Professional Ethics (5c)

Looking at the sources helped me think of ethic dilemmas that occur in  my own professional practice, for example Case study 2:Ethics in photography about Kevin Carter.

With the objective to capture a rare moment on film the documentary photographer let a impoverished girl die when he knew he could of prevented it.

There are always two sides of every story so I decided to take a theoretical approach; Consequentialist, weighing up whether the outcome of the photo winning a Pulitzer Prize or him committing suicide for extreme guilt justifies/Balances out for the Sudanese girls life?

Everyone has their own opinion, from my perspective it is Morally wrong therefore I am taking a deontologist approach right or WRONG?

Where as if I were to think about Virtue ethics; the character of the moral agent and the given circumstances of his project. The photographers were instructed no to touch anyone for fear of epidemics.Therefore some could take that into consideration, however looking at his moral behaviour wouldn't your instincts be to save the child!?

 Reading the Professional ethics has made me find many hidden ethical dilemmas in our profession, relating to my recent inquiry of singing as a communication, that I hadn't previously thought of. We all listen to the radio often which has a high percentage of its broadcasting time playing music worldwide. An ethical dilemma within this area of communication is whether the material being broadcasted is always appreciate.

For example the shocking stories in the news about Chris Brown being accused of domestically violating Rihanna in February 2009. This public leak has had an affect on his music career but is the extent of it enough. His music is now played on the popular radio stations and soon enough he'll be touring again gaining a huge fan base. What kind of example is that setting for these fans?
I find this ethical dilemma causes many normative questions...
Taking the process of applied ethics; Does the sentence he received of 180 days of labor service in Virginia, five years of probation and was ordered to attend a domestic-abuse program for a year. Justify him being allowed to remain a hit making music star? Is this an acceptable resolution of the moral problem?
Moral axiology-Is what he was accused of classed as EVIL? against the GOOD consequences and what are they?
Is the growth of Rihannas fan base and success of her recent music due to this trauma?
Everyone should have the right to practice their art but is it right for him to gain such extreme success?
Analysing ethical problems and Using the moral theories I've learnt about in this reader result in more and more normative questions in everyday moral dilemmas.

References-
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://dailybabel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Kevin-Carter.png&imgrefurl=http://dailybabel.com/2009/10/16/united-nations-food-programme-world-food-day-billion-hungry/&h=288&w=457&sz=700&tbnid=EWYGv403iKETTM:&tbnh=81&tbnw=128&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkevin%2Bcarter%2Bphotos&zoom=1&q=kevin+carter+photos&usg=__ohlENFqf3hwR0p5J1CMENa4gGjI=&sa=X&ei=CLFzTdrlDcPPhAew6JRJ&ved=0CB0Q9QEwAg
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1614470/legal-expert-talks-chris-brown-sentence.jhtml

5B

As I don't currently have a "work place" I thought I'd look into the Code of Conduct/Rules and regulations in potential future work places.

Choir Singers should:

• be committed, reliable and punctual, always informing the choir trainer before being absent from rehearsals or services/concerts.
• be an outstanding member of the choir, setting an excellent example to other singers through attendance, behaviour, commitment, and musical standards.
• understand the delicate balance between giving a strong musical lead and blending with other singers.
• understand that the choir is a team and that the practicalities of running the team are imporant, e.g. setting up rehearsal rooms, collecting music, etc.
• take responsibility for the less experienced singers.

Here's a section out of Perry Road Recording Studio's Terms and Condition which most related to our kind of Code of Conduct. 

7.             Hirer's Compliance
7.1          The Hirer undertakes that it shall not bring into the Studio any alcohol, drugs, any illegal substance or any other substance for abuse, or any material which are of a dangerous nature, or an explosive nature or any materials whose possession storage or use might contravene any statute local regulations or bye-laws or constitute a nuisance to third parties.  The Company shall be entitled to immediately remove any such materials or substances described above.
7.2          The Hirer shall observe perform and comply with all applicable statues rules regulations and orders relating to its activities on the Company’s premises including without limitation the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and all associated regulations and approved codes of practice and the Hirer undertakes to ensure so far as reasonably possible the health safety and welfare at work of all employees of the Hirer and persons providing services for the benefit of the Hirer.
7.3        The Hirer confirms that the Company and any inspector appointed by the Health and Safety Executive, any fire officer or officer of any other regulatory body having authority over the Studio shall have the right to inspect without prior notice at any reasonable time the Equipment and the Studio for the purpose of complying with such inspector or officers duties or for the purpose of ensuring compliance by the Hirer of its obligations.
7.4        The Hirer shall arrive and leave the Studio in a considerate manner without causing any nuisance undue noise or disruption to others and shall comply with all access exit and parking requirements stipulated by the Company.
7.5        In the event of the Hirer’s failure to comply with any of these terms and conditions the Company shall be entitled to immediately terminate the period for hire and to retain all payments made by the Hirer. For avoidance of doubt the Hirer shall be liable in any event to pay for the full period of Studio hire booked.

Buskers may not:

• Cause or promote a public disturbance
• Block pathways, fire exits or impede traffic
• Play louder than the volume limit set by the local authority
• Hinder or prevent the passage of any emergency service or personnell
• Actively request money by asking for a donation or by shaking a collection box (unless they are collecting on behalf of a charitable cause in which case permission to collect must be sought from the local authority)

All of the behaviour guidelines, rules and regulations are very site specific, the standard traits are on respect for others, the premises and the audience which is included in the code of conduct I put together for a solo singer.

 References-
http://www.vocalist.org.uk/busking.html
http://www.perryroadstudios.co.uk/rates/7
http://www.stmaryshemel.org.uk/choircodeofconduct.htm

CODE of CONDUCT, campus session and 5a.

