Please answer my survey!! Thank you!!

Hi everyone, I would really appreciate it if you could take a couple of minutes to answer my survey. I created it on Survey Monkey as advised by Paula at the campus session. Your answers will hopefully help me plan my inquiry so I would be really grateful if you could spare a few moments of your time and click on this link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/J22VDJ9

Thank you!!

5c. Reader on professional ethics and how the theories relate to my professional practice

There are three main contexts in which ethics can be applied to our lives. These are as follows:

1.   PERSONAL

This relates to the principles of an individual and the way they behave in their everyday life. These are formed by; family values, religion and conscience. It occurred to me that this could also relate to the argument of nature vs. nurture as we could debate the degree of what ethical standards we are born with and what is influenced by our surrounding and upbringing. If a parent has the view that stealing is wrong and has told the child this throughout their life and the child has never witnessed the parent stealing then is it in the capability of that child to grow up and be a thief? Is it instilled in them from day one no matter what morals they are brought up with or does it have to be triggered by something in their life? Have they seen a friend steal and learnt it from there or was it an inevitable outcome?

I believe that our personal ethics are heavily influenced by our family and upbringing. When I am having a dilemma or problem I always think...’what would my mum do?!’ This is because I feel my parents have formed my personal ethics and what I would consider to be the right thing to do, hence the reason I always seek advice from them. However, some people I know are completely different to their parents and have rebelled against the ethical codes they were brought up with. Perhaps this is because they were too strongly enforced on them when they were younger so they feel the need to break away. I think that something has to trigger this and you can’t be born a criminal.

2.   PROFESSIONAL

Professional ethics have evolved from the ways of particular professions such as the medical profession. I have come across many different sets of professional ethics in my career so far and these are often expressed as a code of conduct. I have come across the professional ethics of a dance teacher which were set out in a written contract and were in aid of benefiting the children and the reputation of the company. I also use my personal ethics in a professional situation and I think I have always acted appropriately in the professional environment. I have also come across the professional ethics of a cheerleader working under a big name and advertising a massive company. For this there is also a written code of conduct stating the way to behave, look and dress. It is forbidden to wear clothes branded with any other make to arrive or leave and in order to keep the job I have to adhere to the code of conduct and use my common sense as well when interacting with people at the matches. As a fitness instructor teaching group exercise classes in gyms I have also come across professional ethic here. These have mainly centred on reliability and the smooth running of the class timetable. Members turn up for a class and if you are not there, the class cannot run and the club have to extensively apologise to their members and refund some of their months membership. So to be blunt you have to be there, if you are ill you have to find cover, if there is no one to cover you have to go anyway otherwise there will be 30 members waiting for an hour in a studio and a very unhappy employer.

3.   ORGANISATIONAL

This refers to the established ‘ethos’ of an organisation. This is linked to professional ethics but more of a general understanding of the way things work in one particular establishment. As a self employed dance teacher and fitness instructor I don’t have just one employer, I am employed by various organisations, be it dancing schools or fitness clubs to go and do classes. So I do no more than a couple of hours per week in each place and I literally go in, do my class, sign the folder, and leave an hour later. This means that I am not a major part of one establishment. This is the way with all fitness instructors and it is a good way to get experience of lots of different organisations. However, even from spending such a small amount of time in each place it is clear to me that each establishment does things in a different way even if they are a different branch of the same major chain (I’m not sure what the rules are with regard to mentioning big companies and how they operate so i’m going to play safe!). Each different place wants invoices in on a different day of the month, one wants them e mailed, another wants them hand delivered, the folders are different, the members are different etc etc.

The common factor with these three ethical contexts (personal, professional and organisational) is that the purpose of them all is to promote social good. This links to religion as religion was created to keep order when there was no official law. Religion used to be essential to promote a civilised way of life as they were able to establish simple laws (i.e. the Ten Commandments) which the community would abide by as they now had religion to believe in. It was the first law like structure and has been developed through time to give us the system we have today. However, the aim of promoting social good is still the same.

