Thursday 3 November 2011

My main findings in 200 words

When tackling the analysis of findings section I found it useful to try and write all my main findings in 200 words so I was clear which points I wanted to cover when writing it up in more detail.
My main findings in 200 words from data collected through surveys, interviews and observations:
·         Career transition is common among dancers (41.7%) of those surveyed have experienced it or are considering it- confirms need for inquiry.
·         Dancers feel the most common reason for transition is financial instability (42%)
·         Dancers feel the most transferable skills acquired through training are; communication, self, discipline and confidence.
·         Preparation in advance of transition has been proven to make the process smoother
·         New qualifications and formal or informal education are essential for a smooth transition into a new industry.
·         The biggest challenges of the transition process are accepting a new lifestyle and fear of lack of enjoyment in a new career
·         To successfully transition into a television presenter you either have expert knowledge in a specific field, be genuinely interested/ passionate about something and brand yourself as a personality not a presenter.
·         The main skills needed for a good presenter are; likeability, expertise, confidence, networking skills.
·         Producers are looking for an expert first and a presenter second.
·         The main pressures facing current television presenters are; age, image, the press, personal life, maintaining public support, staying on brand, getting work.
·         A presenting show reel should not be clips of you pretending to be different types of presenters but should be a ‘taster tape’ showcasing you, your personality, your brand, your expertise and what you can offer to a show.

Thursday 27 October 2011

Phone conversation with Joanna....

Last night I had an interesting phone conversation with Joanna. I had contacted her to ask her for a short phone interview as it was advised that I should also interview someone from the BAPP course to obtain a different perspective on my topic.
I chose to ask Joanna because I know that she is undergoing career transition and attempting to break into the television industry. We discussed how she has found the transition so far and her reason for wanting to go into television.
One of the most interesting responses that came up was her answer to the question ‘Do you feel this BAPP course has helped your transition?’ (Less, 2011) She replied ‘There are elements which have been helpful...it has opened my eyes to more possibilities, given me more drive, taught me skills such as networking and taught me not to become complacent in my career’ (Adeyinka, 2011). This was particularly interesting for my inquiry as I have been looking into the importance of education and qualifications in making a smooth transition. Everything points towards the same thinking....that new skills, qualifications and specialist knowledge are one of the most important things when attempting transition.  Joanna has again backed up this theory by talking of the benefits of increased knowledge.

Also, an interesting area we discussed was when talking about the skills necessary to be a good television presenter. Joanna states ‘It is a skill to be genuinely interested in what you’re presenting on...if you’re not interested in it then get interested in it, learn about it.’ (Adeyinka, 2011) This is another thing which has come up repeatedly during my inquiry from all sources. I have found that if you specialise in a particular area or have expert knowledge then use it. If not the advice has been to learn about things in depth, so you are not just saying words someone else has written but you are actually adding to the program. Joanna suggested this is one of the most important things needed for a presenter to be genuine and likeable. She was again able to reinforce viewpoints gained from other sources and also provide a perspective from inside the course.
Overall, it was really useful to talk to Joanna on the phone and she has now helped to inform my inquiry. Her viewpoint is helpful as she is directly involved in career transition so it was interesting to hear of her experiences so far. Many thanks to Joanna for helping me out with a phone interview! Much appreciated!

Saturday 22 October 2011

Thoughts on my professional artefact...

I have had some thoughts on my professional artefact right from the beginning of the inquiry process. I have been quite lucky with my topic in that my artefact seems to be an obvious and fitting choice to show the outcome of my findings. I am investigating into how to make a successful transition into the television industry. During the inquiry process I have gained lots of tips, knowledge of the industry and advice from television professionals and people who have been successful in this area. Taking all this on board, I am in the middle of creating my new television show reel as my professional artefact. Not only will this serve a purpose for this course but will also be useful for me to use after the course in order to develop my career, hopefully into television.

