Handle with Care: a Pedagogical Theory of Touch in Teaching Dance Technique Based on Four Case Studies a Dissertation Submitted
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HANDLE WITH CARE: A PEDAGOGICAL THEORY OF TOUCH IN TEACHING DANCE TECHNIQUE BASED ON FOUR CASE STUDIES A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE TEXAS W O M AN S UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES SCHOOL OF THE ARTS DEPARTMENT OF DANCE BY ROBIN LATSHAW COLLEN, B.A., M.S., C.M.A. DENTON, TEXAS DECEMBER, 2002 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3069356 Copyright 2003 by Collen, Robin Latshaw All rights reserved. __ ® UMI UMI Microform 3069356 Copyright 2003 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TEXAS WOMAN'S UNIVERSITY DENTON, TEXAS Date To the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Robin Latshaw Collen entitled " Handle with Care: A Pedagogical Theory of Touch in Teaching Dance Technique Based on Four Case Studies." I have examined this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillm ent of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy with a major in Dance and Related Arts. anstein, Ph.D.Penelope Hanstein,anstein, Ph.D Ph.D.Penelope Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Mary W illit’ord-Shade, M.F.A. (Dance) 'anstein, Ph.D.Penelope Hanstein,'anstein, Ph.D. Ph.D.Penelope Chair, Department of Dance Accepted: Q c rv rv J tA , y ^ /a A & r u >ewn o f Gratfuate Studies and Research Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. C opyright © Robin Latshaw Collen, 2003 All rights reserved. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I thank the four teachers whose work and ideas form the basis of this study: Steven J. Chatfield, Ph.D., Ed Groff, Laurie Sanda, and Mary Seereiter. I thank them for their generosity and willingness to share their experiences with me, and for trusting me to observe them teach, and to interact with their students. 1 thank their students, whose candid remarks have given me invaluable insights into the student experience. 1 am grateful to the departments and institutions whose doors opened to me: the Department of Dance at the University of Oregon, the Performing Arts Department at Lane Community College, the Department of Health and Human Performance at Iowa State University, and the Modern Dance Department at the University of Utah. And, I thank the friends who generously opened their homes to me during my fieldwork: David and Jan White in Eugene, Oregon, Laurie Sanda in Ames, Iowa, and Ms. Rheba Vetter and Mr. Kim Morris in Salt Lake City, Utah. I thank Dr. Penelope Hanstein, for her efforts on my behalf as the chair of my committee, for her curiosity about my work, and for her ability to open my eyes and ears to the emerging ideas in my data which were dancing right in front of me, singing loudly. I am grateful to Dr. Maisie Kashka and Professor Mary W illiford- Shade— my other committee members—who generously shared their time and insights with me. Finally, I thank Bruce Brownlee— my life partner— for his love, faith, and support as I pursued this project. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Handle with Care: A Pedagogical Theory of Touch in Teaching Dance Technique Based on Four Case Studies Robin Latshaw Collen December 2002 The purpose of this study was to investigate how human touch mav be used w ithin a modern dance technique class to facilitate effective teaching and learning. This inquiry was based on two initial assumptions: (a) touch is an effective teaching and learning tool for modern dance, and (b) a modern dance technique class defines its own culture w ithin which pedagogical touch can be a natural and integral experience. Two qualitative traditions of inquiry were used: the phenomenological study and the multiple case study. Fieldwork took place at four institutions of higher education. Methodology centered on interviews, participant observation, and questionnaires. Memos were written from transcribed interviews, questionnaires, and videotaped observations. A list of relevant coding categories of emergent themes was developed. Nel Noddings' theory of care in moral education was used as an initial framework for a theory models approach to analysis and interpretation of the data. Laban Movement Analysis was used as an analytical tool. v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The effective use of touch requires teachers to acknowledge their own philosophies of teaching and learning, and to recognize the importance of students' backgrounds with touch and dance. In this context teachers develop environments for learning through touch. Teachers mentor touch, enabling students to fully engage in the learning process as touchers and touchees. Teachers develop methods for integrating touch into the flo w of their classes. An emphasis on student-to-student-touch experiences engages students in tactile dialogue, providing students with practice in caring, paying attention, remaining flexible, cultivating relationships, searching for appropriate responses, and kinesthetic empathy. A pedagogical theory of touch was developed. Three core constructs are: (a) the inside/outside nature of dancing, and of learning movement; (b) the importance of student histories; and (c) the significance of intentional touch. T he necessity for teachers to account for these foundational elements to insure the effective use of touch, was stressed. Meta-dance Practice is a teaching and learning theory which was developed in this study. This theory—which describes and explains touch-based teaching and learning experiences that move beyond dance technique— resides within the paradigm of constructivist learning and embodies themes of moral education. vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS COPYRIGHT........................................................................ iii A C KN O W LED G EM EN TS................................................ iv ABSTRACT........................................................................................................... ... v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Conceptual Framework for a Study of Touch as a Teaching and Learning Strategy for Modern Dance 63 CHAPTERS I. IN T R O D U C T IO N ........................................................................ .. 1 The Use of Touch to Facilitate Learning .................................. 9 Moral Education .......................................................................... ..8 The Ethic of Care and Meta-Dance Practice ........................... 13 Touch in the Modern Dance Technique Class ....................... 15 The Influence of Soma tics .......................................................... 16 The Studio is Not Your Average Classroom: Contexting Touch in the Culture of the Modern Dance Class .... IV Connecting the Parts and Constructing the Whole: Touching to Learn ........................................................... 26 Framing the Study: The Ethic of Care in Moral Education 28 II. METHODOLOGY....................................................................... 31) A Burgeoning Interest Leads to a Pilot Study ....................... 30 What is Going on Here? Exploring the Enigma of Touch .. 32 The Phenomenological Study: A Qualitative Tradition of Inquiry .............................. 33 The Case Study ............................................................................. 33 Making Contact: Entering Four Worlds ................................. 48 Palpating With the Eyes: Participating as an Observer ..... 50 Touching Base: Interviewing the Participants ...................... 52 Student Questionnaires ............................................................. 56 D ocum ents .................................................................................... 59 Retracing and Unraveling the Spiral of Inform ation ........... 59 The Theory Models Approach to Discovering Theory ........ 64 v ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The Theory Models Approach to Discovering Theory 64 HI. META MEANS 'SITUATED BEHIND’—SHAPING THE FOUNDATION FOR TOUCH THROUGH CONTEXTING, MENTORING, AND ENGAGING ........................................................ 71 What Teachers Bring With Them: Personal Pedagogies ................... 73 The Dance Student Diaspora ...................................................................84 The Culture of the Modern Dance Technique Class ......................... 89 Mentoring Touch ......................................................................................106 Leaning Backward, Pushing Forward ................................................. 113 IV. META MEANS ’DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSFORMATION- REMAINING 'PRESENT' FOR GROWTH AND CHANGE THROUGH APPLICATION, DIALOGUE AND CONFIRMATION ....................................................................................116