Task 3b; Theories relating to networking
In task 3a I spoke about my current circle of networks within my practice and how I connect with them for further work. In this piece I will be exploring ideas and critically challenging different theories on how they help me to expand my network base.
'Networking is a system of trying to meet and talk to other people who may be useful to you in your work'
(Oxford Learners Dictionary-definition)
Keeping with the idea from Oxford learners definition of networking I start to think about the different approaches there are when connecting with people. Cooperation is the main action when thinking about connecting and working together with others to achieve the same or similar outcome In mind, It's about working with people that understand your ideas and want to develop them further.
Game Theory looks at the models between conflict and cooperation when making decisions, this theory is mainly used for economical, political, science and psychology as well as in computer science and biology. It looks at the mathematical ways which a player can win or lose based on the balance of losses or gains of the utility of other participants and is related to 'Tit for Tat' expression when an action is given in return. Game Theory is used as an umbrella term and related to logical decisions made by people today. In business 'Tit for Tat' is related to people who compete with a competitor and are seen as 'weak' as those who consistently compete are viewed as 'unfair'. This strategy is used for research, relevance and applied in social science.
Robert Axelord who's background is in political science wrote in 1984 'The Evolution of Cooperation' which looks at cooperation theory how it can emerge and persist, which can been seen in 'Game Theory'. It looks at the role of individuals and the benefits of cooperating with others. Game Theory and cooperation is used in Axelord's 'Prisoners Dilemma'
'The prisoner's dilemma is a standard example of a game analysed in game theory that shows why two completely "rational" individuals might not cooperate, even if it appears that it is in their best interests to do so.'
(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner%27s_dilemma)
Axelord talks about the way the game works using experts from different fields and the approach they take to the game. The outcome surprises Axelord when the winner is 'Tit for Tat'.
'To my considerable surprise, the winner was the simplest of all the programs submitted, TIT FOR TAT. TIT FOR TAT is merely the strategy of starting with cooperation, and thereafter doing what the other player did on the previous move'.
(Preface, Robert Axelord (1984) p. Viiii)
Prisoners Dilemma is related to my professional network as it decides whether to cooperate or not and looks at the benefits, disadvantages an patterns when connecting with others that may be influenced by my workplace or theories. We can then consider how patterns and behaviour within our networks occur and how we can take advantage of them for our own benefit, and apply this when networking on a larger scale or in a different environment.
Affiliation is interesting when looking at cooperation between each other as it explores social psychology and how they benefit from people connecting. We affiliate which each other everyday and share a connection whether it be positive, beneficial or not. Affiliation looks at how each persons brain works and why we 'form close relationships' (Crisp and Turner, 2007). It is a social process that supplies 'a network of support that will help us when we are in need' (Crisp and Turner, 2007 p.266). This is something I hadn't thought about before that people's brains processes differently and that people have a level of privacy. (O'connor and Rosenblood, 1996) looks at the need for affiliation and a persons sense to feel involved in a social group and how everyone's needs are different but we seek to interact with one another on a balanced level.
'Having a strong bond with others make a person feel as if they are a part of something important that creates a powerful impact.'
(Wikipedia - O'connor and Rosenblood, Need for affiliation)
When we connect with others we often look for a common interest of feeling and build upon this to create a strong connection. Things to consider when looking for a common interest and networking altogether is what the person is like, their cultural background, age and job role are aspects to look at and will determine how a persons behaviour will be when connecting with them. (Hofstede 1980) looks at 'culture' as ''the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from others.''
(Geert Hofstede - Cultural Dimensions)
Social Constructionism looks at how we make meanings about the world, whereby people 'construct' meanings of the world using their experiences. Social Constructionism looks at the way we use knowledge in social and communication theory's through our interactions in a large social process.
'What constructionism claims is that meanings are constructed by human beings as they engage with the world they are interpreting. Before there were consciousnesses on earth capable of interpreting the world, the world held no meaning at all.'
(Crotty,M (2005) p. 43)
Constructionism is the knowledge humans have made and passed down over the generations so everything has a understandable meaning. When the meaning is hard to process by some audiences we allow it to be broken down or vied in a different way to help the message across.
