How Do I Use My Living and Lived Experience to Influence Creative Economic Independence in Others?
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How do I use my living and lived experience to influence creative economic independence in others? Bonnie Kaplan Student Number: 19001631 Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Technology: Fashion in the Department of Fashion at the Durban University of Technology Supervisor: Mrs Farida Kadwa Co-Supervisor: Professor Joan Conolly 2013 Declaration I Yvonne (Bonnie) Kaplan, declare that this research project for the Degree of Masters of Technology Fashion, has not been submitted previously for a degree at the Durban University of Technology, or any other Institution or University, and that it is my own work in execution, and all the material contained herein is acknowledged. Signed Date ________________________ ___________________ Approved for final submission: Supervisor: Mrs F. Kadwa Signed Date ________________________ ___________________ Co-Supervisor: Professor J Conolly Signed Date ________________________ ___________________ i Dedication This work is dedicated to My two children Sara and Joel and my brother Larry ii Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge my children first. Sara and Joel, you have accepted so graciously the times I have neglected you because my focus has been on my study. Thank you for your encouragement and patience. The only times you have shown impatience is when you told me to get back to work if I lost focus. Joan Conolly, you supported me with your capacity for enormous knowing, strength and wisdom. That knowing is about self-study being a very painful journey. You saw me through some of the darkest times over these four years until I found a new and better me at the end. My supervisor, Farida Kadwa, thank you for your dedication, time, encouragement and belief in my study, it has been a wonderful experience being supervised by you. Thank you to the librarians at the DUT who have helped me with much more than just sourcing some of my references. Sara Bibi Mitha and Avenal Finlayson, you have shown interest, patience and caring. Thank you deeply. My brother Larry, you have always been the most important source of wisdom, direction and astuteness for me. You have always come to my rescue when I have needed you the most. Thank you for reminding me of parts of my childhood relevant to my dissertation. Thank you for helping me to see the big picture and for your caring direction. Finally thanks to Mike Maxwell for his discussions and encouragement for me to complete my study. For assisting me with technical applications in my dissertation, thank you. iii Abstract Due to the high levels of unemployment in Durban South Africa, the New Venture Creation (NVC) groups I coached/mentored were seeking to become self-employed, to find social and economic independence. I have observed that many of the people in my NVC groups seemed to lack, self-confidence and self-esteem in the start-up process of their business. These lacunae pose a problem, as they are all necessary if one wants to create a viable, sustainable and profitable business. The reason that I coach these emerging entrepreneurs is to assist in building their self-confidence and self-esteem so that they have the courage to “go for it”. The problem I have sought to address in this research is: How do I influence emerging entrepreneurs to become sufficiently self-confident to be able to design, establish and sustain their own employment and employment for others? I work on the assumption that most people have the capacity to be self-employed. I have used autoethnography with action research to describe the interventions that I initiated, report on their implementation, as well as the evolution of new perceptions and understandings that developed as a result. By using my own and the participants visual data with still images and video with visual narrative I demonstrate the evidence of my living theory and self-study to influence creative economic independence in others and reflect critically on what has been done and achieved, and critically assess the way forward. I verbally explained the ethical issue of obtaining consent to use names and photographs in my study to the participants. My explanation was followed by obtaining written consent from the five key participants and others in the pictorial data. iv List of acronyms and common abbreviations ADD Art & Design Development BMEP Basic Business Management and Entrepreneur Programme CTFL Clothing Textile Footwear and Leather CFE Centre for Fashion Entrepreneurship DACT Department of Arts Culture and Tourism DFW Durban Fashion Week DUT Durban University of Technology FE Fashion Entrepreneurs FEP Fashion Entrepreneur Programme FETA Furniture Education Training Authority FP&M Furniture, Pulp and Manufacturing HSRC Human Sciences Research Council ITU Industry Training Unit KZNFC KwaZulu-Natal Fashion Council KZN KwaZulu-Natal NVC New Venture Creation SEDA Small Enterprise Development Agency SETA South Africa introduced Sector Education Training Authorities SMME Small Medium Micro Enterprise UKZN University of KwaZulu-Natal WIL Work Integrated Learning v Contents Declaration ........................................................................................................................... i Dedication ........................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... iii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iv List of acronyms and common abbreviations .................................................................. v Appendices ........................................................................................................................ xi List of Figures ................................................................................................................... xii List of Photographs ......................................................................................................... xiii List of videos .................................................................................................................... xvi Chapter 1 ............................................................................................................................. 1 What was the question I asked which informed my study? ................................................ 3 What is the aim of my dissertation? ................................................................................... 3 What have I included in my dissertation? .......................................................................... 3 What have I deliberately excluded from my dissertation? .................................................. 4 How have I referred to the relevant literature in my dissertation? ...................................... 4 How do I present my evidence in my dissertation? ............................................................ 5 What is the structure of this dissertation? .......................................................................... 5 Chapter 2 ............................................................................................................................. 7 What research approaches, methodologies and methods have I used in this study? ........ 7 How did critical reflection inform my study? ....................................................................... 7 How did action research inform my study? ........................................................................ 7 How did living theory methodology inform my study? ........................................................ 8 What did I do to collect the data to discover the evidence of how I have influenced creative economic independence in others and obtain consent from participants? ......................... 8 vi What happened? ............................................................................................................... 9 What are my critical reflections on my Historical Reconstruction approach? ................... 14 Chapter 3 ........................................................................................................................... 24 Who am I and where do I come from?............................................................................. 24 What is the context into which I was born? ...................................................................... 24 What were my concerns about the context in which I lived? ............................................ 27 Where do I begin my story? ............................................................................................ 28 What were my concerns for myself? Why was I concerned for myself? What evidence do I have for my concerns for myself? What action did I take to address my concerns for myself? What happened?................................................................................................ 30 What were my critical reflections? ................................................................................... 32 What are my Critical Reflections now about this period of my life? .................................. 37 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 38 Chapter 4 ..........................................................................................................................