Task 3b - Theories relating to networking

After finishing the course reader for the first time i felt somewhat confused. I thought i had a fair understanding of networking until i came across the various concepts and was confused weather i have ever witnessed these before in my own professional networks. 

This gave me a chance to explore my networks further and was somewhat surprised that i have experienced these concepts before.

Cooperation was an extremely interesting concept of networking. Robert Axelrod identifies it as ‘The benefits of cooperating fully with others, until you reach maximum benefit.’ [Reader 3] However we all identify this process as tit for tat, give and take or you scratch my back and i’ll scratch yours.

In the performing arts industry this seems to take place a lot and even i have worked alongside dancers who are willing to do whatever they can to help raise the profile of their own career. But has the outcome been positive? Have they gained anything from it?

I also seem to have built up my own network of friends on a social networking site whom i have met on jobs or at castings. Our relationship is not social in the slightest and we are only friends as somewhere in the future we might be able to help each other out with jobs, I was always told ‘Never burn your bridges.’ but ive always been wary of this way of these relationships. There have been times when I have mentioned that i am going to a casting and i’ve been asked What’s it for? Where is it? Can I have the details? I’ve selfishly thought to myself.....Why should I? What do I gain out of this? What if they attend the same casting as me and book the job? 

I came across this excellent quote from Jean Jacques Rousseau in The Social Contract

[The social contract] can arise only where several persons come together: but, as the force and liberty of each man are the chief instruments of his self-preservation, how can he pledge them without harming his own interests, and neglecting the care he owes himself? [Rousseau 1762, p. 13]

Affiliation was an important part of networking for me. Crisp and Turner suggest that it is “Building a network of support that will help us when we’re in need.”  I think it’s safe to say that everyone has used affiliation at some point in their lives. I have built up my most important networks around me using this concept, these include my family and friends whom i use for support when i need to get an outside opinion for my professional business. 

I came across an intriguing article produced by Scholastic, which is for parents raising children and the importance of affiliation. They explain that as human beings we are born dependent and we are made to work and live in groups.

It is in groups that your child has thousands of brief emotional, social, and cognitive experiences that help define his development. The capacity to join in, contribute to, and benefit from groups is essential to his healthy development. [http://www.scholastic.com/resources/article/the-importance-of-affiliation/]

It made me question myself weather i would be the person i am today without growing up with affiliation. All these life experiences that i have shared with my closest networks have made me the person i am today. This article also got me thinking that about my profession as a teacher and working in education. It is not only important for myself to affiliate but to make sure my students also are benefiting from it.

Social Constructionism was a hard concept for me to grasp at first. It refers to the way we create meaning through social interaction with others. The idea is that meaning isn’t waiting to be discovered but is in fact constructed within a culture or group. Breakdancing or B-Boying wasn’t waiting to be discovered, it was socially constructed in the South Bronx of New York City to replace fighting between gangs of youth. 

Connectivism is a learning theory for the digital age and contests the traditional classroom method of learning from teacher to pupil. 

The aim of teaching is not only to transmit information, but also to transform students from passive recipients of other people’s knowledge into active constructors of their own and others’ knowledge - [Richard F. Elmore, Education for Judgment: The Artistry of Discussion Leadership, xvi]

Since joining the BAPP course, i already have an established network in this concept. It has provided me with support when i have not fully understood a theory or module task and i have used the network of blogs to give myself inspiration and to trigger new ideas.

The last concept of networking that reader three presented me with was “Communities of Practice”

Members of a community of practice, weather work place, special interests, virtual or of any other form, come together because of a mutual interest and generate a shared experience of engagement in the community of practice - [Reader 3 - Page 16]

The idea that learning from each other in a community of practice has been visible in my networks since graduating from performing arts college. Stepping into the industry after 3 years of training can be quite daunting and i’ve recognized that you can never be fully prepared of what is ahead of you.  Most of my learning actually took place after i had graduated and it was through meeting other professionals in the industry and learning from each other. I know that i can always turn to others in my community of practice when in need of help.

Exploring these concepts has given me new ideas on how to improve on my own networks and the ability to gain everything i can from them. Although some of the concepts will not be used as much compared to others, i feel now that i have a much better understanding of them, i am more likely to use them to their maximum potential.