You Need to Be Passionate About It
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
City Research Online City, University of London Institutional Repository Citation: Aujla, Imogen (2012). Commitment, adherence and dropout among young talented dancers: A multidisciplinary mixed methods investigation. (Unpublished Doctoral thesis, City University London) This is the unspecified version of the paper. This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link: https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/1948/ Link to published version: Copyright: City Research Online aims to make research outputs of City, University of London available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the author(s) and/or copyright holders. URLs from City Research Online may be freely distributed and linked to. Reuse: Copies of full items can be used for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge. Provided that the authors, title and full bibliographic details are credited, a hyperlink and/or URL is given for the original metadata page and the content is not changed in any way. City Research Online: http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/ [email protected] Commitment, adherence and dropout among young talented dancers: A multidisciplinary mixed methods investigation. Imogen Jane Aujla (née Walker) Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance for PhD Dance Science, December 2011. Submitted to City University, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB. Research conducted at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, Creekside, London SE8 3DZ. 1 Table of Contents List of tables and figures 6 Acknowledgements 8 Declaration 9 Abstract 10 Chapter 1: Introduction 11 1.1 Context of Thesis 16 1.1.1 Centres for Advanced Training 16 1.1.2 Talent Project 20 1.1.3 Commitment, Adherence and Dropout in a Talent Context 21 1.1.4 Overview of Thesis Chapters 22 Chapter 2: Literature Review 26 2.1 Introduction to the Literature Review 27 2.2 Descriptive Research: The Arts and Dance 28 2.2.1 Combined arts 28 2.2.2 Dance 30 2.2.3 Music 33 2.3 Summary of Arts Research 34 2.4 Sport Research: Descriptive 35 2.4.1 Enjoyment 37 2.5 Sport Research: Theory-based 39 2.5.1 Competence motivation theory 39 2.5.2 Achievement goal theories 40 2.5.3 Self-determination theory 42 2.5.4 The passion model 44 2.5.5 The sport commitment model 46 2.5.6 Social exchange theory 48 2.5.7 Expectancy-value theory 49 2.5.8 Studies combining theories 50 2.6 Sport Research: Developmental 52 2.7 Summary of Sport Research 55 2.8 Multidisciplinary and Physiological Research in Sport and Dance 56 2.9 Summary of the Literature Review 59 2 Chapter 3: Ontological, Epistemological and Methodological Concerns 61 3.1 Ontological and Epistemological Framework 62 3.2 Aims, Objectives and Research Questions 64 3.3 Context of Studies 65 3.4 Sample Recruitment and Descriptives 66 3.5 Ethical Concerns 67 3.6 Rationale for Choice of Variables 70 3.6.1 Psychological variables 71 3.6.2 Physical variables 72 3.7 Preparing the Data File 74 3.7.1 Data cleaning and screening 74 3.7.2 Missing data 75 3.7.3 Verifying assumptions 76 3.8 Validity, Reliability and Bias 77 3.9 Summary 78 Chapter 4: Talent Identification and Development in Dance 80 4.1 Abstract 81 4.2 Introduction 82 4.3 Part 1: Individual Factors 83 4.4 Part 2: Interpersonal Factors 94 4.5 Conclusion 102 Chapter 5: Characteristics of Talented Dancers and Age Group Differences 104 5.1 Abstract 105 5.2 Introduction 106 5.3 Method 111 5.4 Results 115 5.5 Discussion 121 5.6 Conclusion 123 Chapter 6: A Qualitative Investigation of Commitment to Dance 124 6.1 Abstract 125 6.2 Introduction 126 6.3 Method 129 6.4 Results 131 3 6.5 Discussion 142 6.6 Conclusion 147 Chapter 7: A Mixed Methods Investigation of Dropout among Young Talented Dancers 148 7.1 Abstract 149 7.2 Introduction 150 7.3 Methods 152 7.4 Qualitative Method 153 7.5 Quantitative Method 154 7.6 Qualitative Results 155 7.7 Quantitative Results 160 7.8 Discussion 163 7.9 Conclusion 167 Chapter 8: Multidisciplinary Predictors of Adherence to Dance 169 8.1 Abstract 179 8.2 Introduction 171 8.3 Method 175 8.4 Results 180 8.5 Discussion 184 8.6 Conclusion 189 Chapter 9: General Discussion 190 9.1 Key Findings in Brief 193 9.2 Enjoyment 194 9.3 Other Commitments 198 9.4 Passion 200 9.5 Aspirations 203 9.6 Social Relationships in the CATs 206 9.6.1 CAT peers 206 9.6.2 CAT teachers 208 9.7 Course Content 213 9.8 Opportunities 215 9.9 Social Relationships outside of the CATs 216 9.10 Developmental Factors 218 9.11 Physical and Perceived