At the campus session last Wednesday all other students, Paula and Adesola seemed to agree that this would be a fitting artefact to show the outcome of my inquiry. Adesola then suggested that I also show my old television show reel in order to compare the two to see just how different they are after gaining so much more knowledge. Hopefully they will be very different and the new one will enable me to have a much higher chance of success due to taking on board everything I have found out. The new tape will also be called a ‘taster tape’ instead of a ‘show reel’ due to the fact that it is showcasing a little bit of me and my personality as opposed to me pretending to be lots of different types of presenters in make believe situations (One of the many things I have learnt so far!)

Thursday 20 October 2011

Commentary on my observation

I attended a presenting course where I observed the other aspiring presenters who all wanted to transition from their various careers into the television industry. All of the people would have been using a different skill set for their current jobs so I mainly concentrated on observing how the skills they currently had (presumably from the current education, training or work) affected how they performed as a presenter. It was then easy to identify which skills were transferable to making an affective presenter and perhaps which of their skills or attributes may hinder their chances of success. From this I would like to conclude the vital skills necessary to be a good presenter no matter what career you are originally from.

PARTICIPANT A (Female):  A singer wanting to transition to a television presenter. She had previously trained as a singer and gone on to perform at various events and parties. She wanted to go into television to increase career opportunities and be known by the public! The skills which she acquired as a singer which came through as noticeably effective while she was presenting were:
·         Confidence
·         Good tone of voice with expression and use of light and shade
·         Ability to memorise scripts quickly
·         Knowledge of a specialist area (she did a specialist piece on technical singing and how not to injure your vocal chords during practice before a performance)
·         Professional singing training qualifies her as an expert and to show expertise

PARTICIPANT B (Female): A dancer wanting to transition to a television presenter. She wanted to go into television as she was struggling to find work as a dancer and felt her strong points may lie in using her personality. Skills gained as a dancer which shone through when presenting:
·         Good memory and ability to memorise scripts quickly
·         Confidence
·         Energy
·         Personal presentation
·         Focused (maybe slightly too serious for television?)
·         Good networking (constantly talking to the person running the course, cameraman etc)

PARTICIPANT C (Male): A historian and history teacher wanting to transition to a presenter. He wants to go into television due to a genuine desire to create a specific set of history programmes to make history fun and accessible for everyone. Skills gained which were useful for presenting:
·         SPECIALIST EXPERT KNOWLEDGE (clear ideas of a specific programme he would like to make and why that should be on TV)
·         Quick witted
·         Good memory
·         Intelligent
·         Eloquent

However, despite the advantage of the specialist expertise in one area he was lacking in confidence and spontaneity. Perhaps due to having a job which is so structured and always planned. He did not cope well when asked to complete tasks quickly or improvise in an interview situation.

PARTICIPANT D (Male): An accountant wanting to transition to a presenter. The reason for the transition is loss of passion for his current line of work and just wanting to do something completely different. Skills acquired as an accountant which helped him as a presenter:

·         Intelligence
·         Well presented and smart
·         Confident
·         Attention to detail

However, he lacked the ability to write his own scripts and to memorise lines. This could be due to working with numbers instead of words and made the filming process much slower which could be a hindrance when working with producers on tight time frames.


Campus session 19/10/11

Just a quick summary of the session yesterday for all those that couldn’t make it....
Paula started the session by going over a few general questions which have come up recently:

Q. How does your actual inquiry relate to your plan?

·         There may be changes but it should be similar

·         You can’t change major details now but small circumstantial changes are fine

·         Note what has changed....have you used more resources? Spoken to more or less people?

Q. What are the deadlines for the drafts?

·         They are different for all the advisors so you need to check. Deadline for Paula is 14th November.

·         You should do several drafts yourself before you send it to your advisor

Q. Why do I need to blog?

·         It is important to post updates of where you are and what you have done

·         It does affect your mark

·         Stay connected to the community

·         Share problems and solutions- don’t be selfish

Possible titles for blogs to write:

·         Commentary on discussions you have had with others

·         Commentary on conversations you have had with professional externals

·         Thoughts about your artefact

·         Summary of your main project findings so far (100 words or less)

·         Critical reflection on your learning so far

·         Thoughts and plans for your oral presentation

Adesola then spoke about the professional artefact that we have to produce. We each discussed whether our inquiry was mainly quantitative or qualitative which may affect the type of artefact we produce. Some of the main points on requirements for the artefact are as follows:

·         Even though we have to produce a critical review as a formal way of presenting our inquiry that is not necessarily always the best way to show what you have learnt.