Theoretical approaches to ethics

1.   CONSEQUENTIALISM

This refers to a theory of moral obligation developed by JS Mill (1861) and suggests that the best way to make a decision is to choose the option that produces the greatest good for the greatest number. Therefore, an action which may usually be considered wrong i.e. lying could be justified by circumstance if the outcome was to benefit a larger amount of people.

2.   DEONTOLOGY

Immanuel Kant (1779) believed in a rule based theory that an action is either right or wrong no matter what the circumstances are. Everything is black and white and there is no grey area and no exceptions.

In my professional practice I have found that this is not always as simple as it seems. On first thought I would have said that I think most things should be either right or wrong but since working with children I have realised this is hard to abide by. Sometimes when I tell a child that something they have done is good, it may not actually be the truth. Obviously I try and give praise where it is deserved but if at the end of a class I haven’t given one of the children a single bit of praise and they are looking disheartened then I will say good to them the last time we do the dance. Theoretically this is sometimes a white lie as they may not be particularly good but can that be classed as morally wrong? Surely not? They are only 6 and if it helps encourage the child to come back the next week and feel they have achieved then I think it is justified.

3.   VIRTUE ETHICS

This relates to the character of the person rather than the actions they take. Therefore more importance is placed on being than doing (Plato and Aristotle).

When researching the Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle who were mentioned in the reader, I came across another Greek philosopher with a different theory. Socrates (469BC-399BC) was a Greek philosopher who believed that people always do naturally what is right and bad or evil actions are simply a result of ignorance. Therefore, if someone has committed a crime they have done it because they weren’t aware that it was wrong or to them it was not wrong. He believed that if the person had known or thought it was wrong they would not have done it. This interested me because I strongly disagree. When someone has done something wrong I am sure that they know it is wrong, hence the reason why people lie about their actions. They would not need to lie of they thought they were right. This also made me think of the children I teach. Even children as young as 5 know when they have been naughty. If they have done something in my class e.g. been messing around then they know this is wrong because they try to lie about it first and then they say sorry. Maybe some criminals who carry out bad actions on a daily basis genuinely don’t think they are doing anything wrong as it is a way of life for them and is a habit so they would do it without even thinking. Can you convince yourself that something is right? Even if you do, deep down do you actually believe it?

The case study with the photograph taken by Kevin Carter is an interesting example of a professional ethical dilema. Should he abide by the criteria of his job description or break the guidelines and help the impoverished girl? While this is an interesting dilemma I don’t think it is as simple as that. There must have been other factors in the dilemma such as the fact that the girl probably didn’t die purely as a result of Carter not helping her towards the water. She may have still died at the same time even if she had some water due to the fact that she was probably already ill, diseased, malnourished and dehydrated. Also, do we know that he committed suicide as a direct result from this incident? I feel like this incident may be edited information. He must have seen many disturbing things in his life being a photographer so maybe this contributed to his suicide as well?

There are many ethical issues and dilemmas which we are exposed to everyday and since studying this topic I have become aware of how many times a day I consult my personal ethics and beliefs to work out what to do. There are always things on the news where people have differing views on a topic because they have different morals and values. For example there are different beliefs regarding arranged marriages and homosexuality. I think that your personal beliefs are determined by your religion, upbringing and personal experience. There was recently a case in the media about a Christian couple who owned a bed and bed breakfast hotel and wanted to ban gay couples from staying there as they didn’t believe in homosexuality. This caused a lot of controversy as some felt they were justified to abide by their religion and others felt it was discriminating.

I personally don’t think we should use the term ‘I don’t believe in....’. To me it doesn’t make sense. You can’t not believe in homosexuality because it exists and it happens. The term infers that you refuse to think that is exists. I think that just because you don’t engage in something yourself it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist or shouldn’t exist for that matter. I am Jewish and have come across anti Semitism in my life. I have experienced people making anti Semitic jokes and remarks. One of these people was a child aged about 10. A child of this age can’t make something like that up from nowhere; they must have heard it from an adult. It turned out that the parents of the child didn’t believe in Jewish people and said they shouldn’t live in this country!!! The parents successfully passed this view on to the child who went around shouting out the jokes he heard from his parents.