After researching some theories related with social constructionism I came across an article from an English teacher who has trouble teaching her students Shakespeare are they found it difficult to understand the language and to process the information without getting distracted, Mrs Smith decided to take a social constructivist approach to help her students understand and make their own interpretation of the work.
'Instead of reading the play aloud in class, allowing the students to remain passive and uninvolved with the text, Mrs. Smith divided the class into five cooperative groups and assigned each group one act of the play. She then explained that each group was to turn their assigned act into a modern-day puppet show. The groups were to read, interpret, and translate their act into modern language (they were even encouraged to use common slang when appropriate.) They were also required to create puppets to represent the characters and ultimately perform their act for the rest of the class. (http://epltt.coe.uga.edu/index.php?title=Social_Constructivism)
Since researching Iv noticed its something I was taught when going through my education and training with more of a creative influence to help breakdown higher education information and for a teacher or someone higher up than me help to get a better understanding of students knowledge and creativity.
'When people interact they do so with the understanding that their respective perception of reality are related'... 'As they act upon this understanding their common knowledge of reality becomes reinforced'
(http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/social-constructionism.)
Connectivism is learning influenced by ideas about the organisation of learning and information regularly referenced by the Internet,
'Behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism are the three broad learning theories most often utilized in the creation of instructional environments. These theories, however, were developed in a time when learning was not impacted through technology. Over the last twenty years, technology has reorganized how we live, how we communicate, and how we learn'
(Siemens, G (2004)
'Connectivism is a hypothesis of learning which emphasises the role of social and cultural context. In this sense, Connectivism proposes to see knowledge's structure as a network and learning as a process of pattern recognition.'
(Wikipedia - Connectivism)
Network Theory = Computer Science
Professional Networks -----> Connectivism -----> Networks provide learning -----> People connect and learn.
Connectivism also looks at the use of more traditional learning when information is transferred from teachers to students and how this needs to be modified or, rejected. A resourceful website I came across in relation to Connectivism in the classroom is a PowerPoint by Prezi which highlights information on knowledge, process and connection.
https://prezi.com/m/_ee3amswngex/connectivism-in-the-classroom/
Each slide provides a different way teachers can connect students to information through the Internet how the learning community expands into a group of people who interact and learn together so they experience a more meaningful outcome while creating dynamic relationships.
Relating to Connectivism is Communities of Practice which looks into social science and social relationships that are created through learning.
'It is through the process of sharing information and experiences with the group that members learn from each other, and have an opportunity to develop personally and professionally.' (Lave & Wenger 1991).
Lave and Wenger's book 'Situated Learning' (1991) looks at communities of practice and how they emerge, it looks at the engagement in different communities of learning and how this produces social learning within learning. They look at how students for example will develop shared vision, artefacts and specialist vocabulary and the way this approaches to their work.
'A community of prac- tice is a set of relations among persons, activity, and world, over time and in relation with other tangential and overlapping communities of practice.' (Wenger - Situated Learning p. 98)
Wenger identified a community of practice as existing on three dimensions:
• What it is about – its joint enterprise as understood and continually renegotiated by its members;
• How it functions - mutual engagement that bind members together into a social entity;
What capability it has produced – the shared repertoire of communal resources.
"Rather than defining [learning] as the acquisition of propositional knowledge, Lave and Wenger situated learning in certain forms of social co-participation. Rather than asking what kinds of cognitive processes and conceptual structures are involved, they ask what kinds of social engagements provide the proper context for learning to take place".(Wikipedia - Situated Learning)
This is related to my own work when talking previously about my role as Dance Captain and as a freelance dancer, being in a lot of different environments with different jobs I have separate communities of colleagues that I work differently with. As a dancer I learn through movement someone's in a large group of people who all process the movement in a different way.
Ethical Consideration;
With the points I've shared above and when speaking previously in other tasks I've used a lot of related attachments and examples to teaching. Being a teacher to students at different age and learning levels has to be considered with the information that you share, the language you use and the actions to describe learning to your audience. Always having to be mindful especially when using the Internet for learning. I also spoke about being mindful to your audiences background, culture, age and job before networking with them to get the most beneficial outcome.
Task 3b; References
http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/network_1
http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/networking?q=Networking
https://www.fpb.org/business-support/top-networking-tips-small-businesses
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner%27s_dilemma
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need_for_affiliation
http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm
