Reflections on a Future Practice

Over the past 25 years the 'reflective practice' mode has become the preeminent model of practice based research, shifting from a radically innovative paradigm, to a more established framework that is being tested through the higher degree programs at various institutions around the world. Through this research pathway a practitioner engages in a rigorous examination of their practice after first having established a 'mastery' of the discipline in which they operate. This model effectively excludes the contributions of those who are in the process of developing their careers. Where previously young practitioners may have been obliged to set aside their creative practice in order to undertake academic research, the expectation of the current generation of early career practitioners is that the 'practice based' model is the pathway through which higher degree research in the creative fields should be undertaken. While various hybrid models have been discussed as a framework, the method through which this might be achieved not yet fully articulated. This paper explores the ways through which an emerging practice might be investigated, and begin to speculate on the ways in which early career practitioners might offer meaningful contributions to the field of creative practice research