·         Follow the thread of your inquiry to a natural product

·         The review and the artefact are just two different ways of showing your conclusions

·         The artefact should be a part of it from the start and not an add on

·         It could be a performance (song, dance etc)

·         It could be a document e.g. a new syllabus, a book in the style of....

·         Provide the experience of your conclusions for others

·         It should be specific to your field

·         Something you may be able to use in your professional life after the course

·         Don’t start a whole new project with the artefact- it is the product your project has led you to.

After we had established the role and purpose of the artefact, Paula then talked about the critical review. Some of the main points mentioned are as follows:

·         It should be primarily written but can include illustrations and diagrams where appropriate

·         Can be thought of as a business report as opposed to an essay

Writing advice:

·         Who, what, when , where, how

·         Your writing should be ALIVE, not dull to read

·         Show wisdom and life experience

·         Think critically- i.e. compare what you think to what others have written...don’t always agree with everything.

·         Form cohesive arguments

·         Writing should be concise (often need several drafts to do this)

·         If you use paraphrasing as opposed to actually quoting someone but you are still summarising what they have said, you still need to cite them.

·         A paragraph structure should be; Topic sentence-Key points-Concluding sentence.

·         Read what you have written out loud as it can often come out differently and improve your sentence and paragraph structure.


Tuesday 18 October 2011

Theories from existing literature


I have found ten pieces of literature which I have read and annotated. This includes a variety of different pieces, for example; inquiry reports, newspaper articles, books, newspaper interviews, professional blogs and academic writings. To clarify how this literature can inform me on my topic of inquiry I have divided it into two sections. The first section is literature which informs of the dance industry and career transition. The second section is literature which informs on the television industry and presenting as a career. By reading and analysing literature of this variety I have been able to gain a rounded and informed view of existing theories relating career transition from a dancer to a television presenter.
Literature on dance and career transition
I have analysed five pieces of literature to find existing theories on the career transition of professional dancers. After I have gathered all my own data from my inquiry I plan to compare these theories to my own findings to see the similarities and differences between the conclusions reached. Firstly, a report on an inquiry into dancers and career transition entitled ‘Life after dance: Career transition of professional dancers’ was conducted and written by Joan Jeffri and David Throsby in 2005. Jeffri and Throsby studied dancers and their career transitions in Australia, Switzerland and the United States with the aim to discover ‘Insights into challenges of career change as seen from the viewpoint of the individual dancer’. (Jeffri and Throsby, 2005).
While this inquiry explores a wide range of dancers, one of the main limitations is that it does not cover dancers in the UK. It States that there is a ‘difficulty in speaking about career transition in a global way’ (Jeffri and Throsby, 2005) so this made me consider there could never be fair results globally as each culture would treat the topic differently. However, I would like to see how the results compare to my own findings of an inquiry conducted in the UK. One theory that is put forward is that there is a higher level of post-transition career satisfaction among those fully prepared to meet transition than among those not fully prepared.’ (Jeffri and Throsby, 2005). It is tempting to fully agree with this as many of my colleagues who have been successful in career transition have been very prepared. However, from beginning my own research I have seen there are also many other factors that contribute to success which are not explored such as willingness to change, desire, reason for change, current skills, knowledge, attributes, networking, luck etc.
The author presents a theory that the majority of dancers go on to work in something related i.e. dance teaching or and there is only a small number who go on to explore a different field completely. Many dancers I have spoken to so far have done teaching and other related jobs. However, as I want to go into television, a different industry altogether, it is the unrelated careers interest me more. I found the report limited as it only researched into dancers undergoing transition as a result of injury or age but not those who simply have a desire to work in a different industry. Therefore I have taken this into consideration in my own research.
