Reflections on motivation and goals in dance

I read an interesting article today titled  Considering motivation, goals, and mastery orientation in dance technique
Carey E. Andrzejewski, Adrienne M. Wilson, Daniel J. Henry
Research in Dance Education
Vol. 14, Iss. 2, 2013

I had come across it as I browsed for inspiration through the journal online, looking for something that would shed more light on the thoughts I was left with following teaching this week. These were centred around the goals of students in class, how I motivate everybody through my teaching but also enable students to motivate themselves and finally, how I help such a diverse group of students to improve. I still consider myself very new to teaching in HE with a lot to learn. A key tool for learning that I would love more access to is class observation and reflection from colleagues but the timetable doesn't allow.  So for me one of the ways I feel I can develop my pedagogy is through reading as much dance literature as possible as well as discussing my teaching experiences with anyone who will listen!

I suppose I was looking for research that discussed the issues that are concerning me, to know that others are  interested in exploring the same things and for something that perhaps provided some validation of my current teaching strategies with students.

The article addresses many important ideas that I would like to test and research with my students but it also led me to reflect on my own first experiences as a dance student at HE level.
The article left me with a sense of sadness (maybe the pregnancy hormones are running riot!) that many of my teachers hadn't engaged with the kind of pedagogical approach used by Adrienne Wilson in this research.
Having more self knowledge now, I wonder if I might have thrived more in an environment that focused on mastery orientated goals and personal growth; where reflective progress is discussed through a dialogue with the teacher and where the student-teacher relationship quality is of high importance.

As the article points out though, students can be resistant to certain teaching approaches and styles for many reasons and there is also the possibility that my memory doesn't serve me correctly as I think back!  I have many students who have indicated in discussions that they prefer other methods of learning and organisation to some of the ideas outlined in this article. However, at 18 I certainly arrived in an environment that seemed to favour the more successful few while others were left to feelings of frustration and failure. I feel that aspects of teaching that are important to me now and are an essential part of many HE courses, were not a part of the conservatoire training I experienced but would have been extremely valuable skills for my younger self as I started out.

As a teacher, I don't want my students to feel as I often did at their age, slightly lost and invisible, but to end on a positive note, the article predominantly serves to highlight how much impact on the motivational climate of the dance student a teacher has.  I can't turn back the clock but I can work to give my students a positive experience as they learn and progress.

Present moment - AOL's

Hi all,

So here's my Areas of Learning list as it stands so far. I've been brainstorming and mapping out each one to some extent but I'll just give a quick overview here:

• Dance in HE: teaching theory through practice, developing resources, working with colleagues, assessment, using virtual learning tools, working relationships with students, giving feedback, planning modules, teaching technique, choreography, improvisation, fundamental teaching skills. 
• Dance for Children and Young People: in the curriculum (primary and secondary), learning through creative movement, choreographing for youth companies, working with boys
• Contemporary Techniques: trends in training, methods, Limon/release, gaga, aerial dance, imagery and musicality
• The teaching persona: physicality (being a 'model'), pregnancy, psychology and personality in teaching
• The independent dance artist: continuous development, job creation, funding, projects and commissions, versatility, collaborations, managing projects, profile, devising. 
• integrating pilates and somatic approaches in dance training: in teaching, experiential anatomy, injury prevention, my own training experience and practice, safe practice, modifying for different participants
• Working in integrated dance
• Versatility in performance: drawing on my work with a range of choreographers 

Helpful Skype chat with Adesola, Amber and Jamie this morning. I realised that while I seem to be able to reflect at  length on my work and what I actually do day to day in the studio and with students, I find it difficult to hone in on my thoughts and feelings about my own learning process on this module! It is still early days I know.  

Perhaps looking outwards is somehow easier for me then recognising my internal/individual process. It could be a case of familiarity with thinking about work but not with thinking about thinking! I don't know if that makes any sense to anyone else!  

It feels like I have to work on this before I will be able to connect the two kinds of reflective process.

Thanks for everyone's questions (and answers) today, they brought quite a few things into focus for me, including making mental processes explicit and making links between journal entries, blog posts, CV's and reading.

Speak soon

study behaviour

I'm finding that sometimes your concentrations levels, priorities and motivation to study don't always fit perfectly with the schedule you've organised for yourself. 
So today I'd planned to work for a few hours in the morning in my study, no interruptions, perfect, but I sit and find I can't focus, I wonder why, procrastinate, think about the planning I have to do for teaching this week. Get some fresh air, have a drink, nothing helps.  Perhaps sometimes you have to stop struggling and wait until you feel more able or match the task to your mood.  It feels like a luxury to think this way when time is so tight and precious but might be more productive in the long run. 

On the flip side, there are times I'd set aside to do something else, like start to strip the wallpaper in the babies room, or plan exercises for my new class, and I find that I'm drawn to the computer to write in my journal or read a chapter. 
I often tell students in class to listen to their bodies about what is right for them that day and not push themselves too hard as it's not always necessary. Perhaps allowing yourself some space and time without the pressure of 'this must be done now' can actually can lead to new and different discoveries.
This made me think of choreographing or working with a set curriculum or syllabus and the struggle between discipline, sticking to the plan, and creativity, process and achieving a final product or result.