly recommend to everyone to explore these concepts more by yourself so you discover how much you can learn from them!

Gonzalo

Bibliography:
- Middlesex University (2012) BAPP (Arts) Reader 3, Institute of Work Based Learning, London: Middlesex University

- Axelrod, R. (1984) The evolution of cooperation. London: Penguin.

- Crisp, J & Turner, R. (2007) Essential social psychology. London: Sage

- Crotty. M. (2005) The foundations of social research: meaning and perspectives in the research process, London: Sage.

- Siemens, G. (2004) Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm (Accessed 14 October 2016)

- Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Learning. Legitimate peripheral participation, Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.