Lesley University DigitalCommons@Lesley Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences Expressive Therapies Dissertations (GSASS) Spring 5-18-2019 The Dance of Becoming: Pedagogy in Dance/ Movement Therapy in the US Valerie Blanc Lesley University, vblanc@lesley.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.edu/expressive_dissertations Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Blanc, Valerie, "The Dance of Becoming: Pedagogy in Dance/Movement Therapy in the US" (2019). Expressive Therapies Dissertations.edu/expressive_dissertations/89 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences (GSASS) at DigitalCommons@Lesley. It has been accepted for inclusion in Expressive Therapies Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Lesley. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@lesley.
Running head: PEDAGOGY OF DANCE/MOVEMENT THERAPY THE DANCE OF BECOMING: PEDAGOGY IN DANCE/MOVEMENT THERAPY IN THE US A DISSERTATION (submitted by) VALERIE BLANC In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy LESLEY UNIVERSITY May 18, 2019 PEDAGOGY OF DANCE/MOVEMENT THERAPY 2 2 Lesley University Graduate School of Arts & Social Sciences Ph. in Expressive Therapies Program DISSERTATION APPROVAL FORM Student’s Name: Valerie Blanc Dissertation Title: The Dance of Becoming: Pedagogy in Dance/Movement Therapy in the United States Approvals In the judgment of the following signatories, this Dissertation meets the academic standards that have been established for the Doctor of Philosophy degree. Dissertation Committee Chairperson: Robyn Cruz, PhD April 1, 2019 Internal Committee Member: Meenakshi Chhabra, PhD April 1, 2019 External Committee Member: Nicole Hahna, PhD April 1, 2019 Director, Ph. Program/External Examiner: Michele Forinash, DA April 1, 2019 Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences.
I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. Robyn Cruz __________________________________________________________ Dissertation Director I hereby accept the recommendation of the Dissertation Committee and its Chairperson. Sandra Walker __________________________________________________________ Dean, Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences PEDAGOGY OF DANCE/MOVEMENT THERAPY 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Robyn Flaum Cruz, for her masterful support, feedback, and advocacy throughout this process.
I would also like to thank my committee members Dr. Meenakshi Chhabra and Dr. It was so valuable to have both your perspectives for the study, which supported my expansion and growth as a scholar. Many thanks to my children, Emma and James, and my husband, Chris who put up with many hours of writing and studying over the past four years.
I am also so grateful for my colleagues in Cohort 9 who were a constant support and inspiration. Most importantly, I am grateful to my colleagues and participants, without your voices and generosity of spirit, this study would not be possible. I am inspired to continue our work together to support future students and dance/movement therapists in the work. This is only the beginning.
PEDAGOGY OF DANCE/MOVEMENT THERAPY 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES 6 LIST OF FIGURES 7 ABSTRACT 8 1. INTRODUCTION 9 Landscape of DMT Training. 10 Statement of Research Question. 12 Assumptions and Limitations.
14 DMT and Related Terminology Definitions. LITERATURE REVIEW 17 Dance/Movement Therapy Education and Training. 17 Legacy of Embodied Mentorship. 18 Experiential and Transformative Education.
21 Socio-Cultural Learning. 25 Critical and Feminist Pedagogies. 26 Adult Development and Learning. 28 Awareness of Self in Learning.
33 Embodied Learning in Related Fields. 35 Definitions of Embodiment. 39 Education and Training in the Expressive Therapies. 41 Innovation in DMT Education.
46 Summary of Literature. METHOD 51 Research Question. RESULTS 61 PEDAGOGY OF DANCE/MOVEMENT THERAPY 5 Thematic Results of the Individual Interviews. 63 Self-awareness and Growth.
63 Culture and Diversity. 71 Experiential and Embodied Learning. 82 Tolerating the Unknown. 89 Mentoring and Modeling.
94 Teacher and Therapist Parallel. 99 Thematic Results of Focus Groups. 103 Self-awareness and Growth. 104 Culture and Diversity.
105 Experiential and Embodied Learning. 107 Tolerating the Unknown. 110 Mentoring and Modeling. 111 Teacher and Therapist Parallel.
112 Reflective Journaling Results. DISCUSSION 116 Interrelation of Themes. 116 Connection to DMT core principles. 121 Foundation of Embodied Self-Reflection.
133 REFERENCES 136 PEDAGOGY OF DANCE/MOVEMENT THERAPY 6 LIST OF TABLES Table 1, Categories and Subcategories p. 59 Table 2, Self-awareness and growth p. 61 Table 3, Culture and Diversity p. 69 Table 4, Experiential and Embodied Learning p.
79 Table 5, Tolerating the unknown p. 86 Table 6, Mentorship and Modeling p. 90 Table 7, Teacher and Therapist Parallel p. 96 PEDAGOGY OF DANCE/MOVEMENT THERAPY 7 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1, Visual mapping of the interrelation and overlap of the qualitative themes p.
116 PEDAGOGY OF DANCE/MOVEMENT THERAPY 8 ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to begin to define pedagogical theory and practice in the field of dance/movement therapy (DMT). Fourteen DMT educators from American Dance Therapy Association approved programs participated in the study, taking part in individual semi- structured interviews through a phenomenological lens. The participants had taught in the DMT field for at least five years and at most 44 years. Utilizing grounded theory methods, two focus groups were also conducted in which six DMT educators discussed initial qualitative themes from the individual interviews.
