Rising up to the challenge with Reader 4!

Rising up to the challenge with Reader 4!

Professional inquiry is ‘…a way to learn about what you are doing,’ within your own workplace. I have become intrigued to look into why dancers dance, and what is their stimulation to keep going through all that hardship. However there is so much more to this topic:

·      what dancers do in for their development as an artist, which enables them to keep on going.

·      Different stimulations- music, passion, exercise, endorphins, movement

·      Mental aspects

·      Physical aspects

I am aware that to develop these topics, knowledge from all aspects will be needed. Knowledge is a key word to many theories and points of learning in the reader: work-based, single and double loop learning, disciplinary vs transdisciplinary learning and researching literature. I have been able to distinguish a few of these points within the reader that could be used to develop my own inquiry.

Work-based learning promotes awareness of a workplace to be considered a learning environment. Although not working/dancing in the moment, the whole idea of my inquiry started through reflecting and gaining some invaluable knowledge within a work-based environment/scenario. Whilst injured during applying for a company and afterwards watching an international competition, all I wanted to do was dance! From this constant need to move, it came to mind why I still wanted to keep going? Why dancers keep going on no matter what?

Learning from my own mistakes, and being able to reflect upon it within a dancing environment promoted me to come up with this idea.

I also came up with inquiring about what dancers do themselves to aid in developing as artists - how much to rehearse, how to nurse an injury, what exercises to do, how to keep fit, deal with competition and castings etc. This all links to the idea of ‘learning through experience’ from a company/workplace, i.e work-based learning.  

Chris Argyris’s single and double-loop learning theory I found intriguing how it relates to the different learning mechanisms between dance and inquiring about it, looking at it from the outside.

Single loop learning emphasizes on techniques being made more efficient, following a set of policies/ rules. The basic knowledge in dance is similar where there are certain techniques to follow, recommendations within the arts industry. However double loop learning involves questioning the role of learning systems/frameworks, which lead towards real goals and strategies.

Now the underlying knowledge is there for all dancers, but they only really learn how to improve and reach for those goals when they broaden the horizon, think out of the box in every aspect where the great saying of learning from experience will work the magic! I find that exploring like this, discovering and questioning, looking at all aspects within the topic will help reach out to the true goals of my inquiry. The Reader states that ‘recognising knowledge in the workplace will be important in identifying topics or issues that could benefit from professional inquiry.’ (Knowledge and skills in the workplace, Reader 4, pg.12)

The SIG groups are a great example in identifying your basic knowledge on a topic, to then be able to compare other opinions/knowledge with a range of practitioners This has helped structure and bring new dimensions to my inquiry, to broaden my mind: e.g. Laura May Houghton came up with a point of the fundamental reason why dancers dance is because maybe it has been all they have known? I had never looked at it from that angle, making me realize and question all the other feelings other than the enjoyment of dance.

In some ways dance involves disciplinary learning, however to achieve goals and succeed in development it entails transdisciplinary learning. You could say the exact same thing for propositional v.s process knowledge (Etraut, 1992)

I understand fully that to follow this approach of learning in addition to a few pointers from the reader- researching, reviewing literature, engaging with fellow practitioners (SIG groups), will help broadening the horizons.

Here is a great extract from Peter Senge’s view on the ‘learning organization’:

‘…real learning gets to the heart of what it is to be human. We become able to re-create ourselves. This applies to both individuals and organizations. Thus, for a ‘learning organization it is not enough to survive. ‘”Survival learning” or what is more often termed “adaptive learning” is important – indeed it is necessary. But for a learning organization, “adaptive learning” must be joined by “generative learning”, learning that enhances our capacity to create.’ (Senge, 1990)

As ‘the ultimate goal of the inquiry will be to explore a topic that will benefit your work and the work of colleagues and fellow professionals,’ it was a little hard at first to see how my inquiry would create these benefits. To find the real truth about that underlying stimulation to move is where I am headed. However from this, I would love to be able to extract all those different feelings and emotions, and somehow make it known, make it felt to the audience and outside world. To create an understanding of what the real dance world is like… now that would just be fantastic!