Tuesday, 6 December 2016

Nancy Schlossberg

After an interesting Skype conversation with Paula, it became clear I hadn’t researched enough sources of information or theorists.
Ones I had previously explored were:
Donald E. Super, who created the idea of the Career Rainbow.
William Bridges, who created the process of transition.
And Danielle Austen, who took Donald E Super rainbow and created the Double Career Rainbow.
All of these sources are fantastic and have given me lots to think about regarding my inquiry however I needed to find more!
Nancy Schlossberg was the first new person I found. She explored Transition Theory. She defines transition as an event or non-event that results in a change, whether that be in relationships, routines, roles or assumptions. Schlossberg recognised four main elements that help to influence a personal ability to cope with transition, these are more commonly known as the 4 S’s, Self, Situation, Support and Strategies.


Self – she has categorised this into 2 further groups.
Psychological – your outlook on life and the change, commitment and values.
Personal – age, gender, stage of life, health.  Factors like health and age play a significant role in why lots of performers transition.

Situation
This is thinking about what triggered the transition? Is it a permanent or temporary change? How much control over this change do you have? Are you changing roles, careers or moving away? Is it stress related?

Social support
Family, friends, personal relationships – these can provide great support when undergoing a transitional phase in your career.
Strategies or coping resources – again she has categorised these into 3 groups.
Those that modify the situation
Those that control the meaning of the problem
And those that aid in manging the stress in the aftermath.

I found this theory interesting because it breaks the process down into manageable chunks. By taking each segment and answers the questions you can analyse where you are, where you want to be and how to get there? This theory will help within my inquiry. Using the 4S’s, it should help the transition to be more positive.

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