Through an engaged process, participants were able to participate in the further defining of the study’s themes. Data were analyzed using grounded theory methods of initial and focused coding. The researcher also used member checking, peer review, and a personal research journal to name her own reflexive position within the emerging data. The researcher’s findings centered around six qualitative themes.
These themes named the importance of the DMT student’s development of self-awareness including body identity, cultural identity, and professional identity all housed within the experience of embodied learning. Findings also named the importance of educator transparency and modeling in the classroom to create space for student exploration. Recommendations from the study aimed towards creating more opportunities for educators to collaborate and communicate across the field with the goal of creating best practices for DMT education. Also, recommendation for DMT educators centered around clarity of expectations in the embodied self-reflective learning process.
PEDAGOGY OF DANCE/MOVEMENT THERAPY 9 CHAPTER 1 Introduction This phenomenological study sought to explore and to develop understanding of pedagogical theory and practice in the field of dance/movement therapy (DMT). The goal of the study was to better understand the way in which DMT educators in the United States are practicing in their classrooms and how this process is informed by the core principles of the field itself. The study utilized grounded theory methods, involving 14 individual semi-structured interviews with educators from training programs that were approved by the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA) as the first phase of the study. The second phase involved conducting two focus groups where the participants could actively participate in the exploration of the data.
Landscape of DMT Training In the 1970s during the early stages of development of DMT and other expressive therapies, the education training focus was on apprenticeship opportunities with early dance/movement therapists (Leventhal et al. As education programs, registry, and accreditation standards began to be established around 1973, educators began to integrate academic and clinical identities alongside the apprenticeship model of learning (Stark, 1980). During the 1990s the focus shifted towards a dual focus to create opportunities for students to be eligible for credentialing both as dance/movement therapists and as state licensed counselors, further incorporating the psychotherapeutic lens within DMT training (Dulicai, Hays, & Nolan, 1989). Recent education advances have included the incorporation of distance learning as a delivery model, which has caused educators to look at standards and practices of DMT education from yet another lens (Beardall, Blanc, Cardillo, Karman, & Wiles, 2016).
There has PEDAGOGY OF DANCE/MOVEMENT THERAPY 10 been a rich history of mentorship and educational practices across the development of DMT and its training programs. The teaching methods that DMT educators utilize are unique and innovative, holding the potential to build pedagogical theory across educational fields. Problem Statement To meet the needs of the growing student population in the field of Dance/movement Therapy, education and pedagogy need to ideally shift and flex with the times. Currently, training programs in the United States are growing at a rapid rate, bringing new DMTs into practice and leadership of the field.
These new practitioners bring with them innovative ideas and a socially active spirit that is expected to shift the field in vibrant ways. DMT educators, therefore, have a responsibility to meet the needs of these new colleagues. It is an important time to examine the teaching practices of the field and explore how educators are using pedagogical practices in the classroom. Historically there has been isolation among the ADTA approved programs.
Being in direct competition for admissions has caused rifts that interfere with potential faculty collaboration. As each program differs in their mission statements and philosophical underpinnings, there is also a common connection across core principles which are taught. There are also potential shared challenges in the DMT training process which increased connection and collaboration can continue to support. In 2017, the educational standards set by the ADTA were revised to reflect important changes in the training of dance/movement therapists.
The revised standards focus on competency-based standards from which to shape the core curriculum of ADTA approved programs. These new standards also include guidelines for multicultural competencies, distance learning programs, and applications of neuroscience to DMT training. The programs approved PEDAGOGY OF DANCE/MOVEMENT THERAPY 11 by the ADTA must concurrently update their curricula to adhere to the new standards and explore the ways in which they are implemented within their classroom practices. As programs begin this implementation process, there is also a potential to connect across programmatic siloes and begin to share DMT teaching methods as education colleagues.
This process reflects a shift in the field and potentially in the education and training of DMTs in the United States. Little research has been completed that focuses on the pedagogical practices and educational theories of the DMT field. As a body-oriented modality, there is an assumption that learning will occur through the body and be central to the pedagogical approach of the DMT educator, but this has not yet been studied. Also, there is an assumption that practitioners in the field of DMT understand the body and its role in human experience in ways that other fields do not yet understand (Acolin, 2016).
Statement of Research Question This study’s purpose was to explore the classroom experiences of DMT educators in the US. The main goal of the study was to discover common themes in DMT education and begin conversations and collaboration across training programs to build pedagogical theory. This research holds the assumption that there are pedagogical methods that have not yet been named within the DMT field. This study explored the pedagogical practices of DMT educators in the United States, with the research question “What core principles of theory and teaching strategies contribute to pedagogical theory in DMT in the United States?” This study holds the potential to create pedagogical theory from the work of DMT educators practicing in the field today.
This researcher believes that DMT educators have much to share with the larger world of educational theory through the active and embodied practices of the DMT classroom. This active knowledge production has the potential to inform educational PEDAGOGY OF DANCE/MOVEMENT THERAPY 12 practices across disciplines in the creative arts therapies and beyond. At a time when the field of DMT is clarifying and staking their role in theory and practice, the time is ripe for an inquiry of its training and education. Research Approach This study was conducted using a phenomenological approach in order to explore the experience of DMT educators at approved programs.
Using a semi-structured interview format, 14 participants were interviewed.