Ethics and codes of practice, task 5a

Unfortunately I was unable to attend the campus session the other day but thanks to a few people (including Joanna and Jo) I feel I have been able to catch up on what I missed.  It seems that we are now looking at ethics and codes of practice.

The majority of the population abide by various sets of ethics in their everyday lives. These can be influenced by various characteristics and circumstances. Firstly, there are personal ethics which an individual may abide by. These can differ between individuals and could be influenced by; family values, religion and conscience. Personally I feel that most of my personal ethics are influenced by what my family believe in and therefore how I have been brought up. I personally have never rebelled against my family and have never really done anything against my parents’ wishes. I think this is because the ethics that I have been brought up with have been fair and I have been allowed to make my own decision but my parents have always been there to help and I heavily value their opinions. I also think that some of my personal ethics are influenced by my religion and culture. My faith is Jewish and while my family is not overly religious we abide by certain rules in order to respect our culture and our ancestors who stuck by their faith in order for us to be here today. My personal ethics just seem to come naturally and I don’t even think about having to follow a set of rules.

Professional ethics are things we may follow in a professional environment or place of work. At first I thought that these are things which I have only come across recently as I have only just become a professional but then I realised that I have actually been trained to follow these ethics for my whole life. From a young age at school we were taught to act in a professional way and abide by the same rules as the teacher e.g. standing up in silence when a teacher walks in to a room, being punctual and obeying all rules. We were told that these were things we would need to take with us to secondary school and then in to our future careers. These ethics have served me well and I have found that since entering professional situations I have used them without even having to think about it.

Again organisational ethics seem to be something I have learnt and been exposed to since a young age. At school we had to abide by the ethos of the organisation and there were repercussions if we did not adhere to them. This training has also served me well as now I do not have to think twice about complying with the rules of the organisation I am in e.g. signing in and out and taking a register at the schools I teach in.

With reference to task 5a I have come up with a code of practice that I follow as a dance teacher for children and fitness instructor for adults:

·         Always aiming to be punctual and start and finish the class on time

·         Presentation- appropriate clothing and footwear for the situation

·         Complying with legal rules e.g. having an up to date CRB check

·         Preparation- going to class prepared and having given it careful thought so the participants can get the most out of the time they are paying for

·         An awareness of the age group e.g. having appropriate music

·         Considering the health and safety of participants e.g. doing a thorough warm up and cool down and being aware of any injuries that anyone has

·         Complying with the rules of the organisation e.g. signing in and out, taking a register etc

·         Maintaining the ability to physically demonstrate

·         Maintaining energy and enthusiasm despite your own mood or circumstance

·         Being respectful to anything else going on in the building e.g. keeping music volume down if other classes are going on at the same time

·         Providing appropriate comfort to a child if they are upset- this could cause an ethical dilemma as you are not supposed to physically interact with a child, however if they are upset and in need of comfort is it acceptable to  give them a hug?

·         Informing a parent if a child is persistently naughty- another ethical dilemma as you don’t want the child to get in to trouble but does the parent have a right to know?

·         Treating all children equally and providing equal opportunities- again an ethical dilemma as while it is important to give the same teaching to all, do the more talented children need to be pushed more? How do you do this without causing friction?

New SIG thread on facebook page...

Hi everyone, just to let you all know that I started the first thread for a SIG on the facebook page just to get the ball rolling. I have called it 'The Television Industry' as this relates to my inquiry and is something I need to research, look in to and discuss. If this interests anyone else at all then please feel free to join and raise any interesting topics, thoughts, issues, questions etc or if you just have something which may be helpful to anyone else!

Developing a line of professional inquiry- creating a set of questions

I thought I knew what I would be interested to look into for my inquiry but since attending the campus session I have changed my mind! I realised that before I was just considering a broad topic that interests me rather than something that is more relevant to my practice and could help me professionally. It is also interesting to consider a question that possibly can’t be answered or may have various answers. Before the session I wanted to consider the importance of physique in the dance world and how this affects the health of a dancer and what problems are caused by this? However, since the session I have realised that I think I know the answer before starting the inquiry. Adesola suggested that it is not good to go in to an inquiry with a pre conceived idea of the answer or what you would like the answer to be.

Rosemary asked us what our big question is in relation to our professional practice. I realised that my big question at the moment is;

How do you break in to a new section of the industry?

I feel like I have been labelled a dancer because of where I have trained and what I do at the moment (dance teaching, cheerleading and fitness instructor). However, what I would really like to get in to is television presenting. I have been working on a show reel but breaking in to an industry that you are not part of is a real challenge. I have come across various obstacles so far which have raised further questions for me with regard to how you would go about becoming part of the industry.

Even though the dance and musical theatre worlds are definitely related to television they seem to be quite separate with not that many people crossing over between the two. However, I think that by researching the television world and what skills are needed I will be able to see how I can use the skills I gained from my training and from being in the dance world in to the television industry.  I think it is wrong to be branded as ‘a dancer’ or ‘a singer’ or ‘a presenter’. Why would a dancer not be able to be a presenter? Luckily skills are things that can be learnt or acquired and I feel that I personally have the ability to acquire the necessary skills to be a presenter. I just have to work out what they are, how to get them and then how to get in to this challenging industry.

I have come up with a set of sub questions to help me with my main question;

Main question:

- How do you break in to a new section of the industry?

Sub questions:

-What are the similarities and differences between the dance world and the television industry?

-How do you know where to start?

-Can anyone actually help?

-How do you prepare?

-Which of my previous skills and knowledge are still relevant and useful?

-Is it possible to make a smooth transition or is it like starting again?

-What are the pressures and demands of the television industry? Are they the same as the dance industry?

-How important is image and physique in television presenting compared to dancing? Is there the same pressure or does it promote a healthier image? What is the importance of diet and nutrition to a television presenter?

