Goal orientation theory, practitioners, and my current pedagogical approach

As a dance teacher, I teach pre and professional dancers. This being the case, most of the students I work with have a foundation of training that includes knowledge of ballet forms, coordination, musicality, etc. With class, as a teacher I aim to answer the following (perceived) dancer needs:

• Technique maintenance
• deepen, expand, develop technique
• heighten awareness of capacity (what is strong vs. areas which need more attention)
• A workout
• A preparation for rehearsal, or movement work that follows later in the day

So, this is pretty straight-forward. What complicates (I think) my approach is that not all dancers are going to dance class to get this work done these days. With so much science, so much cross-disciplinary dialogue, there are many ways a dancer can answer the above needs without stepping into a class.

So then my question as a teacher shifted to: what is motivating dancers to go to dance class?

With this in mind when I began my inquiry, I uncovered an academic theory of motivation and learning: Goal orientation theory defines two common orientations in learning settings: mastery, to gain skills and understanding to achieve a task; and performance, to demonstrate and maintain competence in relationship to others (Schunk et al. 2014 p.187)

I decided that if I was going to make headway as a teacher, I might consider a more mastery type approach to teaching, as it seems to have the greatest to potential to cultivate long term relationships and learning with pre and professional dancers.

Mastery is learning motivated by the goal to achieve a task. It is intrinsic, self- referenced, and effort is given value in relation to achievement. Outcomes and attributions include adaptive behavior, accepting challenges, and longevity of interest in learning. (Schunk et al. 2014 p.187)

And this is important to me. I am not so interested in being a teacher who teaches what is popular. This, I know, I cannot sustain. I want to learn and know and work with people over time.

Practically, I am attempting to engage students in long term learning by:

• Making myself and the material accessible regularly; I offer a weekly class, initiated and organized by me.

• Comprising my class of material that allows for much expression and exploration of the participant’s ability, and individual style or approach, and creativity. In this way I hope that the material is relevant to the participant, because it can be so personal. The personal connection increases potential for meaningfulness of the content, and motivation to keep investing in class participation. Keep them coming back to class! There returning participation makes possible the long-term commitment that is expressed in goal orientation theory as mastery: ongoing learning not linked to any particular outcome.

• Offering content that is also meaningful to me: acknowledging my own experience (in dance) and interests through my pedagogy is something I aim to do.

Susan W. Stinson (2010) expresses the importance of teaching ‘beyond the body’: the role of teachers in dance extends beyond offering steps to be reproduced. Teachers must invest in teaching transferable skills centered on the individual. Concentration, focus, self-discipline, effort, autonomy, presence, problem-solving, making connections, collaboration, are all expressed as being important parts of dance pedagogy. (Stinson 2010 p.142)


What does my current class look like?

I begin with a fixed form or exercise. This is something that can recur from week to week. It is either what I refer to as a ‘still practice’, or is a modified excerpt of a Tai Chi warm up. It lasts about a half an hour. I choose these to help centre the individual. It is not a meditation, but rather a moment of micro work, awareness, and observation. A collection of quiet data that will inform what comes next.

For the next hour or so we work in partners. I facilitate task-initiated games. The games are centered on coordination, intensity of physical and mental engagement. The participant has the ability to make choices (intuitive, deliberate) in the game.

Tasks have focuses: working the eyes, the hands, the real weight of the body, etc. (Elements I have identified as being integral to coordination).

The spirit of the work is to encounter one’s capacity, while simultaneously supporting a similar encounter for one’s partner. It is about discovery, and creating potential to learn. It is not about achievement of a set goal. The idea is reinforced that there is always more to learn, to listen to, and to work, no matter what one’s capacity is.

We end with a casual discussion. Here we share out experience, ask questions. We create an opportunity to name our experience, and reinforce our learning so that we can bring it forward to whatever we do next.
That’s it!

If I am teaching at an institution, I do the above, and offer a contemporary technique inspired phrase pre-discussion. The phrase work, with it’s more recognizable forms, still has at it’s core an emphasis of coordination, and listening (awareness).


Through my MAPP inquiry I am looking to other teachers and practitioners, some of whom I have studied with and some I have not, to inspire and inform an expansion and refinement of my current pedagogical approach. I hope to conduct my research, consider the values of these practitioners, how they motivate learning, and then find my own way to manifest what I find interesting and effective in their approaches. (Maybe I am looking at combining a bunch of elements from different techniques / approaches, into my own. I think my encounters will also encourage me to reflect on my own approach. I think a more visible image of my own approach may emerge in this process of studying practitioners, considering goal orientation theory, and learning motivations.)

Simply: Drawing on the knowledge and experience of other practitioners. Creating a scenario where I can learn about them, and from them. And then, through my self-organized class platform, explore ways to integrate the compelling ideas that I learned in the course of the inquiry, and to continue to clarify what it is that I offer as a dance teacher.