The acquisition of pedagogical expertise in dance a constraints led approach

THE ACQUISITION OF PEDAGOGICAL EXPERTISE IN DANCE: A CONSTRAINTSLED APPROACH José Hilário Pereira Rodrigues Masters in Dance - Artistic Performance Sport Science/Management Licentiate’s Degree Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences Faculty of Health Queensland University of Technology 2017 Keywords Expertise, Pedagogy, Teaching, Learning, Dance, Ballet, Contemporary, Acquisition, Development, Ecological Dynamics, Ecological Psychology, Dynamical Systems, Constraints-led Approach, Mentor, Role Model, Student, Rules, Needs The Acquisition of Pedagogical Expertise in Dance: A Constraints-led Approach i Abstract The aim of this PhD research program was to explore the acquisition of pedagogical expertise in dance teachers A review of the literature on dance pedagogy and expertise revealed three limitations in relation to dance teachers’ pedagogical development First, the literature suggested that a dancer’s transition to teacher was traditionally based on replication of previous teachers’ behaviours Second, the literature additionally identified that there appears to be a tendency within the dance field to accept as dance teachers those who have rich and varied experiences as expert dance performers; although they may have little pedagogical knowledge and experience Thirdly, there is not a unified theoretical consensus on how to analyse the acquisition of pedagogical expertise in dance teachers The majority of theoretical approaches to dance pedagogy have been based on traditional information processing theory and within the theoretical framework of cognitive psychology This latter approach can be viewed as limited because of its exclusive focus on the individual and neglect of important ecology influencing an individual’s behaviour Some promising research in the dance and sport literature has theorised individuals as dynamical systems performing in their ecologies The ecological dynamics theoretical approach is multidisciplinary in nature and allows theorisation of a range of factors in human performance systems, such as those found in dance Within this approach, the constraints-led theoretical framework allows analysis of environmental, task, and individual factors Given the lack of prior research in the field and the variety of dance experience to be studied, it was concluded that combining the constraints-led theoretical framework with a qualitative approach would be appropriate to undertake a retrospective investigation of the potential constraints influencing the acquisition of pedagogical expertise The following research questions (RQs) guided the general enquiry How can we understand dance teachers’ acquisition of pedagogical expertise from a constraints-led approach? Specifically: RQ Which environmental constraints can be identified? What is their role? ii The Acquisition of Pedagogical Expertise in Dance: A Constraints-led Approach RQ Which task constraints can be identified? What is their role? RQ Which individual constraints can be identified? What is their role? A qualitative methodology was therefore established in order to investigate retrospectively what the constraints influencing the dance teachers’ acquisition of pedagogical expertise could be Ten teachers of ballet and contemporary dance were recruited from an Australian tertiary institution (with a focus on vocational dance training), after the application of a criteria to classify dance teaching expertise Participants were then individually interviewed utilising a semi-structured, in-depth interview protocol in order to explore meaning and gain a thorough understanding of participants’ life experiences regarding the acquisition of pedagogical expertise Exploring dance teachers’ pathways to pedagogical expertise by means of utilising a semi-structured interview as a data collection instrument proved critical to this research project, as it enabled participants to share rich descriptions of their life experiences This research project included an initial data-driven thematic analysis followed by a theory-driven thematic analysis In other words, both inductive and deductive thematic analyses were conducted and, after extensive analysis and refinement, the interpretation of rich data concerning participants’ life experiences, allowed for the identification of five major themes that influenced their acquisition of pedagogical expertise These themes were then mapped into the constraints-led theoretical framework as environmental constraints (mentors, role models, and students); task constraints (rules); and individual constraints (needs) These environmental constraints were then explored with reference to previous research related to each specific theme (i.e., mentors, role models, students, rules, and needs) as well as with reference to empirical research and the theoretical principles of the constraints-led theoretical framework The results of this research study provide theoretical as well as potential practical contributions to the fields of expertise and dance teachers’ pedagogical development Findings suggest that the pathway to the acquisition of expertise is individual, multifactorial, and depend on the individual’s self-awareness of their intrinsic dynamics However, it is acknowledged that this research project was specific to ten ballet and contemporary dance teachers from an Australian tertiary institution, whose focus was on vocational dance training This contextual specificity The Acquisition of Pedagogical Expertise in Dance: A Constraints-led Approach iii constitutes a limitation; therefore empirical generalisation might not be possible due to the presence of potential contextual influences, such as organisational and geographical influences, that may not be present in other environments Additionally, a further limitation of the study involves the small sample size (i.e., ten participants) However, it is argued that the informal processes of acquiring teaching expertise identified in the research findings and interpreted within the theory of constraints, appear to have had a strong impact on individuals’ acquisition of pedagogical expertise Therefore, in view of the fact that constraints are present in every environment, theoretical generalisation may be possible because it allows the theory of constraints to be applied to new situations without having to explore them again While the findings of this