5b) Ethics of Professional Practice

When looking further into the ethics of my professional practice, it became clear that within my profession ones ethics are determined by the dancers own opinion. This was confirmed when I asked my colleagues in my ballet company what they felt the ethics are. All answered with the same thoughts that I expressed in my previous blog and agreed that this had come about through their own opinions and what they have learnt throughout their career rather than with legislation as some professions would have.

I also wrote in a previous blog about what is expected of me within my profession, consulting my contract for reference of how i know what is expected of me. This is the only written  form of information many dancers given and so in terms of what is ethically correct, personal input is extremely important. whilst during my time in training, however, a small booklet called "The Dancers Dozen" was given to all students at the young age of eleven, which was the beginning of the ethical shaping that I brought forward into my career.

Upon speaking to the ballet mistress of the company I currently work with, the discussion turned into what are the ethical values of the company as a whole, rather just with each individual dancer. this is of course an important aspect for the companys ability and will  greatly affect the ballet mistress' own professional goals in incorrectly conducted. With further discussion an ethos for the company was created.

"To give every member of (company name) a secure and complete understanding of their professional roles. Thus allowing all performances to be the highest standard possible."

Within Module 1 we were encouraged to think about the ethics of our profession in terms of when using social media. I have always been of the opinion that whilst social media can be helpful within a profession for such things as networking, it is not wise to include personal information on open databases i.e your home address on a blog such as this one. I have therefore also left out the name of my current ballet company and ballet mistress in the interest of integrity. This is another example of what is correct ethical conduct in my opinion.

I would be interested to know if readers agree with this choice? And therefore in fact within my professional practice where the line should be drawn on these matters?