Critical Reflection on Professional Practitioner Inquiry

This module has taken me from following a structure and answering question to developing questions of my own.  This module has required me to become more independent in my thinking and to take a greater deal of responsibility for the production of my own work.

When I started to consider my inquiry questions I was initially stuck as to what I wanted to find out, but shortly after flooded with different possibilities.  After collating the list of inquiry questions, I initially thought that I was in a good position but actually this put me in a difficult situation as I had to revise and rework my questions towards a more specific point/direction.

After considering a specific direction for my inquiry to head in, and deciding on inquiry questions, it was then for me to contemplate which inquiry tools I should use, and what benefit they would have for my study.  This module has lead me to be able to consider which tools would be best suited to my inquiry and after discussing my initial proposal with Alan, I have selected the tools that I think are best suited to gathering the data that my inquiry is needing.

One of the first aspects that was considered in relation to my final inquiry was the ethics that would impact my professional study.  One of the main aspects of ethics that has held influence over how I am conducting my inquiry are Professional Ethics.  There are aspects within my study that require me to think beyond the study and consider my overall professionalism.  With regards to ethics, there are other areas that hold influence over my inquiry.  My inquiry will also be shaped by the Workplace Ethics that are present at my current place of work where my study will be conducted.

Throughout this module I have had to rely on my SIGs for advice, support and also to conduct a pilot of my inquiry.  I have used different SIGs for different needs.  The main thing that I have used my Facebook SIG (containing other people on the BAPP course) for is advice and opinions on the process of designing my inquiry.  Whereas another SIG that I have used (containing colleagues from my work place) has been used to conduct my pilot inquiry.  I conducted a pilot to check that my inquiry had a clear enough focus and that the tools that I had selected were appropriate and the best possible to use.

The final part of this module has required me to consider my final award title.  This was something that I did fully independently as I knew that this was something that directly affects me and future career progression.  I eventually decided me on BA (Hons) Professional Practice (Performing Arts) as I felt this title left me enough scope that it wasn't restrictive, whilst also giving me enough direction to move forward in my career.

6C - Award Title

I have been debating my award title with myself over the past few weeks, also taking into account the thoughts and opinions of my colleagues and members of my SIG.  I have been trying to decide on choosing either; Drama, Dance or Performing Arts, as I have expertise and professional experience in all of these areas.  As I currently teach Drama, my initial thought was to create my own award title - Drama.  Whilst considering this title, I thought back to when I started my degree, at which time I was teaching Dance.  This encouraged me to consider Dance as an award title as it's an area of my practice that I will always put first and is my main practice as a practitioner in the arts.  After a while I decided that both of these award titles were very specific and would narrow my career progression when looking forward.  After this realisation I decided to consider an option that was more open and one that encouraged a varied development throughout my career.  I also decided to take my prior experience into account, something that I had to do right at the very start of my degree.  Due to the variation of my prior experience, I have decided to title my award BA (Hons) Professional Practice (Performing Arts).  I think that this option will allow my career to progress in a way that is not confined as it would be with the previous two titles.