Competence 220 4 9.12 Minor Factors 223 9.12.1 Being labelled talented 223 9.12.2 Disordered eating attitudes 223 9.12.3 Injury, finances and travel 224 9.13 Self-esteem, Anxiety and Maturation 225 9.14 Applicability of Theories Outlined in the Introduction 226 9.14.1 Implications for Talent Models and Talent Identification 227 9.15 Limitations 229 Chapter 10: General Implications and Conclusion 232 10.1 A Note about the Term Dropout 235 10.2 The Contribution of this PhD to the Field 236 10.3 Future Research 237 10.4 Conclusion 239 Appendices 241 1: Consent Form and Information Sheet for Chapters 5 and 8 242 2: Correlation Tables for Chapter 5 245 3: Consent Form and Information Sheet for Chapter 6 246 4: Consent Form and Information Sheet for Chapter 7 250 5: Interview Guide for Chapter 6 252 6: Interview Guide for Chapter 7 253 7. Correlation Tables for Chapter 8 254 8: Risk Assessment Document 256 References 257 5 List of tables and figures Chapter 1 Table 1.1: Employment figures for the UK dance sector 13 Table 1.2: CATs in operation nationwide 17 Table 1.3: CAT audition criteria 18 Figure 1.1: Graduate destinations 19 Chapter 2 Figure 2.1: The motivation continuum 42 Figure 2.2: The sport commitment model 48 Chapter 3 Table 3.1: Descriptive statistics of the sample as a whole 67 Chapter 5 Table 5.1: Descriptions of different dance styles 112 Table 5.2: Means and standard deviations for all variables 116 Table 5.3: Results from MANCOVA tests of between-subject effects for physical variables (females) 118 Table 5.4: Results from MANCOVA tests of between-subject effects for physical variables (males) 119 Table 5.5: Tests of between-subject effects results for psychological and social variables 129 Chapter 6 Figure 6.1: Hierarchical representation of results 132 Chapter 7 Table 7.1: Categories of reasons for dropout based on descriptive data 161 Figure 7.1: Comparison of reasons by age at dropout 162 Figure 7.2: Comparison of reasons by number of years in CAT 163 Chapter 8 Table 8.1: Means and standard deviations for all variables at Time 1 and Time 2 181 Table 8.2: Logistic regression results for the third model 183 6 Table 8.3: Paired samples t-tests of change over one year for all variables 184 Chapter 10 Table 10.1: Recommendations for creating task-involving motivational climates 234 7 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisors, Dr Emma Redding and Dr Sanna Nordin-Bates for challenging, supporting and inspiring me. I wish to thank the staff and students from the Centres for Advanced Training, who helped to make this research run so smoothly and enjoyably. Thank you to the dance science team at Trinity Laban, the most supportive and reliable group of colleagues and friends anyone could wish for, to Angela Kerkhoff for answering all of my questions with speed and patience, and to Jonathan Clark for his support and advice. Thank you to my family, for their unending support and encouragement, and to my friends, for helping to keep things in perspective. A very special thank you to my wonderful husband Amo, for supporting and distracting me at the right times. 8 Declaration I grant power of discretion to the University Librarian to allow the thesis to be copied in whole or in part without further reference to me. This permission covers only single copies made for study purposes, subject to normal conditions of acknowledgement. 9 Abstract The aim of this research was to understand why some young talented dancers stay in dance training while others decide to leave. In order to meet this aim, commitment, adherence and dropout among young talented dancers was investigated in five studies using a multidisciplinary mixed methods design. Participants were from eight of the UK Centres for Advanced Training (CATs) in Dance, nationwide talent development schemes that provide high quality part-time training to young people aged 10-18 years. The first study was a review of the literature on talent identification and development in order to understand the nature of the cohort and the type of environment in which the young people trained. The second study investigated multidisciplinary characteristics of 334 students to gain a descriptive understanding of the participants. Thirdly, nineteen committed students were interviewed to understand their experiences in dance and reasons for staying in training from their own perspectives. In the fourth study, ten students who had dropped out from a CAT were interviewed about their experiences and reasons for leaving; this data was triangulated using demographic information gathered from the CATs.