Among the four principles posited by Jason on this episode, I would like to zoom in on the Education aspect, as this acts as one of the most important background components on a personal level for anyone, especially before entering the professional scene.
In response, I highly advocate the four types of literacy skills as seen below as domains of knowledge that should be introduced in mainstream education - Digital Literacy, Financial Literacy, Social Literacy and Health Literacy. As much as these four literacy skills are crucial to society regardless of profession, they are especially prominent to the performing arts through the examples I will provide:
Digital Literacy: The ability to utilize technology to access information, and be able to evaluate information wisely and appropriately. One common example is by using social media effectively to share creative content and build personal branding, at the same time being aware about the sensitivities surrounding intellectual property.
Financial Literacy: Having awareness and knowledge about financial management, and be able to make informed decisions with regards to personal or organizational finance. This can be achieved by being constantly knowledgeable of the market values within the industry, especially in an industry where talent is highly mobile and often hired on a project by project basis. In other words, avoid getting overwork and underpaid.
Social Literacy: The ability to read social cues, interact positively and effectively with people around. The performing arts is a highly collaborative art form, which makes having good communication skills almost as important as the craft in the work itself.
Health Literacy: The ability to access health information and make informed decisions about personal wellbeing both physically and mentally. Do not sacrifice self-care especially during hectic production periods where workload becomes extremely intense, leading to burnout or injuries.
So WHY exactly is the background so important? Why are these underlying components that crucial in supporting the performing arts as an ecosystem? Fret not as this episode sheds light on the four principles on why the background matters.
Community Building (3:26)
- Social capital is vital in building mutually beneficial relationships, to bring people together and interact through shared experiences, thus building TRUST.
- Global connectivity is also established through the use of technology devices and talent mobility, which highly influences the transmission of information and creation in the performing arts.
Education (11:04)
- Education can exist in various forms. A good and effective education system is able to nurture leadership and equip people with a multiplicity of skills.
Workforce Versatility (14:52)
- Being resourceful in terms of equipping oneself with a wide range of skillsets. Be the Comb-shape people: Multiplicity leads to workforce versatility, in which a person’s skillset is transferable and interconnected.
Career Progression (20:38)
- Career upgrades can be seen as both vertical or lateral. Acknowledging the importance of offstage professions and being educated about it will help expand one’s career compatibility. Effective career advice should be introduced early in performing arts education, while workforce development needs to be seriously considered within performing arts organizations.
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