The Dawson Research Internship
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Past Presentations
2006: How We Make Meaning
2007: Professional Presenters and the Amateur Arts
About the Initiative
In 1996, the Association of Performing Arts Presenters created the William Dawson Education Endowment to celebrate and honor Bill Dawson, the association's Executive Director from 1972 to 1986. Bill's friends and colleagues sought to establish a fund that would help educate a new generation of arts leaders, incorporating Bill's belief in lifelong learning with his professional legacy of the successful partnership between higher education and the administration of the arts. A roster of donors to the fund is available on the Arts Presenters web site.
The result is the William Dawson Research Internship. This research program, inaugurated in 2005, supports an annual research study by selected graduate students in the Bolz Center for Arts Administration on current trends facing the presenting field. The results of this study is presented annually at the Arts Presenters national Members Conference in New York City. The project is a close collaboration of Arts Presenters and the Bolz Center for Arts Administration, where Bill Dawson also played a formative and passionate role.
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Connecting Students and Professionals,
Theory and Practice
For three years now, the William Dawson Research Internship of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters has commissioned a group of Bolz Center graduate students to research, prepare, and present a national conference session on an emerging trend, issue, or question facing performing arts practitioners.
This year's topic explores an essential issue for the future of the field, and the health of the performing arts profession.
2008: ''Learning to Lead: Where and How Do Arts Professionals Extend Their Knowledge and Advance Their Craft?''
Association of Performing Arts Presenters Annual Conference
New York, NY
Sunday, January 13, 9:30 - 11:30 am
In a continually evolving industry and a rapidly revolving world, how do Arts Presenter members solve new problems and forge new skills? Do they learn primarily from structured offerings like academic training, conference workshops, executive education, and community leadership initiatives, or more through informal networks, self study, weblogs, listservs, and on-line research? Join a team of graduate students and special guests as we explore the current ecology of professional development, and the strategies that might make it stronger. This third-annual effort of the Bill Dawson Research Internship Fund will honor Bill's life and work by connecting essential research to professional practice and by stretching what you know about how you learn.
Project Team
Jeffrey Collier, Michal Fischer, Brooke Jackson, Jara Kern, Elizabeth Sustar, Isaac Walters. Moderator/Advisor: Andrew Taylor. Respondent: Diane Ragsdale, Associate Program Officer, Performing Arts Program, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Readings & Resources
Books, reports, and web resources discussed during the session, or advancing the final presentation. This resource sheet is also available for download (pdf format)
Referenced Publications
- How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, by John D. Bransford, Ann L. Brown & Rodney R. Cocking.
- ''Exploring the Relationship between Learning and Leadership,'' by Lilas M. Brown and Barry Z. Posner. The Leadership and Organizational Development Journal, November 2001.
- Valuable Disconnects in Organizational Learning Systems: Integrating Bold Visions and Harsh Realities, by Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld and J. Kevin Ford. Oxford University Press, New York, 2005.
- Never Eat Alone: and other secrets to success one relationship at a time, Keith Ferrazzi. Doubleday, New York, 2005
- Evaluative Inquiry for Learning in Organization, Hallie Preskill & Rosalie T. Torress
- The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, Peter Senge. Doubleday, New York, 1990.
- The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, Peter Senge, Art Kleiner, Richard Ross, Charlotte Roberts, Bryan Smith. Currency Double Day, New York, 1994.
- ''Executive Education: The Leading Edge,'' by Albert A. Vicere. Organizational Dynamics, Autumn 1996.
Web Resources
Top five online resources reported by survey respondents
Terms to Explore
Learning theories: behaviorism, constructivism, cognitive learning, transformational learning, humanism
Barriers to Learning: I am my job; Fixation on events; Boiled Frog Parable; Delusion of Learning from Experience; Myth of the Management Team
This project is supported by the William Dawson Research Internship Fund of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, established to honor the life, work, and service of former Arts Presenters Executive Director Bill Dawson.
Characteristics of a ''Learning Organization'' and associated best practices
from ''Creating A Learning Environment For Residents Around Patient Safety And Mistakes," a collaborative research project of the School of Public Health, University at Albany, and Albany Medical College.
| Characteristic |
Definition |
Associated Best Practices |
Positive Byproducts |
| Self mastery- individual |
The ability to honestly and openly see reality as it exists; to clarify
one's personal vision |
1.Positive reinforcement from role models/managers
2.Sharing experiences
3.More interaction time between supervisory levels
4.Emphasis on feedback
5.Balance work/non-work life
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Greater commitment to the organization and to work; less rationalization
of negative events; ability to face limitations and areas for improvement;
ability to deal with change |
| Mental models - individual |
The ability to compare reality or personal vision with perceptions; reconciling
both into a coherent understanding |
1.Time for learning
2.Reflective openness
3.Habit of inquiry
4.Forgiveness of oneself
5.Flexibility/adaptability
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Less use of defensive routines in work; less reflexivity that leads to
dysfunctional patterns of behavior; less avoidance of difficult situations |
| Shared vision - group |
The ability of a group of individuals to hold a shared picture of a mutually
desirable future |
1.Participative openness
2.Trust
3.Empathy towards others
4.Habit of dissemination 5.Emphasis on cooperation
6.A common language
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Commitment over compliance, faster change, greater within group trust;
less time spent on aligning interests; more effective communication flows |
| Team learning - group |
The ability of a group of individuals to suspend personal assumptions
about each other and engage in "dialogue" rather than "discussion" |
1.Participative openness 2.Consensus building
3.Top-down and bottom-up communication flows;
4.Support over blame;
5.Creative thinking
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Group self-awareness; heightened collective learning; learning "up
and down" the hierarchy; greater cohesiveness; enhanced creativity |
| Systems thinking - group |
The ability to see interrelationships rather than linear cause-effect;
the ability to think in context and appreciate the consequences of actions
on other parts of the system |
1.Practicing self mastery
2.Possessing consistent mental models
3.Possessing a shared vision
4.Emphasis on team learning
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Long-term improvement or change; decreased organizational conflict; continuous
learning among group members; Revolutionary over evolutionary change |
* Adapted from the work of Senge (1990), Argyris and Schon (1996), Argyris
(1991), and Schon (1983).