Thinking up a code of conduct is extremely challenging considering at least 70% of my professional practice is Solo based.My main work place is my home, then rehearsal space, various gig spots and rarely the Theatre space.
Analysing the ethics on the Musical Theatre side within my professional community is much easier as there's generally contracts to abide to and people to work under. At the campus session on Monday (21st) we got into groups to put together a code of conduct, our group specialised in the performance/Musical Theatre side. Here's what we came up with-

The Performers Code Of Conduct

• A performer must have consideration and Respect for who they're working for, or with.
• A performer must have dedication to the preparation needed for the product.
• It is acceptable for a Performer to have a conscientious use of sheet music, music and choreography within a teaching and auditioning environment.
• A performer must fulfill contract obligations.
• A performer holds the responsibility for the safety of you and others around you.
• A performer must avoid deliberately endangering their health.

These are the ethics that I aim to follow whilst working on Musical Theatre projects/ contracts however, many of these 'rules' wouldn't apply to my current professional practice of purely singing, therefore I have racked my brain to come up with personal regulations.

A Singers Code of Conduct

• A singer must have consideration and respect for musicians or collaborative singers.
• A singer holds responsibility for their vocal health.
• A singer should strive to sustain and increase singing ability.
• A singer must be dedicated to rehearsal time.
• A singer has the responsibility for the material they wish to share.

Thinking about whether one of the regulations in first set applies to me-

• It is acceptable for a Performer to have a conscientious use of sheet music, music and choreography within a teaching and auditioning environment.

!!?!!?!! I use songs, sheet music and music for performance purposes as well as in auditions and so do many, but it is not our original material. Is it legally correct or is it a comparative ethic? Ethical Dilemma?!

Also in the campus session we discussed Virtues, which I think of, as individual values or qualities.

Which Virtues do I have on a personal basis..

Confident

Generous

Positive

Which Virtues do I need for my profession..

Confidence

Reliability

Persistence

Obviously there's many more but I think it's important to analyse the virtues we have, need and maybe need to develop to create a good working Ethos within my Profession Practice.

Thinking about my award title.

"The award I seek as a result of doing this programme is a BA(Hons) Professional Practice (Communication through the Arts)"

How does that sound?
Originally I wrote.."through singing", but I felt it was restricting?
Is it too broad? as at the moment I am only looking into how we communicate through singing.

I thought of using the word communication as alot of the course so far and my Inquiry so far has been learning about how, when and where we communicate, network with others?!
Hmmm...

Outcomes so far.. 4b

I have set up a discussion thread on our facebook page called Singing as a use of communication which is already proving useful and is helping me to expand off on other tangents to do with my inquiry. Being involved in other discussions is also causing me to recall knowledge to share with others and learn from their interesting points. So far the SIGs are extremely handy and seem to be getting frequent updates which sparks the thought that we check our facebooks more than our blogs!?
 Whilst researching I found an interesting site which could help people who's inquiry somehow revolves round childrens education like Joanna and Natalie.
http://www.singup.org/magazine/magazine-article/view/32-singing-for-special-needs/

I found this article that talks about singing helping children with special needs or learning difficulties; "Its common to hear words sung by a child who would be unable to speak the same words" This particularly stood out to me as it's another positive way of using singing to communicate to add to my list, helping my inquiry questions.

Other points that  have arised that Im going to follow  up, from professional associates, SIG members and other BAPP  people are-

• The contrast between plays and Musicals as they reach out  to people differently as plays don't use singing to communicate the story.
• The difference between Musical Theatre singing and other genres also how and why people relate to the different stlyes.
• Is it the melody, Lyrics, Production or voice that reaches out to people?

I am currently in the process of asking other profesional employees, associates and friends, so any thoughts or opinions would help me greatly to find some of my own evidence to work from.

?-??

Looking back on when I first started thinking about my Inquiry-http://jcgunnell.blogspot.com/2010/11/inquiry.html I realised that the answers wouldn't take long to find, resulting in dead ends, which I find uninspiring!
I want to infuse my current professional practice and interests with areas I would like to work in, in the future, therefore, keeping in mind my interest in the affect music has on our moods etc I broadened my horizons, looked at the bigger picture.
A question I came up with when asked for a big question during the last campus session was-
How can I reach out to others with my singing voice?
Again I feel this question has its restrictions, I'm not only interested in my voice, singing as a whole is such a universal use of communication. Singing reaches out to so many people, what is the attraction?
These thoughts lead to my current Big Question.
Why is singing such an important way of communicating?


Taking into account the 2d task on inquiry we did last term and the 4a task for this module; I came up with some sub-questions to help me along the way and perhaps open up some links for people to help create our SIGS.

• In which scenarios do we use singing to communicate?

          And why?

• What are the benefits of using singing as communication?
• Is it always used as a positive way of communication?
• Are humans the only species that use singing to communicate?

Hopefully this is a good starting point, to take it further and gather other associates points.

Any comments would be highly appreciated!

Practictioner Research helpful steps..

Investigating abstract ideas will lead to our Inquiry research.
 To clarify and condense the reader I put Scholarly Research (a way of posing and expanding questions; a way of expressing and communicating) into simple steps, guidelines that I aim to stick to during my researching process.

Study, Examination, Gather facts

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Scrutinize and Asses findings

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Seek relationships, find connections

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Discover Themes,  Emerge Ideas, Personal Interpretation

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New Theories, Significance of discoveries.

These stages should help me to fully understand the topic I choose to research as the questions will lead to Problems which shall hopefully create opportunities!

Now for the Questions.....