Processes of moral philosophy

1.   METAETHICS

This involves analysing and working out the meaning and nature of moral terms, judgements and arguments.

2.   THEORETICAL NORMATIVE ETHICS

This involves making judgements and developing theories. It includes three elements; Moral axiology (good and evil), Virtue ethics (moral excellence in character) and Theory of moral obligation (types of actions which are morally permissible)

3.   APPLIED ETHICS

This involves resolving moral problems or issues.

References:

Course reader 5, Professional ethics, Midllesex University

Internet encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2010, Ancient Greek Philosophy, published by IEP. Available from http://www.iep.utm.edu/greekphi/(accessed 22/03/2011)

Award title proposal

I have been putting off approaching this as I have been struggling to think of an appropriate title. I am finding it hard to think of something which may help my career as I am not entirely sure what my career will be. While I have a goal in television for the future, this may take some time and there are no guarantees that it will happen at all. Obviously I want a title that reflects this but I don’t want to limit my options in case my career changes paths.

With my training mainly in dance I felt like I should have the word dance in my title as this is what I feel comfortable with and even though I now want to steer away from being a dancer, I don’t want to forget my training which has got me this far. I also still want to carry on with dance teaching in the future so I am not disregarding it completely as it is something I have worked hard on for my whole life.

Having said this, I do strongly want to get away from being a dancer and would like to move in to television, ideally television presenting. I am aware that there may be a number of jobs which I may do leading up to this ultimate career goal, perhaps working behind the scenes of television in order to make some contacts and network with the necessary people. Therefore, obviously I cannot claim already that I am a television professional and my knowledge of this industry is still very limited.

In my inquiry I am looking in to how to break in to the television industry and possible ways to make a smooth career transition in general. I am also looking in to whether it is possible to make a transition or whether you have to start again in a whole new field. I do not want to limit myself by putting the word ‘television’ in my title as this infers that I have expertise in this field when really I am only just beginning to look in to it and as I say, I cannot be certain that my career will not take a different path altogether.

Therefore, after much deliberation I am proposing the award title;

BA (Hons) Professional Practice (Dance and career transition)

This is just an idea and I am unsure if it is too general? I hope that this title reflects where my expertise lies at the moment and how I want to move my career on in the future.

4c. Developing questions within the professional community

I have been trying to get my questions out there and get other opinions on what possible answers may be. I have spoken to two people within my professional community who have come up with ideas and answers which have been useful to me and got me thinking. Therefore I thought I would blog about what these two people had to say when faced with my set of questions. One of them was a television presenting agent who I have been fortunate enough to have a few meetings with and the other was a friend of mine who also trained as a dancer at college and is now looking in to career transition but still wanting to stay linked to the industry without being ‘A dancer’.

When talking to both of these people I didn’t sit down and hand them my questions like an interview but I went about it more like a discussion and tried to phase my questions in! However, I think we covered most of them in the end, so here are some of their responses:

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

-The agent didn’t know much about the dance world as all her knowledge and experience is in television. However, she didn’t look down on dance at all and said she believed that one of the main similarities was that you need a great amount of intelligence to be involved in both industries. I was so pleased to hear her say this as it saved me having to prove that I wasn’t a ‘stupid dancer’ as many people assume. She said they are similar in that you have to be able to withstand a great amount of pressure and you have to be able to handle rejection, in her words you need to be ‘as tough as old boots’! This was reassuring as it is a skill I have already acquired from college!

-My friend and fellow performer said that from what she has gathered so far there were more differences than similarities between the two. She thought they would be worlds apart as from her research not many people have crossed over between the two. She found that most people in television have a background in either drama/acting or a normal degree from university in something like drama or English and have then been able to make a transition in to television somehow. She said there weren’t many people who had been serious dancers or ballerinas or something before entering television. This made her assume that the industries were completely different and you need a completely different skill set and personality for each industry.

How do you know where to start?

