After reviewing Reader 4 on Developing Lines of Professional Inquiry I have reviewed my previous thoughts on the route of inquiry I was going to look into, which was maintaining a professional dance career. I wanted to incorporate the work I had previously done in Module one and use the topic area of what I love doing the most (touring) into my line of inquiry. There was a particular paragraph that made me understand what the inquiry should be based around, ’The term inquiry implies that you are examining what you do in order to ‘ask the right questions’ so that you will have a more-in-depth understanding of the presence and interaction of theory and practice. Inquiry based learning expects the adult learner to engage with relevant problems and scenarios, draw on existing knowledge, seek out new evidence, and analyse and present that evidence in appropriate ways’ Kahn and O’Rourke, 2004.
From this I want to look into further detail the different areas that make a performing arts touring show successful, looking at the performers experiences on and off stage. As explained in Reader 4, I want to use my own experiences and knowledge to gain more information on this topic area. I decided to develop and talk through some ideas with my Dance Captain, to get her insight on the topic and whether she saw it relevant in our workplace. I started by asking her the following questions and here were her responses:
1). What do you enjoy about touring with a show? The aspect I enjoy the most about touring is being in different places and not knowing what it’s going to be like, almost like a new challenge each time.
2). What don’t you enjoy about touring with a show? I don’t like living out of a suitcase and taking my stuff around with me everywhere.
3). Are there any aspects that are easier/better when touring a show rather than staying in house? I wouldn’t necessarily say that anything is easier when touring, however there isn’t much boredom whilst touring as each place is usually so different and therefore it is more exciting.
4). Are there any aspects that are harder/worse when touring rather than staying in house? There are a lot of aspects that are harder whilst touring, one mainly being not knowing what place you are going to and not knowing what the facilities and staging is going to be like. The travelling and tiredness are also very overwhelming on tour.
5). What could be improved in performing arts touring shows, with regards to the performers experience on and off stage? Depending on the company you work for and the conditions that you are in, but mainly it could be improved by the preparation that goes into the tour. Knowing what to expect when it comes to the culture you are touring around, what the food is going to be like is a particularly big factor, as a dancers’ diet is very important for nutrition and wellbeing in order to look after our bodies and to prevent injuries. Knowing what the rules and regulations are also very important in order to know how to behave and what you can wear.
After discussing with my Dance Captain her thoughts I have noticed that culture could play a big part in the experiences of dancers whilst on tour. This is something I would like to explore more.
There is a section within Reader 4 that talks about the idea of a ‘transdisciplinary’ approach with regards to knowledge. ‘Transdisciplinary’ means ‘a wider scope of understanding that crosses the boundaries of disciplines.’ Reader 4, p.10. The idea discusses how it can be useful to use knowledge from different disciplines to help with another. For example the success of a touring show is not just about how good the performance is but it’s success can depend on the marketing and advertisement the show has had in each area, how much the ticket prices are, the accessibility to get to the show, the conditions of tour life etc. Therefore it is important to use your knowledge from different disciplines in order to gain a wider knowledge. Gibbons et al. initiated an idea called ‘Mode 2’ this is mainly referred to in scientific inquires however one of the points of Mode 2 helped me understand this term a lot more, ‘2. Mode 2 knowledge production is transdisicplinary, which means it uses a range of theoretical perspectives and practical methodologies to solve problems […]’ (Gibbons, 2008, online). When I first read about this I was very closed minded and thought that the workplace I work within is in a disciplinary context and not transdisciplinary, however after discussing with my Dance Captain and answering the questions in Reader 4 she made me see that there are different aspects to our professional practice that can cross into different disciplines. Although this is possible it is an area I could improve in for my own professional practice to explore a different side to the area that I work in. Looking at these questions in Reader 4:
Do you work within a disciplinary context in the arts? Or is your situation transdisciplinary?
Dancing is disciplinary, however when looking at performing arts touring shows, it is transdisciplinary. Touring involves, marketing, advertising, business, and logistics.
What do you know?
My skills are in dancing and my wellbeing (looking after my body to prevent injuries) and the choreography for the shows.
How do you know it?
I have has the appropriate training and rehearsing needed.
Make a brief list of your competencies and capabilities.
- The ability to perform a wide range of dance styles
- Knowledge of different dance styles
- The ability to learn new choreography
- Knowledge of health and nutrition
What knowledge and skills do you think you will need for the future?
I will need to learn how to prepare more efficiently for tours and have a wider knowledge of the business side of a tour.
Looking at Martyn Denscombe insight on what the propose of the inquiry topic might act to do helped me to pin point what I would possibly want to do. The options were:
Forecast some outcome?
Explain the causes or consequences of something?
Criticize or evaluate something?
Describe something?
Develop good practice?
Empower a particular group (2002, p. 41)
After researching what I would like to base my inquiry on, I will go back and look at these questions to help pinpoint what I am planning for my inquiry.
References
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