The report noted skills including ‘Self-discipline, team work and stamina’ (Jeffri and Throsby, 2005) which are acquired by a dancer and are useful in most professions. It covers the importance of education and qualifications in order to progress in other careers and the importance of retraining for other careers in advance of needing to undergo transition. All of the conclusions are agreeable and justified by data collected from surveys and questionnaires. The main conclusion that is reached is that ‘expectations and realities differ’ (Jeffri and Throsby, 2005) which has been useful to me as I am now aware that the ideas of the dancers I may interview may not be the reality of how their career will progress.
A similar inquiry was launched by Irina Rincaglia and a report was written entitled Retirement Transition in Ballet Dancers: Coping Within and Coping Without’. The aim was to investigate the experiences of career transition in ballet dancers, from a life course perspective. It also focused on how ballet dancers cope with the transition and the different factors influencing the coping process. The paper uses Schlossberg’s model (1981) as a framework for coping strategies used. It identifies these as ‘situation, self, support and strategies’. It then uses Taylor and Ogilvie’s model (1994) to show causes which initiate the retirement or transition process as ‘Age, deselection, injury and free choice.’ This was useful to me as it covered free choice as opposed to being forced to transition. However, unfortunately it did not go as far as to explore the reasons for free choice and what other careers are available.
The paper identifies a theory that the eight psychological processes which are possible coping strategies for transition are ‘denial, alienation, letting go, isolation, severance, acceptance, renegotiation, reconstruction’ (Roncaglia, 2010). I have found all of these to be applicable to transition and from my experience so far I have found that people find letting go and acceptance among the hardest to deal with. This theory can also be seen in another report entitled ‘Challenges in Transitioning From a Professional Dance Career: An international Comparison’ By The aDvANCE project (2003). It details the problems faced by dancers in transition and identifies that ‘A sense of emptiness was experienced by 49% of former dancers surveyed in the United States.’ (The aDvANCE project, 2003). This is useful as by being able to identify possible challenges of the process it could help other dancers in the future to be more prepared for the obstacles which may lead to a smoother transition. This helped me to create my survey questions as I would like to see whether dancers in the UK can also relate to this theory of experiencing a sense of emptiness. This could help establish whether career transition theories can be generalised on a global scale or whether different nations respond differently to the same process.
A similar theory is presented by Maureen Laird in a report entitled The Transition of Dancers- A practical guide in the examination of transition. The report aims to inform the reader of various aspects of transition, how the dancer can avoid transition pitfalls and also identifies transferable skills of dancer. One theory identified is that ‘Approaching any transition with a positive attitude will enhance and enrich the act of transitioning’. This agrees with previously identified theories on coping strategies and the best way for a smooth transition is to be prepared and positive. The notion of success coming from being prepared is further reinforced throughout the paper ‘Education, formal or informal, is essential to transition’. This theory has been useful to me in my own inquiry as I am looking into what needs to be done to make a successful transition into television and so far I have discovered that knowledge, education, qualifications and expertise are among the most important requirements before embarking on transition.
One of the most interesting elements of this paper is the idea that Laird poses on transferable skills acquired as a dancer. This links strongly to my own research and theories I would like to further look into. I feel that her ideas are also reliable and justified as Laird herself was a professional dancer who is now a pilates teacher and professor. She first identifies the theory that any transition will obviously require a new set of skills ‘A transition that requires the building of a new identity, a new set of skills, a different lifestly , takes years’ (Laird). Having said this, she goes on to talk about all the skills that you can use again in a new career, whatever it may be. Some of the main transferable skills identified are; Discipline, initiative, focus, integrity, time management, problem solving. In my own inquiry I have taken these skills with others of my own and asked dancers opinions on their value to their everyday lives. Through this I hope to identify the most important and valuable transferable skills according to dancers themselves. Through my own results I will see if this theory can be proved or opposed.
