Just two questions … surely not?

This is mainly for WBS3835 students but may interest others …

As we start to work through and explore important questions relating to our professional practice, it strikes me there are perhaps two broad types of questions.

Firstly, what type of inquiry will improve my performance to create, make, interpret or teach my art. This is for me a ‘disciplinary’ or ‘subject’ question. It is fundamentally about how I operate as a lecturer, or you as a teacher, dancer, graphic designer etc. An inquiry located here might give weight to disciplinary knowledge (the ways or conventions or literature that exists and created by exemplary practitioners or researchers). Or it might be practical in nature (the ways we do things and higher-level skills). The inquiry could be to understand something more effectively which in turn could lead to a change or improvement in practice.

The second type of inquiry might focus more on the context within which we practice or the ways in which we conduct ourselves that we often think of as ‘being professional’. This type of inquiry might seek to develop knowledge of understanding of a particular situation, which we wish to influence or improve. For example, how to promote our work or ourselves. It might explore a specific issue that weighs heavily on our practice and that come from outside our disciplines like ethics.

It may be worth reflecting on whether you think your emerging questions are more one than the other?

It may be this compartmentalisation is unhelpful, but it occurred to me while reading Hayley Bence’s recent Blog on Show reels. At first it seemed of the second type, about promoting her practice, demonstrating her skills etc. Mark commented on Hayley’s show reel, and it seemed to me (even as ex-jeweller and not a dancer) that Mark was suggesting some choreographic intent in re-editing Hayley’s show reel. So it occurred to me that the ‘practice of’ and the ‘professional’ overlap and inform eachother in subtle and interesting ways that are specific and personal to the practitioner.

So we started with two apparently opposed perspectives, which now seem to come together more holistically?

How does this impact on your thinking? Are you thinking very much in a disciplinary way, or a more overarching professional practice way, or something that integrates the two? (Importantly I am not suggesting one way is better or 'right'! Just different ways of thinking and for different reasons.

You might like to follow up with the following two links which I shan’t introduce ... but see if either prompt further thoughts …

Agentic Learners Albert Bandura.pdf

Ron Barnett