-What are the necessary skills to be a presenter?

-Is it more stable as a career compared to dancing? Are there more opportunities for a long lasting career?

-How has the image of a television presenter changed over time?

Campus session 08/02/2011

The campus session on Tuesday mainly revolved around starting to think of a line of professional inquiry. It was a helpful session as we were given tasks to lead up to the ‘big question’ rather than just trying to pluck a question out of thin air!

Firstly, Rosemary asked us to think about what skills were necessary for us to succeed and progress in our professional practice. Obviously this was different for everyone so she asked us to do it individually. After we had made a list of what skills and knowledge we need we were grouped with other people who shared a similar professional practice. I was with the ‘dance teachers’ and after we were grouped we shared our ideas. We then had to try and display them as an image or diagram rather than just words. We used a diamond shape and different colours to group our skills into categories. We had generic skills which are needed for nearly every profession e.g. time management, communication skills, networking, technology skills and professionalism. We then had skills which would be specific to dance teachers e.g. co ordination, choreography skills, music knowledge, to be fit and healthy, the ability to dance yourself and the ability to communicate with children. We then came up with a list of things which are specific requirements of your place of work e.g. CRB checks, insurance, music licence, keeping up to date with courses etc, safety measures such as signing in and out, taking a register, complying with the rules set out by the institution and complying with the company ethos. We then included some transdiciplinary elements which were; basic anatomy knowledge, child psychology, finance skills and basic business knowledge. We realised that we incorporate all these skills in to our professional practice as dance teachers without even realising it even though these  are not areas that we specialise in. We discussed that basic knowledge of these elements are more like common sense and are necessary to succeed in the business even though they  are not specific skills needed to be a dance teacher.

Rosemary then asked us ‘What is your big question in relation to your current professional practice’. The way this was phrased made me think differently about what I am actually interested in for my line of inquiry. I realised that it would be beneficial to do something which is relevant and may help me to progress in my practice rather than just researching a topic. We had to tell a partner what our big question was and then listen to theirs. We then had to find another partner and tell them the last question we heard and so on. We then discussed the questions as a group.

The question that I came up with was ‘How do you break in to a new section of the industry?’ I decided on this as this is what I am trying to do at the moment therefore is most relevant to my practice and could potentially help me in the future even if I never find out the exact answer! In my next blog I will look further in to this question and consider possible sub questions.

Lastly at the session we considered in groups the benefits and challenges of researching something as an insider. We decided that if you were an insider you may not be objective and may have pre conceived ideas of what the answers may be before you start the inquiry. However, we also thought it would be beneficial to be an insider as you would have easy access to information and already have a base knowledge before you start.

Developing a line of professional inquiry

When thinking about a set of questions relating to my professional practice I thought my first port of call should be to identify what my professional practice actually is. My ideal practice would be to get in to television presenting so while I am attempting to break in to a new and challenging industry, my current practice includes;

·         Dance teaching (children)

·         Fitness instructor (adults)

·         Cheerleading

The topic which I am most interested in is health, nutrition and fitness in the dance world and how the demand of obtaining a perfect physique can affect us mentally and physically in childhood and through to adulthood. This seems to be an ever appearing theme which crops up in every element of my professional practice. It has been apparent to me ever since a young age and something I have always been aware of due to my involvement with dancing. While at college this problem became a reality for me so it is something I feel strongly about. It affected my performance and well being and influenced the rest of my life. Now I would like to work towards one day being able to help people with eating disorders and nutrition problems. Therefore, I have decided this would be an appropriate topic for me to inquire about.

When teaching children I notice they are conscious of their appearance when they look in the mirror even from as young as the age of 6 or 7. At dance auditions appearance and physique seems to be what you are judged on over your talent as a dancer. This can affect dancers mentally and physically, hence the reason that many dancers suffer as a result of this pressure. When I am cheerleading it is more apparent than ever as our uniform suggests that physique is the most important factor. Ironically, the industry that I notice the pressure least in is the fitness industry. This is an interesting factor which I will be researching more in to.

The questions I have come up with to further investigate this topic are:

·         In the majority of dance auditions why is it that physique often overrides talent? Is this always the case? Is this fair on talented hardworking dancers who don’t have the right physique or is it just something we have to accept as it will always be the case?

·         How does our health and nutrition affect our everyday lives as well as our professional practice?

·         At what point does a healthy awareness of nutrition become an obsession with food and image?

·         Is this unbalanced perspective caused from being in an enclosed environment such as a dance college? How do we gain a healthier perspective? To what extent does a closed environment amplify certain problems and change your priorities?

·         How important is our health and nutrition to our career?

·         Is it worth lacking nutrition at the expense of making you miserable or even ill?

·         To what extent is the media responsible for our attitude towards what looks healthy and what doesn’t?

·         How does health and nutrition affect injury in dancers? Is it worth risking injury and illness?

·         How does your health and nutrition affect your employability? Positively or negatively? Is a lack of nutrition a barrier to finding employment or does it create a physique which is now employable and desirable?

·         Are all dancers’ priorities the same or is it an old fashioned stereotype?

·         What are the differences between a controlled environment (e.g. a college) and a free environment (e.g. the real world). How does being in these different environments affect your priorities, attitude and perspective?

·         Does a controlled environment make you institutionalised and cloned?

·         How many other industries is appearance of the upmost importance?

·         Is the talent of a dancer affected by their weight or are the two factors mutually exclusive?

·         Does the dance industry attract a certain type of person or does it make you in to that person?

·         The fitness industry promotes a much healthier view and image of what it is to be talented and healthy. Is it possible to transfer this in to the dance world and If so how would you go about doing this?

·         How beneficial is training in an institution with so much pressure? Why do some people thrive on pressure and others crumble under it?