This theory is backed up and further developed in a book I have read entitled ‘Ballet Dancers in Career Transition- Sixteen Success Stories’ By Nancy Upper, 2004. The book consists of sixteen different dancers who have undergone transition, eight of which have transitioned into careers related to dance and the other eight into non dance related careers. One story tells of a male ballerina named Michael Byars who underwent transition in order to become a lawyer. He gained all his qualifications before and during the transition process with a prepared and positive attitude in an attempt to have a long and financially viable career with scope for further opportunities. He talks a lot of the importance of transferable skills and poses his theory that ‘Non dancers who are open minded realize how the attributes that contributed to a successful dance career are going to translate into something new.’ (Byars, 2004).
The author, Nancy Upper, then uses Byars’ story and all the others she has researched to compile a definitive list of adaptive skills gained from professional dancing. This list includes most of the skills named previously along with others including; concentration, analytical sense, energy, stamina, motivation to achieve and memory. It can be seen from various literature that many share the theory that there are transferable skills gained by dancers which can be useful to any career. This has been useful to my inquiry when surveying dancers as I will compare my results on transferable skills to those identified in the literature.
Literature on the television industry and presenting as a career
Having identified many existing theories on dancers and career transition, I thought it necessary to look into literature on television and presenting to inform the other side of my inquiry and learn more about the industry. A newspaper article from The Guardian entitled ‘Former Countryfile presenter fronts ITV investigation into ageism on TV’ written by Tara Conlan in February, 2011, focuses on the case launched by Miriam O’Reilly against the BBC for age discrimination after she was sacked from her job as the presenter of Countryfile. The article tells of how O’Reilly won the case and as a result is now potentially going back to work for the BBC. This shows the nature of the industry and the importance of public support. The BBC are obviously more concerned about losing public support than sticking by their view on who is right for the job. This was useful to me in researching the culture of the industry and the pressures and demands that come with it. This has informed my interview choices for the inquiry so I can find out more about the nature of the industry.
The author quotes Miriam O’Reilly herself saying that ‘My ability to do my job on Countryfile had never been questioned. I didn’t think it was fair to lose it for something I had no control over- getting older’ (O’Reilly, 2011). While I agree that obviously ageism is wrong and she had the right to fight against the BBC, unfortunately dancers face the same obstacle of losing their jobs due to age but because they are not in the public eye they cannot launch cases of ageism. The only counter argument provided throughout the whole article was one quote from former newsreader Buerk who argues ‘Get over it. It’s show business’ (Buerk, 2011). I found this article useful in highlighting age as a major pressure on many television presenters. During my inquiry I am researching into other pressures facing television presenters by talking to people working in the industry.
This theory of age and appearance as a major pressure facing presenters is further backed up in a separate newspaper article with the headline TV not a job for life says Britton’ By The Press Association, 2011. The article states ‘Fern Britton says presenters should accept that they may be dumped from programmes for being too old-and they are not in a job for life’ (UKPA, 2011). This shows the huge pressure facing presenters and opposes popular belief that television is more likely to be a long lasting career than something physical like dancing. This shows that even if a successful transition from dance to television was made, a further transition from television to another career may have to be made in the future when you are deemed too old to be on screen. This is an issue I had not previously considered but now this can be linked to the theory of preparation being key to successful transition and show that television professionals may need to be as prepared for transition as dance professionals.
Having examined skills gained through dance training, it is now necessary to see if these match up with skills generally considered necessary for employment in creative industries. A blog written by Hannah Clements entitled ‘Do you have the core skills needed for a career in the creative industries’ identifies that the key employability skills are ‘Self-management, team-working, business and customer awareness, problem solving, communication and literacy, application of numeracy and application of IT’ (Clements, 2011). Not all of these skills are in any of the lists of skills acquired by dancers. Some of the skills match up but perhaps this is where some dancers are struggling with career transition? Even though we acquire so many skills do we think we have everything just because we are disciplined and hard working? Maybe an IT course or management course is something to consider before embarking on career transition.