-The agent gave surprising advice and said that now the only way to break in is through the back door and not through the front. She said it used to be all about ‘who you know not what you know’ but now it doesn’t work like that anymore. However, in the next breath she is advising on networking skills.

- My friend also came up with the ‘back door’ theory without me prompting her. It is a path she is looking in to and thinking of pursuing in order to get on screen. While I appreciate that maybe this is a very effective way of making it I am sceptical of whether it is the only way.

Can anyone actually help?

-The agent inferred that people can help and give advice but no one can do the initial ground work for you. Once you have done that and managed to ‘break in’ then someone will take you on and then they can help a lot more.

-My friend hasn’t had much luck yet apart from in the dancing world but she seemed to think it was more a case of ‘right place right time’ as opposed to one person being able to help and launch you to stardom!

How do you prepare?

-The agent gave clear advice in that area and said you have to keep researching various people, presenters, programs, directors, production companies etc. Also to keep updating headshots, show reels and try and get relevant and interesting things on your CV.

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

-The agent said; professionalism, all education and knowledge, networking, memory skills, and individuality. However, advise was to forget the ‘glam cruise ship thing’ it’s all about natural and normal.

- My friend thought that all skills and knowledge would be useful as it makes you a more informed person. She is always trying to expand her knowledge and develop her skills and she said she would always try and use everything she knows or can do to her advantage. However she also thought there are many skills we still have to acquire but possibly things you can only learn from experience and practice with real life situations.

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

-Both said they consider it like starting again as you will have no respect or credit when entering the industry no matter how much dance experience you have. You have to start from the bottom again and work your way up. (If you manage to get in at the bottom at all!)

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

-Both said image straight away. However, the television image is different to the dance image.  It is all about looking young, natural and fresh faced. So not too much make up and looking as normal as possible. This is different to the dance world where you are half way there if you have fake tan and false eye lashes on. A completely different ideal look but an image pressure none the less.

Does television present a healthier image than dance in relation to physique?

-The agent said yes definitely. There are many presenters who are of a ‘normal’ size. Take Holly Willoughby, she is not stick thin and always looks healthy. At the moment she is presenting Dancing on Ice and this morning heavily pregnant. If she was a dancer she obviously wouldn’t be able to carry on with this by this stage of her pregnancy. The agent said that with many children looking up to presenters on television there is a conscious effort for a normal image and while there is a pressure to look nice and stay in shape, there is not a pressure to starve yourself and be thinner than the girl standing next to you.

What are the necessary skills to be a presenter?

-My friend suggested- Intelligence, personality, professionalism, energy, enthusiasm, likeability, networking skills, determination, ambition, take direction well and to be quick witted.

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

-The agent suggested that it wasn’t any more stable than dancing as even well known presenters find it hard to get work and there are no guarantees as with the dance world.

-My friend said that she felt there were many more opportunities to expand and develop a career as the television is always developing and there will always be new programs. There are also lots of opportunities behind the scenes and now with the expansion of programs on the internet there is massive scope for new things with new technology and trends.

By talking to these two very different people I was able to see different views and ideas. This helped me expand my own thinking as I value both of their opinions.

 Looking back to my main question:

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

I am not sure if these answers have got me any closer to my main question or just opened up new questions all together?! However, this is definitely a good thing as there is no point doing an inquiry in to something which can be answered easily. I have realised there is no one way to get there and everyone will say something different. If there isn’t one way to do it I wonder if there is a best way to do it? There seems to be so many different factors which influence our careers and various paths and things can change by the day. I am particularly interested in looking in to the pressures and demands as they are so different from what I am used to in the dance world but there are still so many pressures.

After talking to people about my questions it has made me consider if many presenters who are out there at the moment have always been the way they are now or did they change themselves (image, personality etc) to become successful in television? My next port of call is to research presenters who are out there at the moment and see how their background and previous experience has got them to where they are today.

