How school-based dancing classes change affective and collaborative networks of adolescents

Creativity associated with the application of a motivational intervention programme for the teaching of dance at school and its effect on the both genders

“…In this regard, the pedagogy that develops the activities of the artistic-expressive dimension has led teachers to suggest ideas without imposition, use active/inductive methods, respond differently to mistakes and negative experiences, promote discussion during feedback, maintain a receptive style, and have the attitude to learn at the same time as pupils; in sum, let teachers to experiment with a creative teaching-learning process [2], which is shown by current intervention programmes that are developing for dance teaching [3]. …”

“…Conversely, regarding dance and artistic-expressive activities, girls show a greater interest than boys in this type of activity [30, 31]. The teaching of dance is very particular and the current tendency is to set programmes where pupil creativity is promoted, because it is shown that if an adequate structure and set of classes is performed, we are helping to establish social bonds between the genders where they have to help each other, avoiding comparison between them [3]. …”

Dancing is belonging! How social networks mediate the effect of a dance intervention on students' sense of belonging to their classroom

“…In early adolescence, peers begin to supersede parents and teachers as major socializing agents (cf., Smetana, Robinson, & Rote, ). In classrooms, students become interconnected in affective or instrumental relationships (Zander, Kreutzmann, West, Mettke, & Hannover, ) through nonacademic and academic activities (Wentzel & Muenks, ). Affective relationships often take the form of friendship cliques (Brown, ) or communal sharing relationships (Fiske, ), with a strong focus on commonalities that often corresponds with an “us versus them” mentality.…”

“…Over the course of one or two semesters (i.e., junior vs. master classes), students attended weekly dance classes for 90 minutes, instructed by two professional dance teachers who were not part of the teacher staff at school and thus were neither aware of preexisting clique structures nor status hierarchies among students. Program developers emphasize the necessity of student‐centered teaching that actively involves all students, emphasizing the goal of a successful public presentation, and the rehearsal of the collectively developed choreography in frequently varying small groups (Keuchel, Günsche, & Groß, , cf., Zander et al, ). Thus, changes in the classrooms' relational structure are likely influenced by the characteristics of the project work such as (1) the strong student‐centered task orientation, (2) cooperative goal structures, and (3) the opportunity to interact in frequently changing groups.…”

Bristol Girls Dance Project: a cluster randomised controlled trial of an after-school dance programme to increase physical activity among 11- to 12-year-old girls

“…However, girls were recruited selectively based on their scores for these variables. 25 Zander et al 26 found that participants in a dance intervention were likely to form mutual affective and collaborative ties with peers, indicating that dance can be used as a socialising medium. Limitations to this trial include the lack of evaluation of the project and the non-random assignment to control or intervention arms.…”