research project identified the informal processes of acquiring teaching expertise and thereby added to the field of pedagogical development of dance teachers in Australia, its conclusion does not claim that the research solved all the problems related to dance teachers’ pedagogical development In particular, there are other contexts that have formal processes aiming at dance teachers’ pedagogical development For example, in France, individuals need to obtain national accreditation to become professional dance teachers In this study, although data analysis identified formal processes as significant for initial pedagogical development, formal processes did not appear to be important for the acquisition of pedagogical expertise Consequently, analysing formal processes for dance teacher development was beyond the scope of this study and such processes were therefore not scrutinised The conclusion of this study drew attention to the importance of being aware of constraints, while also addressing dance teachers’ pedagogical development in specific contexts To this extent, theoretical generalisation potentially implies that dance teachers’ training and developmental programs might benefit from exploration of individuals’ intrinsic dynamics in relation to environmental (i.e., mentors, role models, students), task (i.e., ballet and contemporary rules), and individual (i.e., needs) constraints within their respective contexts For instance, dance teachers’ developmental programs could include numerous opportunities for informal interaction with mentors and peers Additionally, design of formal pedagogical practice could include: informal training; enjoyable activities aimed at the satisfaction of individuals’ developmental needs; the creation of learning iv The Acquisition of Pedagogical Expertise in Dance: A Constraints-led Approach environments that facilitate discovery and exploration of several teaching strategies; and the establishment of opportunities for individuals to explore the unexpected Above all, the design of such pedagogical developmental programs should avoid the pursuit of an ideal teaching behaviour These points are all expanded in detail in the thesis Previous research has suggested that not everyone can become an expert dance teacher However, the findings from this research project suggest that if consideration of the constraints found in particular teaching and learning environments could be included in developmental programs, individuals belonging to those particular environments would most positively improve their pedagogical effectiveness In summary, the rich findings from this study highlight the potential of understanding constraints within their ecologies in order to improve dance teachers’ pedagogical development The Acquisition of Pedagogical Expertise in Dance: A Constraints-led Approach v Table of Contents Keywords i Abstract ii Table of Contents vi List of Figures viii List of Tables ix List of Abbreviations x Statement of Original Authorship xi Acknowledgements xii Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 The influence of previous dance teachers 1.1.1 Goals 1.1.2 Reflection 1.2 The influence of dance teachers’ previous experiences as expert performers Chapter 2: Literature Review 15 2.1 The Ecological Dynamics Theoretical framework 15 2.1.1 Ecological Psychology 15 2.1.2 Dynamical systems theory 20 2.1.3 The Constraints-led Approach 22 2.2 Expertise 37 2.2.1 Pedagogical expertise 39 2.3 Dance Teachers’ Pedagogical Development 46 2.3.1 Teaching Technique as Subject Matter 55 2.3.2 The Influence of Previous Experience as an Expert Performer in Becoming a Dance Teacher 59 2.3.3 Pedagogical Expertise in Dance 62 2.4 Pedagogical Expertise Acquisition in Movement-based Aesthetic Activities 69 2.4.1 Links Between Dance, Diving, and Artistic Gymnastics 72 2.5 Summary and Implications 74 Chapter 3: Methodology 75 3.1 Theoretical perspective and research questions 75 3.2 Role of the researcher 82 3.3 Participants 83 3.4 Ethics and Limitations 86 3.5 Summary 88 Chapter 4: Methods 91 4.1 Trustworthiness 91 4.2 Instrument – Interviews 97 vi The Acquisition of Pedagogical Expertise in Dance: A Constraints-led Approach 4.3 Data collection and analysis .100 4.3.1 Data collection 100 4.3.2 Data analysis 104 4.4 Summary .110 Chapter 5: Results and Discussion 113 5.1 Environmental Constraints 114 5.1.1 Mentors 114 Mentor’s Summary .137 5.1.2 Role Models .138 Role Model’ summary 163 5.1.3 Students 164 Students’ Summary 184 5.2 Task Constraints 185 5.2.1 Ballet Rules 186 5.2.2 Contemporary Rules 199 Rules’ Summary 209 5.3 Individual Constraints 210 5.3.1 The need for pedagogical knowledge .210 5.3.2 The need for pedagogical knowledge and self-mentoring 217 The need for pedagogical knowledge’s summary 226 Chapter 6: Conclusion 229 6.1 Environmental constraints 229 6.1.1 Mentors 229 6.1.2 Role models 230 6.1.3 Students 230 6.2 Task Constraints 232 6.2.1 Rules 232 6.3 Individual constraints 233 6.3.1 Needs 233 6.4 Summary .234 6.5 Limitations 236 6.6 Implications 237 References 241 Appendices 277 Appendix A: Ethics approval 277 Appendix B: Participant information and consent form for QUT research project 279 Appendix C: Agreement transcriber for QUT research project 282 Appendix D: Expert dance teacher interview questions .288 Appendix E: Interview with Isabel .290 The Acquisition of Pedagogical Expertise in Dance: A Constraints-led Approach vii List of Figures Figure 2.1 The interaction of constraints’ categories, from where goal-directed behaviour emerges Adapted from Newell and McDonald (1994) 24 Figure 5.1 The interaction of constraints’ categories, influencing dance teachers’ behaviours and their acquisition of pedagogical expertise Adapted from Newell and McDonald (1994) 113 viii The Acquisition of Pedagogical Expertise in Dance: A Constraints-led Approach ... Needs The Acquisition of Pedagogical Expertise in Dance: A Constraints- led Approach i Abstract The aim of this PhD research program was to explore the acquisition of pedagogical expertise in dance. .. Abbreviations USA - United States of America x The Acquisition of Pedagogical Expertise in Dance: A Constraints- led Approach Statement of Original Authorship The work contained in this thesis has... teachers from an Australian tertiary institution, whose focus was on vocational dance training This contextual specificity The Acquisition of Pedagogical Expertise in Dance: A Constraints- led Approach