The basic idea of succeeding at the expense of some one else put forward by Robert Axelrod in 1984. At first sight 'cooperation' did not sit well with me. The title of it sounds logical and I am always willing to cooperate as professional, however, the theory that goes into it of using people for maximum benefit for myself just sounded so unpleasant and unlike me. However, after looking into it a bit more, and as I discussed in task 3a, maybe I was wrong. I found that actually I do use cooperation in other networks such as my general work network in order just to get by. I think I would use cooperation to get a larger network and to get ahead in the industry because actually when it comes to it, these people aren't your friends primarily they are colleagues or future employers. I think what I've learnt after really thinking about it, is that I will have to put myself first if I want to get anywhere.
Affiliation
In 2007, Crisp and Turner suggested that affiliation is the formation of close relationships with others, and thus, 'a network of support that will help us when we are in need'. They suggest that as a result of psychological processes in the brain, Crisp and Turner 2007, pp266. Homeostasis is thought to be one stand of affiliation. O' Connor and Rosenblood 1996 pp267, suggest that each person needs a different amount of affiliation but each will try to balance the interactions, they also link that to the idea that a person may be introvert or extrovert. Affiliation suggests that as humans we have a need for 'all people' and we balance our needs for each depending on our cultural and personal background. I can understand affiliation as a concept and it does make sense, however it seems to be to be very focused on the networking and rather than a professional having talent. Perhaps it is just the harsh truth, but a concept that suggests it really is just who you know rather than what you can do is rather disheartening for the industry. However, clearly there is nothing I can do to change that, so I must focus on become well networked. Recently I have been thinking about how I can change my life for the better and networking is key to doing this. I have started to think about joining the industry in a different capacity in order to learn more about my ideal networks.
Social constructionism
The key thought with this one is that humans construct meanings of the world out of social interaction. So, my ideas of something new will be impressionable to those around me at the time. We are constantly having to make our own decisions about how we perceive things. Social constructionism suggests that meanings are made through interactions and thus within a network of like minded professionals the meanings will be determined in favour of the network and the values of said networks are passed on to new members of the network. Like a group, some networks are more particular about who may join and similar values are usually key. For example, when I began to work part time in hospitality, one vital aspect (or value) that I had to have on my CV was 'good with people'. All members of the hospitality network have the value that you must be a people person to join, or work in the same industry. Merleau-Ponty wrote,"the objects in the world are indeterminate. They may be pregnant with potential meaning, but actual meaning emerges only when consciousness engages with them." Thinkers such as Ponty suggest the question, 'How can there be meaning without a mind'.
M Crotty, 2005 (p42- 44) "it is the view that all knowledge and therefore all meaningful reality as such is contingent upon human practices, being constructed in and out of interactions between human beings and their world.."
I imagine in the future, that my opinions and views on certain things are going to be changed as my networks grow and evolve. I doubt all of the truths that appear will be pleasent and predict that I am going to have to be flexible to accomodate some aspects of the industry but I think I will change as I learn.
Connectivism
So, connectivism doesn't make a massive amount of sense to me. From what I gather, it is against traditional learning of information being transferred from A to B and suggests that we need to connect with the information given and make sense of it for ourselves to learn. It is the explanation of how networks learn and provide the means for individuals to learn and connect.
G Seimens 2004, stated that there are key points to connectivism which are as follows:
- learning and knowledge rests in the diversity of opinions
- learning is a process of connecting specialised nodes or information sources
- learning may reside in non human appliances
- capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known
- nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning
- ability to see connections between fields ideas and concepts is a core skill
- currency (up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities.
Communities of Practice
Suggests that we learn by involving ourselves in social relationships rather than acquiring knowledge as an individual. However surely this can only be true of certain types of knowledge, introverted personalities can be very clever academically but struggle publicly due to the lack of social interaction. However I am a firm believer that some people are just wired differently and are stronger in some aspects of learning than others, and then weaker at other times.
Lave and Wegner coined the term 'situated learning' to suggest that, like connectivism, learning should not just be information being passed from A to B, but being constructed within the environment for which it is intended. So from this, one can assume that Lave and Wegner would be all for apprenticeships and internships, instead of school based learning as it gives the pupil a chance to learn by working with others in their chosen profession and doing the job. I do like the idea of communities of practice once you have chosen the profession you wish to be in , because I think you would learn quicker and more thoroughly by being within a the community of people doing the same thing. By attending Italia Conti rather than a university, I was submerged in like minded people and professionals. I had an amazing opportunity to learn about the industry whilst perfecting my craft under the supervision of well respected professionals as well as learning about myself along the journey. Vocational study allowed me to 'learn whilst doing' rather than to learn just the theory and I am so grateful I could learn within my own community of practice.
"rather than learning from replicating the performances of other or by acquiring knowledge transmitted by instruction, we suggest that learning occurs through centripetal participation in the learning curriculum of the ambient community", (Lave and Wegner 1991, p98-100)
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