Critical Reflection and Summary: Digital Portfolio

This ‘Portfolio’ will clearly guide the reader through my learning journey, pinpointing the things that have helped establish my professional inquiry questions, ethical considerations and evaluations.

I first felt it necessary to consider my job title within my chosen profession.  After a successful transition from performer to small business owner I felt uncertain as to my exact role and job description.  Within my Professional Practice Blog are my thoughts and findings along with my concluding job title which will also be my awards title ‘Performing Arts Management’ 

Once I had established my awards title and area into which I was to inquire I immediately joined a like minded ‘Special Interest Group’ (SIG) Facebook SIG  I started to interact with their questions and thoughts as well as proposing my own ideas to the group on management and leadership Arts management discussion board  The SIG challenged us all to think beyond our own pre conceptions and helped me personally develop a deeper understanding of my role within my company Manic Stage Productions 

I began to develop a set of Relevant questions which were to become the starting point to discovering what my final inquiry question would be and the area it would cover.  These initial questions formed new, more specific questions that I then asked my business partner to answer Business partner questions  This in turn helped me to narrow down my search for the ultimate question!

As well as using techniques and tools to develop my line of inquiry, I began to look at other areas surrounding my professional practice, such as professional ethics and codes of professional practice within my chosen work place.  This Code of practice article clearly states and explains the importance of each point of the code of practice and I found it extremely helpful when writing my final version for my own business. Code of practice for management 

I was also interested to read the alternative article Code specific to employees  This too seemed just as important for me to consider as an employer of a number of freelance professional performers and teachers.  I was compelled to write my own code of practice for my employees as I felt it would clearly state what is expected from them and clarify their role within the company Code of practice for artists 

Finally I actively began to use the suggested tools to gather, analyse and evaluate data, both from existing literature and from primary sources.  I found many interesting sources, articles and blogs and wrote about my findings and thoughts in a critical Literature review on my blog.  Each piece of independent literature relates to my pending inquiry and has again evolved my understanding and thinking.  

There are many other important discussions taking place in my professional field and although not linked directly to my pursued line of inquiry, still made very interesting reading. I have filed them all on my Delicious account.

We were encouraged to pilot the four tools of professional inquiry i] interview ii] survey iii] focus group iv] observation and I blogged about my results and experience with each here Tools of inquiry blog I received feedback from my SIG that gave me the confidence to create and implement a survey on my actual business connections to find out their opinions on a number of aspects of my company that they did and did not use.  Here is a link to that questionnaire at Survey monkey 

Overall module WBS 3835 has been essential in my personal development as a professional practitioner and has certainly given me the tools, knowledge and understanding to move confidently forward on to my professional inquiry and to achieving an award in BA (Hons) Professional Practice (Performing Arts Management).

6b - Findings and thoughts on the tools of inquiry

Having successfully piloted each of the tools of inquiry I have gained a greater understanding and respect for each.  However I have concluded that not all of the tools will be of use to my inquiry alone.  Observation alone would not add to or answer my inquiry question.  A well structured survey could produce interesting quantitative and some qualitative data but would I need to interview individuals to get full informative answers. Here are my findings and thoughts on the tools of inquiry

• Observation

Using observation was interesting and thought provoking.  It certainly enlightened me when I observed one of my companies dance teachers in action.  It allowed me to access once again their ability and competence within a lesson situation and the observation allowed me to reflect on my companies representation by others.  I would certainly use observation in the future to keep a close eye on the professional practice of the company representatives.  I feel this is a key management tool and may well help with aspects of my inquiry when I begin to access and evaluate the components of Manic Stage Productions.  As my inquiry is about development and expansion, observation will help to highlight both the areas for concern and the future success of the organisation.

• Interview

The interview I had with my business partner Matthew Newman was very informative.  I was able to ask him to elaborate on answers  and really get to know his opinions and views.  I had given him the questions via email sometime before we met as I felt this would allow him to think about what he wanted to say in response, giving me the most information possible.  The only negative I found with the interview was that it was hard to pin point a time that we were both available to undertake the interview in person.  I would possibly consider skype or telephone as an option within my inquiry.  I appreciate that time is of the essence and as I intend to interview a performing arts manager who successfully expanded their business, I realise that I may not be able to pin them down for a face to face interview.  In future I will record each interview as it will be easier to correctly quote and document the information.  I am fully aware that the individual will need to consent to this.

• Focus Groups

I was able to conduct a small focus group with a handful of my dancers before a rehearsal and I think it is a very useful tool of inquiry.  We discussed the 5 corporate shows we sell and their opinions on how well they thought they were marketed and their thoughts on how to move forward and expand to a larger audience.  Some very interesting points were made and the interactive dynamics of the focus group was encouraging.  All members had a similar view and together the ideas and suggestions grew through encouraging interaction.  I will certainly consider this approach within my inquiry yet I am aware that it is often difficult to get a large number of people together due to busy schedules and time management.  My only other concern is the ability to conduct a focus group ethically, I wonder if everyone in my pilot group spoke truthfully about their opinions on Manic Stage Productions. 

• Questionnaires

Questionnaires will be integral to my inquiry, they will enable me to gather information from a large group of people in a relatively easy and non-time consuming way.  I learnt a great deal from my pilot survey and think it is very important to ensure that the correct questions are asked and that they are asked in the correct order.  I will be surveying both my employees and business contacts to access the current situation and presences of Manic Stage Productions in the local area and beyond.  Anonymity is most certainly an option for each participant as it will be key to its success in allowing each person to be truthful and opinionated, both positively and negatively.  The results will be easy to analyse and evaluate for my inquiry, hopefully providing interesting informative findings for me to use in deciding which areas to expand in.