These are also a number of other theories that, upon reading about them and rewording them in my own definitions, have helped me to understand the idea of Professional Networks more successfully, which in turn will hopefully help me to make more effective use of them in the future.
1. Social Constructionism
Social Constructionism refers to some of our larger social
processes e.g. professional networks and our networking within them. Humans are
very well aware that the world and other people are ‘out there’ but we all come
to understand that in our own unique way. We form meanings of the world through
our different methods of social interaction. When we become part of a new
network, its meaning for us is not set in stone. It is through using these
networks and interacting through them that we decide for ourselves; the values of
these networks to us, our preferred ways of engaging in them and to what extent
we are wanting to commit to these networks. In summary; meaning cannot be
discovered, it is ‘constructed’ – we do not create meaning, we build our own. ‘Meaning
emerges when consciousness engages with them.’ (Merleau-Ponty)
2.
Connectivism
Technology is altering how we think more and more. Connectivism
opposes other theories that developed when technology did not have an effect on
our learning and takes the view that learning theories should reflect our current
social environment. The old idea of teaching whereby knowledge is passed from
teacher to student needs to be changed according to connectivist theorists. The
professional networks of which I am a part of are systems that I have to
interact with in order to learn. ‘Formal Learning’ no longer makes up the
majority of how we learn. It now happens in communities such as professional
networks which is why Connectivism has evolved as a theory. It is important to
be able to draw links between important and non-important information that we
are gaining. My professional networks are groups of connected people that can nurture
and preserve knowledge ‘flow.’ Dependence on each other in the community results
in better knowledge flow.
and 3. Communities of
practice
Communities of Practice can be seen and noticed in many
different types of professional contexts. All of the communities that an
individual may be engaged in will change over time, but this theory states that
it is a person’s sustained involvement in a group that is key to our learning.
Members of these communities come together because they may share a mutual
interest in something/s and together, they generate a collection of shared
experiences. These communities however only function through ‘mutual engagement.’
They rely on the community sharing their knowledge with each other, not one or
two individuals in a hierarchy. Trends common in communities of practice is
that they are all social, often informal and are self-organising groups of a
specific social mix of people. Knowledge is not gained though instruction, but
participation.
Of the above theories, the one that I have been able to draw
the most comparison from to my current professional practice is the theory of communities
of practice; the more involved I become in a network the more I have to gain
and benefit, although I am now able to see elements from all three of them that
feature in my practice of professional networking as a means of furthering my
career. The constructionism view that meaning is not created but instead built
by our own views seems likely. It makes sense that the differences in individuals
would lead to differences in establishing own understanding and that can be
seen in my work as a T.I.E actor and workshop leader. As a requirement of the
schools taking part in the project, the students are asked that they fill out
an evaluation after the performance so that we may see what it is they have learnt
and taken from the performance. Not only does this highlight the difference in
responses, but in reading them myself and being a part of this briefly-brought
together community, my view on characters and themes changes as a direct result
of the impact from others. The technology element of the Connectivism theory is
in direct correlation to the network that I am establishing for myself with
other BAPP students. These are connections that I have with people that are virtual
ones, maintained only by the possibility of evolving technologies. I am able to
see here how the old notion of ‘teaching’ is not so prominent here, in that the
majority of learning does not come from a single source/individual, but rather
from a shared network of sources and in order that I should reap the maximum
benefits from being a part of these groups, it requires ‘mutual engagement’
from all.
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