I believe my
decision to self-defer during the last study period ultimately benefitted the
development of my inquiry. Upon beginning module three studies once more I
referred to my deferral in a blog post
being decided by a lack of time for physically working on BAPP programme work
due to my performance contract that had commenced. Whilst I was disappointed I
would be unable to complete my studies around this time, I feel the break
between was crucial to me discovering some of my most valuable findings from
the inquiry process. Inspired by professional and academic literature as well
as the development of methodology within my SIG, it
was a joy to see these correlations taking place within a singular workplace
environment and unfolding in a natural manner (Gardner, 1983) during the course
of the contract.
I had
originally planned to use a comparative case study for previous professional
practice using my experience working on the fringe theatre production ‘Half a
Sixpence’ as discussed in my module two feedback post.
However, this alongside the current contract at the time of my inquiry being
carried out could have led to inconsistent results due to a need to split equal
time between the two. An ethical aspect of wanting to perform a case study from
previous experience as aforementioned required a much more complex informed
consent process from individuals within this community of practice (Lave and
Wenger, 1991) given that children would have been involved in data collation. Parents
and guardians would need notifying and I would most likely need to carry out
inquiry tools within a self-contained environment, gathering all data from this
one session. This would have been a huge undertaking and I soon realised this
task as impractical given my activity at the time. A lack of nuanced and rich
detail in data (Mason, 2002) may have impacted on the quality of analysis. Furthermore
themes that emerged (Leavy, 2011) out of the inquiry may have taken a different
form. This isn’t to assume that alternative themes would have been any less
beneficial, however, only that I feel findings reflect my sum of propositional knowledge
(Eraut, 1992) at present as a developing practitioner performer. I feel it is
the continuity within a singular community of practice that has allowed for a
greater understanding of creative collaboration within musical theatre
production.
As has been
the case during the course of BAPP programme, one of the biggest difficulties I
have experienced when communicating ideology has been the density of my
writing. This was reflected in the drafts I produced for my critical review
that needed numerous edits in order to remain. Six-thousand words is a large
quota for exploring the inquiry process but an outside-observer will quickly
become disengaged with work if there is a sizable amount of reference to tools,
such as literature, that influenced my methodology. The observer needs to see
this evidence but also my own interpretation and application of this knowledge.
An attempt to remain consciously reflexive (Gibbons, 2008) has influenced the
method in which I presented a lot of the final work for the module three
portfolio, something I hope is represented in my professional artefact.
I feel that
my inquiry has been a worthwhile and valuable investigation, providing me with
strategies for further developing my effectiveness as a professional performer.
The process has been difficult at times, particularly with handling the vast
amount of qualitative (Punch, 1998) data amassed from observation and interview
data tools. Whilst a lot of my findings have originated from a conflict
situated phenomena (Reader Six, 2015), I feel this has only validated grounds
for an inquiry within my professional workplace environment. Acting
practitioner Declan Donnellan (2001) mentions that “bad news for the character
is good news for actor” and I believe this to be true of my inquiry findings to
my development as a professional practitioner. With my next performance
contract due to begin in the coming weeks, I am looking forward to implementing
strategies devised from the inquiry process when negotiating successful creative
collaboration within musical theatre production but also within all future
engagements for the rest of my career.
Bibliography
Donnellan, D
(2001) The actor and the target, 2002
re-print, London: Nick Hern Books
Eraut, M
(1992) Developing professional knowledge
and competence, 1994 re-print, London: Falmer Press
Gardner, H
(1983) Frames of mind: the theory of
multiple intelligences, New York: BasicBooks
Gibbons, M
2008 “Why Is Knowledge Translation Important? Grounding the Conversation”, Technical Brief No. 21 [online]
Available at: http://ktdrr.org/ktlibrary/articles_pubs/ncddrwork/focus/focus21/Focus21.pdf
[Accessed 10 Jan. 2017]
Lave, J,
Wenger, E, 1991, “Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation”, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press
Leavy, P
(2011) Essentials of transdisciplinary
research, Oxford: Routledge
Mason, J
(2002) Qualitative researching (2nd
ed), London: Sage Publications Ltd.
Middlesex
University, Module Two Reader Six, 2015.
Punch, K
(1998) Introduction to social science,
London: Sage Publications Ltd.
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