This notion of the importance of education and gaining skills as highlighted in another piece of literature I have looked into. It is an article called Davina’s tips for would-be TV presenters’ written by Scott Matthewman, 2010. The author interviews Davina McCall about advice for aspiring presenters. Interestingly, she too has a theory on education helping success ‘Often now they are looking for a speciality presenter- a vet, a doctor, a nurse. So don’t give up on your education. Go out, specialise in something and then become a TV presenter.’ (McCall, 2010). This has been useful to  me  int he making of my show reel and choosing what to include (future professional artefact). I actually do have expertise, a qualified fitness instructor, so I am currently making the choice of how to embrace this and show my expert knowledge in my show reel.
In case this wasn’t enough proof that educations and knowledge is the way forward, the theory is further reinforced  in the last piece of literature that i have studied. It is an interview in The Stage with a presenter called Gia Milinovich. She has presented many shows but she has since specialised in technology. She developed her interest in technology through home learning and then turned it into specialist knowledge by completing courses and gaining qualifications ‘Now, because of my knowledge, I am valuable...albeit to a much smaller number of programmes...but my chances of being hired have gone from maybe 1 in 100 to maybe 1 in 4 or 5’ (Milinovich). This shows that the common understanding of success in television presenting is to be an expert first and a presenter second. This is something I have now taken into consideration during my inquiry at my presenting course and when making my show reel which will combine everything I have learnt so far.
After my data analysis I aim to revisit all underlined theories which were found from existing literature and see how true they are to my own findings.
References:
Clements, H, 2011, Do you have the core skills needed for a career in the creative industries? Published by The Guardian careers blog. Available from http://careers.guardian.co.uk/careers-blog/creative-industries-graduate-skills/print (Accessed 5th October 2011)
Conlan, T, 2011, Former Countryfile presenter fronts ITV investigation into ageism on TV, published by The Guardian Newspaper. Available from http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/feb/10/countryfile-miriam-oreilly-tonight-itv?INTCMP=SRCH (accessed 16th March 2011)
Jeffri, J and Throsby, D, 2005, Life after Dance: Career Transition of Professional Dancers, available from http://neumann.hec.ca/aimac2005/PDF_Text/JeffriJ_ThrosbyD.pdf (Aaccessed 15th March 2011)
Laird, M, The Transition of Dancers- A practical guide in the examination of transition. Available from http://www.hichumanities.org/AHProceedings/Maureen%20Laird.pdf (Accessed 15th October 2011)
Matthewman, S, 2010, Davina’s tips for would-be presenters, Published by The Stage. Available from The Stage / TV Today / Davina's tips for would-be TV presenters (Accessed 13th October 2011)
Milinovich, G, 2011, An Interview with Gia Milinovich’ (online) Published by The Stage. Available from http://www.thestage.co.uk/connect/focus/milinovich.php (Accessed 13th October 2011)
Princeton University, 2003, Challenges in Transitioning From a Professional Dance Career: An International Comparison’ Available from http://www.princeton.edu/~artspol/quickfacts/advu03int/advu03int.html (Accessed 13th October 2011)
Roncaglia, I, 2010, ‘Retirement Transition in Ballet Dancers: Coping Within and Coping Without’ Forum: Qualitative Social Research FQS , Volume 11, No. 2, May 2010. Available from http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/viewArticle/1348/2929 (accessed 10th October 2011)
The Belfast Telegraph, 2011, TV not a job for life says Britton, Published by The Telegraph. Available from http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/news/tv-not-a-job-for-life-says-britton-15118583.html (Accessed 12th October 2011)
Upper, N, 2004, “Michael Byars: From Barre to BarUpper, N, Ballet Dancers in Career Transition- Sixteen Success Stories. North Carolina McFarland and Comapny inc publishers.



Thursday 13 October 2011

Go on....answer my survey....you know you want to....!

Right, I have done loads of surveys that have gone up in the hope that people will answer mine in return. Pretty please complete it if you haven't already. I've had a really good response rate from people outside the course but BAPPs are letting the side down a bit!!

This is the last time I'm going to ask....also it's anonymous so it doesn't matter what you put!! Mostly multiple choice so nothing too taxing!

 https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/pleaseanswermysurveythankyou

Thank you thank you thank you