*IMPORTANT...PLEASE READ* Info on accessing online journals and ATHENS passowrd

Ok so I had a conversation with Paula earlier about the library thing and accessing all the online articles, journals etc and she asked me to blog about what you do. So this is what you need to do:

·         Go to the web help desk http://webhelpdesk.mdx.ac.uk/http://webhelpdesk.mdx.ac.uk/ and register then you will get an e mail with a username and password. Then go to the request tab and request a password for ATHENS which will be e mailed to you.

·         Then go on to libguides and click the tab ‘Library subject guides’ This is the link for this site http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/homepage

·         Click a subject i.e. ‘Dance’ http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/content.php?hs=a&pid=67146

·         Then click the tab saying ‘Journals’ http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/content.php?pid=67146&sid=495986

·         Choose a journal you want to look at i.e. ‘Dance Chronicle’ http://library.mdx.ac.uk/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=N2T31119280P3.672&profile=bg&uri=link=3100008~!145210~!3100001~!3100002&aspect=alpha&menu=search&ri=9&source=~!horizon&term=Dance+chronicle+%5Belectronic+resource%5D+%3A+DC.&index=ALTIJ#focus

·         It will come up with info about the journal and will say somewhere ‘full text available from JSTOR...’ etc click where it says ‘Middlesex university users click here’ http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublication?journalCode=dancechronicle

·         It then comes up with a list of issues, click one of them i.e. the first one

·         Then it should have chapter headings, click one again i.e. the first one

·         Then it will show you the first page but it will say at the top ‘You are viewing the first page/citation. Full-text access may be available if you are affiliated with a participating library or publisher. Check access options or login if you have an account. ‘ Click LOGIN

THIS IS WHERE I GOT STUCK AT FIRST....SO THEN...

·         It will ask for  a JSTOR username and password but we do not have one and it is not the same as ATHENS

·         Scroll done past where it says JSTOR and it should say ‘OR ACCESS JSTOR THROUGH A PARTICIPATING INSTITUTION’. This is what you want.

·         Underneath the options box it should say ‘View all ATHENS institutions’. Click this and then click Middlesex university.

·         It should either log you in automatically or ask you to enter your Athens username and password that you would have been e mailed by the web help desk

·         Once you are in you can view the whole document and download it in PDF and look at all other journals etc

I know this sounds complicated but apparently we need it for this module as we have to find texts from it that have been written on our chosen subjects I think so it seems important and we have to do it! Hope this helps.

5b- official code of practice and regulations

With reference to the dance teaching work that I do, here are some of the rules and official code of conduct. These are set out by the company that I work for as a representative and are included in the contract.

The representative must:

·         Ensure compliance with all relevant legal legislation

·         Comply with timetable or target changes provided or imposed by the company

·         Both parties must keep each other advised of any special requirements that are applicable to the service

·         agree and comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations

·         The Representative will provide services with all due care, diligence and professional ability. Any incorrect or defective work can result in the Representatives work being terminated.

·         Keep all company information confidential and not share projects, layouts or ideas with any competitor companies

·         Comply with the data protection act 1998

·         Coach on behalf of the company and under the brand name

·         Not contact the school or parents unless under the company name and for the purpose of the company

·         Not approach other representatives about work with any competitor company

·         Wear appropriate clothing with no other company brand name

·         provide an invoice by the end of every half term in order to receive payment

·         Abide to the schools and/or venues health and safety procedures and rules.

·         Work with full knowledge and acceptance of risks involved including injury to yourself or participants

·         Report to the company at the earliest opportunity with any perceived dangers, violence or other misconduct of whatever type.

·         Arrive at each session in plenty of time to start at the scheduled time and terminate the session at the scheduled time

After looking at these official rules set out by the company I can see that many are the same as the ones that I previously talked about when thinking about my general work ethos and code of conduct in this situation. However, the first ones that came to mind for me before I checked the official rules were more moral issues. I was more concerned with providing care to the children if they are upset and how you deal with behavioural issues in class. I was also thinking about my responsibilities from more of a superficial level such as wearing the right clothes and foot wear and presenting myself well. Obviously these were still covered in the official rules but there was more emphasis on things like not sharing information with competitors and being responsible for risks and injury.

