I have begun Module 3 by looking back at my inquiry plan, and taking in to account the feedback that I received. My inquiry: The Dancers Mindset: 'Are dancers able to translate their skills outside of dance?' 'Do dancers have the 'winning mindset'? Needs some further clarification and focus.
For example the term 'mindset' may prove problematic and cause some confusion. I had chosen this term as it is based on a 72- question test called '3G Mindset' which was devised by Dr Paul G. Stoltz and James Reed. The test has been devised to measure personality or qualities that make up our 'mindset'. These qualities or characteristics are grouped into three categories: Global: your openness and connectivity with the greater world around you. Good: the integrity and kindness with which you consider and treat others. And grit: the toughness, tenacity, resilience and intensity with which you pursue your goals. A 'winning mindset' is the result of scoring highly in said test, and is considered by 98% in a survey of several thousand employers worldwide, more desirable in the workplace than having a perfect skill set.
As my inquiry is trying to research the ways that dancers relate their knowledge and understanding to the work place, 'do dancers have the 'winning mindset'? May be replaced by: do dancers have knowledge of a good work ethic? Do dancers have the knowledge to pursue their goals with resilience and tenacity? Do dancers have knowledge of connectivity with the greater world around them? All of which come back to my question of: 'are dancers able to translate their skills outside of dance?' Are we as dancers, able to use our knowledge in workplaces other than the dance profession, or is there a lack of being able to communicate these benefits in other professional spheres.
I had initially wanted to use the '3G Questionnaire' as a tool for my inquiry, asking a number of dancers to each fill out the test. I would then use this to see if any patterns emerged or if the results were similar, therefore identifying personality traits in dancers. This may be difficult to achieve on a small number of participants and it has also presented some concerns in regards to ethics and copyright. Such 'personality tests' have been subject to criticism and controversy in the past. One problem with self- report measures of personality is that the participants are able to distort or fake their answers. The results rely on the respondents to be answering truthfully. Another concern is that personality tests also assume that personality is a reliable, constant part of the human mind or behaviour.
Interviews may be a more appropriate tool to use for my inquiry, which will provide the opportunity to question professional dancers individually about their particular experiences. As it will be difficult to develop an understanding of all dancers' knowledge in a small scale research project, interviewing a select group of dancers will enable me to interpret their experiences in more depth, and to get an idea of their own awareness of the knowledge they posses as a dancer. Gathering such data from professional dancers who similar to myself, have had experiences of professional work places both within and outside of dance, will be a useful way of understanding my inquiry topic beyond the literature.
I will continue to fine- tune my inquiry and to develop a better sense of the tasks I will soon undertake. I'll continue to research literature that is relevant to my inquiry, and post literature reviews to my blog in the coming weeks.