Seeing as I want to make a transition from being a dancer/dance teacher to working in television (preferably television presenting) I thought I should consider what a presenters code of conduct may be. There is obviously nothing official that I can look at the moment with regards to rules for a television presenter a I haven’t been lucky enough to see a contract yet! However these are some of my thoughts.

A presenter must:

·         Always arrive promptly to any filming or show

·         Comply with the rules of the production company they are working for

·         Be responsible for their own words and actions i.e. not say anything offensive to the public on screen/not swearing

·         Comply with the production company on matters of clothes, make up, hair etc

·         Provide a service to the public and be available for any extras that the production company have outlined

·         Comply with any script/outline provided

·         Be responsible for the smooth running of the show

·         Comply with any direction (prepared or last minute) from the director, producer etc

Questions and background research

After one of my previous blogs on my set of questions for inquiry, Paula left me a comment with suggestions for more questions to answer/think about. When reading the questions I realised that they were simple and just about thinking of the basics behind the industry. I think I jumped in too deep at first and overlooked simple questions which I have to consider and find out about before I can launch an inquiry in to the television industry. These should help me with my research in to the industry and hopefully help me with my career transition.

What is presenting? It is a profession which involves hosting or co hosting a program or event. This could be on the television or just to a theatre audience. I would like to aim for television. A presenter is the glue that holds many programs or shows together i.e. during a variety show or a magazine style show, the presenter is the element of the show which is the same and consistent throughout therefore the audience rely on the presenter for the smooth running of the show. A presenter is the ‘face’ of a show and is the link between the program and the audience.

Who does it? There seems to be a variety of different types of people who have been and are successful within the television presenting industry. The choice of presenter seems to depend on the type of program and the target audience i.e. a gardening show is presented by a gardener or someone who knows about gardening, a property show is presented by a property expert or someone who was an estate agent. There are also many presenting duos who have been successful (Ant and Dec, Richard and Judy, Eamonn and Ruth). I think it is often a case of ‘right place, right time’ as opposed to being a certain type of person.

Are there different levels? It looks like many presenters start in children’s television so perhaps this is classed as the lowest or beginning level. Then there is presenting on slightly more obscure channels such as sky shopping channels. Then there are specialist programs i.e. interior design, property, fashion etc. So perhaps this is a level up. The ‘highest’ level would seem to be reality shows and chat shows as these are presented by some of the most well known and respected presenters around at the moment i.e. Davina McCall, Dermont O’Leary, Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield.

What competencies/capabilities do you need? Intelligence, likeable, personality, quick witted, aesthetically pleasing, specialised knowledge, talk well, spontaneity, ambition, determined, easy to relate to, reliable. There are obviously many more but these are the first ones that spring to mind!

What should a presenter’s show reel look like? From what I have gathered so far, it should be; 3 minutes maximum, well edited, of good quality, show your versatility or speciality subject, be a true representation of how you look and obviously do you justice as a presenter.

Is there anyone in your wider network who can advise you? Yes, I had a meeting today with a big agent and she answered some of my questions without me even asking! I will blog about this in my next post.

Where do presenters train? There doesn’t seem to be extensive training but more of a ‘you either have it or you don’t’ type of approach. There are a lot of courses you can go on and I have done one of them but the main purpose of them is to make your show reel as opposed to train to be a presenter. I have been told a lot of them are purely a money making scheme but if you have no material for a show reel then they are the only option for getting something filmed.

What are the pressures in the industry? Obviously there is the classic pressure of image and appearance and the emphasis on this in television is all about looking young as I learnt today. This has been brought up in the media recently with a case of ageism by presenter Miriam O’Reilley who accused the BBC of ageism after they ended her contracts as the presenter of countryfile. This is a news article detailing the incident;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12161045

By answering these questions I have been able to consolidate my basic knowledge of the industry and now I feel I am ready to start exploring some deeper questions and think about ways I can break in to this industry. I realise now that background research is paramount and I have a tendency to overlook the simple things which could actually help me more than I may think.